ReitzFootball.com proudly presents “This Day in #ReitzFootball History,” as we look back through almost 100 years of The Mighty Panthers.
On November 26:
- Overall: 3-2 (5 games)
- At Reitz Bowl (1925, 1931, 1953, 1959): 3-1
- At Enlow Field (1936): 0-1
- Reitz has never played a Friday or Saturday game on Nov. 25
Note: every game in Reitz Football history played on Nov. 26 has been on a Thursday and on Thanksgiving
1925: Bosse 21, Reitz 0 (Tiny Ten Conference game on Thanksgiving Day)
1931: Reitz 6, Bosse 0 (Thanksgiving Day game)
Ranked the third biggest game in Reitz Football’s Thanksgiving Day Game history, the Panthers upset previously unbeaten Bosse, 6-0, in front of 12,000 fans to temporarily win a share of the city championship. Of interest, the Panthers would lose a subsequent postseason rematch with the Bulldogs that gave the Eastsiders sole possession of the Pocket City crown.
1936: Bosse 26, Reitz 7 (SIAC game on Thanksgiving Day)
1953*: Reitz 27, Central 0 (SIAC game on Thanksgiving Day)
Also one of the Top 5 biggest Thanksgiving Day Games in Reitz Football history, at No. 2 was the Panthers’ 1953 win over the Bears. Don Siscel, who had six carries for 40 yards, led Reitz with two touchdowns. Fred Russel also had 7 carries for 115 yards and a touchdown for the Panthers.
1959: Reitz 32, Bosse 6 (SIAC A Division game on Thanksgiving Day)
“Some 2000 hardy football zealots bade farewell to Thanksgiving Day football in the cold and murky clutches of Reitz Bowl Thursday afternoon, and in the traditional fashion, Reitz smashed Bosse’s Bulldogs in the final game of the Indiana football season, 32-6.”
– Evansville Press, Nov. 27, 1959
* – denotes state championship season
