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October 10, 2005 Roughrider Retrospective
Roughriders v. Kenton Wildcats, 1960
1960 MHS Roughriders -- L-R, Row 1: Manager Bart Beck, Ken Hitchen, Mike McMurray, Neil Painter, Rex Hiles, Head Coach Gene Baughman, Jim Dodson, John Beck, Dick Neargarder, Jerry Howell, Bob Burger, Bill Rogers, Manager Dick Brigode. -- Row 2: Assistant Coach Jim Taylor, Eugene Denny, Jerry Slife, John Knapp, Don Donovan, Joe Yahl, Mike Pfeffenberger, Clyde Price, Dick Huwer, John Yahl, Chuck Logan, Dale Klosterman, Dave Faurot, Dick Finke, Assistant Coach Don Martindale. -- Row 3: Assistant Coach Schertzer, John Martin, Dick Stein, Tom Yingling, Jim Parker, Tom Vanderhorst, Claude Graves, Gene Goodwin, Dick Cochrone, Paul Dzalamanow, Ed Shore, Dave Larkin, Terry Hollman, Jim Hollman, Denny Moran, Bob Wurster, Assistant Coach Quentin Clark. Photo courtesy Andrews Photography. Click for larger image. |
ROUGHRIDER RETROSPECTIVE - by Buz Howard
This is installment #15 in a series of articles recalling St. Marys football history.
Each week during the season Ridertown will publish two installments. The first of these will feature a memorable game in the series with the upcoming opponent, and the second will survey the Roughrider series with that school.
It was a highly charged St. Marys football team that took the field against the Kenton Wildcats in the seventh game of the 1960 season.
The motivation stemmed from two sources.
First, there was that game against Van Wert the previous week, a 14-14 tie that marred an otherwise perfect record, putting Skip Baughman’s Roughriders a half game behind the 6-0 Wildcats. The match-up would be for first place in the WBL standings, and, quite probably, would determine the championship.
Dick Neargarder |
Dick Neargarder, an All-WBL two-way tackle from that 1960 team was recently asked his memories of the game. “All week long, Skip was mad as hell about the tie with Van Wert,” said Neargarder. “We had no choice but to be ready to play. By the time we took the field, you could really feel the adrenaline pumping. We couldn’t have been more fired up.”
Ken Hitchen |
But, aside from the tie, Baughman provided another form of motivation for the game. Ken Hitchen, the Riders’ all-league fullback, remembers this ultimatum from the coach: “You will NOT lose to a team from Hardin County.”
“He just didn’t like Kenton,” Hitchen recalled. “We weren’t sure why. We guessed it was because he knew a lot of people there because he went to school at Ohio Northern, and because he had coached at Hardin-Northern before coming to St. Marys. Maybe he would take a ribbing from his friends in Hardin County if we lost.”
John Beck |
John Beck, a halfback on that 1960 team concurs with Hitchen. “Coach Baughman gave us a pretty fiery speech about how we had to beat Kenton. It kind of took the tone of one of Knute Rockne’s speeches that the coaches always had us listen to on the record player in the locker room. There was no doubt whatsoever that he took the Kenton game personally.”
Skip Baughman |
Baughman himself, when recently asked if he really did harbor ill feelings about Kenton, admitted that his former players’ assessments were valid. “I guess I did feel that way,” Baughman said. “I’m not sure why. Maybe it all started when our Hardin-Northern squad played them in a pre-season scrimmage—we were the small school and they were the big school. And, by the way, we beat them.”
The town of Kenton also seemed to have serious feelings about the game. Word was out that a large portion of the community would caravan to St. Marys for the show-down. After all, the Wildcats were in the driver’s seat for their first WBL crown since 1948.
However, for the Hardin County faithful that night the game turned out to be a bust. The Roughriders dictated action from the outset in what turned out to be a 50-6 rout.
Terry Hollman |
The Riders’ two All-WBL backs, Ken Hitchen and Terry Hollman, ran amok—Hitchen gaining 174 yards and scoring twice, and Hollman gaining 127 yards and scoring three times, one of the touchdowns coming on a 56-yard punt return. The offense rolled up 455 yards in 49 plays, an average gain of 9.3 yards.
Gene Goodwin |
Dave Faurot |
The Roughrider defense, led by linebacker Gene Goodwin and end Dave Faurot, did their part as they stymied the Wildcat offense all night long, faltering only once by allowing a 64-yard touchdown run by Ed Whiting.
Mike McMurray |
After the game, the team carried their coach to the south end-zone, where a Yoder and Long ambulance had transported injured halfback Mike McMurray to the game. McMurray, with a badly broken leg, was in a body cast, his football career ended. It was a tribute to a fallen teammate that made the victory complete.
In his 33-year coaching tenure at St. Marys, Skip Baughman always seemed to have his team emotionally ready for the games with Kenton. His record against the Wildcats was 30 wins against 5 losses and one tie. And that doesn’t include the pre-season win at Hardin-Northern.
Ridertown note:
The 1960 Roughriders' WBL Football Championship was the first of 15 for Skip Baughman teams.
Photos courtesy Andrews Photography. Click for larger images.
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