Hall of Fame
The 1977 Griffon football team finished with the best record (8-2-1) in the program’s young history and finished with the school’s second winning season up to that point (1975). Rob Hicklin led the team in his fourth season as head coach and received the Disctrict 16 Coach of the Year for his team’s success in 1977. The 35-30 win over Benedictine in the Boot Hill Bowl highlighted the team’s turnaround from its 1976 season when it finished a disappointing 4-5-0. The post-season bowl win marked the second bowl victory (1975) for the Griffons.
The team began its season with a 5-0 start and earned its first national ranking in the NAIA Division I poll during the week of October 10th. The Griffons entered the rankings at number 16 and never lost their spot in the country’s top 20. They ranked as high as number 14 the week of October 31st. The team also received the District 16 Division I Championship and was also voted by the coaches as the best NAIA team in the state.
Two-year starter, Bill Johnson, completed 112 of 248 passes for 1,564 yards and 14 touchdowns through the air. His numbers were, at the time, the second-best in the program’s first eight years of play. Jay Randall led the ground attack and finished with 1,215 yards on 244 attempts for 12 touchdowns. Tony Dickson accumulated 648 yards on 46 attempts for six touchdowns, an average of 14.1 yards per catch. Ron Parker led the way on special teams with 11 field goals which remained as the single season program record for over 17 years. George Blakley set a program record for the most kick return yards in a single game with 238 against Benedictine in the Boot Hill match-up.
Doug Holland led the way for the Griffons during the 1977 campaign as he compiled a season-high 142 tackles (68 solo, 74 assisted) just one year removed from Kinney Redding’s 150 tackles in 1976. Redding led the team in another category in 1977 with nine sacks on the season. Holland went on to record a single-season program record with 165 tackles in 1978 and received second-team All-American honors for his efforts that season. Tim Skorija led the defensive secondary with five interceptions for 90 yards.
First team All-District honors went to 14 individuals on the team, including Dickson, Holland, Parker, Randall and Redding. Redding received first team All-American status and Keith Evans received honorable mention at the linebacker position. Ten players on the 1977 team began their freshman season together and finished four years later with two winning teams and the first two post season Bowl Game victories in school history: Jeff Davey, Evans, Scott Graham, Alan Hensley, Mike Lillig, Dave Mapel, Redding, Skorija, Jamie Waldren and Gary Vogel. The 1977 team produced future Western Hall of Fame members Evans, Graham, Hicklin, Holland, Randall, Redding Bill Stevens and Darrell Van Lengen.
The 1977 season remains as one of nine seasons in which the football team has finished the season with eight wins or more.
