Elder Panther Football - 1975

REGULAR SEASON RECORD: 7-3

 
Game #
Date
Opponent
Site
Score
W/L
Record
1
9/5/75
Lancaster
A
12-6
L
0-1
2
9/12/75
Woodward
H
13-12
L
0-2
3
9/19/75
Fremont Ross
H
13-7
W
1-2
4
9/26/75
Hughes
H
58-32
W
2-2
5
10/10/75
Roger Bacon
A
7-0
W
3-2
6
10/17/75
La Salle
H
23-13
W
4-2
7
10/24/75
St. Xavier
H
22-6
W
5-2
8
10/31/75
Purcell
Riverfront
13-0
W
6-2
9
11/7/75
Moeller
Riverfront
17-0
L
6-3
10
11/27/75
Western Hills
Riverfront
42-15
W
7-3

Head Coach: Ray Bachus (Career Record: 7-3)

Captains: Ken Bolger, Elvis Clemons, Austin Welch  

Final GCL Standings
Overall
League

1. Moeller
10-0
5-0

2. ELDER
7-3
4-1

3. La Salle
5-4-1
2-3

3. Roger Bacon
5-5
2-3

5. Purcell
3-7
1-4

5. St. Xavier
4-6
1-4
 

Season Highlights: Coach Ken Haupt resigned as head football coach following the 1974 season to accept a position at Merrillville High School in Indiana. Replacing him was Ray Bachus, who had been reserve football coach for five years.

Coach Bachus' Panthers got off to a slow start, losing their first two games with Lancaster and Woodward. Against Lancaster, the Panthers had control of the ball as the end of the game approached and the score tied 6-6, but an interception with 40 seconds left gave Lancaster the ball and an 80-yard TD pass 28 seconds later gave them the game. Three fumbles and three interceptions thrown by the Panthers offset Terry Finley's 179 yards passing. Woodward defeated the Panthers 13-12 for their first win over Elder since 1963. Down 13-6 in the fourth quarter, a Finley-to-Mike Hofmeyer TD pass made the score 13-12. Coach Bachus elected to go for the 2-point conversion, and the Bulldogs blocked the pass attempt.

The Panthers gave Coach Bachus his first victory over Fremont Ross in Game 3, 13-7. Three turnovers--a fumble recovery by Mark Weber, and interceptions by Tom Nienaber and Dan James--preserved the win. The rushing game got on track behind Elvis Clemons' 24 carries for 110 yards. Clemons also led the way in Game 4 over Hughes, with 137 yards rushing, and 3 TDs. Two scores each by Terry Finley and Tom Hamberg, a single score by Tom Nienaber, and an 80-yard kickoff return by Paul Drennan, supplemented by Wally Welch's 4 PATs totaled 58 points for the Panthers, while the Big Red could only muster 32. (Elder's 7 rushing touchdowns and 9 touchdowns overall both tied school records.)

A single Elvis Clemons TD was all that was necessary to defeat the Roger Bacon Spartans, 7-0, in Game 5; the defense contributed 4 interceptions to keep the Spartans off the scoreboard. The defense again gleamed against La Salle, with 5 fumble recoveries (2 by Tim Patton) and an interception (by Mike Shibinski). Two Clemons TDs and one from Finley, along with 2 PATs and a 25-yard field goal from Tom Hamberg gave the Panthers the win, 23-13.

With 339 total yards against St. Xavier's 79, the team won its fifth in a row, 22-6. Elvis Clemons' 132 yards and 2 TDs led the way. The Panthers' GCL record rose to 4-0 as the Purcell Cavaliers fell, 13-0, on touchdowns by Clemons and Finley. Coach Bachus led the Panthers into Riverfront Stadium for the battle for the league championship against Moeller. Even though the Panthers gained almost as much yardage as the Crusaders (187 to 194), the scoreboard showed differently--Moeller took the game, 17-0, and the league title.

Three weeks later, the Panthers returned to Riverfront for the Thanksgiving Day meeting with Western Hills. Elvis Clemons ran for 254 yards on 24 carries and 3 TDs. Terry Finley hit Mike Hofmeyer with a 19-yard TD pass, while Scott Moeschl threw his first TD pass to Paul Renzenbrink for a 45-yard completion. Paul Drennan added a 17-yard rushing TD, and Tom Hamberg's 6 PATs gave the Panthers a 42-15 win, the 17th consecutive Elder victory over the Mustangs.

Elvis Clemons was the team scoring champ with 14 touchdowns and 84 points. Terry Finley passed for 1077 yards on the season, on 79 completions in 138 attempts, an impressive 57.2% completion rate. Clemons rushed for 1058 total yards, giving him 1737 total career yards. Leading receiver was Mike Hofmeyer, with 29 receptions and 503 yards. Randy Ritter led the team in tackle points with 119, followed closely by Kevin Brogan and Joe Overbeck with 114 each. Danny James led the team in interceptions with 5 on the season.

Elvis Clemons was named team MVP and Best Offensive Back, and first-team All-GCL. Offensive Tackle Mark Weber was first-team All-GCL, Enquirer All-City, and second team All-District. Ken Bolger received first-team All-GCL honors and first-team All-Star recognition from the Post. For the defense, lineman Kevin Brogan was first-team All-GCL, first-team All-City (Post and Enquirer), All-District and All-State. Brogan was also named the GCL's Best Defensive Lineman. Tom Nienaber and Bill Meyer received also first-team All-GCL recognition.

Moeller's third consecutive perfect season returned them to the state playoffs for the third time. This time, they were victorious, taking Findlay 28-16 in the semi-final and defeating Lakewood St. Edward in the final, 14-12.

 

Team Roster

Number

Name
Position
Class
83

Bedel, Gerald
OE/TE
Sr.
69

Bolger, Kenneth
G
Sr.
32

Borros, Michael
MG
Jr.
51

Brogan, Kevin
DE/MG
Sr.
70

Burkhart, Kevin
G/T
Jr.
64

Burns, James
G/LB
Sr.
25

Clemons, Elvis
HB/RB
Sr.
82

Conners, Daniel
DT
Jr.
55

Crowley, Jerome
C/DT
Jr.
43

DeFranco, Chris
LB
Jr.
44

Drennan, Paul
HB/RB
Soph.
21

Elias, Thomas
HB/RB
Sr.
19

Finley, Terrence
QB
Sr.
75

Griewe, Steven
DT/T
Jr.
52

Groene, Thomas
C
Sr.
87

Gruber, Daniel
MG/FB
Sr.
28

Hamberg, Thomas
HB/RB
Jr.
79

Hart, Steven
T/DT
Jr.
77

Heffernan, James
T
Jr.
60

Heidel, Charles
G
Jr.
81

Hofmeyer, Michael
FL/SE
Jr.
50

Hopkins, John
C
Jr.
18

James, Daniel
QB/DHB
Sr.
34

Jameson, Michael
LB
Sr.
22

Kelley, Michael
DHB
Jr.
78

Koehne, Richard
T
Sr.
16

Kreinest, Robert
QB
Jr.
72

Lehmkuhl, Kenneth
T
Sr.
51

Leonard, Chris
MG/DE
Jr.
42

McDonald, Timothy
DE
Jr.
63

McGinnis, Steven
DE/G
Sr.
62

Meyer, Barney
G/DE
Jr.
17

Meyer, Edward
RB
Jr.
67

Meyer, William
DE
Sr.
19

Moeschel, Scott
QB
Soph.
32

Niehaus, Gregory
M/FB
Soph.
24

Nienaber, Thomas
DHB/SE
Sr.
71

Overbeck, Joseph
T/DT
Sr.
31

Patton, Timothy
DE
Jr.
67

Reis, Kevin
G/T
Jr.
80

Renzenbrink, Paul
OE/SE
Sr.
50

Reuss, Donald
LB
Jr.
63

Ritter, Randall
LB
Jr.
33

Ryan, Joseph
MG
Jr.
40

Ryan, Timothy
HB/RB
Sr.
41

Shibinski, Michael
DHB/S
Jr.
65

Shoemaker, Paul
T
Jr.
75

Stange, Chris
T/G
Sr.
64

Vollman, John
MG/E
Jr.
76

Weber, Mark
T
Sr.
66

Welch, Austin
LB
Sr.
20

Welch, Walter
E/DHB
Jr.
23

Wendling, Bernard
DHB/SE
Jr.
66

Wolf, Daniel
G/T
Jr.

No. of Players
54
 

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