The 1959-60 year was a good year for football at Otterbein. Moe Agler (left) was the coach, Larry Cline (right, above) was an outstanding quarterback and Ron Jones (right, below) was an excellent receiver; there are certainly many others whose names I don’t remember who also deserve mention. It had been a winning season, and we faced Capital in the final game of the season, at home, with considerable confidence. (Photos from 1958 and 1961 Sibyls, respectively.)

It turned out that the confidence was more than justified. In the waning minutes of the game Otterbein scored a touchdown which made the score Otterbein 60, Capital 28. The Otterbein extra point team came onto the field and lined up for the kick. But, when the ball was snapped to the holder, he simply picked it up and ran sideways off the field. Everyone, even coach Agler it seemed, watched slack-jawed in astonishment. What had happened?

And then it dawned on us; the score had been allowed to remain at 60 in honor of the seniors, the class of 1960. I doubt if Otterbein has ever visited such humiliation on Capital before or since, and since the 1999 game has already been played (with a somewhat less spectacular Otterbein victory) it will be quite a while before such an opportunity presents itself again.

I recently had a chance to remind Coach Agler of this event, which he remembered well, and he assured me that he had no idea of what was about to happen.

Update!

On Saturday, Nov. 6, 1999, Otterbein beat Hiram 60 - 9. This was the first time since the above game in 1959 that Otterbein scored 60 or more. If that extra point had been made... On the other hand, the Otterbein reserve quarterback took a knee four times on Hiram's 20 yard line at the end of the recent game so as not to run the score up.

I also understand that quarterback Matt D'Orazio (left) and receiver Ben Streby (right) have broken a passing-receiving record set by Larry Cline and Ron Jones during the 1959 season. (Thanks to SID Ed Syguda for the pictures.)