Shelbyville recognizes 1975 and 1984 football conference champions

Celebration was in the air at J.M. McKeand Stadium Friday night as Shelbyville High School welcomed back the 1975 and 1984 Golden Bears South Central Conference championship football teams prior to the 2024 Shelbyville season-opening game against Greensburg.

The current Golden Bears team made the evening a complete success by defeating the Pirates, 36-14.

“I wanted to have the guys back to honor them for such outstanding accomplishments,” said event organizer Dennis Hearne, who served as an assistant coach on both staffs during those title years. “Those were excellent teams and special people. They deserve to be remembered.”

The South Central Conference was formed in 1936 with seven charter member schools: Shelbyville, Connersville, Martinsville, Greencastle, Rushville, Franklin and Columbus (later becoming Columbus North). Greensburg, Seymour, and Indianapolis Washington joined two years later.

Southport was a member for 12 years (1951-1963) with Bloomington/Bloomington South and Jeffersonville joining for 13 and 14-year tenures respectively in the mid-1960s. Center Grove and Bloomington North became SCC members during the conference’s later years.

Shelbyville, Martinsville, and Columbus/Columbus North were the only schools to participate for the entire life of the conference (1936-1997).

SHS Athletics photo: Members of the 1975 and 1984 Shelbyville football teams were introduced prior to Friday's season-opening game at McKeand Stadium in Shelbyville.

The 1975 and 1984 contingents are the only Shelbyville football teams to have claimed SCC championships.

The 1975 Golden Bears finished with a 6-4 record and shared the conference crown with Columbus North and Jeffersonville.

The squad had completed the previous season on a high note winning three of its final four games and returned a strong senior class for 1975. They opened the campaign with an exciting 20-14 home win at the old Meridian Street field over Franklin Central that was highlighted by a decisive 87-yard fourth quarter kickoff return for touchdown by Nelson Hastings.

Shelbyville then ran into difficulty with a 21-7 road loss at Madison Heights and a 17-0 pounding at the hands of Greenfield. The Greenfield defeat was particularly problematic in light of the fact that starting senior quarterback Sam Ardery and classmate Hastings suffered season-ending injuries.

Junior Tim Bowen took over the quarterback duties. Coach Tom Hession at that point chose to focus more on a rushing and short passing attack for the offense that was geared to effectively utilize the skills of Lonnie Denton, Jeff Martin and Jeff Kolls.

Shelbyville rebounded from the disappointing outing against Greenfield with convincing wins over Seymour and Rushville. The Bears racked up more than 300 yards in total offense against Seymour with Martin rushing for 142 yards and Bowen running for 77. Denton totaled 107 yards on the ground in the Rushville win.

Shelbyville held on to beat Greensburg in the homecoming tilt 13-6 the following Friday and then outlasted Connersville on the road by a score of 10-0 for a fourth consecutive victory. Shelbyville now stood at 5-2 with conference foe Jeffersonville up next.

A torrential, unrelenting rain that poured for 20 consecutive hours reduced the Jeffersonville High School football field to a literal mud bowl.

“The rain just pounded on us,” remembers Kolls (photo), who currently serves as the public address announcer for SHS home football and basketball games. “You could not see the lines on the field and basically just plodded through mud all night.”

The Shelbyville News sports editor Bernie Gilmer referred to the game as a “hog wallow.”

In fact, the conditions were so horrendous that Hession and Jeffersonville officials seriously considered postponing the contest.

Neither team could muster much offense through regulation and two overtimes. In the third extra period, Jeffersonville pushed across a score and a successful two-point conversion to lead 8-0.  Denton plunged into the end zone for the Bears to make the score 8-6, however the conversion attempt failed and the Red Devils celebrated a major victory.

“I remember how devastated everyone was on that long bus ride home,” said Kolls. “A win that night would probably have given us an outright conference championship. We thought our chances of winning a share of the conference were very slim after that Jeffersonville loss.”

Shelbyville defeated Franklin 21-7 in the season’s final home game. Short touchdown runs by Bowen and Denton and a critical interception return for touchdown by junior linebacker Pix Hendrix provided the Bears’ margin of victory.

“I wanted to be the last one to walk off the Meridian Street field that last night,” said Kolls. “Brian Jones and I had the same idea so we walked off together. We both wanted to take in the impact of that final moment.”

Jack Boyce photo: Some members of the 1975 Golden Bears in attendance Friday at McKeand Stadium were, from left: Gerald Clements, Brian Jones, Bryan Moss, Jeff Kolls, Jeff Brinson and Bill Collins.

A season-ending controversial one-point loss at Whiteland left the Golden Bears with a record of 6-4. The IHSAA playoff system was very limited at that time, hence Shelbyville had no opportunity for postseason play.

The year ended with Shelbyville, Jeffersonville, and Columbus North (a team the Bears did not play in 1975) posting identical 5-1 conference records. Albeit shared, after 39 years of SCC membership, Shelbyville High School laid claim to its first conference football title.

History is an indication as to how difficult a proposition it was for Shelbyville to win an SCC football championship. The classic 1967 Golden Bear team that finished 8-1 and featured extraordinary players Ron Winton, Rich Brown, Wes Miller, Fred Avant and John Cunningham ranks as one of Shelbyville’s best teams. They finished second to Columbus in the final conference standings.

Denton, Martin, Kolls, Steve Walburn and Jones all received All-Conference recognition. Tom Hession (photo) was selected 1975 South Central Conference Coach of the Year.

Following the season, Gilmer lauded the depth of the 1975 Golden Bears and linemen Bill “Buck” Buchanan, Mike O’Neal, Walburn, Jones, Cary Newton, Roger Sprong and Bobby Toon. He commended the consistent, hard-nosed play of wide receiver and defensive back Eric Brown, defensive backs Ken Berger, Bill Collins and Kevin McLeod as well as the leadership of Bowen who stepped in as the starting quarterback after Ardery’s injury.

He also referenced the resilience of defensive lineman Kim Garlitch who provided a significant positive contribution despite battling painful injuries throughout the entire season.

“The 1975 Golden Bear football team demonstrated a special fortitude in coming back from a 1-2 start and the loss of two key players to post the school’s first winning football season in eight years and share a conference championship,” wrote Gilmer. “Lesser teams confronted with similar circumstances would have folded early. Shelbyville’s 1975 football team was not one of those lesser teams.”

Tom Hession coached his final football season in 1978. He continued teaching and coaching baseball at SHS until 1984. He later entered the banking profession and served eight years as an Indiana state senator. He died in 2011 at the age of 73.

Randy Robertson, from Goshen, Indiana, succeeded Tom Hession as Golden Bear football coach in 1979. The 1983 Golden Bears football team finished the year with a 3-7 record and 28-0 and 53-7 consecutive drubbings at the hands of Columbus East and Martinsville, respectively.

“They were determined that they would improve to the point that they would be a force the next year,” stated Hearne. “They came to preseason practice in exceptional physical condition and with significant experience. This made the coaches’ job much easier. We just had to fine tune.”

The Golden Bears introduced a 1984 team that was steeped in depth, speed, strength and experience. They took the area by storm recording season-opening shutout wins over Franklin and Pendleton Heights by a cumulative 51-0 count.

Columbus North became the first team to score on the 1984 Golden Bears as Allen Cox barreled across the goal line on a one-yard run to make the score 7-0. Chauncy Holloway answered with a 51-yard touchdown run for Shelbyville.

Linebacker Troy Allen followed up with a 75-yard score on an interception return. Brian Lawson added a field goal before half and Shelbyville was firmly in control on its way to cruising to a 27-7 victory.

Bulldogs head coach Bill McCaa bluntly stated after the game: “Shelbyville physically beat us. They hurt us.”

Coach Robertson’s crew next easily dispatched Rushville, 32-6. The Golden Bears’ passing game flourished against the Lions as quarterback Todd Anderson completed 11-of-16 passes for 159 yards and back-up signal caller J.D. Lux threw a 71-yard TD strike in the second half to Julius Denton (photo), who tallied five catches for 105 yards.

Shelbyville then recorded consecutive wins over Center Grove, Connersville and Seymour. Denton had an 86-yard kickoff return for a touchdown in the Golden Bears’ 17-7 victory against a formidable Center Grove team. Lineman Joe Myetich blocked two Seymour punts in the 44-9 home rout of the Owls.

Shelbyville’s upcoming home matchup with Columbus East carried major implications. The IHSAA employed a cluster playoff system in 1984 which meant that only the best teams from a designated group would be eligible for the postseason tournament. East and Shelbyville were contending for the same spot.

East drew first blood in the hotly-contested battle as they scored on a pass play in the first quarter. Shelbyville fullback Randy Mathies broke free for a 27- yard touchdown run, however the conversion failed and Shelbyville trailed 7-6 going into the final period.

Early in the fourth quarter on a second-down play, five-foot, five inch, 152-pound Golden Bear running back Walter Rhodes scampered 58 yards for a score that gave SHS the lead and ultimately a 12-7 win. The victory secured a playoff berth for the Golden Bears.

Randy Mathies, Kirk Lawrence (photo), and Rhodes had 28 rushes for 208 yards (7.5 yards per carry) in the win.

After the emotional and momentous triumph over Columbus East, Shelbyville traveled to Martinsville, a perennial football power in the 1980s. Even more significant was the fact that the Artesians had defeated the Golden Bears by a 46-point margin to close out the previous season.

Shelbyville methodically dismantled Martinsville on that night 20-0. Anderson’s touchdown pass to tight end Brian Tackett provided the Golden Bears momentum and a comfort margin that resulted in the shutout.

“Martinsville was crashing their linebackers and we saw the opportunity for a short ‘dump’ pass,” said Anderson, who went on to establish several Golden Bear passing records. “We were always able to adjust to situations and that was a big part of our success.”

The Golden Bears ended the year with a 29-0 win over Greenfield and prepared for a first-round playoff contest with Martinsville.

The rematch at McKeand Stadium was an intense standoff dominated by the defenses. Brian Lawson’s field goal accounted for Shelbyville’s only points as the  Artesians prevailed 7-3, dealing Shelbyville its only loss of the season and ending the Golden Bears’ 1984 campaign.

The 10-1 1984 squad is the only Golden Bear team to win an outright SCC football championship. It stands with the 1932 and 2007 teams as one of only three SHS teams to post an undefeated regular season.

Anderson credits the offensive line play for a great deal of the success in 1984: “Greg Soller, Dana Mathies, Joe Gibson, Jeff Johnson, Craig Lawson and Brian Tackett were strong, intense competitors who all had a very good understanding of football,” said Anderson. “We had tremendous backs such as Holloway, Denton, Rhodes, Lawrence, Randy Mathies and Rod Brokering, but the line really brought it all together and made the offensive so potent.”

Hearne also cites the defense as being a catalyst for Golden Bears dominance that year.

Steve Bush photo: Dennis Hearne, left, and John Cunningham enjoy a conversation Friday night at McKeand Stadium.

“Pat and Brad Pope and Joe Myetich on that defensive line were outstanding. Linebackers Troy Allen and Brian Lawson were fast and determined and could make plays. They were supported by players like Jed Pence, Julius Denton and Chauncy Holloway in the secondary,” stated Hearne. “Our defense only gave up 43 points (an average of four points per game) the entire season.”

Randy Robertson left Shelbyville in 1985 to accept the position as head football coach at Goshen High School. He coached future Notre Dame star and NFL quarterback Rick Mirer and the Goshen team to the 1988 IHSAA Class 4A football state championship. Robertson later worked in the insurance field. He is now retired.

Those who returned for Friday’s reunion and recognition event serve as testimony to Shelbyville’s athletic and football heritage. Many players returned as did as several coaches from both eras.

Basketball and football student manager from the mid-1980s, Ronnie Downey now serves as a Christian missionary in the United Kingdom. He made it back to be part of the celebration.

John Cunningham, Tom McKinney (photo, far left with Dennis Hearne and McKinney's wife Judy) and Terry Hamilton, coaches from the 1975 football year, were on hand as were Robertson and Mark Fellmeth from 1984. Dennis Hearne and Steve Drake were coaches present who represented both periods. SHS administrators from that time, Ray Craft, John Heaton and Blake Ress also were in attendance.

Nelson Hastings, a key player on the 1975 team until he suffered that season-ending injury, is now an acclaimed television camera technician and videographer. He traveled from his home in Alabama to attend the festivities.

“I feel extremely fortunate to have grown up in Shelbyville and gone to Shelbyville High School,” said Hastings. “I am grateful for the friends, teachers and coaches who have been so very important in my life. I appreciate all that even more on a night like this.”

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