CRYSTAL FALLS – Rae Drake, 88, instrumental in bringing Kingsford High School football to prominence, died Monday at the Iron County Medical Care Facility.

Drake coached the Flivvers to eight conference titles in 13 years. Kingsford posted a 77-29 mark in that span.

Drake’s Flivvers of 1955, 1963 and 1964 took home the coveted Barber Trophy, awarded to the U.P.’s top football team.

The 1956 U.P. Coach of the Year led the Flivvers to winning streaks of 21 and 15 games.

Drake also won a pair of conference titles at downstate Hart and closed out his coaching career at West Iron County in Iron River.

“My career has had many high points and just a few low points,” Drake, a Stambaugh High School graduate, said after leaving the coaching ranks.

In 18 years of coaching high school football, 30 of Drake’s players went on to play college football.

Drake spent eight years coaching at Northern Michigan University. He was Rollie Dotsch’s defensive coordinator and later took over the Wildcats program for three seasons.

“This is my first love,” Drake said of football when returning to coaching at West Iron in 1983.

Drake, who earned degrees from Michigan State and Northern Michigan universities, started his coaching career in 1950 as an assistant at East Lansing High School.

Drake was elected to the U.P. Sports Hall of Fame in 1981 and Michigan High School Football Coaches Hall of Fame in 1998.

The Kingsford Football Alumni Scholarship was renamed the Rae Drake Kingsford Football Alumni Scholarship in 2009. The scholarship committee, in announcing the change, cited Drake’s dedication and significant contributions to the success of Kingsford Flivver football.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorial donations to the Rae Drake Kingsford Football Alumni Scholarship, 2000 Pyle Drive, Kingsford.

Services will be held Thursday at Jacobs Funeral Home in Iron River.