1971 PSAC Football Championship

VERSATILE WEST CHESTER REMAINS PC FOOTBALL POWER

West Chester has won the Pennsylvania Conference football championship for the 11th time and off the 1971 results should continue to dominate conference competition for the next several years, at least.

The Golden Rams defeated Edinboro, 35-14, in the conference championship game with fullback Phil Hossler gaining 121 yards in 16 carriers. Hossler scored two touchdowns as did halfback Randy Wynings.

Coach Bob Mitten used two complete backfields all season and gave his underclassmen plenty of experience for next year. Hossler will be back along with ace quarterback Tom Pierantozzi, fleet halfback Merritt Kersey and record-breaking kicking specialist Barry Stevenson.

The Golden Rams lost only one game to the University of Delaware, the national college division champion, again nine victories. They tied for second in the final Lamert Cup poll behind Delaware and probably would have had sole possession of the runner-up spot if another balloting had been taken after C.W. Post, the other second-place team, lost on Thanksgiving Day to Hofstra.

Despite all the conference championships, West Chester has not won back-to-back crowns since 1960-61 and will be aiming to start a conference title streak next season. The last team to repeat was East Stroudsburg in 1964-65

Ironically because of its depth and because few players saw full-action, West Chester didn’t have a single statistical champion. Kersey finished second in the Eastern Division in rushing while Stevenson was third in scoring.

The big names in the Eastern Division statistical race were fullback Mike Ortman of Millersville, quarterbacks Terry Woginrich of Kutztown and Steve Mummaw of East Stroudsburg and end Glen Gottshalk of East Stroudsburg.

Millersville fans cheered “Ortman for Heisman Trophy” after the senior running back gained 215 yards including a 93-yard touchdown run in the Marauders’ season-ending 41-0 win over Lebanon Valley.

Ortman finished as the division’s top rusher with 1,098 yards and 137.2 per game and the leading scorer with 72 points or nine per contest. He helped Millersville to a 6-3 records and a 4-2 conference mark, tied for second place with East Stroudsburg and Kutztown.

Woginrich personally accounted for 1,786 yards, almost 200 per game, to take the total offense crown. He also was among the leaders in rushing and passing and his aerial mate, Gorman was the second top receiver with 4.2 catches per contest.

East Stroudsburg’s Mutt-and-Jeff passing combination of Mummaw (5-8) and Gottshalk (6-3) placed first in passing, 1,388 yards and 12.0 completions per game, and receiving, 4.3 catches per game.

Dan Stellfox of Bloomsburg wound up as the best punter with a 40.6 average while Jim Ketner of Millersville and John Kashner of Kutztown tied in interceptions with six apiece.

West Chester, of course, had the division’s best overall record of 9-1 while Millersville and East Stroudsburg were both 6-3. Kutztown and Bloomsburg finished 4-5 with Mansfield 3-6 and Cheyney 1-8. A sad conclusion to the season was the resignations of Fred Reed as Cheyney’s head coach.