Join us on this WGIL podcast as Tom Milan, a 1957 Galesburg High School graduate and standout linebacker, reflects on the Silver Streaks’ historic 9-0 undefeated 1956 football season under Hall of Fame coach C.C. Van Dyke. Milan shares memories of the team’s dominant 359-39 scoring margin, key victories like the 13-0 shutout of Peoria Woodruff and the 51-0 rout of Limestone with its iconic “flying trapeze” play, and the camaraderie with stars like the Kimbrough twins—Albert and Elbert—who later excelled at Northwestern, with Elbert in the NFL—and quarterback Doug Mills, who played at Illinois. Hear about Van Dyke’s “one game at a time” philosophy, the 6,000 fans at Lombard Field, and Milan’s belief that the team could have won a state title, cementing the mid-1950s as Galesburg’s golden sports age.

Also: The Touchdown Twins and the 1956 undefeated Streaks

[caption id="attachment_685073" align="aligncenter" width="1188"] Tom Milan, GHS Class of 1957 and star linebacker on the undefeated 1956 Silver Streaks football team. Tom Milan, GHS Class of 1957 and star linebacker on the undefeated 1956 Silver Streaks football team. Tom is No. 35, sitting between Elbert and Albert Kimbrough. (WGIL)[/caption]