1965 Football Team

Inducted - 2017

The 1965 Owosso Trojans went 9-0. Dan Scollon, right halfback and defensive cornerback on the 1965 squad stated, “We didn’t really have any superstars. The thing I remember about the team, we probably had the toughest defense,” Scollon said. “Nobody ever scored more than six points on us. I think we had three or four shutouts.” Head coach Bernie Conklin was a big factor in the Trojans’ dominant defense. “Bernie always told us, ‘Defense wins games,’” Scollon said. “He said, ‘If you shut the other team down and they can’t score, we’ll figure out a way to score.’” Conklin had lost an eye and the lower part of one of his legs during World War II. Rob Van Pelt, halfback and defensive back, credits their coach’s all-business attitude for their success. “Bernie was just a tough nut,” Van Pelt said. “To go through that kind of adversity as an individual, I think that normally makes that person obviously a very strong-willed individual.” Conklin — who led the Trojans from 1962 to 1965 with a 28-8 composite record and three league titles — was a no-nonsense coach and a disciplinarian. Scollon said Van Pelt, quarterbacks Jim Hall and Denny Whiteherse, the late Frank Kovach — a fullback — and middle linebacker Ron Ossipove were some of the standouts on the team. Ossipove was also an All-State center and other players included Dick Lawson, Frank Stone, Duane Ochodnicky, Art Hultin, Jim Niemiec, Orin Jennings and Rod Spitler. Owosso boasted a strong football program, from the freshman to the varsity level back in the 1960s, with huge numbers of players. The Owosso program had talent as well as depth — Van Pelt’s brother, future Michigan State and NFL star Brad Van Pelt, played on the freshman team that year. The closest game Owosso had in 1965 came in Week 3 against Flint Kearsley. After starting the season off with wins over Flint Ainsworth (21-6) and Bridgeport (31-6), Owosso needed a big defensive play late in the fourth quarter to break a late 6-6 tie with Kearsley, which came in the form of a two-point safety. “We pushed them back into their own end zone and their quarterback was rolling out, and then I got ahold of him and then John Weidman got a hold of him and another third party joined in,” Scollon said. Afterwards, the Trojans posted three straight shutout wins, 6-0 over Beecher, 13-0 over Clio and 20-0 over Flushing. Owosso then topped Mt. Morris 32-6 and Grand Blanc 27-0, setting the stage for a Week 9 battle at Davison. Owosso won that game 12-6 to complete the perfect season. The mark of 30 points allowed for the season still remains as one of the strongest defenses in mid-Michigan history.