Mater Dei High School - Hi Lights Yearbook (Evansville, IN)

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Varsity football season was one of ups and downs, on the hills and in the valleys. In the end Mater Dei came out on top of a hill. In a pre-season bout against Central, the gridders won 6-0. At that time, Coach Frank Will commented that he was optimistic about the season. Unknown to him, the optimism would pay off. The first game of regular season, which was against Terre Haute South, was one of grave disappointment. MD lost 13-6 but the officiating was quite debatable, accord- ing to Evansville newspapers. The gridders went on to a five-game winning spree. Their first win was against Memorial when senior Gary Weinzap- fel made a 97-yard dash for a touchdown. They went on to be victorious over Mt. Vernon, North, and Owensboro Catholic. On October 2, the Wildcats went up against state- ranked Castle. It was a close; the score was within a few points throughout the game. Senior Nora Wilson com- mented on the game: I was on the edge of my seat all night. The Castle people were getting on my nerves; they were sitting in the Mater Dei section and making a lot of noise. In the end, the Wildcats had turned the Castle Knights into Dei with a final score of 13-10. It was the most physical game. The whole team pulled together to win in the final seconds. It shows what kind of a team we were to come from behind and win it, said defensive tackle Dan Knight. On October9, with the MD gridders holding a position in the top 20 of the Associated Press coaches ' poll, they faced the more psychological than physical game against Reitz. Out front there was no doubt of us winning. Maybe we weren ' t aware of it, but there was doubt in the back of everyone ' s mind because of the Reitz tradition, commented center Bob Culver. When they lost the game against Reitz 14-23, two dreams flew out the window; the dreams of winning a city title outright and making the playoffs had completely vanished. The gridders finished off the season by winning their next three games. The Homecoming game against Bosse and the rainy Central game created no problem for the Wild- cats. The Harrison game, in which MD came out on top with a score of 23-6, assured Wildcats a share in the city title and the best final record they have ever achieved. — Tina Boarman COLLISION COURSE: Several Owensboro Catholic players pile up during the game on September 25. It didn ' t seem to help though, as MD went on to defeat them 31-14. (Photo courtesy of the Evans- ville Courier and Press) ALONE AGAIN . . . NATURALLY: Senior Keith Rooney mentally prepares himself during the Cas- tle game on October 2. As both teams battled for a state ranking, MD came out ahead 13-10. (Photo by Geoff Coates) 15

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RAIN, RAIN, GO AWAY: It was a cold and rainy game against Central and sophomores Jeff Wein- zapfel and Jeff Adler were no fools. They, like other team members, wore ponchos to protect them- selves from the rain. (Photo by Geoff Coates) OH MY, MY: Varsity coach Frank Will studies the field with intense thought. He received the Down- town Quarterback Club ' s Coach Of the Year award for the second consecutive year. (Photo by Geoff Coates) Sibling rivalry — they ' re not kidding! Every school has its rivals and Mater Dei was no excep- tion. Mater Dei and Reitz football teams have been trying to out-kick, out-pass, out-punt, and inevitably out-play each other for years. Dennis and David Murphy were also rivals of a sort. The Murphys are fraternal twins. They both played varsity football — but for two different teams. Dennis was a senior at Mater Dei High School and David, a senior at Reitz High School. The Reitz-Mater Dei game was important to a lot of people, but for Dennis and David, it was imperative. Mater Dei ' s Murphy planned to attend Reitz until the summer before his freshman year. The decision to attend Mater Dei was the result of a personality conflict between himself and his Reitz club football coach. Also, his friend Jim Morrow would attend Mater Dei. Dennis has played football for a total of five years, while his brother has played for only three. Dennis played the position of offensive guard and the reserve place kicker and David played the position of wingback and punter this 1981 football season. Like the silence before the storm, on the night of the Mater Dei-Reitz game the Murphy household was quiet The want to defeat Reitz was uppermost in Dennis ' mind. Mr. and Mrs. Murphy support both of their sons when they play. Dennis stated, They were probably the only people at the game who cheered for both teams. After the game, they didn ' t say much to me. My mom just told me I played well. They all knew I was mad. Playing against my brother does make me play harder but I guess we just didn ' t play hard enough, Dennis said about the game. Mater Dei was def eated by Reitz with a score of 14-23. The rivalry between the two west side schools will continue, but hopefully the rivalry between Dennis and David only lasted as long as the football season. — Tammy Hollander

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FOOTBALL TEAM: FRONT ROW: Bill Blaxton. Keith Rooney, Chris Sitzman. Andy Alcorn Joe Bassemier, Lynn Hassler. Don Goedde. Bob Culver. Dennis Murphy. Craig Titzer. SECOND ROW: John Dewig, Brian Weinzapfel. Gary Weinzapfel, Ed Lappe, John Weinzapfel, Ron Maurer, Ron Adler, Dan Knight Pat Kempt, Mark Williams, Jim Morrow: THIRD ROW: Coach Will, Mike Phelps, Andy Hoefling, Eric Knapp, Vince Boots, Dave Wannemuehler, Steve Anslinger, John Townsend, Rich Niemeier, John Bullock, Dan Goss- man, Jim Lutterbach. FOURTH ROW: Coach Goebel, Coach Nick Alcorn, Tim Barth, Jeff Culley, Bernie Mayer, Dave RoJIet, Bart Lutterbach, John Guzman, Jeff Adler, Andy Voelker, Jeff Jost, Mike Hess. BACK ROW: Coach Voegel, Manager Pat Doolittle, Steve Little, Ted Kares, Pete Emmert, Joe Steinkamp. Keith Hausman, Joe Gerber, Jeff Weinzapfel, Tom Brownfield, Manager John Ulrich. (Photo courtesy of the West Side Nut Club) Balancing the win loss scales The reserve football team had a season of equilibrium. Wildcats fought hard to win but their efforts only helped during half of their games. They won their first game at home with a score of 39-14 against Memorial. The reserves then went on to a deflating loss against Bosse; they lost by only one touchdown. MD came back from a one win — one loss record to a two-game winning streak. Wildcats defeated North 12-7, and then went on to beat Boon ville by a score of 14-7. Although they had improved their record considerably, they turned around and lost the next three games bringing their record to 3-4. They lost to Castle, Reitz, and Harrison. The season came to an end with a win over Central 18-12. We didn ' t have a good season but it was fun. We did have some high time along with the losses, sophomore Andy Voelker commented about the season. — Tina Boarman READY!SET!HUT!HUTI: The mighty Wildcat team prepared to snap the ball during the Central game on October 22. MD went on to win the game 42-0. (Photo by Geoff Coates)