Herm Pein’s Chewelah Cougars capture 1977 football title
Coach Herm Pein was looking forward to the 1977 football season. His Chewelah Cougars had made the state playoffs the three previous seasons, falling short each time.
Things got off to a rough start as Chewelah lost its first two games. Readjusting after a win over Riverside, the Cougars rolled through the rest of the schedule, defeating Newport in the final game of the regular season to claim the Northeast A title.
The first playoff match-up was against Colfax, who had given the Cougars one of their two early losses. They got their revenge with a strong 42-15 victory to advance to the quarterfinals against Okanogan. The next week the Cougars' offense, aided by Lonnie Hoxie and Kim Hogan’s ground game, proved too much for Okanogan as Chewelah advanced to the semifinals with a 46-14 win.
In the semifinals, Forks made the trip across the state to face Chewelah at Medical Lake. It was a hard fought contest. Kent Anderson broke away in the third quarter for a 47 yard run to break a 6-6 tie. The Cougars won 14-6 to advance to the championship game in the Kingdome.
After battling the weather to get to Seattle, Chewelah was matched against the defending state champion, Winlock. Dave Logsdon blocked a punt early on, which set up a Rusty Belknap score. Later, two Kent Anderson to Richie Richmond passes sealed the 20-0 win and Chewelah’s first state football championship. The Cougars finished the year 10-2.
Herman Pein, a 1946 graduate of Jenkins (Chewelah) High, coached his alma mater from 1954 to 1987, posting a 163-114-8 record. He was an outstanding athlete in his own right, and is a member of the EWU Hall of Fame for his football and boxing prowess. He was inducted into the Washington State Coaches Hall of Fame in 1985.
