CACHE Chats: Tales of Exeter and Beyond

The Center for Art, Culture, and History – Exeter, or CACHE, will be kicking off a new series of local history talks by CACHE’s board president, Dwight Miller, entitled CACHE Chats: Tales of Exeter and Beyond. Dwight’s first discussion is scheduled for Monday, May 20th, at 5:30 p.m., and the topic is “The Invincibles,” an Exeter football team that won two state championships a century ago and is the subject of the outdoor mural located on the Exeter Union High School gym.

At age twenty-three, Jim Pogue and Al Griggs, both EUHS alumni, were key parts of putting together a semi pro football team to play as part of a large Exeter-Visalia celebration. One of the first Armistice Day events in 1920, it was sponsored by the newly formed American Legion Post 94 in Exeter. Besides the high school and semi-pro football games scheduled, the event included airplane flyovers, a large parade, barbeques, patriotic speakers, a rodeo, races, boxing and wrestling matches, dancing, and fireworks, bringing an estimated 25,000 Tulare County citizens to town.

The celebration was all about recognition for the U.S. servicemen in the Great War (WWI) and to honor those who died. Pogue recruited a number of high-profile college athletes from St. Mary’s, Cal Berkeley, Marquette, USC, Washington State, and Oregon State, to name a few. Pogue secured Reedley as the opposing team, and Exeter won 33-0.

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After the game, the players decided to seek more opponents from the region and continued together as a team. They kept winning, beating San Francisco for the state title and then Selma in a “challenge game.” The next year, they were more organized and formed an American Legion-sponsored league. Local farmer Charles Pruner fenced his large dirt lot west of Wilson School and built bleachers to seat 3,000 fans. This was at a time when Exeter’s population was about 1800. Exeter Sun Publisher Watt Clawson served as publicity chair, providing regular front-page articles about their successes. Clawson dubbed them “The Invincibles.”

This team enjoyed immense popularity. In the next season, they continued to win, including a battle against Bakersfield in the three-day 1921 Armistice Day event in Tulare, watched by over 5,000 fans. They went on to secure the second State Championship with their final win in San Bernardino, 13-0. Al Griggs was the Captain and Quarterback for all fourteen games. One notable Pogue recruit was Nebraska All American Paul Dobson who because of his short term with the team decided to make Exeter his home.

This event is free and open to the public; $5 donations are encouraged. For more information, visit our website at www.cach-exeter.org.