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1963 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: Few teams can stake a claim to the title "Best All Time Team" for any given school.  The 1963 team has as good a claim as any other in North history.  A talent laden team that featured Associated Press All-State QB Dean Volkman (who would later quarterback a powerhouse University of Illinois team that included future NFL stars Dick Butkus, Don Hansen, and Jim Grabowski), the '63 squad could score on anyone, anywhere, at anytime.  More importantly, though, they could keep anyone else from scoring.  Only once all season long did the '63's allow a team to exceed 7 points--and that occurred when the reserve defense was wiping up a 33-14 pasting of Rex Mundi.

This team was so powerful that four of the five members of the offensive line were selected to one or the other or both of the Courier and Press All City teams.  6'5" End Lane Fenner averaged nearly 32 yards each on his six touchdown receptions.  RB/DB Jim Thomas scored on running plays, pass receptions, interceptions, and punt returns during the course of the season.  FB Ken Bargo, only a sophomore, averaged 7.3 yards per carry and made everyone's all city team at a time when the papers only selected 11 players to a squad--for a first year varsity player to be chosen was unheard of.  On defense, Charlie Broyles averaged 9 solo tackles per game for the season.

When senior FB/LB Phil Boyd required emergency dental work to remove two teeth on opening day, Coach Morris Riley made a decision to rest Boyd by starting a reserve at full back in his place.  The sophomore stepped in and never relinquished the position.  FB Ken Bargo began his legendary run at North with 9 carries for 112 yards and 2 TDs in a 40-6 trouncing of Harrison. 

On a night when the Huskies rang up 361 yards running the ball, however, the 'top rusher' honors went to RB Kenny Thomas (no relation to Jim) with 19 carries for 165 yards and two scores as well.  Conversely, the staunch Big Green Defense only allowed Harrison a paltry 36 yards rushing on the night.

As a huge showdown with the Richmond Red Devils approached (ranked #3 in the state at the time), nine of North's starters battled the flu.  On the trip to Richmond, several still showed the ill effects and had to make periodic stops along the way.  The Red Devils took the opening kickoff and drove 78 yards for the game's only score.  North began to recover as the game wore on and three times drove inside Richmond's 15 yard line only to fumble or have the drive stall out.

With three minutes to play, North held the Red Devils at their own 17 and forced a punt.  LB Phil Boyd partially blocked the ball and for a moment it appeared the Huskies' defense had found a way to win.  It wasn't to be, however, as a Richmond tackle plucked the ball out of the air and rumbled to the 35 for a first down.  The Red Devils were able to run out the clock and North's hopes for an undefeated season were gone.

6,000 fans packed Enlow Field for week 3 expecting to see a classic showdown with pre-season City title favorite Bosse hosting North.  The fans got their wish for all of seven minutes.  With the Bulldogs leading 7-6, QB Volkman got the ball in the hands of RB Jim Thomas time and again.  During the ensuing 60 yard drive, Thomas caught a pass for 16 yards, ran for 25 yards around end, and eventually scored a touchdown from the two yard line.  From that point in the game, North out scored Bosse 40-0 with End Lane Fenner catching two long TD passes and Kenny Thomas contributing 166 yards on the ground.  The stellar defense only allowed Bosse 43 yards rushing on the night while North ran for over 400.  Ron Hill had 8 solo tackles in the first half alone.

The Huskies were their own worst enemies the following week when they took on previously unbeaten Memorial.  After fumbling the opening kickoff and yielding the Tigers a 6-0 lead only minutes into the game, the Huskies could neither complete a pass nor sustain long drives.  The offense did manage to convert a short field following a Memorial turnover when FB Ken Bargo barreled in from the one yard line.  It took DB Jim Thomas' 41 yard punt return for a TD late in the third quarter to give the Huskies a cushion at 13-6.  The defense again rose to the occasion when late in the game Memorial drove to the North one yard line.  A dramatic goal line stand with the line repulsing run after run saved North's unbeaten SIAC record.

A determined Mater Dei ball club found itself tied with North at 7-7 with barely 3 minutes to play in the first half.  QB Dean Volkman then capitalized on a short punt and drove the Huskies to the two yard line where he ran the ball in for a score with 0:56 to play in the half.  When the Wildcats got a decent return on the ensuing kickoff, they decided to attempt a long pass to see if they could match North's late score.  The decision came back to haunt them as DB Jim Thomas picked off the pass and ran it back to the North 39 with a few seconds to play.  The Huskies called a time out and on the next play, Volkman spotted Lane Fenner deep and hit the big end with a 61 yard pass to end the half.  In less than a minute the score had gone to 21-7 in North's favor.  Jim Thomas wasn't done with his heroics for the night as he managed a 59 yard touchdown run in the second half to close out the scoring.

Few players have ever been 'in the zone' as Dean Volkman was versus Vincennes.  He directed the Huskies 92 yard drive on their first possession and handed the ball to Jim Thomas for the final five yards and the first score.  On the next possession, he hit HB Mike Dean with a 55 yard scoring toss for the second score.  He later took off around end from the 29 yard line, ran 16 yards, and had the presence just as he was about to be tackled to lateral the ball to Dean who ran the final 13 yards for the Huskies' fourth score.  Volkman rocketed the ball 44 yards to Lane Fenner for the fifth score of the game. 

When the next drive stalled out at the Vincennes 40 yard line, Volkman punted the ball perfectly to the Vincennes four yard line where it rolled dead.  When Vincennes took the field, their first play was a pass attempt and Volkman, playing middle linebacker, picked off the pass and ran it back to the six yard line.  When the Husky offense took the field, the all-city quarterback called his own number in the huddle and ran an option play into the end zone for the sixth and final score.  He finished the night with 167 yards passing for two scores, ran for one, had an interception, six solo tackles, and six assists.

A standing room only crowd of 9,000 crammed into Bosse Field to watch Reitz attempt to extend it's 21 game winning streak against city foes.  Reitz' last city loss had been to North 13-0 in 1959 and since that time had hung up shut outs on the Huskies routinely.  1963 was the year in which Jim Thomas would forever write his name in the annals of the North vs. Reitz rivalry.

When the Panthers picked off a pass and ran it back for a touchdown only five minutes into the game, the Reitz contingent in the stands roared.  The pumped up Panthers then bottled up North for the remainder of the half and the Huskies were hemmed in deep in their own territory with only twenty seconds to play in the first half.  Coach Riley called for a screen pass to try and offset the heavy rush his club had been facing from Reitz throughout the early going.

It was a good call but the execution went poorly and resulted in a botched play and a hasty handoff to RB Jim Thomas instead.  When Thomas found himself cornered near the out of bounds line to his right, he gave ground, retreated to the four yard line, shook a tackler, and reversed his field.  Thomas headed toward the left side and picked up a block at the ten that sprung him to the sideline.  He threaded his way through defenders and danced a tightrope along the boundary until he hit the 40 yard line.  Shaking his last would-be tackler, he sprinted 82 yards for the score and suddenly the game was tied at 7-7.

A pumped up North team came out of the locker room after half and drove the ball 71 yards on its first possession.  Ken Bargo pounded his was for much of the yardage finishing with 74 yards on 14 carries for the night and the final five yards in the scoring drive.  FB Phil Boyd broke through for a 22 yard TD run later in the quarter and North entered the game's final minutes up 19-7.

But Reitz wasn't done.

Driving to the North 7 yard line with 9:17 to go in the game, the North faithful felt the tide could turn if the Panthers found paydirt and closed the gap.  Of course, Jim Thomas was on duty in the Husky secondary.  When Reitz tossed an aerial into the end zone, Thomas stepped in front of the ball, snagged it from the hands of the Panther receiver, broke a tackle at the five, and ran 102 yards for the decisive score.  North won 25-7 and Reitz' 21 game win streak against city opponents was ended.

Over the final two weeks of the season, North would outscore Central and Rex Mundi by a combined score of 67-14.  Ken Bargo and Jim Thomas would tie for the city scoring title with 60 points each.  The Huskies would close out the season with seven consecutive wins, win the Southern Indiana Athletic Conference Title, and lay claim its first City Championship.  The next City title would be 32 years in the waiting. 

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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