The Winning Tradition: Fred Huff's look at the hallowed history of Du Quoin Indians Football
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[Only twice before in Du Quoin High School's football history had the Indians won 34 games over a period of five consecutive seasons, but that's how coach Bob Karnes' teams opened the 1970s, by winning five games in 1970, seven in '71 and '72, eight in '73 and seven again in 1974.
And, they did it as a result of having some of the most talented players ever going through the system over the five-year span which was climaxed by back-to-back undefeated seasons in Southwestern Egyptian Conference competition.
It's almost like a "who's who in Du Quoin football history" up until that time and skyrocketed the Indians' won-lost record to an overall 228-185 mark against the 36 different teams they had met in the first 47 years of the program.
Although it's impossible to name them all in a single story covering the decade, our book includes the names of 1,400 players who earned varsity letters.
The leaders in the 1970s include guys like Sam Loiacono, a double (offense and defense) first team all-conference honoree in '70, a recognizable name like Al Martin who pulled off the same feat in 1971, Stan Clarry and Cha Hill in '71, '72 and '73. They were joined by Dan Fulk and Lanny Dauksch in 1973 and Al Porter capped off his superb three-year career along with Merino DeMarie in 1974.
Loiacono was Du Quoin's leading scorer with 84 points in 1970 despite having missed playing in the first four games due to an injury. And it's interesting to note that the Indians were unable to win any of the four contests he missed, but captured five of the next six decisions after he returned.
Al Martin completed 55 of 112 passes for 968 yards and 11 touchdowns while leading Du Quoin to a 7-3 record in 1971 while rushing for 368 in 53 attempts to finish ahead of teammate Sam DeMarie.
Merino and Sam were simply following the example older brother, John, had established while starring for the Indians in the late 1960s.
Clarry dominated the offensive statistics in '72 and '73 when he rushed for 1,025 and 1,189 yards, respectively, as well as leading the team in tackles.
At the time, Karnes, the coach, simply said, "He's the best."
Porter, who had been forced to accept the No. 2 running back's role behind Clarry, broke loose himself for more than 1,000 yards in 1974 when he scored 76 points and finished runnerup in the SEC's individual scoring chase.
As usual, the guys up front receive fewer headlines and less recognition, but Fulk, Mark Bullock, Jay McDowell, Rich Buck, Roger Rodely, Rich Martin, John Graul, Tony Day, Shaun Aue, Richard Allen and Gary Fann all were rewarded with all-conference berths during the first five years of the seventies.
It's true that the Indians had difficulty in maintaining their high winning percentage in the second half of the 1970s, but they still had individual leaders while being successful as an overall 24-21 won-loss record shows.
Bernie Kern was the team's leading scorer in 1975 before giving way to Wade Atkins the following year. Atkins just barely missed the 1,000-yard level by four despite scoring on 45 and 55-yard runs in Du Quoin's 42-12 win over Salem in the season's finale.
Lybrand Beard took over the next season when he rushed for 969 yards and scored 50 points on the ground while John Gross was calling the plays and handling passing duties and at the same time leading the team with 62 solo tackles and 45 assists.
Gordy Showalter and Jeff Robinson moved in during the 1978 season and truly took over the following year when they helped get the Indians back on track by winning six of their nine games.
These are just some of the highlights of Du Quoin's football history which are reviewed in far more detail in our 160-page book which should be available three weeks after the completion of this season. And, the 2009 season will be included as well.
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