The conclusion of the Wildcats football team's undefeated regular season spurred me to do some digging into the entire history of the program; coaches, records, and more. After a few hours and quite a bit of help from Cindy, Nicole and others at WHS, here's what I found.
When making the decision to add football, then superintendent John Boise said, "University High School in Warrensburg was shutting down, so I went up there and bought all of their equipment; pads, helmets, blocking dummies, tackling dummies, everything for $200."
He went on to say, "We also knew that we needed a scoreboard, and Eldorado Springs was getting a new one, so I drove down to Eldo and bought their old one for $50."
With everything they needed, the high school program played a junior varsity schedule in 1977 and finished undefeated at 6-0 under the 'Cats first head coach Alan Meyer.
In 1978, the program made their move to varsity and struggled right away, going just 1-8. In Meyer's 9 year tenure, Warsaw posted just one winning season, going 6-4 in 1980. He finished his career for the Wildcats with a record of 26-50, a winning percentage of .342, and never appeared in the post-season, prompting the district and the powers-that-be to make a move.
Meyer is now retired and resides in Lexington, Missouri.
Enter a young Randy Morrow, who at the tender of age of 36, took on a "project" program, to say the least.
We're all well aware of Morrow's success and that it was so much so that he is now a member of the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame and has a field with his name on it, but let us not forget that in his first season at Warsaw, the Wildcats posted a record of just 1-9. In 1988, the 'Cats were just 3-7 and, at the time, both Morrow and the district may have questioned their decisions.
But in 1988, Warsaw shocked the community, district, state and maybe even themselves by going 9-1 in the regular season and played in the state semifinals, only losing to private school powerhouse John Burroughs (St. Louis).
The taste of success had set in though and the Wildcats went 10-0 in 1989 with another semifinals appearance and in 1990, the 'Cats won their first state championship with a 42-7 win over South Shelby after finally upsetting John Burroughs in another semifinal showdown. That team finished 13-1 with their lone loss coming to Eldon in week 2.
Another post-season run to sectionals in 1991 preceded 3 straight undefeated regular seasons.
The 1992 squad's season ended in a quarterfinals loss but in 1993, the 'Cats completed the program's first-ever perfect season, going 14-0 with the second state title in school history with a 13-12 victory over Lutheran North (St. Louis).
In 1994, Warsaw rattled off 13 straight wins and made their second consecutive appearance in the state title game, only this time coming up just short in an 18-13 loss to Monroe City.
Morrow made one more appearance in the state championship game in 2001, coming up just short to John Burroughs (St. Louis) in what some sportswriters still call "one of the greatest championship games ever". That team finished 12-2.
Following that season, and after 16 years at the helm, Morrow made the decision to retire and the Wildcats turned the program over to longtime Morrow assistant, Tony Berry.
Berry went 10-3 with a state semifinals appearance in 2002 and then made a trip to the quarterfinals in 2003 with an 8-4 team. He went 5-5 in 2004 and a dismal 3-7 in 2005 before returning to the post-season in 2006, going 6-5 and ending that season in the sectional round.
Berry's tenure at Warsaw ended after a 5 year run. The third-ever coach in program history completed his career with the Wildcats going 32-24 with a winning percentage of .571.
He has since retired from education and is enjoying his time with wife, Betsy in the Bolivar area.
So where did the Wildcats turn next? Now a local businessman, the district went back to Morrow to lure him out of coaching retirement.
In 2007, in Morrow's first year of his second stint with the 'Cats, they went 8-2 and matched the sectional appearance that they had made just 1 year prior.
In 2008, the Wildcats' season ended in the quarterfinals and with an 8-5 record. In 2009, the magic made it's way back and Warsaw posted their fifth-ever undefeated regular season at 10-0. However, with the team poised to make another deep run, a key injury late in the season forced a Wildcats star to sit out in a sectional contest at home with Pierce City. The Wildcats were upset in that game, ending their season at a "disappointing" 10-1.
A 7-5 season in 2010 with another quarterfinals showing officially put a cap on Morrow's career with the Wildcats.
The much admired and now local icon posted an overall record of 183-56 with the Wildcats with a winning percentage of .766.
His team's made 4 state championship appearances, won 2 titles and completed 5 of the program's 6 undefeated regular seasons.
Morrow now enjoys retirement in Arizona with his wife, Debby, but still returns to Warsaw on occasion and usually makes time to catch a football game during his visits.
Following a legend is not an easy task as Kevin Gundy learned in 2011.
Gundy's tenure at Warsaw rightfully ended after a 1-9 campaign and possibly the most embarrassing moment in the program's history when that team forfeited in a post-season blowout loss at Lamar.
Gundy had stops in Waynesville and Gallatin before a brief retirement. He returned to coaching in 2020 when he was named the coach for Keytesville/Northwestern's new 8-man football team. He now resides in Brunswick, Missouri with his wife.
In 2012, the Wildcats turned to another young coach in Blake Markway.
Markway, a prior assistant under Morrow and then Gundy, was a "football guy". However, his first season did not go as planned, ending with a 2-8 record. A 4-6 record in 2013 prompted his exit and since, the former 'Cats coach has found success with the Crusaders at Class 6 St. Dominic (St. Louis).
Upon Markway's departure, Paul Thomas made his way to Warsaw after already having a successful career at Marceline. With numbers down, much ado to the lack of recent success, Thomas' team's struggled.
In 2014, the 'Cats went just 2-8 and then two winless seasons in 2015 and 2016 (thankfully the only one's in the program's now storied history) sent Thomas on his way with a 2-28 overall record.
Thomas is now retired in Missouri but coaches middle school football in Texas.
With nowhere to go but up, that's when Warsaw turned to an old friend. After quarterbacking for Morrow's state championship runner-up team in 2001, the time was right for Ryan Boyer to come back "home".
In Boyer's first season, the 'Cats went 4-5 and after a 2-7 season in 2018, Warsaw has now posted 6 straight winning seasons with their most recent being the sixth undefeated regular season in Warsaw's history.
Boyer knows that he is chasing greatness, but already holds the second highest winning percentage at the school at .654 with a record of 51-27 and still counting.
We'll update the "board" soon, but hopefully not for another few games.
