A Trip Down Memory Lane: EMU's "Road Warriors" Make Plans for Their Final Road Trip

The Eastern Michigan University football team will take on San Jose State University in the 26th Annual Famous Idaho Potato Bowl Tuesday, Dec. 20, at Albertsons Stadium in Boise, Idaho. Kickoff for the game will be at 3:30 p.m. ET (1:30 p.m. MT) on ESPN. The Eagles will face off against San Jose State for the second time in the postseason, as the matchup is a rematch of the 1987 California Bowl. The then-Hurons were a 17-point underdog, but EMU prevailed with a 30-27 win over the Spartans in Fresno, Calif., Dec. 12, 1987.

In the lead up to the game, EMU Athletics looks back at that 1987 season and the Cal Bowl triumph in a three-part series authored by EMU Emeritus Media Relations Director Jim Streeter.

Part 1 - EMU's "Road Warriors" Turn in Record-Wrecking Season

Part 2 - EMU's "Road Warriors" Make Plans for Their Final Road Trip

After recording one of the most successful regular seasons in Eastern Michigan University football history, the 1987 Hurons were in full preparation mode for their next task—the California Bowl against San Jose State University, Dec. 12, in Fresno, Calif.

Head Coach Jim Harkema's Hurons were picked third in the preseason polls but the team dubbed the "Road Warriors" would pile up double-digit school records on the way to a 9-2 regular-season record and a Mid-American Conference best of 7-1 to capture the school's first-ever MAC championship.

Eastern was the only MAC team to have five league road games as well as six contests away from the friendly confines of Rynearson Stadium and the squad lived up to its pre-season nickname of "Road Warriors" by winning four of those league road tilts and one non-league game away from home.

The last regular-season game of the year was a 38-18 home win over Bowling Green played Nov. 14 and the Hurons would have almost a month to develop a game plan to take on a San Jose State team that was favored by 17 points by early oddsmakers.

The first major event to bowl prep was the annual EMU Football Bust, Nov. 22, and a crowd of more than 700 were on hand to salute their champions in a festive affair in Bowen Field House. The senior class walked away with three of the top four individual awards as Ron Adams and Gary Patton were co-winners of the James M. "Bingo Brown" Most Valuable Offensive Player Award and senior defensive lineman Jim Haefner was named the recipient of the John E. Borowiec Most Valuable Defensive Player honor and he was also named the winner of the Harold E. Sponberg Award as the top scholar-athlete from the down linemen. Junior Mike Haynes stopped the senior sweep of the top four awards by being named the team's Elton J. Rynearson Award as the top scholar-athlete on the squad.

Once the football bust was over the Hurons got back to practice to prepare for the Dec. 12 California Bowl. While that preparation on the Ypsilanti campus kept the team in football shape, the coaching staff and players were gearing up for the trip to California and the week-long practice and team events scheduled in Fresno.

A determined EMU football squad and a large contingent of media would gather Sunday, Dec. 6, for the long flight to Fresno to begin "Bowl Week." As with all post-season bowl games, the local communities take extreme pride in giving the two competing teams, their fans, and the local population a top-notch show and the friendly folks of Fresno would be no different.

The California Bowl events began as early as October and would ramp up to have daily events in the week leading up to the bowl game. The two teams would begin daily practices Monday, Dec. 7, with EMU holding its 9-noon practice at Lamonica Stadium at nearby Clovis High School. The Hurons would benefit from an impressive southeastern Michigan press corps on hand for mini-press conferences after each daily practice. The Michigan media reps on hand included: Don Vanderveen, Dave Frickman, and Susan Armelagos from The Ypsilanti Press; John Barton from The Ann Arbor News; Mick McCabe and nationally syndicated columnist Joe Falls from The Detroit Free Press; Justice B. Hill from The Detroit News; Doug Hill from The Eastern Echo; John Fountain and Gary Sanch from WEMU and Dave Harbison from WAAM radio.

Daily practice sessions for both teams were held Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday, and players and coaches from both teams would visit Yosemite National Park Tuesday, and the Buddy Boosters Program was held at Valley Children's Hospital where each player would be assigned a child currently undergoing medical treatments in the hospital. The two football staffs also took part in racing cars at the Malibu Grand Prix, as well as taking part in two pep rallies and a Kiwanis Kickoff Luncheon.

It not only was a busy week for the football programs, but the media not only enjoyed the week after posting their stories after practice each day. The media were hosted by the local bowl boosters, posted stories every day after practice, took part in several cookouts and the EMU media squared off against the San Jose media in a broomball game in an ice rink.

All of the events were very memorable for players and coaches from both teams, but the Buddy Booster program set up with the hospitalized children from Valley Hospital had perhaps the greatest impact individually on the players.

Detroit Free Press columnist Joe Falls captured that volunteer spirit in the first few paragraphs of a column he sent back for publication in Detroit.

Cal Bowl Just a Game to 'Buddies"; By Joe Falls
FRESNO, Calif —This is how it went at the California Bowl Thursday (Dec. 10).
Evans Hicks (EMU senior offensive tackle) of Detroit picked up Jimmie Hepner of Fresno and gave him a hug. Everyone cheered. A few cried. Some were frozen by the moment and could not move.
It turns out that this is more than a football game they are playing out here —these two schools are touching the stricken children in this area. Each player from both teams— 120 in all— was given a "buddy" to care for. Some of the kids were in wheelchairs. Some were limping. A few had no hair. A couple was in pajamas. But it did not matter. They all looked alike. All were smiling as they walked up to meet those giant players in the tent set up in the parking lot of the hospital.
The "Buddy Booster" program is as old as the California Bowl — seven years. What happens is that the players are paired with these children. The players give them caps, shirts, and autographed footballs, while kids walk up tentatively and extend presents to the players. It winds up in a lot of hugging, smiling, laughing, crying ...and even some blubbering.
Jimmie Hepner kept clutching the football Evans Hicks gave in and announced to the world around him that when he grew up he was going to be a quarterback just like him.
And for the statistics. Hepner was diagnosed with lead poison when he was one and today is his seventh birthday. As he sat next to Evans Hicks in the portable bleachers, the small boy was told the truth. "Your buddy, Evans, is not a quarterback — he's an offensive tackle. Do you know what an offensive tackle does?
"Sure," said Jimmie Hepner, "he tackles the offenses."
Evans Hicks leaned over and hugged the boy. It looked like he wanted to throw him in the air again.
Both were laughing.

What a way to top a wonderful week in the lives of the players and the youngsters they were bonding within Fresno.

It would be just one more day waiting for one of the biggest games of the players' careers and that Saturday, Dec. 12, 1987, would turn out to be a memorable one for the Hurons of Eastern Michigan University.

Eastern Michigan Athletics

A Trip Down Memory Lane: EMU's "Road Warriors" Make Plans for Their Final Road Trip

Related News

Related Videos