In 1973, Butte Central captured its third straight Class A State championship in football. The Maroons went 10-0, beating Cut Bank 27-6 on the road in the championship game.

That victory was Central’s 28th straight. The Maroons lost to Butte High in the season opener in 1971, and didn’t lose again until 1974.

That includes back-to-back wins over Butte High. The 1973 Maroons were the last BC team to beat the Bulldogs in a rivalry that ran through 1991.

A large part of that success in 1973 came from the five senior offensive linemen. The are as pictured, left to right, Barry Brophy, Mike Haggerty, Greg Markovich, Jerry “Buzz” Combo and Brian “Moose” Holland.

This weekend, those linemen took part in a reunion that celebrated all three BC State championship teams.

The ButteCast caught up with them before they headed to the Knights of Columbus for a celebration with the seniors from the 1973 team.

Listen in as they talk about their teammates and playing for coach Ron “Swede” Kenison and his assistants Steve Stosich and John Thatcher. Listen to see if Brophy was brave enough to return fire to Matt Buckley from Buckley’s podcast a few weeks ago.

Listen to hear how teammates so tough that they had a mortician as a trainer still care so much about each other 50 years later.

Today’s podcast is brought to you by Leskovar Honda of Butte. Leskovar is home of the 20-year, 200,000-mile warrantee.