SCOL Sports History: Schlichter era in full swing at Miami Trace

  Fall was in the air. School was back in session, and local high schools were preparing for another football season.

   Mike Doyle was back for another season as head coach at Hillsboro. Fred Brisker was back at McClain for his third season, Moe Pfeifer was beginning his eleventh season at Washington C.H., Fred Zechman was back at Miami Trace. Madison Plains was back in the league but had a new coach, Robert Crable. 

   Coach Larry Cook had a lot of returning lettermen back at Circleville, and some of the experts around the league were saying that nobody would touch the red and black. But it seldom worked out that way. There were usually some upsets in the SCOL.

   The Miami Trace Panthers would once again open their season against Springfield Northeastern. The Panthers had some promising players, no doubt about that. Sam Grooms, a 6’2” 195-pound center, Greg Cobb, a 6 foot 195-pound tackle, John Schlichter, a 6’4” 205-pound end, Bill Hanners, another end, stood 6’2 and weighed in at 175, and, of course, their 6’2” sophomore quarterback sensation Art Schlichter made for a promising year in Fayette County.

   Washington opened their 1975 season with a league game with Madison Plains. The Blue Lions returned their whole offensive line from last year.

New coach Robert Crable at Madison Plains had only a little over 30 boys in uniform. Crable did not expect his Eagles to be in the thick of the race

this season. He was right. Washington crushed the Eagles, 27-0.

   For the fifth year in a row, MT beat up on the boys from Springfield Northeastern, 26-0.

   McClain played a brand new school, Westerville North, in its first year of competitive football, and with no seniors on its squad.  The Tigers shut out North, 28-0. Wilmington was trounced by Xenia, 20-6, and Hillsboro lost to New Richmond, 21-14.

   Circleville topped Chillicothe with Biff Bumgarner rambling for 162 yards in 30 carries. Unioto beat Paint Valley, 20-12. The second week of the 1975 season saw Washington destroy Chillicothe, 22-13. Circleville edged Teays Valley, 14-12. McClain was thumped by Springfield Shawnee, 28-13, and Wilmington walloped Clinton Massie, 33-0.

   Westfall took the measure of Madison Plains, 14-0. Portsmouth Notre Dame hammered Unioto, 34-14, and Trace got revenge against Jackson, 38-26.

   On Sept. 19, WCH downed Westerville North, 21-0, when the visiting Warriors fumbled five times, losing four, and had a series of costly

penalties. Also, Circleville defeated Athens, 13-0;  Unioto whipped Adena, 12-9; Wilmington beat Cincinnati Purcell, 22-6; and Hillsboro pummeled Zane Trace, 27-6.

   At long last, SCOL competition got into full swing on Sept. 26, when Circleville traveled to Madison Plains, McClain played at Wilmington,

Hillsboro took on the Blue Lions at Washington and Miami Trace challenged the Shermans at Unioto.

   The Blue Lions trampled the Indians, 32-0. Unioto gave Miami Trace a brutal battle until the fourth quarter, when the Panthers rang up 18 points and routed the Shermans, 34-14. At Wilmington, the Hurricane downed McClain, 12-7. Circleville ripped Madison Plains, 33-0, as the MP offense failed to score for the fourth game in a row. Washington ran roughshod over the Indians, 32-0, and allowed only 66 total yards. 

   In early October, McClain tangled with Circleville, or, rather, with Biff Bumgarner. The all-everything tailback carried the ball 27 times for

160 yards, mostly on sheer individual effort. He not only played the entire game on offense, he also anchored the defense which gave McClain fits. But, McClain played hard, and refused to back down.  The final score was Circleville 14 McClain 6.

   Elsewhere, Miami Trace used second stringers most of the second half, and drubbed Madison Plains, 55-6. MP did have cause to celebrate, though.

They scored their first six points of the season.  At Unioto, the Shermans fumbled the ball seven times and lost to Washington, 24-0. Wilmington’s Gary Williams scored both of the Hurricane’s touchdowns, one on a 56-yard scamper, and the Hurricane took a 14-0 win over Hillsboro. So, at this early stage of the season, the league standings were:

   Washington – 3-0, 5-0

   Circleville – 2-0, 5-0

   Miami Trace – 2-0, 5-0

   Wilmington – 2-0, 4-1

   Hillsboro – 0-2, 2-3

   McClain – 0-2, 2-3

   Unioto – 0-2, 2-3

   Madison Plains – 0-3, 0-5

   Washington provided the opposition for the McClain Homecoming game Oct. 12. In an exceptionally impressive ceremony, attractive MHS senior Miss Brenda Sparger was crowned prior to the game, along with her court, which included Queen’s Attendant Cindy West, Senior Attendant Leann McNeil, Junior Attendant Florence Cannon, Sophomore Attendant Jill McNeil and Freshman Attendant Jenny Schneider.

   To make the evening a complete success, the Tigers displayed a tremendous defensive effort and  shut out Washington, before a huge

Homecoming crowd, 7-0.

   Complementing McClain’s upset win, hapless Madison Plains won their first game of the season when they upset overconfident Unioto, 20-13. The key play of the game was a 99-yard touchdown run by Randy Maggard of the Golden Eagles. Also, Wilmington held Circleville’s Biff Bumgarner under 100 yards for the first time in the season. The Hurricane, however, had six turnovers in the game, and Circleville won, 21-0.

   Art Schlichter passed for 233 yards as MT thumped Hillsboro, 35-0.

   McClain’s win over WCH left Circleville and Miami Trace tied for the league lead with 3-0 SCOL and 6-0 overall records. Washington dropped to third place, and Madison Plains climbed out of the cellar with their upset win over Unioto.

   On Oct. 19, McClain, exhilarated after their upset of Washington C.H. the week before, was brought back to earth when they were clipped by Unioto 12-6 on a controversial last-second touchdown. Even though the touchdown probably should not have counted, it did, and this was a painful loss for the Tigers.

   Miami Trace’s vaunted defense held previously undefeated Circleville to a total of 36 yards of offense and downed the red and black, 14-0.

Washington C.H. downed tough Wilmington, 18-0, mainly due to three costly Wilmington fumbles. Hillsboro won their annual homecoming game against Madison Plains, 26-3.

   The following Friday McClain visited Hillsboro. With their regular quarterback and their backup quarterback out of the game due to illness and injury, along with their starting fullback, the Tigers demonstrated great depth by taking it to Hillsboro, 21-0.

   Sophomore quarterback Steve Wood played a great game, along with backup fullback Ralph Gallougher and reserve tailback Jim Ganger. This was the fourth shutout of the season for the Tigers. 

   In other league action, Wilmington stunned Miami Trace with a 6-6 tie coming immediately after the Panthers took over first place in the SCOL. 

Circleville handed Unioto a 20-2 drubbing as the red and black piled up 340 yards of offense after getting only 36 yards the week before. 

Washington defeated highly touted Portsmouth, 22-16, in a non-league contest, and Madison Plains pulled off a 19-12 non-league upset of

Cedarville.

   (To be continued next week.)

   Bob Patton is a Highland County sports historian and a contributing writer to The Highland County Press.