When I heard recently that back in 1898 Helena High beat the University of Montana in a football game, 6-5, my initial reaction was probably the same as almost anyone's would be: Wow! And then I learned the rest of the story.

As it turns out, the Helena grid squad 109-years ago was not exactly comprised entirely of high school students, with some of the members being in their 20s and holding down steady jobs.

Although the Capital City group was outweighed by the Grizzlies. Members of the game included a veteran of the Spanish American War who rode with Teddy Roosevelt, and a future longtime Helena physician.

Now keep in mind, football of a century ago was hardly the same game it is today.

The equipment consisted of thin leather helmets, no facemasks and flimsy padding. There were no forward passes, and the most common plays were the violent "line bucks" or "center rushes," where the ball carrier crashed head-first between the tackles. The games took place on gravel fields, and everyone played both ways.

According to the book "Montana Grizzlies: Odyssey to a National Championship," the 1898 team was coached by one Sgt. B.F. Seabright, who was a former Stanford University stalwart. He was hired as Montana's "general athletic instructor" at a season's salary of $110.

This was the second year for football at Missoula, while Helena High initially fielded a grid team four years earlier, in 1894.

The 1898 lineup for Helena High consisted of students Sid and Alfred Cooney, James Barnes, N. Hermann, Ernest Douglas and Herman Jurgens; while Frank Bingham, John Horsky, Michael Sullivan, Austin Marshman and Brookes Sharpe were all grown men.

But the collegians still had the weight advantage over the local group, by an average of 6 pounds, 151-145.

"The football game at the Athletic park yesterday afternoon, between the Helena High School and the state university at Missoula was won by Helena with a score of six to five," reported the Daily Independent after the victory. "Each side scored a touchdown and Helena was so fortunate as to kick a goal."

Back then a touchdown was worth five points.

"The game was free from vicious playing, but not altogether free from complaining, the players on both sides using their mouths more in proportion for the occasion for it than they should have," continued the Independent. "There was just one accident, but it was not a fatal one. Storey of the Missoula team, who has been a rough rider and has not been long out of the hospital, lost his footing in the first mixup of the game and fell in such a manner as to break one of the bones of his leg."

After kicking off to the Grizzlies and holding the visitors, HHS, in crimson uniforms, took over and drove the length of the field on their first possession for a touchdown. Captain Sid Cooney scored on the line buck, and then "Mr. Cooney made a try for goal and his aim was good, which is why Helena won the game," the paper stated.

The rest of the contest was a back-and-forth affair, except for a successful drive by the University to paydirt mid-way through the second half. But when the conversion kick was no good, Helena had the victory.

The school newspaper, The Nugget, praised "the line bucking of Marshman, Sharpe and captain Cooney, and the clever tackling of Douglas and Sullivan."

Two weeks later, the "high schoolers" defeated Helena's Wesleyan College team 33-0, led by the offense of Sullivan, Art Yeager and Cooney. Sullivan was a plasterer, while Yeager was employed as a clerk at the Diamond Block.

The whitewashing prompted the faculty of Wesleyan to publicly declare that their football team would no longer compete against any high school or college who used players who were not legitimate students.

For the rest of the year, the Helena High gridders were sometimes referred to as the Helena athletic team. Whatever they called themselves, in remaining games they beat the Bozeman Agricultural College (now MSU), 11-0, and lost to the Butte Technical College (Montana Tech), 5-0.

In the season finale, a rematch with Montana in Missoula, the Helena club walked off the field only 10 minutes into the contest and returned home. Reasons for their departure varied depending on which side of the Continental Divide you were on. In Missoula, the The Kaimin opined, "It seems probable that the way the University carried the ball (so easily) from the 50 yard line over Helena's goal line may have influenced their decision to quit the field."

But the viewpoint of The Nugget differed, stating, "The game was called off on the account of the officials changing their decisions at critical moments. Captain Seabright's good playing was surpassed only by his complaining and rowdyism."

Seabright left the state at the end of the season for greener pastures, when the school "had no more money to pay him."

At least two of Helena High's players (and actual students), Sid Cooney and James Barnes, went on to notable local careers. Barnes became the County Sheriff, before passing away in 1925 at the age of 43. Dr. Sid Cooney achieved a respectable 50-year medical career. The Cooney Convalescent Home is named in his honor.

Reporter Curt Synness, phone 449-2150 or email curt52s@bresnan.net