As a scout and sophomore coach, I was very excited when I learned that I would be able to attend the big non-conference game in Snohomish early in the 1972 season. Freshman coach and scouting cohort, Mike McKnight and I were to be in the press box (on top of the stands at the old Snohomish stadium). We knew by that time that Chuck would probably want no conversation with us during the game. He would want us to leave right before the half and put Snohomish's defensive set/s on the chalk board in our locker-room. Little did we know that the game started badly for the blue and gold, and its wily mentor. As we lined-up to receive, Chuck looked out on the field, and saw we were missing our deep man. Our kickoff return "specialist" (which he dubbed himself) had decided to not suit that evening and ride the rooter bus to the game with his girlfriend. The opening half proceeded and the Wildcats had fallen behind a very good Panther eleven who skillfully employed a devastating wishbone offense. We got a call from the field. It was a very distraught Chuck. Wonders never cease. He boomed into my ear, "What the hell is going on out there?" The first words out of my mouth had to have been amongst the most ill-timed I have ever uttered. "They are running off tackle...." That's as far as I got. In my defense the words never heard would have been "....because ( junior LB not to be named) was not playing his off tackle gap." Expletives deleted. We knew we would hear about this at the half. To make things worse as the intermission approached, McKnight and I were locked out of the locker-room which we had to walk through a swamp into the next county to reach. This obviously didn't make Chuck happy. Well, when we finally got into the dressing area, guess who got the lion's share of Chuck's halftime vent? Perhaps, Chuck's ardor to verbally whip his two assistants for our "they're running off tackle..." comment caused another assistant, John Stoecker, to not tell Chuck when it was time to go back out for the second half. Yup, we got a penalty, and as I recall when that was protested another. Geez, why not just give Snohomish another touchdown. We got shutout that evening. In the post-game locker-room, McKnight and I huddled together in a remote comer. Chuck opened up again and gave us both barrels as he proceeded to take his ritualistic post game shower. As often occurs when a team travels, we were in the girl's locker-room. There were four shower heads connected to one large feeder pole and each was divided from the other with a gray, metal partition. As Chuck washed he interrupted his red-faced rant and turned to West High Athletic Trainer Al Smith who was smart enough to remain uncharacteristically quiet and said rather calmly, "Hey, Smitty, how in the hell does a gal with big boobs shower in one of these things." Definitely, an evening I will always remember.

Lane C. Dowell - Wildcat assistant football coach

I moved to Bremerton in the middle of my 8th grade year so the first time I saw Chuck was when I showed up for practice as a freshman. The varsity was already practicing and I remember hanging around the practice field behind the high school and watching this guy I'd heard so much about in the short time I lived here. Chuck, wearing white t-shirt, was like a bear on the prowl, growling and barking the whole time. I witnessed my first short, swift, soccer-style kick to the butt that day. My eyes bugged out. Chuck (never Coach Semancik, always Chuck) had kicked a player in the butt. While I was in school, I never realized what a great motivator he was. But he did it his way. Chuck approached me towards the end of my junior school year and quietly said, "Stark, you know I've never had a bad fullback." Then he turned around and walked away, letting him stew on those words all summer. Years later, as a reporter at the Bremerton Sun, I was covering the playoff game against No. 1-ranked Sumner in which star running back Tony Boddie was knocked out in the second half with an injury. He took a cheap shot while fair-catching the ball against Sumner. Tony, who would go on to play in the NFL, was clearly hurt. But Semancik never liked injuries ("Cripes, why'd you do that," he ask players after spraining ankles or blowing knees, as if they wanted to). Anyway, Semanick railed on Boddie, asking him if he could play. He wanted to make sure the kid was hurt. As he turned away from Tony, he spotted me on the sidelines and winked. Some might have argued with the method, but old Chuck knew what he was doing. I always got a kick out of Chuck calling three-year starter and all-state player Jim Spencer "Smitty." And while teaching a P.E. class on basketball, he taught the "bowling ball pass." Yeah, he actually rolled the ball full court like a bowling ball, as if it was a key fundamental to playing the sport. I remember going to Husky football games with him on Saturdays. We'd jump on the ferry and join a bunch of other high school coaches and players in this room near Husky Stadium. Husky coaches would come in and out to talk prior to their game and it wasn't unusual for Semancik to tell the Husky coaching staff what they should be doing and what they were doing wrong. I can still see Chuck driving his Buick Wildcat into his parking spot behind the school.

- Chuck Stark, West High, class of 1971

Many think Chuck's football coaching career is synonymous with just the Bremerton area. Actually, Semancik's first job was in Aberdeen, Washington where he coached the 19941-42 seasons before he enlisted in the US Navy. After the war Chuck returned to the Bobcats sideline for two more seasons, 1946-47. The annual turkey day tussle between Hoquiam and Aberdeen was much like the Apple Cup, Army-Navy game, and many of our nation's most intense rivalries. Thousands fans would cross the one small street (Myrtle) separating the two cities to claim bragging rights for a year. Many said that a coaches job hinged on the contest's outcome. Chuck took a 3-0 Turkey Day record into the 1947 game played on a bright, clear Fall day at Aberdeen's Stewart Field in front of 6,500 screaming fans. A young Hoquiam squad led by first year Head Coach "Blackjack" Swarthout and a junior quarterback, Jack Elway (yup, the daddy of the Denver Broncos John Elway) clung to slim lead at the half. Chuck, true to his "hate-to-loose," very intense form, came up with the ultimate in half-time motivation for his 'Cats. Semancik told his charges that if they didn't come back and defeat the Grizzlies that he would resign. Aberdeen played well in the second half, but succumbed to Hoquiam who scored a touchdown in the final seconds to nail-down a 22-7 victory sending Coach Semancik out of Grays Harbor with a 3-1 record in the Big Game. And now for the rest of the story. At the time no one knew that Semancik had already taken a job for the next year at Bremerton High which was closer to his hometown of Tacoma.

- As told to Lane C. Dowell by Jack "Blackjack" Swarthout (deceased) who had other coaching stints at, among others, the University of Montana, University of Texas and Olympia's Capital High.

I remember once I was over weight for a match in which we weighed in at West before we went to East for the match. ChucK made me run to the match at East. I lost.

- Ken Tropple

Playing on Chuck's team wasn't easy as a sophomore. The upperclassmen made sure we knew our place by always having us sit up front during half-time, so that we were the first line of defense against Chuck's wrath. Before practice we were to go out on the field and find any rocks, sticks, or clumps of dirt. The juniors and seniors told us to pick them up and hide them to prevent Chuck from throwing them at the varsity players when they screwed-up.

- Jim Carlson...Bremerton High Class of 1954

Chuck and both had 3rd lunch and since the gym and my classroom were both close to the cafeteria , we usually sat close so I got to know Chuck very well. Our common interest was fishing. Chuck loved to fish, especially for steelhead and since he had taught in Grays Harbor, his favorite spot was the Humptulips River northwest of Aberdeen. He invited me to go with him on a couple of these excursions. Early morning, before daylight, in his black Buick we would head for the coast. I don't remember great fishing success but the fishing stories and camaraderie were great. I did learn that when Chuck was driving, and we got into traffic it was best to stop the stories and concentrate on the driving! Great memories. Another lunch incident that sticks in my mind concerns Chuck and George Manztke. The day after a game George would come and make some comment to Chuck in a second guessing sort of way and Chuck would rise to the bait. One day as this was happening, Fred Graham came in and said "what are you guys arguing about." Whereupon Chuck, with all the indignity that he could muster, said "We're not arguing, I'm just telling him." When George put on a musical performance, Chuck would without fail the next day make some slightly critical remark or question. This went on for years!

- Ivan Summers...teacher/administrator Bremerton Schools 1956-1985.

Chuck coached tough, because he always wanted his guys to play tough. He never wanted us to be "out-toughed." Two incidents come to mind that illustrate this. The first was during my sophomore year when many of us sophomores got to suit for the Central Kitsap game. We all knew our place for the "halftime talk" in Room 8...up front...close to Chuck. I guess some of us wondered why we would get the good seats while the guys doing most of the playing were in the back of the room. When Chuck's heavy teacher's desk went flying across the room, we understood our role. We were the buffer between those who played and a very intense coach. Man, our eyes must have been as big as 50 cent pieces while our brains were sending the message, "Are you sure you want to be part of this for two more years." We learned it was Chuck's way of showing us what he wanted us to do to the Cougars. In a sophomore's eyes, he was scary tough! Another memory was the first game of my senior year where we took the long ride to play Hudson's Bay of Vancouver, WA at cavernous Kiggins Bowl. The visitors locker room was a long narrow cement "tunnel," a bench on each side, a hook for our clothes and with barred, open windows that looked right out at the track. It stunk. Neither team scored in the first half. I guess Chuck was upset, because we were not playing to his expectations. We seniors and the coaching staff knew what was coming at the half, except for one, new, young assistant coach. For the sake of anonymity, we'll call him Thor. Coach Thor made the mistake of wandering up the aisle to speak to a player, just as a red-faced Chuck entered the locker room. Semancik kicked a helmet almost of the length of the narrow dressing area, hitting the other starting guard in his badly sprained left ankle. One could see the pain etched on the player's face, but he dared not let out a peep. The only noise was that of one astonished young coach scampering back into the lavatory to evade Chuck's wrath. Oh, we came back and won the game 14-0...thanks to Chuck's "wake-up call," East Right and Ed Quinn's two TD's behind some good blocking. Chuck limped the rest of the season and never told anyone about want was probably a broken bone in his foot. The receiver of the helmet-kick never missed a game that season.

- Don Rasor...West High Class of 1972

During my junior year as the heavyweight on the West High wrestling team, I learned something about my coach. Chuck was the type of coach that we all knew that if we did not perform up to expectations, we'd better head for the visitor's bench rather than come back for what we knew would be a good butt chewin'. However, while participating at the regional tournament in Olympia, I overheard Chuck talking with our team captain, Rich Kabelac on the way back to our hotel. The question was what did Kabelac, a mid-weight, think would be best meal for the smaller guys to eat that evening. Kabby responded that he thought omelets would be good. Chuck said, " Omelets for all it is." I learned that he did value the opinions of others who were in the know and that what was good for part of his team, was good for all of his team.

- Albert Ungren...West High Class of 1972

During the fall of 1975, we were playing Mt. Tahoma on the sand and grit of the Lincoln Bowl. As the sophomore (JV) coach, it was exciting for me to be attending my first varsity contest. Normally, my game night duties involved scouting the next week's opponent. Hey, Chuck, did you really look at my scouting reports. Oh, well, perhaps that's another story. I was excited to be high above the field in the coaches-booth with my phone to communicate to our sideline. At halftime Chuck told me to leave early and put the defensive set/s the Thunderbirds were using on the chalk board. As the half approached I descended the stairs to the little cement bunker that passed for a locker room at the west end of the bowl and quickly etched the Mt. Tahoma defense on the scared piece of slate which was loosing the battle after years of chalk applications. Our team had a four touchdown advantage over the normally leather-tough Tacoma eleven and was quite pleased and jovial as they entered the cavernous dressing area. Yikes, do you think anyone ever really showered in that place? Oh, well Some of the seniors were even brave enough to sit in the front. From what I had heard, this was not the custom. Chuck entered the cramped quarters that I swear were older than he. The walls crusted with years of etchings looked like something out of the days of a Neanderthal man. One could sense that he was not pleased as he surveyed the room. He turned to the board, and his face started to redden. I must add that his three assistants (Bob Izzi, Lane Dowell, and me) were dutifully lined-up a safe distance from Chuck and near the door. The wily coach then uttered in a voice that could be heard at the top of the Bowl the words I will remember forever. "Arggghhh, and you let him do it. YOU LET HIM DO IT!!! It's backwards, damn-it, and you guys let him do it. You damn harbor guys are all alike." All three of us were from Grays Harbor (Dowell and I from Hoquiam and Izzi from Aberdeen) where Chuck had started his coaching career at Aberdeen in 1942. Then with big sweeping motions, he erased the board and then chalked it up the same way. I looked quizzically at Izzi and Dowell. Both had a knowing smirk on their faces, however they dared not laugh. Chuck always wanted the Blue and Gold offense ("O's") to be on the top. Not the way I put it up. However, that was not a concern this night, for he put it up the same way I had with the inverted "V's", representing the defense on the top. I later learned that Semancik just wanted to set the mood for the second half. Chuck received the sought-after effect dead silence. No matter what the score, he always said before we went back out, "Remember, it's 0-0." That was the mentality with which he wanted us to approach the last half. This is not what he saw on his team's faces when he entered the locker room.

- Chuck Huhta Assistant Football Coach West High

Reading Coach Huhta's story reminded me of a similar situation. It was during the football season of my senior year, 1973 and we were leading South Kitsap at halftime on their home field 42-0. Like Huhta said, Chuck used to always tell us when we were ahead at the half to play the rest of the game like it was 0-0. How in the hell do you motivate a team to play with great intensity when they have destroyed their opponent in half number one? Well, Chuck resorted to his traditionally, intense personality and used me as the fall-guy. It was a very sloppy field that night and as my teammates came in for the break, I used a tongue depressor to clean the mud from their cleats. Chuck must have spent five minutes chewing me out, because I was not doing it the right way the Chuck way. Finally, he grabbed the wooden stick from me and almost wrenched O'Brien's knee as he pulled his foot up to show me how to properly clean the mud from a football shoe. I never did learn the proper procedure. I swear to god that his technique was no different than mine. As funny as this may seem decades later, we grew dead silent knowing not to break Chuck's desired atmosphere as he went about the task of freeing the SK muck from Mike's shoes. It wasn't so much the cleaning of the cleats that mattered as it was re-establishing the intensity to play well the second half.

- Bruce Fingarson West High Class of 1974