There have been many very good teams in the history of Galesburg High School sports. One of THE greatest teams in GHS history is the 1956 Silver Streaks football team. Only three football teams have completed undefeated seasons- 1908, 1916, and 1956. In the last 70 years, no other Streaks football has finished the regular season undefeated.
Starting Lineup
Left End- Milt Jones
Left Tackle- Dom Fiacco
Left Guard- Neil Newton
Center- E. Terpening
Right Guard- Chuck Fach
Right Tackle- Gerald Shriber
Right End- Duane White
Quarterback- Doug Mills
Left Halfback- Albert Kimbrough
Right Halfback- Tom Vogel
Fullback- Elbert Kimbrough
Galesburg 32 Pekin 6- (1-0)
The Streaks jumped out to a 13-0 half-time lead, 19-6 lead after three, and outscored Pekin 13-0 in the fourth quarter to win 32-6. Galesburg outgained Pekin 281 yards to 193 yards. Albert Kimbrough had 3 touchdowns and Elbert had 2 touchdowns.
Galesburg 13 Woodruff 0- (2-0)
Woodruff had not lost since 1954 on their way to a 14 game winning streak. The game was played at Peoria Stadium. The Galesburg Register-Mail referred to the “Touchdown Twins,” as Albert scored a TD with 20 seconds left in the first half, and Elbert sealed the game with a TD with only 35 seconds left in the game. The first half TD was after Charlie Fach recovered a fumble on the Woodruff 22 yard line. Galesburg outgained Woodruff 208 to 201.
The Register-Mail credited the defensive front 7 as they “stood like a block of granite.” They mentioned the performance of Jones, Fiacco, Newton, Terpening, Fach, Shriber, White, Milan, Rider, and Anderson. It was estimated that 1,000 Galesburg fans made the trip to Peoria.
Galesburg 32 East Moline 0- (3-0)
6,000 fans went to the Streaks home opener at Lombard Field. Galesburg out gained E. Moline 243-123 on route to the win. Galesburg led 13-0 after 1, 19-0 at half. Coach Van Dyke played the entire JV squad the entire fourth quarter.
The Galesburg Register-Mail reported, “Tackling of the Silver Streaks was so vicious and hard that even the most partisan Galesburg fans were in sympathy with the East Moline ball carriers.” Galesburg forced 6 East Moline fumbles. East Moline never threatened to score until late in the fourth quarter vs. Galesburg’s JV’s.
Elbert Kimbrough gained 102 yards, averaging 9.3 yards per carry. The Register-Mail assessed junior QB, Doug Mills in this way- “Doug Mills in our opinion is the best QB to ever perform at Galesburg.”
Galesburg 40 East Peoria 0- (4-0)
Galesburg led 33-0 at half-time and Coach VanDyke allowed the JV’s to play the second half of the game. Albert Kimbrough had 8 carries for 111 yards, Elbert 9 carries for 90 yards, and Tom Vogel 5 carries for 130 yards. Galesburg outgained EP 484 yards to 105 yards. Albert had 4 touchdowns and Elbert had 2 touchdowns.
Galesburg 31 Moline 13- (5-0)
Moline had regularly beaten Galesburg over the past ten years so this was anticipated as “big game.” 6,000 fans packed Lombard Field for the matchup. The Streaks jumped to a 19-6 half-time lead, and coasted home.
Albert and Elbert Kimbrough each had 2 TD. Albert on a 70 yard run and a 50 yard interception return. Elbert had TD run of 66 and 79 yards. Elbert finished the night with 8 carries for 193 yards, 24 yards per carry.
Galesburg 59 Kewanee 13- (6-0)
Galesburg scored 9 TD’s on the night with Albert Kimbrough and Elbert Kimbrough each scoring 3 TD’s apiece. After jumping to a 33-7 half-time lead, the Streaks coasted home.
Galesburg 47 Monmouth 0- (7-0)
Monmouth had traditionally given Galesburg tough games over the pervious decade. On this night at Lombard Field, Galesburg jumped to a 34-0 half-time lead. Albert had 3 touchdowns and Elbert 2 touchdowns. Coach Van Dyke began subbing in the second quarter and the JV squad played the entire fourth quarter.
Galesburg 54 Canton 7- (8-0)
Galesburg went up 19-0 in the first four minutes of the game. Coach Van Dyke began subbing late in the first quarter.
Albert Kimbrough gained 200 yards on only 5 carries. Albert had 3 touchdowns and Elbert 3 touchdowns.
At this point in the season, Galesburg, Champaign, and Alleman were all undefeated. Seeing the opportunity for a huge gate, the Pekin Jaycees began efforts to see if they could get post-season matchup of Galesburg and Champaign at the Pekin Stadium.
Galesburg 51 Limestone 0- (9-0)
The Streaks again roared out to a 19-0 lead after just 4 minutes. Galesburg out gained Limestone 561 yards to 112 yards. Albert had 2 TD’s and Elbert 3 TD’s.
The Register-Mail reported that the Streaks up early “even improvised a play.” They reported that, “One TD play, called the ‘flying trapeze” saw the ball change hands 5 different times before it was finally carried over the goal line by Elbert Kimbrough.”
They further reported, “So vicious was the Galesburg tackling that the officials asked them to take it a little bit easy.”
The Honors
Galesburg finished 9-0 and many tabbed the Streaks as the “State Champs.” Although there were State Basketball Polls, there were no play-offs or polls in Illinois in 1956.
Coach C.C. Van Dyke would continue coaching for 26 years at Galesburg in both football and track. He retired after the 1969-70 school year. Sadly Coach Van Dyke passed away the summer after retiring. Galesburg District #205 would name the football field Van Dyke Field. Today the Streaks play football at Van Dyke Field at CBI Stadium.
Albert and Elbert Kimbrough finished the season being selected to the All-State team. Albert scored 142 points for the season on 21 touchdowns and 16 extra points. Elbert scored 110 points on 18 touchdowns and 2 extra points. Albert and Elbert went onto star at Northwestern. Elbert went onto play NFL football. District #205 named the field house at the north end of the Van Dyke Field after the Kimbroughs. Today it is Kimbrough Fieldhouse.
Doug Mills went onto play for the University of Illinois in both football and basketball.
Chuch Fach was also named All-State. Fach, the Kimbroughs, Dominic Fiacco, and Elbert Terpening were all named to the All-Illini Conference first team.
Not only did the Streaks go a perfect 9-0, they outscored their opponents by an incredible 359-39. As impressive as the Kimbrough’s stats were, they seldom played more than 3 quarters. In the 9 games, the Streaks were never behind in any game as they always scored the first points of the game.
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