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1959 NHS Season Statistics

Evansville Courier & Press Newspapers ALL CITY/METRO Selections

RESULTS

SCORING

PASSING

Individual stats for rushing and receiving are unavailable at this time.

Highlights included: Following up on a campaign in which the Huskies had unexpectedly produced a winning record in only their second season of varsity football, the Evansville Courier asked Coach Morris Riley what he would do for an encore?  Without hesitation, the coach replied, "Our goal is to go undefeated this year."  It sounded like bravado in August.  By October, it sounded like Coach Riley might be psychic.

At first glance, the '59 squad looked to be without star quality.  End Bill Beshear returned for his senior campaign after having been named to the '58 All City team and tackle Jerry Bruner had several universities tracking his progress (Bruner would later start for Florida State University).  The backfield appeared to be too small to justify the coach's optimism.

Of course, that's why they play the games.

In week one, HB's John Mominee and Mike Madriaga introduced themselves to the Evansville football fraternity.  Mominee's 60 yard punt return for a touchdown began as a reverse with Madriaga fielding the ball.  The play would become a trademark of the tandem for the remainder of their careers.  Madriaga added a pair of rushing touchdowns and North downed Vincennes by a score of 44 - 0.  Bill Beshear looked to live up to his laurels by catching two long touchdown passes--one for 35 yards and the other for 60 yards.

Lincoln jumped out to a 6 - 0 lead in the second game and Coach Riley reached into his stable of backs and pulled out HB Don McCormick.  The 5'10" 155 lb running back appeared to tower over his scat-back comrades and ran for 102 yards on the night as the Huskies rallied to victory.  McCormick ran in two scores and Madriaga and Mominee both added rushing touchdowns in a 26-18 wind.

Bloomington had no answer for North's overwhelming team speed and when McCormick broke loose for a 35 yard TD to give the Huskies a 14-7 lead at half, it was off to the races.  Mike Madriaga took the opening kickoff of the second half and ran it back for a touchdown.  QB Tom Duncan directed a long drive that he capped off with a two yard plunge.  North blocked a punt on the ensuing Panther possession and recorded a team safety on the play.  Duncan then directed yet another drive for a TD and the game was over for all intents and purposes.

6,500 patrons turned out at Enlow Field to watch Bosse's answer to the city-wide question of how to stop the Huskies.  Utilizing a 7 man defensive line and a ball control offense, they bent but almost never broke during the contest.  As it turned out, "almost" wasn't quite good enough.

The Bulldogs never got past North's 25 yard line all night long but managed to stop the Huskies six out of seven times inside the Bosse 20.  Midway through the second quarter, however, QB Tom Duncan ran a play action fake to McCormick designed to hold the linebackers close to the line of scrimmage.  HB John Mominee then slipped out of the backfield and into the open center of the field.  Duncan drilled him with the ball at the Bulldog 28 yard line and Mominee earned his nickname of "The Rocket" as he jetted to the end zone untouched for the game's only score.

 An additional thousand folks made the tally 7,500 on hand at Enlow the following week as Memorial and North prepared to duel.  The winner of the contest would remain alive for the City Title and the loser would have to be content with something less.  The Tigers never made it into North territory in the first half of the game.  QB Duncan ran a naked bootleg to his right on the 17 yard line and hit future basketball star Dave Shellhase with a pass to stake North to a 6-0 lead.  An 11 play 60 yard drive with HB Mominee carrying the ball in from the two became a 13-0 lead after Bruner kicked the extra point.

At halftime, everything looked to be going North's way.  Memorial then changed to a 'spread' offense and the complexion of the game changed in the second half.  First the Tigers intercepted a pass and ran it back for a touchdown.  Then they tossed a long pass deep that got batted around by two North defenders and landed square in the arms of a Memorial receiver who ran the catch in for a score.

When the dust cleared, the final score was 18-13 Memorial and Coach Riley's "unbeaten" goal was gone.

The Huskies recovered and put down Boonville on the strength of a Mike Madriaga 65 yard punt return for a touchdown.  The defense would blank Mater Dei and Madriaga would produce a 65 yard run from scrimmage for the decisive score in the game. 

When Memorial was upset in city play, North knew if they could beat Reitz in week eight they could salvage a tie for both the City and SIAC titles with a victory the following week against Central.  The Huskies went out and got the job done with a 13-0 white wash of the Panthers in what would be Reitz' last city loss for four years.  The defense led the way as LB Ron Taylor picked off a pass by future NFL star Don Hansen and lateraled the ball to DE Gerard Buente who rumbled 50 yards for a TD.  Talented sophomore LB Mickey Martin put the game away for good with a minute and twenty-four seconds to go when he ran back a fumble 38 yards for a score.  Reitz wouldn't lose in the city again until Ken Bargo and the '63 Huskies punished the Panthers 25-7.

With shares of both the City and SIAC titles on the line in the season finale with Central, everything that could go wrong went wrong.  North lost three fumbles and two led to Central scores.   A fourth turnover on an interception led to yet another TD.  Central won the game and the city title, but North left 1959 with a solid foundation for the decade to come.

RUSHING

RECEIVING

DEFENSE--2 pts each for solo, cause or recover fumble, sack, int, blk kick; 1 pt each for assist and tackle for loss

No Defensive Statistics are available at this time.

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