Celebrating Accomplishment
& Community
The Mural's Story
A group of creative and forward-thinking citizens in Exeter came together in 1996 around the idea of creating an outdoor art gallery in the downtown area as a way of attracting people to make Exeter a destination. They created a committee, met with a consultant, raised money, solicited mural artists, selected topical themes that highlighted Exeter’s history and began to paint high-quality murals on the walls of local businesses.
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Twenty-five years later, those ideas have been proven a fabulous success. Local antique shops, the historical museum and the presence of over thirty murals within walking distance all functioned to bring a new identity and economic vitality to Exeter.
In the spirit of those who made the Exeter murals happen, this mural about a football team that won two state championships a century ago was born.
Their story is a compelling one and a testament to the spirit, creativity, confidence and can-do attitude of those young WW1 veterans.
This mural was done by the leading mural artist in the region, Colleen Mitchell-Veyna and her partner, Kelsey Gilles. Colleen has done six of Exeter’s murals, making her more prolific than any other mural artist in Exeter.
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The mural of the “Invincibles” was made possible by the generosity of David Nielsen, owner of Nielsen & Associates Insurance. David was motivated to sponsor this mural because of his father and great-grandfather’s love of football. David’s great-grandfather, Bill Springer is featured in the mural and labeled as the “Father of Exeter Football.” Bill Springer grew up in New Jersey and played football as a teen and young man. He moved to Exeter when he married Etta Tienken from Lindsay. In 1915, Bill owned the “Springer’s Confectionary and Café” on Pine Street, the main street of Exeter.
Prior to 1915 sports, contests between high schools were limited and not very organized. In 1914, high school administrators throughout the state formed the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) to establish and govern rules and regulations around athletic competitions between schools in each region. One of the first rules was to make “American rules” football the standard instead of the previously played rugby games. When football season began in the fall of 1915, Bill Springer was called to coach the boys—he was the only one in town who knew the rules and had any idea how to conduct a practice or design a play. That team had a number of exceptional athletes who were eager to learn from him. They went on to win their first six games, scoring over 100 points in two of those wins.
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The Exeter community was infatuated with this football team. When they were scheduled to play also undefeated Selma in the big game, the Exeter Chamber leaders wrote a letter to the Selma Chamber requesting the use of the Selma City Park for a large BBQ for Exeter fans traveling to Selma for that game. The word went out to all Exeter owners of cars or trucks to meet downtown, load up fans and caravan to Selma. The cars, with hundreds of fans, paraded down Selma’s main street cheering on their way to the park for the big pre-game party. It was all very good-natured sportsmanship. The Selma newspaper, nervous about Exeter’s team and in an effort to encourage local attendance, before the game wrote, “Exeter is planning to invade Selma in a body next Saturday and the S.U.H.S might find itself out-yelled on its own field.” All downtown businesses in both towns were closed for the day.
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Unfortunately for Bill Springer’s boys, they came up short that Saturday afternoon in Selma, 20-3. Selma beat Dinuba later for the Valley Championship-second division. That season helped create the community appetite for football success. Five years later, after American entry into the Great War (WW1) and the service of many of these same young men, a semi-pro league of adult football sprang up around the state. Exeter prevailed over Selma in two of those later meetings and tied 0-0 in the third.
When David’s father, Bill Nielsen was growing up in Exeter, he was keenly aware of his Grandfather Springer’s role in coaching that first EUHS football team to a record of 6-1-1. But when asked about it in 2019, he replied,
“He really didn’t talk that much about the high school team he coached but talked non-stop about the ‘town team’ that won two state championships.”
This statement required further research since virtually no one in Exeter had any idea that there was once a state championship football team so long ago. That research is what led to this mural and the celebration of the “Invincibles.” Their exploits are a part of Exeter’s history, and the men of that era went on to make significant contributions to their communities. For a number of years, both Bill and David Nielsen have written checks to the EUHS football program to recognize their top player each year with the “Bill Springer Award.”
This mural is truly an homage to Bill Springer as much as to the men who played.
The Plaque
Located at the Mural
At age twenty-three, Jim Pogue and Al Griggs, both EUHS alumni, were key parts of putting together a semi pro football team to play as part of a large Exeter-Visalia celebration. One of the first Armistice Day events in 1920, it was sponsored by the
newly formed American Legion Post 94 in Exeter. Besides the high school and semi-pro football games scheduled, the event included airplane flyovers, a large parade, barbeques, patriotic speakers, a rodeo, races, boxing and wrestling matches, dancing, and fireworks, bringing an estimated 25,000 Tulare County citizens to town.
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The celebration was all about recognition for the U.S. servicemen in the Great War (WWI) and to honor those who died. Pogue recruited a number of high-profile college athletes from St. Mary’s, Cal Berkeley, Marquette, USC, Washington State, and Oregon State, to name a few. Pogue secured Reedley as the opposing team, and Exeter won 33-0.
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After the game, the players decided to seek more opponents from the region and continued together as a team. They kept winning, beating San Francisco for the state title and then Selma in a “challenge game.” The next year, they were more organized and formed an American Legion-sponsored league. Local farmer Charles Pruner fenced his large dirt lot west of Wilson School and built bleachers to seat 3,000 fans. This was at a time when Exeter’s population was about 1800. Exeter Sun Publisher Watt Clawson served as publicity chair, providing regular front-page articles about their successes.
Clawson dubbed them “The Invincibles.”
This team enjoyed immense popularity.
In the next season, they continued to win, including a battle against Bakersfield in the three-day 1921 Armistice Day event in Tulare, watched by over 5,000 fans. They went on to secure the second State Championship with their final win in San Bernardino, 13-0. Al Griggs was the Captain and Quarterback for all fourteen games. One notable Pogue recruit was Nebraska All American Paul Dobson who because of his short term with the team decided to make Exeter his home.
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This mural honors the accomplishments of this group of men during the time of the “Spanish Flu” pandemic, the women’s suffrage movement, prohibition, the beginning of Soviet Communist influence in the USA, and the start of a decade of prosperity in Exeter and the nation.
Painted by renowned mural artists CK Mural Team: Colleen Mitchell-Veyna and Kelsey Gilles.
Meet the Artists
CK Mural Team
This mural was done by the leading muralists, CK Mural Team, which consists of Colleen Mitchell-Veyna and Kelsey Gilles. Colleen has done six of Exeter’s murals, making her more prolific than any other mural artist in Exeter. Together their team has completed a vast amount of murals in the Central Valley and beyond.
