High hopes for HHS end with 5-5 record
By
Bob Patton-
When the 1964 SCOL football season opened in September, there
were six member schools instead of the eight members of the 1963
season. The two Columbus area schools, Pleasant View and Franklin Heights, had dropped out of the league to join the Southern Suburban League. Franklin Heights is still a high school, but Pleasant View is now a middle school in Franklin County.
Preseason football rankings really mean very little, because so
many things can happen that tend to change the picture dramatically. But Hillsboro and Wilmington were the pre-season favorites in
the SCOL and Hillsboro was the consensus leader by a slight margin. The sportswriters and sportscasters gave third place to Miami Trace, fourth to Washington, fifth to McClain and last place to Circleville. Circleville was co-champion of the league in 1963.
Could they sink all the way to the cellar in 1964? Had Bill Atsalis,
now in his sixth year, finally succeeded in building a league champion at Hillsboro?
It may very well be that expectations were a little too high in
Hillsboro. On Aug. 25, sportswriter Don Edwards had written a
column in which he declared, “In 1930, Hillsboro romped to an
undefeated league season and the SCOL crown, and has been romping ever since for a chance at the top spot. The whole team is convinced that this is their year, and I’ll go along with that.”
It is good to set high goals, and self-confidence is desirable. But I never thought a team should go into a season overconfident. There is not a team on the schedule that you couldn’t beat, if you play well. But there is not a team on the schedule that couldn’t beat you, if you do not play well.
The Indians rocked Lebanon, 46-0, and Milford, 25-0, in their first two games, and seemed to be off and running. They were beaten by Dayton Wilbur Wright in the third outing, 46-36, but Wilbur Wright was a good team out of a very large high school in east
Dayton. The Wilmington game was not only the first SCOL game of the season, but it marked the opening of a brand-new grandstand at Hillsboro, seating nearly 1,900 people. The overall crowd, on both sides, was estimated at around 3,500. The Indians were outgained on the ground 242 yards to 99 yards, and in the air 134 yards to 53. The Indians were just overmatched in this one. The final score was Wilmington 34- HHS 0, as the Hurricane’s Bucky Scott scored four touchdowns and a conversion for 26 points.
The Indians and the Tigers met the second week of the league season, at Greenfield. The Indians spoiled McClain’s homecoming festivities by upending
the Tigers, 18-8, as Lynn Dent and Jim Burkett ran wild on the McClain turf.
After two league games Wilmington and Circleville were each 2-0, McClain and Hillsboro were each 1-1 while Washington and Miami Trace were both 0-2. Wilmington led the league in total yardage. Hillsboro was second.
On Oct. 16, quarterback Jim McConnaughey threw three
touchdown passes to halfback Jim Dixon in the second quarter, and the Indians smashed the WCH Blue Lions, 27-0. Wilmington
beat Circleville, 12-0, the same night, to take the league lead with a 3-0 league record. Prior to the Washington game, Hillsboro Homecoming Queen Mary Lou
Cummings was crowned in an impressive ceremony. Carleen Miller was senior attendant, Connie Sheeley was junior attendant, Sherry Worley, sophomore attendant, Connie Hill, freshman attendant and Judy Collins represented the eighth grade.
The following Friday night, the Hillsboro Indians traveled to Circleville and were nipped by a score of 21-18, when Circleville outscored them 21-12 in the fourth quarter.
On Oct. 27, sportswriter Don Edwards announced that he was
leaving Hillsboro. He had done an excellent job in the year that he had been with the local paper. Edwards ended up in Fayette County. On Oct. 30, the Indians visited Miami Trace in the final SCOL game of the season. With both the passing attack and the ground game clicking well, the Hillsboro team rolled to an easy 28-0 win over the Panthers. This win put the Indians over the .500 mark in league play, with a final 3-2 league mark. However, it failed to better their league standing, as Circleville also won to take over second place, dropping the red and white to third.
Coach Donald Staggs’ Panthers were winless for the season.
The final SCOL standings for the 1964 season were:
Wilmington — 5-0
Circleville — 4-1
Hillsboro — 3-2
McClain — 2-3
Washington — 1-4
Miami Trace — 0-5
The league sportswriters and sportscasters had predicted that
Circleville would finish last in the league and they nearly won the
league title. They had picked Miami Trace third and they didn’t win a league game. In fact, they didn’t win a non-league game, either. You cannot predict how a group of high school kids are going to perform. There are just too many variables.
Since there were now only six teams in the SCOL, Hillsboro had
scheduled games with Miamisburg and Logan to conclude their season. Miamisburg tripped the Indians, 42-32, on the Hillsboro turf. The next Friday night, tough Logan pulverized the locals, 46-0, at Logan. So, the Indians, who had set their sights very high, ended the season with a record of five wins and five losses. When the final statistics for the SCOL came out, Hillsboro, though finishing third, ranked second to Wilmington in both offensive and defensive strength. Jim McConnaughey led the league in passing and teammate Jim Burkett
led the SCOL in receiving.
The All-SCOL team was announced at the fall league meeting. It included:
Phil Lucas, HHS; Mike Ramsey, CHS; Gale Gerard, WHS; Jack Carder, WHS; Jeff Ankrom, CHS; Jim Starkey, CHS; Jim Vanzant, MHS; Carroll Diber, WCH; Don Fausnaugh, CHS; Jim Burkett, HHS; Joe McFadden, WCH; Terry Moffit, WHS; Jack Martin, CHS; Steve Shotts, HHS; Jim McConnaughey, HHS; Hugh Loukinas, MT; Bucky Scott, WHS; Jake Grooms, MHS; Allen Griffiths, WCH; Jim Redkey, HHS; Mike Wilson, WHS: Len Patterson, WHS; Howard Dade, CHS; Bob Williams, WHS.
In late November of 1964, it was announced that Jim
McConnaughey, quarterback of the Hillsboro Indians, had been named to the all-star high school football team of the Associated Press in the southeastern district. McConnaughey was one of 21 players named to the Southeastern District AA all-star team.
Bob Patton is a Highland County sports historian and a contributing writer to The Highland County Press.[[In-content Ad]]
were six member schools instead of the eight members of the 1963
season. The two Columbus area schools, Pleasant View and Franklin Heights, had dropped out of the league to join the Southern Suburban League. Franklin Heights is still a high school, but Pleasant View is now a middle school in Franklin County.
Preseason football rankings really mean very little, because so
many things can happen that tend to change the picture dramatically. But Hillsboro and Wilmington were the pre-season favorites in
the SCOL and Hillsboro was the consensus leader by a slight margin. The sportswriters and sportscasters gave third place to Miami Trace, fourth to Washington, fifth to McClain and last place to Circleville. Circleville was co-champion of the league in 1963.
Could they sink all the way to the cellar in 1964? Had Bill Atsalis,
now in his sixth year, finally succeeded in building a league champion at Hillsboro?
It may very well be that expectations were a little too high in
Hillsboro. On Aug. 25, sportswriter Don Edwards had written a
column in which he declared, “In 1930, Hillsboro romped to an
undefeated league season and the SCOL crown, and has been romping ever since for a chance at the top spot. The whole team is convinced that this is their year, and I’ll go along with that.”
It is good to set high goals, and self-confidence is desirable. But I never thought a team should go into a season overconfident. There is not a team on the schedule that you couldn’t beat, if you play well. But there is not a team on the schedule that couldn’t beat you, if you do not play well.
The Indians rocked Lebanon, 46-0, and Milford, 25-0, in their first two games, and seemed to be off and running. They were beaten by Dayton Wilbur Wright in the third outing, 46-36, but Wilbur Wright was a good team out of a very large high school in east
Dayton. The Wilmington game was not only the first SCOL game of the season, but it marked the opening of a brand-new grandstand at Hillsboro, seating nearly 1,900 people. The overall crowd, on both sides, was estimated at around 3,500. The Indians were outgained on the ground 242 yards to 99 yards, and in the air 134 yards to 53. The Indians were just overmatched in this one. The final score was Wilmington 34- HHS 0, as the Hurricane’s Bucky Scott scored four touchdowns and a conversion for 26 points.
The Indians and the Tigers met the second week of the league season, at Greenfield. The Indians spoiled McClain’s homecoming festivities by upending
the Tigers, 18-8, as Lynn Dent and Jim Burkett ran wild on the McClain turf.
After two league games Wilmington and Circleville were each 2-0, McClain and Hillsboro were each 1-1 while Washington and Miami Trace were both 0-2. Wilmington led the league in total yardage. Hillsboro was second.
On Oct. 16, quarterback Jim McConnaughey threw three
touchdown passes to halfback Jim Dixon in the second quarter, and the Indians smashed the WCH Blue Lions, 27-0. Wilmington
beat Circleville, 12-0, the same night, to take the league lead with a 3-0 league record. Prior to the Washington game, Hillsboro Homecoming Queen Mary Lou
Cummings was crowned in an impressive ceremony. Carleen Miller was senior attendant, Connie Sheeley was junior attendant, Sherry Worley, sophomore attendant, Connie Hill, freshman attendant and Judy Collins represented the eighth grade.
The following Friday night, the Hillsboro Indians traveled to Circleville and were nipped by a score of 21-18, when Circleville outscored them 21-12 in the fourth quarter.
On Oct. 27, sportswriter Don Edwards announced that he was
leaving Hillsboro. He had done an excellent job in the year that he had been with the local paper. Edwards ended up in Fayette County. On Oct. 30, the Indians visited Miami Trace in the final SCOL game of the season. With both the passing attack and the ground game clicking well, the Hillsboro team rolled to an easy 28-0 win over the Panthers. This win put the Indians over the .500 mark in league play, with a final 3-2 league mark. However, it failed to better their league standing, as Circleville also won to take over second place, dropping the red and white to third.
Coach Donald Staggs’ Panthers were winless for the season.
The final SCOL standings for the 1964 season were:
Wilmington — 5-0
Circleville — 4-1
Hillsboro — 3-2
McClain — 2-3
Washington — 1-4
Miami Trace — 0-5
The league sportswriters and sportscasters had predicted that
Circleville would finish last in the league and they nearly won the
league title. They had picked Miami Trace third and they didn’t win a league game. In fact, they didn’t win a non-league game, either. You cannot predict how a group of high school kids are going to perform. There are just too many variables.
Since there were now only six teams in the SCOL, Hillsboro had
scheduled games with Miamisburg and Logan to conclude their season. Miamisburg tripped the Indians, 42-32, on the Hillsboro turf. The next Friday night, tough Logan pulverized the locals, 46-0, at Logan. So, the Indians, who had set their sights very high, ended the season with a record of five wins and five losses. When the final statistics for the SCOL came out, Hillsboro, though finishing third, ranked second to Wilmington in both offensive and defensive strength. Jim McConnaughey led the league in passing and teammate Jim Burkett
led the SCOL in receiving.
The All-SCOL team was announced at the fall league meeting. It included:
Phil Lucas, HHS; Mike Ramsey, CHS; Gale Gerard, WHS; Jack Carder, WHS; Jeff Ankrom, CHS; Jim Starkey, CHS; Jim Vanzant, MHS; Carroll Diber, WCH; Don Fausnaugh, CHS; Jim Burkett, HHS; Joe McFadden, WCH; Terry Moffit, WHS; Jack Martin, CHS; Steve Shotts, HHS; Jim McConnaughey, HHS; Hugh Loukinas, MT; Bucky Scott, WHS; Jake Grooms, MHS; Allen Griffiths, WCH; Jim Redkey, HHS; Mike Wilson, WHS: Len Patterson, WHS; Howard Dade, CHS; Bob Williams, WHS.
In late November of 1964, it was announced that Jim
McConnaughey, quarterback of the Hillsboro Indians, had been named to the all-star high school football team of the Associated Press in the southeastern district. McConnaughey was one of 21 players named to the Southeastern District AA all-star team.
Bob Patton is a Highland County sports historian and a contributing writer to The Highland County Press.[[In-content Ad]]