Union City Hall of Fame honors three legendary teams on Team of Fame night – Coldwater Daily Reporter

UNION CITY The Union City High School Athletic Hall of Fame held its annual Team of Fame game this past Friday as the Chargers pulled off an epic OT thrilling victory over the Reading Rangers, winning 26-20 in overtime.

This year the Union City Athletic Hall of Fame honored three different teams from three different sports, all of whom found glory on the field of play wearing the maroon and gray of the Chargers.

The first team being honored in 2021 was the 1970 Union City Football team, a team that has cemented its legacy as one of the best teams in UCHS history with a place on the vaunted Wall, a special place inside the halls of Union City High School honoring those football teams who have ended their respective regular season unbeaten.

This team was meant to be honored last year during the 2020 ceremony, which would have been a celebration of the 50th anniversary of their undefeated season in 1970 when they finished 9-0, however the COVID-19 pandemic forced postponement to this years ceremony.

The 1970 Charger football team lived up to their pre-season goals by posting a perfect 9-0 record, claiming the Little C conference crown and finishing the season as the seventh ranked team in the state in Class C.

Tailback Al Pepper led a potent rushing attack by carrying the ball 235 times for 1351 yards, scoring 20 touchdowns and 13 two-point conversions while fullback Ron Hoover added another 502 yards and 7 TDs on 112 carries.

The Chargers were also potent through the air with quarterback Russ Freds finding talented receivers like Pepper, Cliff Heisler, Duane Watkins, and Ward Miller 41 times for another 850 yards and 11 TDs.

Supporting the overall effort was an undersized yet stout offensive line and a swarming defense that led to Union City outscoring their opponents by a margin of 260-110.

Highlights of the season were tough wins over Jonesville and Bronson, and a season ending 20-18 win over Cassopolis on the road. A defensive stop of a two-point conversion with under a minute to play secured the win and the perfect 9-0 season.

Named to the Little C All-Conference First Team were team members Al Pepper, Russ Freds, Cliff Heisler, Duane Watkins, Mike Dunn, Walt Tresenriter, and Ron Hoover. Honorable mention selections were Paul Brecheisen, Louie Denning, David Hicks, Bill Hileman, and Ward Miller.

Pepper was also selected as captain of the Class C All-State team while Freds and Heisler were named All-State Honorable Mention.

Team members for the 1970 Union City Football team include manager Randy Timperly, Jerry Avery, Steve Parks, Bill Hileman, Mike Dunn, Mike Stemaly, Cliff Heisler, Larry Cross, Al Pepper, Ron Hoover, manager Dave Emmel, Dan Arlt, Tom Brecheisen, Rick Johnson, Walt Tresenwriter, Dan Kever, Bruce Little, John Page, Chuck Swarthout, Russ Freds, Paul Brecheisen, Ward Miller, David Hicks, Duane Watkins, Jim Casteel, Bob Jasper, Kim Philson, Louie Denning and coaches Gene Pensari, Ron Gaffner, and head coach Fred Pessell.

Also being honored at the Team of Fame event was the 1971 Union City Baseball team, a team celebrating the 50th anniversary of a tremendous season.

The 1971 Charger baseball team used a combination of stingy pitching, booming bats, and stellar defense to dominate throughout the regular season schedule and finish with a record of 14-0 and a Little C conference championship.

Highlights for the season would include two victories over the defending conference champion Bronson Vikings by scores of 7-0 and 5-1. Union City continued to dominate at the district tournament by defeating Galesburg Augusta, Battle Creek Springfield, and Athens by scores of 11-0, 13-0 and 17-5 to improve to 17-0 on the season. The win streak would end in the regional tournament with a heartbreaking 4-3 eleven inning loss to Decatur. The Chargers finished the season with 17 wins and 1 loss and outscored their opponents by a 143-36 margin. Russ Freds, Dan Kever, Al Pepper, and Duane Watkins received first team berths on the all-conference team while Paul Brecheisen, Keith Patton, and Cliff Heisler were named to the second team. Vern AcMoody, Mike Dunn, and Steve Parks received honorable mention.

Handling the pitching for Union City was Dan Kever who finished with a record of 8-0, Vern AcMoody who sported a 7-1 record and Al Pepper who went 2-0. Duane Watkins led the Chargers offense with a .533 batting average.

Team members include Greg Magner, Tom Brecheisen, Dan Dunithan, Keith Patton, Steve Parks, Al Pepper, Vern AcMoody, Ward Miller, Steve Claar, Paul Brecheisen, Bob Jasper, Mike Dunn, Cliff Heisler, Duane Watkins, Russ Freds and Dan Kever along with manager Jamie Seals.

The final team to be honored on the night was the the 1991 Union City Boys Track and Field team who celebrated the 30th anniversary of their undefeated season. That year the Chargers earned the first Big 8 Conference Championship and the first Regional title in school history.

The first team to use the all weather track in Union City, the 1991 Chargers wasted no time in setting records.

The team boasted 46 members, one of the largest track teams Union City has ever had. The best dual meet team in Charger history, they could place 3 athletes in almost every event. They were undefeated in both dual meets and invitationals, winning the Big Eight Conference Championship and the Conference Meet Championship.

They also captured the first regional championship in the history of Union City Mens Track.

The team also set School Records in 10 of the 17 events in 1991.

Included in those school records were all four relay records. Setting the 400 Meter Relay record was the team of Scott Lepper, Spencer Kever, Chad Etchison and Lance Fraley while the record breaking 800 Meter Relay Team consisted of Lepper, Kever, Jim Hicks and Fraley.

The record setting 3200 Meter Relay team was made up of athletes Ken Davenport, Steve Funk, Cody Claar, and Chris Lloyd while the 1600 Meter Relay team consisted of Lepper, Davenport, Lloyd and Fraley who set the record with a time of 3 minutes, 27.6 seconds, which is still a record today.

Individual school records were set in 1991 by Spencer Kever in the Pole Vault at 13 feet, 4 inches; Josh Miller in the High Jump at 6 feet, 5 inches which is still a record to this day; Lance Fraley in the 200 Meter Dash at 22.5 seconds and in the 400 Meter Dash in a time of 49.8 seconds; Chris Lloyd in the 1600 Meter Run at 4 minutes, 25.8 seconds, which also is still a record; and Justin Alford in the 300 Meter Hurdles.

Members of the 1991 Union City Charger Track and Field team included Justin Alford, Ben Bishop, Marvin Boyes, Andrew Burgett, Chad Campbell, Cody Claar, Kent Clayton, Brandon Coats, Mason Converse, Trevor Curtis, Eric Davenport, Ken Davenport, Eric Dunithan, Chad Etchison, Mike Eyre, Theo Foote, Joe Fraley, Lance Fraley, Steve Funk, Mike Gaborink, Jon Halder, Steve Herman, Damon Hicks, Jim Hicks, William Jeager, Chris Jones, Spencer Kever, Karl Koch, Scott Lepper, Chris Lloyd, Matt Luna, Pete Mathis, Shawn Mears, Don Moss, Ryan Nagel, Randy ODell, Jamie Palmer, Jason Parks, Ronnie Peet, Nathan Rutan, Rick Simington, Noel Spooner, Ryan Tundevold, Jessie Underwood, Mark Valentine, Sean Whitcomb, Coach Garry Parks and head coach Chris Katz.

Congratulations to the 2021 Union City High School Teams of Fame.

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Union City Hall of Fame honors three legendary teams on Team of Fame night - Coldwater Daily Reporter