Westerville High School - Searchlight Yearbook (Westerville, OH)

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The Cats placed several on the All-Mid-Eight squad. Halfback Darrell Ballinger, guard Paul Beeney, and defensive middle guard [ini Head look first team honors. .Ml were seniors. Half- back Mike Rhodebeck and cjuarterback Greg Koski received Honorable Mention. Ballinger was also ap]X)inted to the All-Central-District team. terville Opponrnt.s 8 Whitehall 36 12 Big Walnut 6 Gahanna 30 14 London 36 44 Grove City 46 Mifflin 22 Marysville 6 12 Hilliard 37 36 Groveport 8 Reynoldsburg 22 159

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Mr. John Cambell, Mr. Carroll Meadows, Mr. Charles Burner, Mr. Jon Wildermuth, Mr. Al Bowen, Mr. Larry Kershner With the first league victory of the 1965 season under their belts, the Cats made a jaunt to Mifflin the following week. The game turned into a rout for Wseterville as the Cats rolled to a 46 to 22 victory. Greg Koski, at quarterback, was a passing whiz as he connected on all eight of his attempts. Wingback Mike Rhodebeck caught six for 110 yards. Darrell Ballinger was a standout in the rushing department again as he bulled his way for four more touch- downs, thus scoring leader. After these two straight victories, the Westerville team journeyed to Mai7sville for an important league encounter with the Monarchs. The game was billed as a battle of equals with both teams showing a 3 win, 3 loss record. The contest, played on a rain- soaked, soggy field, was a defensive battle with neither team being able to score in the first half. Then in the third quarter the Monarchs broke away a 54 yard touchdown run. This proved to be the deciding factor as neither team could cross the goal line again. The 6 to defeat was a bitter one for the Cats; a victory could have boosted them into second place in the league standings. The succeeding week ' s game with Hilliard was selceted as the High School Game of the Week by Channel 4, WLWC-TV, in Columbus. Films of the game were to be shown on local television the fol- lowing day. Things looked promising for the Cats when Mike Rhodebeck returned the opening kickofF 55 yards to the Hilliard 25 yard stripe. Westerville went on in for the score and took a 6 to lead. By halftime, however, Hilliard had come back to lead 14 to 6. The second half was a nightmare for Wes- terville as a fumble and an interception were used to great advantage by Hilliard. The Cats went down to edfeat by a 37 to 12 count. The next Friday night, November 5, was the last league game for 1965. The Wildcats ' opjjonent was Grovejxjrt. The Cats needed the win badly to boost this season ' s record above that of 1964. The Wildcats played together as a team and they played very well. They handed the Cruisers a 36 to 8 shellacking. This was a fine ending to the Mid-Eight careers of 15 Westerville seniors. Coach Burner said, This was the best game, and greatest team effort put forth the entire season. The final game of the 1965 football season was with Reynoldsburg on Westerville ' s home field. The Purple Raiders came into the game with a 7-1-1 record and the County League Championship all wrapped up. It was supposed to be parents night at Westei-ville, but the weather had other ideas. The rain fell and the field was drenched and looked like a sea of mud even before the game started. The Parents ' Night festivities and the band ' s final per- fomiance were cancelled as a result of the downjx)ur, but the game went on, in six inch deep mud. Neither team was able to score in the first half, but the Rey- noldsburg power wore the Cats down in the .second half. The Purple Raiders took home a 22 to victory. As a team in 1965, Westerville rolled up 1926 net yards in 10 games. Darrell Ballinger, 5.41 yards per carry, alone accounted for 1098 yards. The team aver- aged 4.63 yards per carry. Ballinger led in kickoft returns with 6 for 170 and an average of 28.3. The team totalled 178 points with Ballinger the individual leader with 94 points. He got 15 touchdowns and two extra points. Greg Koski connected on 27 of 69 pass- ing attempts for 333 yards. Mike Rhodebeck was the leading receiver catching nine for 167 yards. Wester- ville got 118 first downs to 116 for the opponents. 158

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