The history of Norwalk football in 1977

Back in 1977, the Reflector printed an in-depth story on the history of Norwalk football. It escapes me as to just who took the time to research the seasons starting back in 1918 but the person who is said to have engineered the job that took three years of research was the highly-respected assistant coach of the Bob Hart era, Ken Woodruff. The finished product was dropped off at the paper and it was lengthy. With some editing on my part, this is the history of what started Norwalk Public football: 1918 — O.J. Dietrich was the coach of the first team, the Pilots. And he did win two games out of six played in the Little Big Seven League. Dietrich coached two more seasons, doing as well as 4-6 his final year. At that point, he turned the team over to Carl Seibel (1921), who held the reigns for the next 13 years. Seibel's best year was 1929 when the team went 7-3 in the Little Big Five League. Cal Pheifer came on the scene as coach in 1934. It was now down to the Little Big Four. And only then were any kind of win-loss scores kept. 1934 — It was said Al Ziemke was a one-man show. He scored nine of the team's total 16 touchdowns, one of them a long-standing record of 92 yards. 1936 — After a 1-9 record the previous year, the team proudly ran out of a new field house. Also, for the first time, the team played a night game, winning it 19-0. 1937 — I don't know if anyone saw this coming but this edition, with a new name, the Phantoms, scored 241 points while allowing eight. Yet, they still lost one game, 8-0 to Tiffin, and played to a scoreless tie against Oberlin. Norm Call, who would go on to Michigan and play in the same backfield as Tom Harman, quarterbacked this team to the eight-win campaign. 1942 — After a number of losing seasons, Norwalk won five of eight games and took the Little Big Four title. The season started with a 27-0 win over Shelby in a game that saw Bill Ewell run 90 yards with a pass interception and 69 yards from scrimmage. Jim Stewart would blossom late in the season, scoring six of the team's last 11 touchdowns. 1943 — Dismal, again. Pheifer's finale. Team went 0-7. Scored just three touchdowns, all by Stewart. 1944 — Enter Grant Walls. Also, the start of the NOL. Chuck Sweet ran wild, scoring 13 times as the team rebounded to go 5-2-1. 1945 — A new Sweet, Don, was the leading rusher. He scored five of the team's 11 TDs as the Phantoms made every point count in going 4-3-1. 1946 — Another name change. From Phantoms to Raiders. Don Sweet ran wild. He scored four times in the 40-0 opener with Amherst and five times against Bellevue. He had 18 on the season, getting help from well-known players such as kicker Walt Meagrow, Bill McKinley, Andy Luxon and Willie Lawrence. The team won six of nine. 1947-1950 — The program struggled despite some great individual performances from athletes like Jack Call, Dave Hester, McKinley, who would go on to play at Miami of Ohio, Rich Meagrow and Jim Seitz who scored five of the team's 12 TDs in 1950. 1951 — Quarterback Bob Beveridge had a hand in scoring 11 of the team's 17 touchdowns as the squad went 5-3-1. 1952 — Enter the Jim Spettle era. Also the Trucker (as per Norwalk Truck Line) era. Spettle teamed with people like Ron Zureich, Dan Ebert and Kenny Jameson to help the team to a 7-3 season. 1953-1956 — A 3-0 start in 1953 was the good part. Ending by getting shutout in the last four was bad. Spettle and Karl Trace couldn't stop the bleeding in 1953, nor could Dick Heaston in '54. Better in 1955 when the team saw their points ring up on a new $1,200 scoreboard. The Truckers went 4-4-1. Bud Middaugh ran the team in 1956 and with the help of athletes like Ernie Kohlmyer, Norb Pelham and Harvey Carrasco. The team went 5-4. 1957 — Jerry Emmons, who would go on to star at Wooster, had the talented toe and played tackle. A 3-5-1 record was the best they could do. 1958 — Jim Curry took over. Not good. One win. 1959 — Enter Sam Nan. Also, enter Alex Koslow, one of the great athletes in the history of the school. He threw for eight scores as the team, most of them juniors, won eight in a row. The season ended in heart-break, a 16-12 loss to Shelby which cost them an undefeated season and a NOL title. 1960 — Koslow threw it around like a pitcher in the Little League. And Bill Gelvin ran like a phantom with the football. He picked up 235 yards against Bowling Green alone. Again, it came down to the Shelby game. And again there was heart-break. 1961 — Koslow was back and so was Gelvin but the NOL teams plotted revenge and revenge they got. The only one who didn't get it was Bucyrus. 1962 — It was Nan's last season. The Truckers won three. 1963 — Tony Zuppe took over. Lots of disappointment including a loss with 22 second left to Shelby that could have saved the season. 1964-1967 — Tough times again even with a talented Dave Ross at the helm. They did get their first homecoming win in four years in 1966 but Zuppe would give it up in favor of Bill Murkowski. He promptly went 0-10 in 1967. 1968 — Len Hardman took over both the football program along with the basketball and did as well as anyone. The 20-6 win over Upper that year stopped a 21-game losing streak. That was the good part. The bad was it was the only win in "68. 1969 — Dale Perkins was the life-saver. He was a great placement kicker and was responsible for three wins. 1970 — The first winning record (6-3) in nine years, one of them 13-8 over Shelby, the first win over the Whippets in 23 years and the first one in 10 year over Bellevue (6-0). Dave Hershey, Dan Pugh, Mike Leak and Casey Fogg were mainstays. 1971 — The last one under Hardman. Pugh went on to star at Mt. Union. Just 2-7-1. 1972 — Enter Bob Hart. His first season was identical to the last under Hardman, 2-7-1. John McCarty was making a name for himself on offense as was Mitch Leak on defense. 1973 — The Dan Hipp-quarterback era began. The team went 6-4 and eventually sent three to the college game — Leak to Capital, Steve Hester to Wooster and Denny Harkness to Superior. The team went 6-4, making the most of a slim 118-111 scoring advantage. 1974 — "The Year of the Truckers" and an eventual state title started with the first win over Huron in 10 years. It almost stalled out against Vermilion (7-0) but the ship was righted until that almost-costly season-ending loss to Shelby. Four more players would head for colleges — Tom Waugh to Ohio State, Scott Tyson to Ohio U., John McCarty to Muskingum and Ed Arlin to Princeton. 1975 — Pat Brown and Brad Mason would lead the team to another fine season, 7-3. It was the third straight winning season, one that ended with Mason going to Wheaton and Ramsey to Wittenberg. 1976 — Another banner season, one that produced an NOL title and an 8-2 finish. Huron and Shelby were the losses. Jeff Orwich would make 1st Team All-Ohio while Jeff Malcolm was on the 2nd Team and Duane Graffice Honorable Mention. Nine were named to the All-NOL Team. Black River doldrums I well-remember doing this story on Black River football. For whatever reason, the powers at that school located near the little community of Sullivan, made a request in 1964 to join the Firelands Conference. For the wrong reasons, the Pirates were setting a record every time they stepped on the field. When they lost No. 53 in a row, they matched the record of Massillon for the most wins. I remember working the Black River-Berlin Heights game for the paper in 1954. The final was 56-0 and Snag Sanders could have doubled the score had he wanted to. Another winless season, their third. The next year was less embarrassing and almost came to an end at Western Reserve where the struggling Riders pulled out a 6-0 win. The streak would end five games into the 1967 campaign. Shut out in three of their first four games, it ended against Berlin Heights on Oct. 7, 1967, 14-0. The Pirates would end the season at Hillsdale, winning by the identical score. It was not a complete turn-around, however. The team followed with another two-win season in 1968. In 1969 it lost all nine games, one of them 41-0 to St. Paul, the year the Flyers won the AP poll championship. It was not until Terry Forbes took the head coaching job at Black River in 1974 when things turned around. He went 7-2 and repeated that record in 1974. No one was laughing and that included the folks at St. Paul who lost to them, 20-19. The success of that season came down to the meeting of what was now two undefeated powers, Black River and Edison. The Chargers won the game, 6-0 but Black River fans had long since forgotten about that 53-game winless streak. City softball champions Bennett Electric ran the table on the season in the City Slow-Pitch League, going 21-0. The members of that squad included Dave Singer, Bill Lund, Jim Lorcher, Dave Barman, Bob Sommers, Jeff Clark, Mike Grose, Mike Finch, Chuck Ringholz and Manager Tom Lund. The Electricians stopped a spunky Gaslight Drive Inn team in the season-ending tournament that saw all four circuits in the brackets. That Gaslight team was made up of Rick Hupp, Carlyle Smith, John Metarco, Rich Hart, Jim Summerlin, Ken Wargo, Rick Mullins, Don Minor, Tim Slocum, Dean Hale, John Smith and Manager Andy Luxon. The Monroeville Merchants ladies team also played to an undefeated season (16-0). The gals on that squad included Vickie Pittinger, Annie Mesnard, Sue Bollenbacher, Sally Knoll, Donna Leroux, Julie Fritz, Donna Bollenbacher, Kay Bollenbacher, Elaine Fitzgerald, Jan Haynes and Jane Straub. Runkle is NL queen Denise Runkle was crowned the 1977 New London Labor Day Festival Queen. She was picked over runner-up Judy Buzard and Collette Howell. Crosby passes away Bing Crosby probably died right where wanted to, on the golf course. He owned a golf course in Madrid, Spain and that's where he passed away at age 73. He had finished 18 holes and was walking to the clubhouse with the his playing partners when he collapsed and died of what is believed to be a heart attack. He and his partner had just won a championship match and were about to celebrate the win. One of the first tributes came from his close friend, Arnold Palmer.