For such a short life span, the Farmer City-Mansfield Blue Devils and Lady Blue Devils certainly made some waves in the area as well as on state-wide level. The boys competed in football, basketball, track, and probably baseball. The girls were offered basketball, volleyball, track, and the unique sports of field hockey and bowling.   

 

The above photo of the Farmer City-Mansfield football field has an interesting story in itself. The field is named after former Blue Devil football player Kenneth Rittenhouse and is aptly named "Kenneth Rittenhouse Memorial Field." Kenneth was a player on the 1974-75 squad when a play on the field caused him to be paralyzed from the neck down. Kenneth survived for a few weeks before succumbing to his injuries. The field is located in Farmer City and serves today as the Blue Ridge High School football field.

 

 

The Blue Devil thinclads had one really nice season which was, ironically, their last as Farmer City-Mansfield. In addition, a total of seven individual medals were won at the state meet. 

 

 

 

 

                1.)  Cairo HS                                     54

                2.)  Savana HS                                  25

                3.)  St. Anne HS                                19

                3.)  Byron HS                                    19

                5.)  FARMER CITY-MANSFIELD HS   18

                5.)  Pontiac HS                                  18

                5.)  Princeton HS                               18

                8.)  Walter Lutheran HS                      17

                9.)  Carlinville, Yorkville, Beecher Tied  16

 

 

 

The girls track program brought home a total of 8 individual medals and one relay medal from the State Meet. The 1984-85 team just missed a top-ten finish, placing 11th by one point in the final staandings.

 

 

 

 

The football program was run by only one head coach during the school's existance. Coach Bud Maynard continued his career at FCMHS after serving the Farmer City HS district for the previous 16 years. Coach Maynard was the coach at FGMHS from 1974 to 1985, all eleven seasons the school was in operation. He then continued for a few more years at Farmer City Blue Ridge before retiring as one of the winningest coaches in Illinois HS history!  Coach's best season at FCMHS is listed below.

 

                              Lost in first round

 

1984-85                  The football team tied for going on to     Coach Bud Maynard

                              the Class 1A playoffs with Leroy but since

                              Leroy won the regular season match up they

                              went on to the playoffs. Both the "named"

                              track stars, Chris Campbell and Jeff Rolson,

                              were on the football team as well. Chris

                              was usually double teamed because of his

                              re-known and Jeff, well Jeff just hit people HARD!!!

 

 

The girls basketball team had some nice seasons though it is confusing on when the program was begun. Keeping with the thought that the girls' program started when we believe the school was established, the following are the best of the Lady Blue Devil seasons. Note that the main coach at FCMHS was Mike Hendricks, who coached the Lady Blue Devil program from 1975-76 through 1984-85.

 

1974-75    7 - 2                                                     Coach Joe Basillo

1976-77    7 - 6                                                     Coach Mike Hendricks

1977-78    9 - 6                                                     Coach Mike Hendricks

1979-80  18 - 5                                                      Coach Mike Hendricks

1980-81  17 - 6                                                      Coach Mike Hendricks

1981-82  12 - 11                                                    Coach Mike Hendricks

1983-84  15 - 7                                                      Coach Mike Hendricks

1984-85  19 - 4                                                      Coach Mike Hendricks

 

 

The Lady Blue Devils could score some points as well. On January 16th, 1981, Farmer City-Mansfield defeated Fisher in Sangamon Valley Conference play 104-2 (that is correct) for one of the widest margins of victory in IHSA history. FC-M started out with 68 points in the first half before settling down to win the game.

 

 

The boys' basketball team won their only regional title in the first year of existence. The 1971-72 and 1973-74 teams won their Regional titles.  The 1973-74 team was led under the guidance of Coach Don Steers. Unfortunately, no other Blue Devil teams or records are listed on the IHSA web site.

 

 

 

The Lady Bowlers of Farmer City-Mansfield High had a great year their first year of competition. The team of 1973-74 won their DIstrict and qualified for the State Meet.

 

 

 

 

For a small school, FCMHS did not mind mixing with the big schools. The girls competed in field hockey while it was offered by the IHSA. The teams of 1977 and 1978 in fact, won their sectionals and found themselves in the top 8 and final 4, respectively. The 1978 team just missed a championship match by losing in the semifinals, 1-0, to a school about 10 times their size, New Trier West!!

 

                           Lost to New Trier West in quarterfinals, 3-2

 

                           Lost to New Trier West HS 1-0, in semifinals

 

 

The boys baseball program had some nice seasons as well. In their inaugral season of 1971-72, the team won the Sangamon Valley Conference championship that spring!

 

 

 

Please contact us via e-mail at veemonster1@yahoo.com. We are interested in all facets of Farmer City-Mansfield High School, not just the sports. We are especially interested in a photo of the school building. You can also write to us via real mail at:

 

Chicago, Il.   60631