Fairmont West High School - Dragon Yearbook (Kettering, OH)

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West tops South 34-6 Bridgeman receives honors Dayton Journal Herald -all area, WOL-first team, Southwestern dis- trict-first team and Kettering Oak- wood Times -most valuable. Although the varsity footballers suf- fered three losses this year, the West junior varsity finished a great unde- feated season under the leadership of ooaches Michael Virelli and assistant James Larson. Coach Virelli showed elation with the undefeated season. He cited the following players as the backbone of the team: juniors-Terry Hohm, Bo Arnold, Dan Kelley, Mike Meininger, Kenny Cableck and sophomore Steve Kiser, the quarterback. Junior varsity began their season with a shutout against Wayne, win- ning 14-O. Stebbins became another shutout for the reserve Dragons. The reserves kept rolling on with two easy victories over Beavercreek and North. As always the game between both of the Fairmonts developed into a real head knocker. The only score came on the first series of plays as Fairmont West scored on a 66-yard pass play from Kiser to Hohm. Defense held East scoreless for the remainder of the game and ended any hope of East's finishing an undefeated season for 1976. In the final game, West faced Center- ville. The Elks scored first as they drove the ball down the field to the Fairmont West six-yard line. Then on a fourth and one yard to go, Cent- erville had a five-yard penalty and kicked a field goal. In the final period Kiser connected with a ninety-two yard pass to Hohm for the victory. Coach Larson said, This team of sophomores really came along during the season. They were not the most- talented group of sophomores, but they improved the most. Dragons Rick Ross, Stacy VanHouten and Brett Glaser come off the field after holding Fairmont East from a first down. Coaches Jim Larson and Mike Virelli shout Quarterback Steve Kiser lets Om? flv f0f 3 instructions to the JV's as Randy Morton awaits a call to enter the game. 18 Football completed pass in the Wayne game. 5 .3 ,G 1 N1 rr , 1 19 , 5,

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Sophomore Chris Hohl looks for an opening Senior Charlie Peterson along with juniors, Kenny Cableck and Doug Schommer, brace themselves for the tackle after a kickoff. Dragons conquer Knights for a first in grid history Dragons started their season off on the right foot by winning their first six games. These wins began with a 25-7 first-time victory over neigh- boring Alter Knights. Defense proved the strong point of the Dragon team, particularly in the game against the Wayne Warriors. They allowed no score and kept running back Eric Nuals to a total of less than 30 yards for the night. West's next victory came against the Xenia Buccaneers, who went down fighting. The gridders next squirmed by Stebbins with another stingy vic- tory of 8-3 for the Dragons. As the fifth game of the season rolled around, West demonstrated its offensive power. Junior wingback, John Thomas had touchdowns and 129 yards on five carries. By the sixth game West's offense and matured under the direction of Coach Dick Hoppe. Offensively, West had its best tally against Springfield North's Panthers by a score of 56-13. Painful weeks followed as they drop- ped three successive games, one to arch rival Fairmont East. In the first half, the Dragons dominated and went to the locker room with a 14-0 lead. When the fired-up Falcons took to the field, they proceeded to battle back from the deficit to take the game with a final score of 15-14. This recorded only the Dragon's third loss to the Falcons in the history of the two schools' rivalry. Another week of disappointment found the football team at Troy, as the Trojans took off in the first half and denied the Dragons any score. ln the second half, the team mustered two very impressive drives for touch- downs, but Troy triumphed 23-14. West had not given up and by the ninth week when they faced the tough Centerville Elks, who entered the con- test undefeated. The Elks stymied the Dragon offense for most of the game, resulting in only one score for the purple and white. West got its only score in the final quarter on a nine-yard pass from quar- terback Phil Penwell to fullback Paul Simmons. The Elks scored once more to tally a 27-6 victory. West faced Springfield South in its last game of the season. The hungry Dragons took control of the game early and never let up. The gridders showed a final of 34-6. Dragon gridders amassed a season total of 227 points while permitting only 119 points scored against them. They outscored their opponents by 108 points and averaged a total of 23 points per game. While the defense held to an average of 12 points per game and had one shut out. Head Coach Hoppe summed up the season, The WOL is the toughest foot- ball league in the southern part of Ohio. I am extremely proud of my seniors and what we accomplished. This group of seniors had carried on the Dragon football tradition. He continued, They finished the season on a win. The seniors have been outstanding, while they were here they compiled a record of 25-5. Only four of these games were league losses in three years. Coaches presented the following players with these honors: most-im- proved, Rick Ross, most-coachable, Steve Oglesbeep most-spirited, Mike Erving best-offensive lineman, Colin Flynnp best-offensive back, Tom Bridg- man: best-defensive lineman, Joe Cope- land: best-defensive back, Don Whit- mer and salty dog award, Todd Boiar. In addition to other honors senior tailback Tom Bridgman also received: Dayton Daily News -first team, A vrxnsrrv FOOTBA WEST. E F t OP.PONElXl,fl', . 251 - Fi?-liter 7. - , 29 . A Wayne g -A 1, 14. Xenia ssrsii 5 srrg s ffg yilrt- C131 , ,fr , , K . 3 K 35 1 Beavercreesk ..,. 129, 56, sggssg .g y Spgingfie,sldrNort3hi7iQ-tit 13 A ,14f'f'f5 Fairmont East 15 - 14 T 0Y 23113 7 ceiirerviizerlfr C 327 iii-if?.tfiii34ll A spnhgfieiaitsourhl 6 , -gg, rrrrygrr 7 Losses WQ-L--Serenaf'-ffffQir'? s Football 17

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Colin Flynn mm helps decoy a Panther Defensive end Jeff Carr fights off a block tackler as John Thomas l22l runs the ball. during the Springfield North game- lv- ! , ,, 5 3 WV' eq 9 -- , Sophomore Steve Kiser falls to 3 host of Senior quarterbaek Phil Penwell zeroes in Wayne Warriors, during a reserve game. On his YBVQET and ISIS the ball SOBFV Football 19