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SEATTLE CAVALIERS
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"Elmo" Hudgens founded the Cavaliers in 1939. From 1971 through 1986 the Northwest Football League Championship Trophy carried his name in memory. Elmo ran the Cavaliers for almost 30 years. They played semi-pro teams, junior colleges and four-year universities. In fact, on more than one occasion, Elmo took the Cavaliers up North for a weekend where they would play Simon Fraser University using American rules on Saturday and turn around on Sunday and play the University of British Columbia using Canadian rules. Usually they would win both games. He was a man who did more for semi-pro football than the NWFL archives could ever document. I am proud to have called him a friend. Please add his name to the archives of the NWFL as they would most certainly be incomplete without the name of Elmo Hudgens.
Phil Warnock bought the team from Elmo Hudgens Warnock took the Cavaliers out of the NWFL and they played an independent traveling schedule - including the Racine Raiders, San Jose Bandits, Brooklyn Mariners, Orange County Crush, Pueblo Crusaders, DuPage Eagles, etc. Warmock had played college ball at Washington State and then played guard for the Cavaliers before buying the team..
Steve Matychowiak: "I don't see how he (Warnock) did it. He treated us very well. We had travel bags and everything, the full nine yards. We'd take trainers, a couple of doctors, a full coaching staff, 35-40 players on the plane and then he'd rent vans to shuttle us places."
Rob Diebold: In 1990, the Cavaliers came out much as they had in '88 and '89, with big aspirations and a national schedule. As a tune up for that schedule, the Cavs played the Sno-King Blue Knights and beat them 33-14. It would be the only game they would play that year. The owners of the Cavaliers bailed out due to finances, and the team was given the option of trying to play the national schedule, playing a local NWFL schedule, or calling it a season. The players, sick of the turmoil within the team since the end of 1989 (when the season ended early, also due to financial reasons), decided to disband the team, and went on to play for their local NWFL teams (some to Sno-King Blue Knights, some to PC Bengals).
Pat Dugan
Quarterback
West Seattle Warhawks, Steelers, Seattle Cavaliers
1984-1990
| West
Seattle Warhawks vs. Bellevue Express 1984 |
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| West Seattle Warhawk QB Pat Dugan attempts a pass under heavy pressure from #69 Eugene "Cheeseburger" Bruce. Warhawk RB Malo Roe (#40) is also pictured. |
| Seattle
Cavaliers vs Orange County Rhinos 1989 |
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"We won the game and the buses never showed up at the Hotel. That's when the Cavaliers began to unravel." -QB Patrick Dugan "I remember Orange County coming out of their locker room about 80 players strong. It was a bad neighborhood. I remember Softli tellin me that if we win we better get the hell outta dodge quickly. I remember going to Disneyland with Pompeo, and I could have swore Rob went too, but geez, that was what, 18, 19 years ago." -K/P Dave Broussard "It was
a tough defensive struggle, with the Cavs winning 3-0 (I was the
lucky center to long-snap that day; Dave can tell you the field-goal
snap was okay, but my punt snaps were crap). The Orange County game
was played at a back field at Anaheim High School. There was no
scoreboard, and the stands only went from about the 10 yard line
to the 40 yard line on one side. For a game as crucial as this one
(OC was ranked in the Top 5 at the time, just below our #3 ranking),
I was shocked that we were on a field as grungy as this one (but
what did I know? I was a minor-league rookie at the time). About
the only person in the stands was Mike Davis, one of our linebackers
who was injured at the time. I remember hearing him, as loud as
anything, shouting out "I'm goin' to Dinny-lan'!" at regular
intervals. The final should have been 10-0, as we had a TD called
back on a Pass Interference penalty (very similar to the Seahawks
penalty in the Super Bowl). |
| #5
Seattle Cavaliers vs #1 Racine Raiders 1989 |
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"We dominated them for most of the game, lost in the 4th quarter. We were ranked #5 and they were ranked #1." -QB Patrick Dugan "The Racine game was a big one, as #5 (us) took on the Raiders (#1) in front of a packed house (the most fans I've ever seen at a minor league game). The score was something like 7-6 Raiders at the half, but we ran out of steam in the second half for a 28-13 final (as I recall). We actually moved up in the rankings after that game from #5 to #3 because we were the first team in a long time to give them a close game. (They then lost to #2 Brooklyn Mariners, while we beat the former #3 team, the Freelancers.)" -center Rob Diebold "The Racine trip was wild, about 6,000 to 7,000 fans. We were kickin' their ass and then we got homered in the second half by the refs. I remember having a great game that day. It was warm, and Ipunted the hell out of the ball. I've got a cool picture from that one too. I remember getting beer poured on us and Hollis Mitchell makin side bets with fans. I remember we had nice hotels too." -K/P Dave Broussard |
| #3
Seattle Cavaliers vs Bellflower Bears/#3 LA Valley Freelancers ? Memorial Stadium Seattle, Washington 1989 |
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Seattle Cavaliers vs the Bellflower (CA) Bears in 1989 at Memorial Stadium. "We blew them out. Center Rob Diebold is to the left. Larry Bartinetti caught three TD's." -QB Patrick Dugan "As I recall, 'twasn't the Bellflower Bears, but the #3 in the nation LA Valley Freelancers (I've got a picture somewhere of the scoreboard at Memorial Stadium). We did indeed blow them out by a score of 34-2. Their only points came on a botched punt snap that went about 30 yards in the air (nearly hitting the back wall of the stadium on the fly). Our long snapper that day felt like he wasn't getting a good grip and put "stickum" on his hand. Then I guess he had TOO much grip. The LA Valley
Freelancers were highly ranked nationally, but I have no idea why.
They might have been good down in the LA area, but they had a LOT
of holes. Their offense relied on a quick QB with a big arm, which
they needed because they really didn't have much of an o-line to
protect him. Their defense, well... The guy they started at NG against
me was a short, heavy little dude with no mobility. I recall a play
where we pitched out to Norm on a sweep left, and I fell down making
the hook block. To my surprise, I was still steps ahead of this
guy, and I was able to block him FROM MY KNEES. I may have been
a pretty good blocker, but if a guy can't get around me when I'm
on my knees, he's not very good. They guy they brought in to replace
him reeked of cologne. Either the bottle broke on the trip, or he
bathed in the stuff in the locker room before the game. I remember
thinking, "Who the hell wears cologne on the field?" Shoot,
I wanted to smell as horrible as possible while I was out there.
Mental advantage. Maybe smelling like a gigolo was HIS mental advantage.
Whatever, we still ran around, over, and through him all night.
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