Indians take 'Cane for memorable win
By
Bob Patton-
Bill Damron took the reins of the McClain football program in the fall of 1963, as 51 boys reported for the opening practice. Overall, the team would be slightly bigger than the 1962 team, but team speed was still mediocre at best. Dale Allen, Jim Legg, Fred Raike, George Barnes and Sam Borst would serve as Damron’s assistant coaches.
David “Oracle” Myers of the Wilmington newspaper, who annually predicted all local high school games right into November, conceded the purple and gold one chance for a win – against Pleasant View. But, he added, “The Pleasant View vs. McClain game could well result in a scoreless tie, or even a double forfeit.”
In Hillsboro, Coach Bill Atsalis, back for an unprecedented fourth year would be fielding a big, veteran team, and was expecting to be in the thick of the race for the SCOL title. When Atsalis came to Hillsboro, in 1959, only 17 or 18 boys had come out for the first practice. He had built the program up. Hillsboro now had a freshman team. They even had a junior high team. They had won no league championships under Atsalis, but, at least they were a factor in the league.
Big halfback Marvin Meddock was back, along with quarterback Jim McConnaughey, fullback Jim Burkett and Ken Kessler. The Indians would be much bigger and much faster than McClain, this year.
Five of the eight SCOL teams won their opening games. Hillsboro easily rolled over Paint Valley, 38-0, Miami Trace edged Northeastern, 22-20, Wilmington beat rugged Hamilton Taft, 28-24, Circleville got the best of Olentangy, 7-0 and Pleasant View took Grove City, 16-12. McClain was mauled by Columbus St. Charles, 33-7, Mifflin edged Franklin Heights, 8-7 and WCH lost to Xenia, 60-0.
After a couple more weeks of non-league competition, the first week of league play got under way with Hillsboro beating the Tigers, 36-22 at Hillsboro, Wilmington shelling Miami Trace, 34-0, Circleville took Pleasant View, 19-6 for their 19th consecutive win and Washington downed Franklin Heights, 26-6.
The first week of October, a four-way tie was broken when both Hillsboro and Washington met defeat. The Indians traveled to Franklin Heights to face the winless Falcons – who looked like champion and won, 28-22 (this was Franklin Heights’ only win of the season), and Circleville took the measure of Washington, 7-0. Washington failed to capitalize on no less than seven Circleville fumbles, and Circleville intercepted a Blue Lion pass late in the fourth quarter to score the game’s only touchdown But Circleville’s All-Ohio fullback of 1962, Duke Fyffe, twisted a leg in the third quarter and would be out for the rest of the season.
On Oct. 11, Hillsboro fumbled on the one-yard line at Washington C.H., allowing the Blue Lions to win their third game of the season, 14-8. Meanwhile, at Wilmington, the Fyffeless Circleville Tigers were edged by the Hurricane, 22-21 on an extra points pass with 1:50 left in the game. This was Circleville’s first loss in 21 games and extended a streak of 11 straight wins for Wilmington.
League coaches met the next Tuesday in Washington C.H. Not present were the coaches of Pleasant View and Franklin Heights, the two schools which would depart the SCOL at the end of the 1963-64 school year to join the new South Suburban League of Columbus.
All the remaining SCOL schools would have two open dates on their schedules near the end of the season, when it was very difficult to schedule games. The schools all needed to scramble to find teams that they could schedule for those dates.
McClain High School announced that lovely senior cheerleader Ann Gessner would be crowned MHS Homecoming queen before the McClain vs. Wilmington game. Marilyn Bondurant was runner-up and would be the queen’s attendant, while Sandra Baxla would be senior attendant, Georgia Daly junior attendant, Sharon Stricker sophomore attendant and Margaret Massie would be freshman attendant.
The queen and her attendants were most attractive, but the game was ugly. Wilmington blasted the hapless Tigers, 34-0. The Hurricane emphasized their utter disdain for the Tigers on their first two drives of the game, when they chose to pass on fourth and 11 and fourth and 10 – and got away with it both times. The same night, Circleville took an 18-8 win at Hillsboro, Miami Trace shocked WCH, 22-12 and Pleasant View romped over Franklin Heights, 46-14.
October 25 saw the Miami Trace Panthers visit Hillsboro. M-T was on a roll, having scorched Washington a week earlier. But the Indians were not to be denied on this night. Jim McConnaughey hit end Phil Lucas on a 60-yard pass play in the fourth quarter as the Indians took the lead. Lineman Mike Duckwall killed the Panthers chances of a comeback when he intercepted a pass at the 30-yard line and took it back to the 10, icing the upset win for the Indians.
McClain finally got in the win column Nov. 1, when they edged Franklin Heights, 22-20. In Washington C.H., Wilmington frustrated the Blue Lions’ upset hopes by registering an unusual win by a score of 2-0. The win guaranteed the Hurricane at least a share of the league title. Circleville beat Trace, 14-6 and Hillsboro downed Pleasant View, 16-8.
On Nov. 8, the Hillsboro Indians traveled to Wilmington, where they pulled off the upset of the year by calming the Hurricane and taking home a 14-8 victory. The Indians’ defense was just too tough for the Hurricane to figure out. Jim Burkett led the defense with 16 tackles, Dale Martin and Doug Wagoner had 10 each. Byron Jacob and Joe Thompson each had 9. This was a memorable win for the Hillsboro program. This upset enabled Circleville to climb into a first-place tie with Wilmington. Many were of the opinion that Circleville was the best team in the league, anyway. Wilmington had beaten the Tigers by one point at Wilmington without Duke Fyffe, Circleville’s All-Ohio
linebacker.
Final league standings for the 1963 SCOL season were:
Circleville – 9-1 6-1
Wilmington – 9-1 6-1
Hillsboro – 6-4 4-3
Washington – 5-5 4-3
Pleasant View – 5-5 3-4
Miami Trace – 4-6 3-4
McClain – 1-9 1-6
Franklin Hts. – 1-9 1-6
The All-SCOL football team was dominated by Wilmington and Circleville. Wilmington end John Patton was named honorary offensive captain. He was joined on the offensive unit by Robert Purcell (E) of Circleville, Howard Fletcher (T) of Circleville,
Tom Doyle (T) of McClain, Moe Gary (G) of Miami Trace, Jeff Daniels (G) of Wilmington, Mike Wallace (C) of Wilmington, Tom Tootle (QB) of Circleville, Bucky Scott (HB) of Wilmington and Dave Jenkins (FB) of Miami Trace. Dave Johns (G) of WCH. was named honorary defensive captain. Also named were Jack Carder (E), Scott Fortune (E) and Mike Wilson (T) all of Wilmington, Bob Wilson (T) of Washington, Garry Betts (C) of Circleville, Len Patterson (C) of Wilmington), Duke Fyffe (LB) of Circleville, Cleve Matheny (LB) of Franklin Heights, Dave Bass (S) of Circleville and Jim Bailey (safety) of Wilmington.
And, another season was in the books.
Bob Patton is a Highland County sports historian and a contributing writer to The Highland County Press.[[In-content Ad]]
David “Oracle” Myers of the Wilmington newspaper, who annually predicted all local high school games right into November, conceded the purple and gold one chance for a win – against Pleasant View. But, he added, “The Pleasant View vs. McClain game could well result in a scoreless tie, or even a double forfeit.”
In Hillsboro, Coach Bill Atsalis, back for an unprecedented fourth year would be fielding a big, veteran team, and was expecting to be in the thick of the race for the SCOL title. When Atsalis came to Hillsboro, in 1959, only 17 or 18 boys had come out for the first practice. He had built the program up. Hillsboro now had a freshman team. They even had a junior high team. They had won no league championships under Atsalis, but, at least they were a factor in the league.
Big halfback Marvin Meddock was back, along with quarterback Jim McConnaughey, fullback Jim Burkett and Ken Kessler. The Indians would be much bigger and much faster than McClain, this year.
Five of the eight SCOL teams won their opening games. Hillsboro easily rolled over Paint Valley, 38-0, Miami Trace edged Northeastern, 22-20, Wilmington beat rugged Hamilton Taft, 28-24, Circleville got the best of Olentangy, 7-0 and Pleasant View took Grove City, 16-12. McClain was mauled by Columbus St. Charles, 33-7, Mifflin edged Franklin Heights, 8-7 and WCH lost to Xenia, 60-0.
After a couple more weeks of non-league competition, the first week of league play got under way with Hillsboro beating the Tigers, 36-22 at Hillsboro, Wilmington shelling Miami Trace, 34-0, Circleville took Pleasant View, 19-6 for their 19th consecutive win and Washington downed Franklin Heights, 26-6.
The first week of October, a four-way tie was broken when both Hillsboro and Washington met defeat. The Indians traveled to Franklin Heights to face the winless Falcons – who looked like champion and won, 28-22 (this was Franklin Heights’ only win of the season), and Circleville took the measure of Washington, 7-0. Washington failed to capitalize on no less than seven Circleville fumbles, and Circleville intercepted a Blue Lion pass late in the fourth quarter to score the game’s only touchdown But Circleville’s All-Ohio fullback of 1962, Duke Fyffe, twisted a leg in the third quarter and would be out for the rest of the season.
On Oct. 11, Hillsboro fumbled on the one-yard line at Washington C.H., allowing the Blue Lions to win their third game of the season, 14-8. Meanwhile, at Wilmington, the Fyffeless Circleville Tigers were edged by the Hurricane, 22-21 on an extra points pass with 1:50 left in the game. This was Circleville’s first loss in 21 games and extended a streak of 11 straight wins for Wilmington.
League coaches met the next Tuesday in Washington C.H. Not present were the coaches of Pleasant View and Franklin Heights, the two schools which would depart the SCOL at the end of the 1963-64 school year to join the new South Suburban League of Columbus.
All the remaining SCOL schools would have two open dates on their schedules near the end of the season, when it was very difficult to schedule games. The schools all needed to scramble to find teams that they could schedule for those dates.
McClain High School announced that lovely senior cheerleader Ann Gessner would be crowned MHS Homecoming queen before the McClain vs. Wilmington game. Marilyn Bondurant was runner-up and would be the queen’s attendant, while Sandra Baxla would be senior attendant, Georgia Daly junior attendant, Sharon Stricker sophomore attendant and Margaret Massie would be freshman attendant.
The queen and her attendants were most attractive, but the game was ugly. Wilmington blasted the hapless Tigers, 34-0. The Hurricane emphasized their utter disdain for the Tigers on their first two drives of the game, when they chose to pass on fourth and 11 and fourth and 10 – and got away with it both times. The same night, Circleville took an 18-8 win at Hillsboro, Miami Trace shocked WCH, 22-12 and Pleasant View romped over Franklin Heights, 46-14.
October 25 saw the Miami Trace Panthers visit Hillsboro. M-T was on a roll, having scorched Washington a week earlier. But the Indians were not to be denied on this night. Jim McConnaughey hit end Phil Lucas on a 60-yard pass play in the fourth quarter as the Indians took the lead. Lineman Mike Duckwall killed the Panthers chances of a comeback when he intercepted a pass at the 30-yard line and took it back to the 10, icing the upset win for the Indians.
McClain finally got in the win column Nov. 1, when they edged Franklin Heights, 22-20. In Washington C.H., Wilmington frustrated the Blue Lions’ upset hopes by registering an unusual win by a score of 2-0. The win guaranteed the Hurricane at least a share of the league title. Circleville beat Trace, 14-6 and Hillsboro downed Pleasant View, 16-8.
On Nov. 8, the Hillsboro Indians traveled to Wilmington, where they pulled off the upset of the year by calming the Hurricane and taking home a 14-8 victory. The Indians’ defense was just too tough for the Hurricane to figure out. Jim Burkett led the defense with 16 tackles, Dale Martin and Doug Wagoner had 10 each. Byron Jacob and Joe Thompson each had 9. This was a memorable win for the Hillsboro program. This upset enabled Circleville to climb into a first-place tie with Wilmington. Many were of the opinion that Circleville was the best team in the league, anyway. Wilmington had beaten the Tigers by one point at Wilmington without Duke Fyffe, Circleville’s All-Ohio
linebacker.
Final league standings for the 1963 SCOL season were:
Circleville – 9-1 6-1
Wilmington – 9-1 6-1
Hillsboro – 6-4 4-3
Washington – 5-5 4-3
Pleasant View – 5-5 3-4
Miami Trace – 4-6 3-4
McClain – 1-9 1-6
Franklin Hts. – 1-9 1-6
The All-SCOL football team was dominated by Wilmington and Circleville. Wilmington end John Patton was named honorary offensive captain. He was joined on the offensive unit by Robert Purcell (E) of Circleville, Howard Fletcher (T) of Circleville,
Tom Doyle (T) of McClain, Moe Gary (G) of Miami Trace, Jeff Daniels (G) of Wilmington, Mike Wallace (C) of Wilmington, Tom Tootle (QB) of Circleville, Bucky Scott (HB) of Wilmington and Dave Jenkins (FB) of Miami Trace. Dave Johns (G) of WCH. was named honorary defensive captain. Also named were Jack Carder (E), Scott Fortune (E) and Mike Wilson (T) all of Wilmington, Bob Wilson (T) of Washington, Garry Betts (C) of Circleville, Len Patterson (C) of Wilmington), Duke Fyffe (LB) of Circleville, Cleve Matheny (LB) of Franklin Heights, Dave Bass (S) of Circleville and Jim Bailey (safety) of Wilmington.
And, another season was in the books.
Bob Patton is a Highland County sports historian and a contributing writer to The Highland County Press.[[In-content Ad]]