Flashback: Kentridge upsets Wenatchee for 1973 football title

The game: Football, Kentridge vs. Wenatchee, Nov. 23, 1973, at Seattle Memorial Stadium.

The significance: For the first time in state history, state championships were played in five classifications (now 4A, 3A, 1A, B-11 and B-8). Kentridge and Wenatchee met in the "big-school" final, a game Wenatchee was heavily favored to win after outscoring its opponents 414-7 en route to an 11-0 record. But the Chargers, who came in 9-2, jumped to a 26-10 lead and held on for the 26-24 upset victory, still the school's only football title.

The stars: Larry Chenoweth, a fullback who was just 5-foot-8 and 160 pounds, was the workhorse in Kentridge's wishbone offense, carrying 26 times for 93 yards and a touchdown. Tailback Steve Birchler led all rushers with 117 yards on just 11 tries — including a 75-yard TD jaunt. And quarterback Randy Westendorf completed his only pass of the game for a 42-yard TD to tight end Leon Minter on third-and-two as Kentridge opened up that 26-10 advantage.

The memories: Mike Silvey, who splits his time between Washington and California, has vivid memories of the game and still remembers it as one of the greatest victories in his coaching career.

"I think about it quite often," he said.

He said he still has a special plaque commemorating the game that was made by a stranger who said he attended the game with his son and was so impressed he wanted to do something special for the team.

Silvey was a big proponent of visualization and goal-setting (he later joined Lou Tice's Pacific Institute) and believes that made a major difference in the game.

"We were so relaxed and comfortable," he said. "We were loose and Wenatchee was tight."

Westendorf, who went on to become an All-American quarterback at Colorado, still lives in Kent. Minter, who played defensive end at Colorado for two seasons, resides in SeaTac and said he occasionally runs into someone who brings up the game.

"I still remember it," he said. "But it's back in the old days."

Sandy Ringer, Seattle Times