CMC75 Moments: 1970 Football Wins Program's First SCIAC Championship

As part of the buildup to the 75th Anniversary celebration for Claremont McKenna College (visit CMC's 75th Anniversary Countdown Page to learn more), we are reliving many of the great moments from CMS athletic department history over the 75-day countdown from April 17 to July 1. If you were a part of this great moment and would like to add to the memories, or if you would like to submit your memories of your own favorite CMS Athletics moment, fill out the form on our main 75th Anniversary page.

Great Moments from 75 Years of Athletics
1970 Football takes first SCIAC Championship

The 1970 Claremont-Mudd Football team only lost one game all year early in their breakthrough season of 1970, but responded by running the table the rest of the way behind the top defense in program history. The Stags had a streak of three straight shutouts in wins over Occidental, Loyola and Redlands, and only had that broken when La Verne managed a safety in a 19-2 Stags win.

That set up a big finale against Whittier, which came in at 2-0 in league play. The winner would guarantee itself at least a share of the SCIAC Championship, which was something the Poets were used to achieving. Whittier had won 11 of the last 13 SCIAC titles, including the previous three in a row, while Claremont-Mudd had never won.

A huge day from All-American Steve Endemano would help the Stags come through with a 35-20 win to secure an 8-1 regular season, a 3-1 mark in the league and a share of the conference title. Endemano scored three long touchdowns on 74 and 70-yard receptions from Glenn Grossman and a 69-yard run. Redlands, which lost to Claremont-Mudd 35-0, defeated Whittier one week later to tie the Stags for first place.

Endemano, Howard Bright, Dave Austen, Mike Gaston, Chris Stecher, Scott Thompson and Bob Hayes all earned first-team All-SCIAC honors, while Pete Merandi, Wil Wilkins, Sam Reece, Harry Wright and Greg Hayes were on the second team. Steve Endemano, who was first-team All-SCIAC on both offense and defense, also earned NAIA All-American distinction. 

Endemano would later become part of the first CMS Hall of Fame Class in 1991, joining founding athletic director Bill Arce, track and field athletes Pete Welsh and Bill LaRock, and swimmer Eric Jones. Endemano graduated with six All-SCIAC selections, earning spots on the offensive and defensive teams as a junior and senior, a feat which has never been matched. Bob Hayes and Sam Reece would also become CMS Hall of Famers off the 1970 squad. 

Watch video of Steve Endemano's 88-yard touchdown run in a 35-0 win over Redlands below:

Harry Wright:

A good school with a bad football team was the prevailing legacy my 21 freshman football teammates and I inherited upon arriving for two a day practices in the heat and record levels of smog in Claremont in 1967. Knowledge that a total of only two wins over the previous three years against opponents who were not lowly Caltech, added to the gloomy prospects. Nearing the end of its first decade as an SCIAC member, the Stags had never beaten perennial champion Whittier, Redlands, or Occidental in nine years of trying. That was about to change dramatically with a 29-28 victory of the Poets in the last home game of 1967 hailed by local news media as, "the biggest upset in the history of the SCIAC."

The legendary John Zinda would take over as head coach of the Stags football program in 1968 and in the next two seasons the Stags climbed the SCIAC ladder, attaining a 5-4 record in 1969, only the second winning season in school history. Long before digital media, the "Bible of College Football" was a magazine, Street and Smith's annual "College Football Yearbook", which provided preseason predictions and profiled top players. The 1970 edition picked the Stags third behind Whittier and Redlands, but that was the highest expectation in years and fueled further my expectations and those of my four remaining senior teammates: Steve Endemano, Bob Hayes, John Dougherty and Sam Bonacorso.

By the second game against Colorado College, I knew we had something special, particularly on defense. Colorado College had beaten us convincingly the previous year, but we were completely dominant this time, winning 28-2, with the only score against us coming on a long snap over the punter's head for a safety. As a linebacker and the defensive signal caller, I could usually feel which calls and which matchups were working well, and conversely, where we were outmanned and being beaten at the snap. Amazingly, there were no holes in this D. Four and five Stags would be pounding the ball carrier, and the opposing QB was running for his life. This was fun, I was laughing, and I wasn't the only one. Not laughing at our opponents, but just from the pure joy of eleven guys flying around wanting to get the next big hit, striving to be the best player on the field. Having one of my teammates say, "good hit" was far more satisfying than any coach's acknowledgement.

As luck would have it, the '70 Stags were blessed with a powerful group of offensive players. Both running backs, Endemano and Mike Gaston finishing atop the conference in rushing yardage behind a dominant offensive line. The line included Dave Austen at tackle, who would be selected NAIA All American the following year. Despite a capable QB in Glenn "Bruno" Grossman and a good group of receivers, Coach Zinda kept the game plans conservative, pounding the ball on offense and relying on a suffocating defense. Redlands and Occidental would both fall to the 1970 Stags for the first time in program history.

Statistics don't tell the whole story of course, but over a long period of time can provide some context. In a bit over sixty years of football competition the 1970 CMS Stags hold or are tied for the following records: most wins (8), most games not allowing a TD or FG (5), holding opponents to most consecutive scoreless quarters (14), fewest yards allowed for a season (1,953 yards), fewest points allowed for a season (70 in 9 games), most 1st and 2nd-Team All-SCIAC selections (13), most CMS Hall of Fame inductees playing on the same team (3), Steve Endemano, Sam Reece, and Bob Hayes, and conference player with the most First-Team SCIAC selections in a career, All American Steve Endemano (6), 4 on Defense and 2 on Offense.

1970 Football Roster
Head Coach: John Zinda
Assistant Coach: Mike Merandi
Pete Andrews (Fullback, CMC)
David Austen (Tackle, CMC)
Bill Barr (End, CMC)
David Beck (End, CMC)
Sam Bonacorso (Tackle, CMC)
Howard Bright (Guard, CMC)
Brian Buchanan (Guard, CMC)
Herbert (Bo) Chesney (Linebacker, CMC)
Mark Buchanan (Guard, CMC)
David Clarke (Center, CMC)
Jaime Correa (Halfback, CMC)
Rick Cressman (End, CMC)
Robert Crow (Tackle, CMC)
Mike Davlin (End, CMC)
Greg DeLong (Linebacker, CMC)
John Dougherty (Linebacker, CMC)
Robert Emerson (Center, CMC)
Steve Endemano (Halfback, HMC)
Michael Lee Gaston (Halfback, CMC)
Mike Graber (Halfback, CMC)
Glenn Grossman (Quarterback, CMC)
Bob Hayes (Halfback, CMC)
Greg Hayes (Halfback, CMC)
Arne Hendrickson (Guard, CMC)
Donald Hildre (Center, CMC)
Cedric Johnson (Tackle, CMC)
Paul Lord (Halfback, CMC)
Bran McAllister (Quarterback, CMC)
Jeff McGrath (Tackle, HMC)
Glen Martz (Linebacker, CMC)
Tom Matlock (End, CMC)
Peter Merandi (Center, CMC)
James Naulls (Tackle, CMC)
Tim Nissen (Tackle, CMC)
Doug Pickerell (Halfback, CMC)
Bill Parreco (Guard, CMC)
Art Poag (Guard, CMC)
Jim Popoff (Guard, CMC)
Gary Rattett (Halfback, CMC)
Samuel Reece (End, CMC)
Thomas Rees (Halfback, CMC)
Mike Rosen (Linebacker, CMC)
Steven Rothblum (Quarterback, CMC)
Darrell Smith (Halfback, CMC)
Chris Stecher (Tackle, CMC)
David Stevenson (Tackle, CMC)
Larry Strauss (Guard, CMC)
Scott Thompson (Linebacker, CMC)
Gary Van Buskirk (Linebacker, CMC)
Jim Webster (Halfback, CMC)
Wil Wilkins (End, CMC)
Tom Withers (Linebacker, CMC)
Harry Wright (Linebacker, CMC)