Dorchester Times: Dorchester Football Gets Lots Of Press, Tough Lesson In First Game

Saturday, August 25, 2018

Dorchester Football Gets Lots Of Press, Tough Lesson In First Game

The Dorchester Longhorns football squad got off to to a tough start in its new era of six-man ball, falling big to powerhouse Walthill.

But an estimated (correction: 450) DHS fans showed up for the contest to root on the Orange and Black Attack, including roughly 30 players from the 1950s and their former coach, legendary DHS Coach Bill Story, who led an undefeated Dorchester team in 1958.

Several media outlets were on hand to cover the game, including two Lincoln television stations.

Here's how 10/11 News covered the event:

Friday was a historical day for two reasons. Dorchester got back its football team and the district brought back six-man football. The last time Dorchester had a six-man team was in 1959. The district invited back the men who played on (the 1950s teams) and honored them during the game. The district decided to bring back six-man football, in part, because it is a smaller district.

Dorchester Superintendent Daryl Schrunk said ... his students can now represent Dorchester with their own official team. “Our entertainment is our school. Our school is a place where patrons can come together and support the kids,” said Schrunk. He said the coach had hoped to get 12 players, instead he got 21 players.

The Longhorns will next be in action at St. Edward for a 3 p.m. this Friday, August 31.

The DHS volleyball team, which fell to East Butler on Thursday evening, will be hosting both Palmyra and Weeping Water this coming Thursday, Aug. 30, at 5 p.m. and 7 p.m.

1 comment:

Old No. 64August 25, 2018 at 9:16 PM
I was very impressed with the turnout and the 21 boys out for ball, thanks to Dorchester for involving the alumni, the boys earned my respect even if they had a tough time out of the gate, that dorchester quarterback is very elusive in the pocket, and I think there are a few receivers and young running backs who will end up turning heads by the end of the season.
ReplyDelete
Replies

Add comment

Village Dweller checks all reader comments to determine if they are appropriate for print.

Dorchester: A Good Little Family Town

Dorchester, Nebraska (est. population 630) is located in northern Saline county. Close in proximity to Interstate 80, Dorchester is only 25 minutes from the state capital of Lincoln (est. population 250,000) and about 55 minutes from Omaha (metro population 725,000).

Dorchester's median resident age is 37 years. In 2005, Dorchester had a median family income of approximately $35,600. The median house value was about $63,000. About 95 percent of Dorchester residents commute to work via Interstate and highways.

The village has a quality public school, which received a $4.1 million expansion and modernization in 2008; it offers a small classrooms and individualized attention. Total enrollment of grades K-12 is around 230-250 students.

Ancestries of the Dorchester area are primarily German (42.4%), Czech (24.9%), Irish (12.5%), English (5.4%), and Dutch (4.9%).

Dorchester Historical Facts

* On July 4, 1871, the railroad reached Dorchester.
* Incorporated in 1881, Dorchester's population grew from 200 to 500 by 1882.
* In 1882, Dorchester had 90 buildings, 35 of which were businesses or public facilities. Brick buildings lined both sides of Washington Avenue for two blocks.
* Dorchester's longest-running newspaper was The Dorchester Star, which was published until the late 1940s.
* By 1889, Dorchester's population is said to have reached 800, while the town housed an opera house, a two-story brick schoolhouse with a bell tower, and four churches.
* By the 1910s, Dorchester had electricity, a water tower and a fire department.
* Dorchester's main arteries, Highways 6 and 33, were graveled in the 1940s.
* Dorchester's first irrigation well was drilled on Chris Weber's farm and rural electrification was finished following WWII.

A Village with History

Dorchester is one of the "alphabet towns" on the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad line built west from Lincoln. The town site was selected for its pleasant location in the northern part of Saline County, about eight miles west of Crete. This situation is an attractive one, being on the level prairie land, midway between the West Blue River and Turkey Creek. The first named stream is three miles north, and the latter about the same distance south from the town. Dorchester was platted in 1870 and incorporated in 1881. The name "Dorchester" came from either for a suburb of Boston by that name or a town in England. No one is sure. Two of the very first settlers were James Seely and Edward McIntyre, who both made Dorchester their permanent home.

Dorchester: In The Beginning

Here is a look at Dorchester around 1890, less than a decade after its official incorporation, as documented by Andreas' History of the State of Nebraska:
* POPULATION: "About 300, and is made up of a substantial and progressive class of citizens, who are moral and industrious. ... The town grew but very little until the year 1879, for the reason that Pleasant Hill, on Turkey Creek, a short distance south, was the county seat and naturally drew a trade for quite a large scope of country."
* BUSINESS: "The business and professional interests of the town are represented by three general merchandise stores, two drug, one grocery, one furniture, two hardware, and two millinery stores, one bank, two restaurants, two hotels, three livery stables, a post office, one newspaper office, two elevators, two lumber yards, two coal yards, two blacksmith shops, two lawyers and four physicians."
* SCHOOL: "The schoolhouse is a good one. The schoolhouse was built in 1872, since which time the public schools have been continually kept up. The present schoolhouse is 24' x 40' in size, two stories high. The school is graded and consists of three departments. The house is found too small, and arrangements will soon be made to increase its size."
* CHURCHES: "There are three substantial churches."
* HOMES: "The residence portion of the village is made up of neat houses of different styles of architecture, but none of them very large."
* NEWSPAPER: "The Dorchester Star, which was established August 21, 1881, by H. C. Bittenbender, who edited it until January 19, 1882, when he sold it to Ryerson & Bullock, the present proprietors. The Star is a bright weekly paper, five-column quarto, in size, and is Republican in politics."