1970 team to be honored at half

The 2010 football season marks a very special year for Fort Scott Community College and the college's football program. Forty years ago, the Fort Scott Greyhounds won the NJCAA National Football Championship.

Saturday the 1970 team will be honored at halftime of the Greyhounds' home opener against Butler. Several members of the championship team will be on hand Saturday to receive the honors they deserve.

The 1970 Greyhound squad completed an 11-0 season defeating Mesa College (Ariz.) by the score of 41-20 in the 14th Annual Shrine Bowl in Savannah, Ga. to capture the National Title.

The 1970 team was coached by second-year head coach Dick Foster, who was19-2 in two years at FSCC, and included eight players from Fort Scott on the roster: Terry Stoughton, Bill Zimmerman, Jimmy Jensen, David Nichols, Joe Wunderly, John Hunter, Jack Garrett, and Vincent Jackson. Also from Fort Scott were assistant coaches Bob Shores and Denny Hutchison.

Freshman running back Tommy Reamon, from Newport News, Va., received National Offensive Back of the Year and First Team All-American for his performance that year. Reamon led the nation in rushing with 1,582 yards on 224 carries (a 158 yds.-per-game average in 10 games played) and scored 23 touchdowns. Reamon rushed for 224 yards and scored three touchdowns in the title contest.

Reamon wasn't the only All-American on the 1970 squad as defensive tackle Mitch Sutton received First Team All-American Honors while sophomore linebacker Jack Mulligan and freshman cornerback Jimmy Cunningham received Second Team honors.

Fort Scott native Stoughton, a sophomore that year who was a defensive back, earned Honorable Mention All-American for his defensive prowess.

Offense got a lot of the credit for the success of the Greyhound Championship season. The 'Hounds had three of the top-10 leading scorers in the NJCAA, two of the top-10 leading rushers in the NJCAA, a top-five passer in Kurt Nieman, who threw for 1,311 yards and 12 touchdowns, the number-one scoring kicker in the NJCAA in Steve Hall who scored 65 points via field goals or points after touchdowns, the fifth-ranked rushing offense in the country, the 10th-ranked passing offense in the country, and the No. 1-ranked total offense in the NJCAA.

But defensively the 1970 Greyhounds were just as impressive as they held opponents to 36.7 rushing yards a game, second in the nation, allowed 95.6 yards per game, best in the nation. They also allowed just 58.9 passing yards per game, 4th in the country, gave up 6.1 points per contest and shut out five of their 11 opponents.

Two members of the 1970 championship team moved on to play football in the NFL -- Reamon and Sutton -- while eight others went on to play NCAA Division 1 football.

Twenty-eight members of the 40-man roster were from Kansas while 12 came from the Southeast Kansas area.

In 2006, the 1970 Greyhound Football team was enshrined into the NJCAA Hall of Fame in the team category. Three of the teams members are also members of this prestigious group: Reamon, Sutton, and David Dill.

To continue to celebrate this season of excellence throughout the 2010 football season, the FSCC Sports Information Department will be releasing weekly stories about the 1970 Championship team, the coaches, the players, and the games that were played that year.

Several other activities will be taking place before the Saturday's game: Tailgating, autographs from the FSCC cheerleaders and dance squad, and also an opportunity to have a photo taken with Gizmo the Greyhound. Activities will be taking place in the vacant lot across the street from the Fort Scott High School parking lot on Main Street. Tailgating will be from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and is sponsored by KSEK-FM (99.1), the "Voice of the Greyhounds".

Game time for Saturday's contest is set for 1 p.m. at Frary Field.