1963 Luther Norse football team

The 1963 Luther Norse football team was an American football team that represented Luther College as a member of the Iowa Conference during the 1963 NAIA football season. In their 12th year under head coach Edsel Schweizer, the Norse compiled a perfect 9–0 record (8–0 against conference opponents), won the IC championship, and outscored opponents by a total of 315 to 53.

1963 Luther Norse football
Iowa Conference champion
ConferenceIowa Conference
Record9–0 (8–0 Iowa)
Head coach
Seasons
← 1962
1964 →
1963 Iowa Conference football standings
ConfOverall
TeamW L TW L T
Luther $800900
Central (IA)611711
Upper Iowa530630
Simpson530540
Dubuque341341
Buena Vista350450
Wartburg350350
Iowa Wesleyan260270
William Penn080090
  • $ – Conference champion

Fullback Jerry Wonders ranked second among the country's small-college players with 1,017 rushing yards.[1] Wonders was selected as a second-team back on the Associated Press' 1963 Little All-America college football team.[2]

Seven Luther players were selected to the 1963 All-Iowa Conference football team: bacs Jerry Wonders and Bob Naslund; ends Richard Ashland, Gary Lowmiller and Claude Jacobson; and tackles Charles Stern and Earl Jensen.[3]

Schedule

DateOpponentSiteResultAttendanceSource
September 14at DubuqueDubuque, IAW 32–0[4]
September 21WartburgDecorah, IAW 34–74,200[5]
September 28at Upper IowaFayette, IAW 27–04,000[6]
October 5William PennDecorah, IAW 54–6[7]
October 12at Central (IA)Pella, IAW 14–7[8]
October 19Buena VistaDecorah, IAW 27–7[9]
October 26at Parsons*Fairfield, IAW 34–14[10]
November 2at Iowa WesleyanMount Pleasant, IAW 45–6[11]
November 9SimpsonDecorah, IAW 48–6[1]
  • *Non-conference game

Personnel

The following players won varsity letters:[12]

  1. Tom Altmeler
  2. Mel Ashland
  3. Richard Ashland
  4. Kenneth Belanger
  5. Harold Bendicsen
  6. John Benn
  7. James Boyce
  8. David Chellevold
  9. John Cutting
  10. Howard Dettloff
  11. Dean Ellingson
  12. Joseph Fillman
  13. Harold Fish
  14. Jay Geerdes
  15. Dale Halverson
  16. Richard Hemp
  17. Gerald Holmmes
  18. Dennis Ibbotson
  19. George Indestad
  20. Claude Jacobson
  21. Earl Jensen
  22. Peter Johnson
  23. Steven Johnson
  24. Francis Koch
  25. John Lee
  26. Gary Lowmiller
  27. Robert Melcher
  28. Steven Messer
  29. Darryl Meyer
  30. David Miller
  31. Dennis Mitchell
  32. Robert Naslund
  33. David Nesset
  34. Lowell Olsen
  35. Paul Olsen
  36. Steven Olson
  37. Thomas Precious
  38. David Sandeno
  39. Stephen Schach
  40. Russ Schneider
  41. David Schreiber
  42. Robert Schroeder
  43. Ronald Schultz
  44. David Solberg
  45. Larry Staffon
  46. John Stark
  47. Charles Stern
  48. Robert Thompson
  49. Leallyn Turvold
  50. Craig Williams
  51. Jerry Wonders

References