Elder Panther Football - 1978

REGULAR SEASON RECORD: 9-2

 
Game #
Date
Opponent
Site
Score
W/L
Record
1
9/8/78
Lancaster
H
35-0
W
1-0
2
9/15/78
Woodward
H
15-14
W
2-0
3
9/22/78
Dayton Carroll
A
27-14
W
3-0
4
9/29/78
Hamilton Taft
H
23-7
W
4-0
5
10/6/78
La Salle
H
29-7
W
5-0
6
10/13/78
St. Xavier
A
7-0
W
6-0
7
10/20/78
Roger Bacon
H
21-14
W
7-0
8
10/27/78
Moeller
UC
23-19
L
7-1
9
11/3/78
Purcell
H
34-0
W
8-1
10
11/23/78
Western Hills
Riverfront
6-0
L
8-2

Head Coach: Ray Bachus (Career Record: 30-10)

Captains: Dave James, Chris Ward 

Final GCL Standings
Overall
League

1. Moeller
9-1
5-0

2. ELDER
8-2
4-1

3. St. Xavier
5-5
2-3

3. La Salle
7-3
2-3

3. Roger Bacon
4-6
2-3

6. Purcell
2-8
0-5

Season Highlights: Most schools would be more than satisfied if their football team finished the season at 8-2. But not Elder, especially if the two losses were to your two biggest rivals, and especially if the losses were by a total of 10 points.

The 1978 team continued the success of the 1977 team, following up on last season's closing run of 6 straight wins with 7 of their own. The season opened for the fifth straight year with Lancaster, this time at The Pit. The Panthers dominated to win, 35-0, gaining 294 total yards to the Gales 44. Tight End Dave Kenkel led the scoring with two passing TDs from Mike Finley. Jeff Ventre scored the game's only rushing TD on an 8-yard carry. Joe Tedesco returned a pass interception 50 yards for a score, and Brian Kelley scored in the third period on a pass from Mike Reilly.

Elder squeaked past Woodward in Game 2, 15-14, on the strength of a safety scored by Steve Rohe when he tackled Bulldog Mark Hall in the end zone in the third quarter. Woodward scored early in the fourth quarter to take a 14-2 lead. With under 3 minutes remaining, Mike Reilly tossed a 2-yard TD pass to Brian Kelley to make the score 14-8; the conversion failed. Then, with 59 seconds left, Reilly hit Kelley with a 33-yard aerial to tie the game at 14 and set up Rick Bumpus to kick the game-winning extra point.

Elder traveled to Dayton Carroll for Game 3. Jeff Ventre's 134 rushing yards including TD carries of 25 and 3 yards, led the ground attack. Dave Thomas and Todd Allgyer added rushing scores and the Panthers emerged victorious, 27-14. Fumble recoveries by Jim Noeth and Jim Griebel, two interceptions by Mike Finley and one by Bill Metz sparked the win.

Hamilton Taft visited Elder the following week, and again the defense was in high gear. Two fumble recoveries (one returned 24-yards for a TD by Steve Rohe) and an interception (by Joe Tedesco), coupled with Brian Kelley's 122 yards on the ground led the Panther charge. Scores by Ventre and Steve Humbert, along with Bumpus' 2 PATs and 33-yard field goal gave Elder their fourth victory, 23-7.

The GCL campaign started in Game 5 against La Salle. With the game tied 7-7 at the half, Elder turned up the heat, scoring 22 unanswered points to win 29-7. Mike Finley's 2 interceptions and Dan Rudolph's end zone recovery of a blocked punt were highlights of the game.

The Panthers scored a TD in the first quarter and shutdown the Bombers in Game 6, to win 7-0, in spite of one fumble and two interceptions lost by Elder. The winning streak stretched to seven on the season and 13 overall as Elder topped Roger Bacon 21-14. Tied at 14 entering the fourth quarter, Mike Reilly hit Steve Humbert with a 38-yard TD pass to win the game.

The undefeated Panthers faced the 6-1 Moeller Crusaders at Nippert Stadium in Game 8, Moeller having been defeated earlier in the season by the Princeton Vikings by one point. The Crusaders once again established their GCL supremacy as they took the contest, 23-19. The Panthers put a scare into the Crusaders, however. Elder held the lead, 19-16, with under seven minutes left, on fourth-and-goal from the Elder 3-yard line, when Moeller scored the go-ahead TD. Following the successful extra point kick, Steve Humbert (who had earlier returned a kickoff 86 yards for a TD) returned the kickoff to the Elder 41, and the Panthers began their "final" drive. The drive stalled at the Moeller 10, and with about a minute and a half left, Moeller took possession. Elder's defense held, and the Panthers got the ball back on the Crusaders' 45 for another "final" drive with under a minute left. Three passes by Mike Reilly fell incomplete and the Crusaders won another close one from the Panthers. Both teams left the field at 7-1, but Moeller's GCL winning streak was still in tact.

As Purcell visited The Pit for Game 9 and the 50th meeting between the two schools, everyone knew that it would be the last league game for the Cavaliers. Several weeks earlier Purcell had announced that they would be leaving the GCL (for football only) following the 1978 season; declining enrollment had made them unable to compete. The Panthers were not kind to the Cavaliers, though, shutting them out, 34-0. Jeff Ventre (who rushed for 159 yards) scored on TD runs of 72, 83, and 4 yards, Bob Konkoly added a 5-yard score, and Mike Reilly hit Ken Schroer with 37-yard TD pass to end Purcell's GCL competition. The record between the two teams since 1928 was even at 24-24-2.

Another tradition ended when the Mustangs and Panthers met for the last Thanksgiving Day game. The timing was too late to enable the game to be figured into the Harbin point system which determined the state playoff teams; the teams would meet on August 31 the following year to open the season. Western Hills entered Riverfront Stadium for the 50th game in the series with a 7-1-1 record, given a real chance to win. Elder, at 8-1, had won the last 20 in a row. The Panther offense which had averaged 23 points in its last 9 games came up dry against a tough Mustang defense, picking up no first downs on the ground. And even though the Panther defense caused 2 fumbles and snagged 4 interceptions, Western Hills scored the game's only TD in the fourth quarter, on a 19-yard pass play.

Jeff Ventre was the team's leading scorer with 11 TDs and 66 points. Mike Reilly hit on 63 out of 146 passes for 971 yards, 30 of those caught by Brian Kelley for 514 yards and 3 TDs. Ventre led the rushing game with 180 carries for 803 yards. Chris Ward was the leader in tackle points with 198 on 25 solo tackles and 113 assists. Mike Finley's 7 interceptions tied the school record.

Team MVP honors went to Chris Ward, who was also named first-team All-GCL and All-City by the Post and Enquirer. Dave James, received first-team All-GCL honors, was named the GCL's Offensive Lineman of the Year, first-team All-City by the Post and Enquirer, as well as first-team All-District and All-State. Other first-team recognition went to Brian Kelley (All-GCL and All-City by the Post), Steve Rohe (All-GCL and All-City in the Enquirer and Post), Chris Ward (All-GCL and All-City by the Enquirer and Post), Mike Finley (All-GCL and All-City by the Enquirer), Jeff Ventre (All-GCL), and Jim Noeth (All-City in the Enquirer).

By virtue of their 13-12 victory over Moeller earlier in the season, the Princeton Vikings were the Region 4 representative in the 1978 state playoffs. In the semi-final game they defeated Sandusky, 13-11, and in the final game the Vikings defeated Berea, 12-10, for the school's first state championship.

 

Team Roster

Number

Name
Position
Class
36

Allgyer, Todd
FB
Sr.
55

Alwell, Benjamin
MG
Jr.
78

Beck, Joseph
T
Sr.
72

Berning, Randal
G
45
45

Bolger, Daniel
FB/LB
Jr.
75

Broxterman, Edward
DT
Sr.
52

Bumpus, Richard
K
Jr.
24

Curl, Joseph
M
Sr.
30

DePaoli, Joseph
HB
Jr.
16

Finley, Michael
QB
Sr.
35

Geiser, Chris
FB/MG
Soph.
51

Gindling, David
C
Jr.
85

Graman, Keith
TE
Jr.
33

Griebel, James
FB/LB
Sr.
74

Grote, David
G
Soph.
34

Haley, Daniel
HB
Jr.
87

Healey, Chip
E
Sr.
73

Hisch, Timothy
T
Jr.
40

Honold, Michael
HB
Jr.
79

Hopkins, Thomas
T
Jr.
19

Humbert, Steven
QB/S
Jr.
53

James, David
G
Sr.
84

Jameson, Steven
TE
Jr.
22

Kelley, Brian
SE/HB
Sr.
89

Kenkel, David
TE
Jr.
88

Kohler, William
E
Sr.
31

Konkoly, Robert
HB
Sr.
70

Lindenschmidt, David
T
Sr.
15

McCall, Edward
SE
Jr.
23

Metz, Wiliam
M
Sr.
20

Moehring, Robert
SE
Jr.
18

Monk, Brian
QB
Jr.
86

Mullen, Paul
E
Soph.
77

Murphy, Daniel
G
Soph.
32

Niehaus, Thomas
FB/LB
Jr.
67

Noeth, James
G/T
Sr.
64

O'Toole, Frank
G
Jr.
50

Raterman, Joseph
C
Sr.
24

Reder, David
FB/LB
Jr.
17

Reilly, Michael
QB
Sr.
81

Reis, David
E
Sr.
82

Rellar, Gary
E
Jr.
28

Renzenbrink, Alan
SE
Jr.
83

Rohe, Steven
TE/LB
Sr.
42

Rudolph, Daniel
FB/LB
Sr.
21

Schroer, Kenneth
SE
Sr.
60

Stemler, Dennis
G/C
Jr.
63

Stowe, Jeffrey
G/T
Sr.
80

Tedesco, Joseph
SE/S
Sr.
44

Thomas, David
HB
Soph.
76

Turner, Richard
DT
Sr.
41

Ventre, Jeffrey
HB
Sr.
61

Vollman, Paul
LB
Jr.
43

Ward, Chris
FB/LB
Sr.
65

Westerfield, Michael
T
Jr.
66

Wolf, David
G
Sr.

No. of Players
56
 

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