Mark Schulte is the most accomplished high school quarterback to ever come out of Butte.

Butte High players can’t even argue that point because Schulte was 2-0 against the Bulldogs as the quarterback of Butte Central.

As a sophomore in 1971, Schulte did not get in the game as his Maroons lost to the Bulldogs in the season opener. The next week against Bozeman, BC coach Ron “Swede” Kenison gave Schulte the start, and the Maroons won their next 28 games. That includes those two wins over Butte High and three straight Class A State championships.

According to Montana sports historian Brian Reed, Schulte’s 28 wins stood as a record as a starting quarterback in the Class A until Dillon great Zach McRae matched it in 2006. Hamilton’s Carson Rostad (36-7) and Whitefish’s Luke May (30-13) since passed the win total, but Rostad and May players started four years. Schulte is the only starting quarterback in the history of the Class A to win three state championships.

You would have to believe he would have won the Montana Gatorade Player of the Year honor at least one of those years had the award been around back then.

Schulte, though, will be the first person to tell you that his 28-0 career record as a varsity starting quarterback is thanks largely to his teammates. He’d actually tell you it was mostly due to his teammates.

He makes a strong point, too. He played with some great players. Several of those teammates went on to play key roles in Montana State winning a national championship in 1976.

Schulte went MSU to play football, too. But serious injuries sustained in an automobile accident sidetracked his career. After a year off, he went to play for coach Bob Petrino at Carroll College.

Schulte, who was inducted into the Butte Sports Hall of Fame in 1999, comes from a huge Butte family known for its athletic ability and storytelling. His father, Bob, played in the first Montana East-West Shrine Game in 1947. He scored the first touchdown in the history of the game, and his number 13 is retired.

Since then, playing in the Shrine Game has been a Schulte family tradition.

All three of Mark’s sons were standout football players in Great Falls. His boy Rob went on to an outstanding career at the University of Montana.

Today, Mark is still in Great Falls with his wife Judy. He is retired after a long career as a teacher, coach, official and businessman.

Listen in to hear his story.

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Photo of Mark Schulte courtesy Josie Trudgeon Photography.