1940, WHEN FORMER TOREADORS CAPTAINED BOTH HAWKEYE AND CYCLONE FOOTBALL TEAMS

      Another portion of the Kornerman's recent speech at the Boone County Historical Society, ''BOONE-My Kind of Town."

     In the long football histories of the State University of Iowa and Iowa State University, Boone is the ONLY Iowa community that can make this boast.

     In the 1940 collegiate football season, the captains of BOTH the Hawkeye and Cyclone teams were former Toreadors.

     The captain of the Iowa Hawkeye team that season was Mike Enich, BHS-37, and the captain of the Iowa State Cyclone team was Tom Smith, BHS-37.

     Both played high school football, side-by-side, at Boone High School, Enich as the fullback and Smith as the quarterback. But, in a strange circumstance, both finished their collegiate careers as outstanding linemen.

     At Iowa, Enich began his college career as a sophomore back under Coach Irl Tubbs. But, when Dr. Eddie Anderson took over the Hawkeye coaching position, he moved Enich to tackle, where he became a first team All-Conference and first team All-American player.

     You, no doubt, have heard of Nile Kinnick......you know, the Heisman trophy winner and Kinnick Stadium.

     One year, Kinnick was second team All-Conference, while Enich was first team All-Conference.

     In 1939, Kinnick won the Heisman Trophy and in 1940, Enich was first team All-American and his coach said, "He's the best tackle in football."

     In 1983, Enich, who later earned a law degree and became a Judge in Iowa, was selected a member of the Iowa Sports Hall of Fame.

     Both Kinnick and Enich were prime members of one of Iowa's most famous football teams, the 1939 "Ironmen," who posted a 6-1-1 record, including a 7-6 victory over nationally third-ranked Notre Dame.

     At Iowa State, Smith also started as a back, but was converted to a line position by Coach Jim Yeager. Not only did Smith block and tackle, he also was the Cyclones signal caller.

     Coach Yeager commented, "Smith could make any team in the country. He's a guard but he calls our signals and sets up our defensive formations."

     The Cyclones had a 4-5 record in the 1940 season.

K-----K

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