Editor’s note: This is the start of a new series, with every installment, we’ll look back chronologically at every Reitz game, starting at the beginning.
I want to continue to document the school’s football history as much as possible. This will take lots of research and time, and I need your help to do it.
With this goal in mind, going forward these articles will be exclusively available for PantherPlus members.
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With that said, let’s go back to the beginning….to the fall of 1918…..
In the Sept. 8 edition of the Evansville Courier & Press, it was reported that an athletic association had been formed at the newly opened Reitz High School.
“Principal E. E. Morley met the boys Friday and began making preliminary arrangements.”
No mention of football was made.
A month later, on Oct. 5, 1918, it was reported by the same paper that the Panthers had lost a football game:
| Boy Scout Elevens Win
The West Side Boy Scouts’ football team yesterday afternoon defeated the Francis Reitz high school team on the Ricadonia field by a 24 to 12 score. The touchdowns for the winning team were made as follows: Milby, 2; Macer, Reitz. Elmendorf and Reed scored for the school. |
What’s interesting is this means that football started at Reitz in 1918. For the longest time, Reitz historians have said it was 1919 (reports state this going back to the 1930s). While this was more accurately a freshman game, as only ninth-, eight- and seventh graders attended Reitz in the first year, we’ve chosen to recognize it as the Panthers’ first game.
All-time scoring leaders through this game:
- 6 – Elmendorf
- 6 – Reed
Links of interest
