- State champion (poll)
- Sunflower League champion
- 9-0 with four shutouts
- Held opponents scoreless in first quarter
The 1965 team was 9-0 and crowned state champions based on polls. That team had four shutouts and did not allow opponents to score a single point in the first quarter. It was Taylor’s second year as head coach and his first state championship.
“It’s always easier to win championships when you have great coaches and great players,” said Taylor, now 75 years old and still living in Overland Park. “We had both that year.”
Two of his longest-time assistants were with him the entire seven years: the late Merlin Gish, the head track coach and Taylor’s mathematics teaching partner; and Bob Stauffer, Taylor’s College of Emporia roommate who began as sophomore coach, moved to varsity assistant, and then succeeded Taylor at North in 1979.
The 1965 team included all-star team selections Larry Musser and Bob Pfanmiller at end, Bob Clendenin at guard and linebacker, Bob Stoddard at halfback, Tim Burkindine at guard, Mike Stouffer at tackle, all seniors, along with junior Alan Steelman at fullback and linebacker. It was senior fullback Mark Hantla, however, who led the way. Hantla, 6-2 and 210 lbs., gained 747 yards on 146 carries for a 5.6 yard average with 10 touchdowns.
“We moved Mark to fullback for his senior year because we thought it suited his talents and personality,” remembered Taylor. “And it worked out pretty well.”
To show what kind of athlete he was, as a senior on the track team in the spring of 1966, Hantla won the state in the discus (162’4”) and also ran the opening leg of the state championship medley relay team (3:33.5 with Vince Frye, Bob Stoddard and Jerry Gerant).
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