Peter Watt calls the 1960s the heyday of amateur football in Manitoba, and few senior teams were more dominating on a provincial or national scale than his St. Vital Bulldogs of 1968 and 1969.

The club – a collection of mostly young graduated juniors Watts had coached or coached against, peppered with some classy leaders like future Olympic athlete Bruce Pirnie, offensive lineman/line coach Jerry Tostowaryk and quarterbacks Wayne Skene in ‘68 and the strong-armed Barry Hobday the following year – WERE bulldogs those two years.

They went 6-0 in the regular season in 1968, crushing the St. James Rams 27-7 and 19-1 in the best-of-three provincial final and then ate up and spit out the Sudbury Spartans 62-7 in the national senior final at Winnipeg Stadium.

The next season, with virtually the same squad, the Bulldogs went 8-0 in Manitoba, won the league championship in two straight games again and then crushed the North Bay Tiger Cats 72-13 in the Canadian championship at North Bay. Unmatched and overpowering, stout and steady – just like a bulldog should be. And led by a head coach in Watts who had won Canadian titles for those same Bulldogs as a player in 1960 and 1962.

“We were pretty good in those days,” Watt understatedly reminisced, when asked to recount those glory days that resulted in the 1968 and 1969 Bulldogs being inducted into the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame in 2007. “I think that was one of the big things when we won. Everybody got pretty serious…They came very close together, the players did, and that’s one of the reasons we were able to form quite a team.”

St. Vital had a running game like few others and an offensive line, led by the massive Pirnie, the intense Tastowaryk and others, that blew defenders off the line of scrimmage. Defensive line stalwarts Tommy Armstrong and Tom Heffner put fear into the hearts of opposition quarterbacks and running backs. Skene excelled at play selection and deep receiver Henry Bryner “could catch anything,” Watt said.

“I think it’s terrific,” Watt said of the induction. “I’m proud for myself but I’m extra proud for the ball players. I think it’s great for them. They deserve it. They played hard, worked hard and they did what we had to do, that was all.

“We got a hold of the game and the guys kept going. It was always something we spoke of, never let up and just keep on going. The minute you let up, you’re in trouble – you’re going to get hurt or they’re going to start running over you.

“So just keep going full out all the time, and they got that into their heads.” And that, he said, appears to be unlike today’s amateur football. “It was a lot more serious than what it is today from what I gather. We seemed to dedicate ourselves to it and I guess it’s a little harder with the type of living today. They always say we’re not getting paid to play but that wasn’t the problem with us.

“It wasn’t money, it was (that) we want to win and we want to play.”

Roster:
Front Row Seated left to right: Bob Turner, *Ernie Kuzyk, Bob Kuryk, Jim Kirkness, Jerry Tostowaryk (Line Coach), Gary Larner, John Paterson, *Gary White. Second Row Standing: George Wilson (General Manager), Tim Borbridge, Bruce Pirnie, Wade Christensen, John Hill, Blair Schapansky, John Smith, Dennis Meech, Art Marche, Peter Watt (Head Coach). Third Row Standing: Tom Heffner, Barrie Freund, George Dawson, Dave Brown, Wayne Skene, Claude Steeves, Ray Homenuik, Unknown, Henry Bryner. Fourth Row Standing: Jim Giesbrecht, Darcy Normand, Ralf Schoenfeld, Ermano Barone, Brian Smith, Tom Armstrong, Mickey MacDonald, *Ken Suffron. Fifth Row Standing at back: Gerry Morlock (Trainer), Moe Renaud (President), *Ken Simpson (Secretary). Missing From Photo: Ross Burgess, Brian Charman, Barry Hobday, Bob Holliday (Publicist), Bill Hutton (Executive), Don Kuryk, Peter Kuryk (Executive), Roman Kopchuk, Bob Lawler, Dennis Liebrecht (Backfield Coach) A.W. Lobson (Executive), Ron MacKenzie, Hal Mauthe (Executive), Gerry Nufer, Bob Roe, Stab Ross (Executive) and Myron Zbyradowski.

*Deceased