Elder Football - The 1960's

1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969

The torch was passed through three head coaches during the 1960's at Elder. Coach Scardina retired following the 1962 season, and Assistant Coach Dick Loechtenfeldt took over. Coach Loechtenfeldt led the Panthers for two seasons, and passed the honors to his assistant, Mike Honold. Honold (who later became Elder's Athletic Director) coached from 1965-1968. As the decade closed, Ken Haupt was hired from Roger Bacon to lead the team into the seventies. Even with three coaching changes to contend with, the Panthers succeeded admirably in the decade, going 71-25-4 overall and 37-18-3 in the GCL during the period. Three Panther teams during the decade had only one loss during the season: the 1964 and 1967 squads went 9-1, and the 1961 team finished 8-1-1. The GCL expanded with the addition of McNicholas, Moeller and La Salle in 1962; Newport Catholic rejoined the league in 1966, bringing the league membership to eight. Purcell went undefeated in 1960 and won the league title; Roger Bacon performed the feat in 1962, 1963, and 1967; St. Xavier did likewise in 1968. Elder's best league finish during the decade was a tie for first with Roger Bacon in 1964. The opening of Moeller and La Salle created new rivalries. The Panthers mastered the Lancers each time they played during the sixties, but the Crusaders won three of the meetings between the two teams, and went undefeated in 1965 and 1969, winning the league title in '65, '66 and '69. Numerous individual performers on Elder football teams during the 1960's stand out. Larry Parker set school scoring and rushing records which stood until 2000. Steve Tensi and Ron Krechting broke the 1000-yard season passing mark for the first time. Pass receivers Kim Knoppe and Mike Minges raised the art to a new level. And defenders like Mike Frank, Mark Kneflin, Jay Mayer, Jim Christopfel, "Butch" Otting, and Bob Geers gave opponents pause when they faced the Panthers.