Troy High School (Troy, Ohio) - 1969-1971 Trojans Football

1969-1971 Trojans Football

In 1969 Troy Trojans was a high school team that was rebuilding and led by undersized sophomores, they were having a terrible season (they went 2-7-1), this making four straight losing seasons, two in the Western Ohio League (WOL) 1968 and 1969, and two before that (1966–1967) in the Miami Valley League (MVL). On the last play, of the last game of the season, with the game tied 22-22 against powerful rival Dayton Wayne, the pass went to the 165-pound Randy Walker. He was tackled 18 inches (460 mm) from the end zone. After the game the coach, James "Jim" Conard, made the entire team walk around with a piece of cloth that was 18 inches (460 mm) long, until the start of the 1970 season. Walker gave up his first love, baseball, joined the track team for speed and stamina, and started lifting weights-gaining 30 pounds, reporting to fall practice at 195-pounds.

The 18-inch (460 mm) strip of cloth would motivate his team, Conard and Walker would not lose another game the remaining two seasons, going 20-0, and winning back-to-back WOL titles. In 1971 they outscored opponents, 406-54, out-gained opponents 3,711 yards (3,393 m) to 1,267, and punting only 19 times all season. The team and the defense dominated opponents, forcing 31 turnovers, and posting five shutouts (including a 35-0 victory over Wayne).

Three backs would be selected to the All-Western Ohio League team, Gordon Bell, Walker, and Joe Allen. Bell, who gained 3,707 yards (3,390 m) in three seasons, rushed for 1,447 yards (on 198 carries) and scored 19 touchdowns in 1971, and was named first team All-Ohio for both 1970 and 1971. Bell would have also been "Ohio Back of the Year" had he not finish second, to Archie Griffin (Columbus Eastmoor), in both years. Walker, whose main assignment was to block, rushed for 724 yards (662 m), on a 14.9 yards (13.6 m) per carry average. Allen had 544 yards (497 m) on 67 carries (8.1 YPC). David Starkey, the heart of the defense and was named an All-Ohio defensive lineman. Elmo Boyd, a track star who only played football his senior season (1971), finished with 12 catches for 374 yards (31.2 yards-per-catch average) and seven touchdowns.

In 2001, the 1971 team was selected by a panel of Dayton Daily News sports writers as the best Miami Valley prep football team of the last 50 years. Coach Conard retired after the 1971 season to become a principal at Troy Junior High.

20 players from the 1971 Trojans would go on to play college football, 15 of those at the Division I level, and two would play in the National Football League (NFL). Bell would go on to play for the Michigan Wolverines in college, gaining 2900 yards, and play four seasons in the NFL for the New York Giants and St. Louis Cardinals. Walker would star in three seasons at fullback for the Miami RedHawks, on a team that went 32-1-1, winning the Mid-American Conference title all three years. Drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals (1976; 13th round), Walker would instead choose to become an assistant coach (later head coach of both the Miami RedHawks and the Northwestern Wildcats). Boyd went on to play football at Eastern Kentucky and with the NFL's San Francisco 49ers. Starkey and fullback Joe Allen would play for the Florida Gators. In addition quarterback Al Mayer went on to play at Marshall.