If you love Frankfurt, football and stats, you will love this letter from Tom Johnson ‘73. Very grateful for the support of our alumni! Thank you all!
Note- I was on the 89 jv team and watched the Heidelberg sophomore quarterback, Eric Zeir, tear our secondary up. He went on to graduate from high school in Atlanta and then start as a freshman at UGA in 91. However, that season was the beginning of Coach Toth and George’s prowess at Frankfurt. We went to the playoffs every year after that.
Uber Alles!
Frankfurt American High School Football Legacy
DISCLOSURE: Most of the information came from the yearbooks, some from people on facebook and the rest from my time at Frankfurt (71-73). Yearbook site: http://www.frankfurthigh.com/history/subpages/fahs_yearbooks.htm. If anyone has corrections or additional information please feel free to post. Teams are named by graduation year not by year played e.g. 73 played fall 72.
Early years 1946-56
The school started in 1946, but did not field a football team until 48-49 school year. The basketball team, which started the year before, was known as the Maroon Raiders; however the football team became the Eagles. There were six original high schools: Berlin-Bears, Bremerhaven-Blackhawks, Heidelberg-Lions, Munich-Mustangs, Nuremberg-Tigers (later Eagles) & Frankfurt all of which are closed. Students from Wiesbaden attended FAHS; after 1995, students from Frankfurt attended H.H. Arnold High School (Wiesbaden); the last Eagles became Warriors, “… the worst of times”.
In 48, football was played inter-school such as AYA teams, Frankfurt students had two teams: local students (Frankfurt) and outlying students (Darmstadt-Bad Neuheim). The teams played other areas such as Wiesbaden, Munich, Heidelberg, Nuremberg and Vienna. They played each other once; final score 0-0, that’s kismet. Starting in 49 Frankfurt fielded a regular team and a second team that played 6 on 6. Some of the smaller schools did not have enough players so they played 6 on 6 (Bremerhaven & Wurzburg). For the next eight seasons FAHS only had two winning and no champion teams. The teams won 18, lost 22 and tied 2; it was “trial under fire”. The student body included freshmen with a senior class ranging from 36 to 81; in today’s world a single A school.
Middle years 1957-77
During the late 50s, 3rd Armored Division transferred from Ft. Knox to West Germany. The schools now included Friedberg, Butzbach, Kirch Gons & Gelnhausen as well as Aschaffenburg, Babenhausen, Bad Hersfeld, Bad Nauheim, Bad Wildungen, Budingen, Camp King, Darmstadt, Fritzar, Fulda, Giessen, Hanau, Hoechst, Rhein-Main, Rothwesten, Wetzlar, Willdflecken and Bonn (US embassy). Then, in the mid 60s with France exiting NATO, FAHS gained even more students The school went from a 2A to a 5A school, losing the freshman class in 1960 (the class of 62 spent two years at the bottom rung). The senior class increased to over 400 and the school enrollment to over 2000. Had the freshman class stayed, enrollment would have made the school 6A. It wasn’t unusual to have almost 80 playing on varsity or JV. It is hard to appreciate the size of FAHS if you went to a small school. I transferred from Ft. Knox HS (small school) to FAHS my sophomore year- it was a whole new world.
The 1957 team lost the first game to K-town (13-12) then never gave up another point for the rest of the season. They finished in 2nd place but “the gauntlet had been cast down.” For the next twenty seasons FAHS dominated the gridiron. The 1958 team shut-out its first opponent thus setting the school record at 6 and they played without facemasks. The undefeated class of ’59 were the first champions. Eighteen was the first winning streak set by classes of 58-59-60-61. That streak would be reset when the classes of 72-73-74-75 went 20 games undefeated. There were 14 championship teams, 6 were undefeated and not a single team had a losing record. A quote from 64 Wiesbaden YB “Then tragedy struck. The high flying Frankfurt Eagles brought the Warriors down to earth in a 40-0 fashion”. The 68, 69 and 70 championships require a comment: during the season each lost to the eventual Red Division champion. The 61 champions require a note as well: K-town had the better record. The road to a champion season ran through Frankfurt am Main. The highest scoring offense 73 (212) and the lowest scored on defense 57 & 60 (13). There were 109 wins with 46 being shut-outs. The largest margin of victory is shared by 61 & 67. The 61 team beat Verdun and the 67 team beat Munich both wins were 53-0. Finally, lowest scoring game, 73 team scored 4 points to beat Wiesbaden 4 to 0.
The title “European Champions” started with the class of 73; the classes of 74 & 75 followed suit. Most players/students did not realize it was not an official title; the official title was “Blue Division Champions”. We felt that title was inadequate and adopted a new one. The 73 team was loaded with big egos and no affection for the status quo.
The lettermen jackets went from black sleeves to gold (1961) to black (1973) then gold (1982). I was there in 1973 when we changed to black sleeves. It was a mistake, which those that did not have the gold sleeves would regret. Wilson Company, which made the gold sleeve jackets (such as mine and all those eagles of the 60s and early70s), quit making the jacket. Coach Drakulich found another company to make the jackets, but they were all black, not even gold trim. I contacted Neff which made our European wrestling and football patches (my designs) and they could provide gold sleeve jackets with the gold trim for the same price; however it would take 3 weeks longer. I presented the options and the black sleeves won because no one wanted to wait 3 extra weeks. THE KICKER: the black sleeve jackets arrived 4 weeks later than scheduled and they were horrendous. Thank you 82 Eagles for returning to gold sleeves.
There were four coaches during this period George Kircher(56-62), Robert Hartman (63 & 64), Robert Moss (65-67) and Don Drakulich (68-76); all winning coaches. Coach Kircher over seven seasons had a record of 36-9, four champions, three undefeated teams and the most consecutive champions. Coach Drakulich (I was his TA) over nine seasons compiled a record of 51-11-1. He had six champions, two undefeated teams and the longest winning streak.
Final years 1978-95
Just as the arrival of the Third Armored Division transformed FAHS into a big school, its departure returned it to a small school. I was at Ft Knox October 1992 when the 3 AD colors were rolled up. My thoughts went to Miquelallee and the twilight of the eagle era. Starting in 76 with the opening of Hanau, FAHS started downsizing; which continued in 86 when Giessen opened. Although the freshman class returned, the school went from a 5A to a single A school at the end. The graduating class dropped from over 400 (65 to 73) to 225 (87) then to 92 (95). So students of the 80s and the 90s were in a different world than those of us from the 60s and 70s. The big schools went away: Ramstein siphoned Wiesbaden/K-town and there were two Stuttgarts (Stallions/Panthers) for a number of years. This does not make one better than the other, just different.
The undefeated teams disappeared. The uniforms greatly improved. In 72, the new jerseys literately required mending when they came out of the box. The 92 team did win the regular season but lost to Wiesbaden in the play-offs. Strange things can happen: 76 Heidelberg team went 4-3 (lost to FAHS) and were co-champions of the red division. Then, they beat an undefeated Wiesbaden team (blue division champion) and claimed the European title. The 93 YB claims Division 1 (whatever that is) champions, however 93 Ramstein YB claims winning the playoff game 16 to 12. There were 8 losing seasons; the 88 team went 0-7. Worst loss by FAHS occurred with the 89 team: Frankfurt 0-Heidelberg 64.
Lynn Haight (my soccer coach & algebra II teacher) coached for 6 seasons including the 77 champions. Coach of the 92 team, Charlie Toth, coached for three seasons and ended with a winning record.
Stats:
Scoring Offense (average): 73 (30), 62 (30), 57 (28), 74 (27), 67 (27)
Scoring Defense (average): 60 (2), 57(2), 59 (4), 58 (4), 62 (4)
Undefeated Teams: 59, 60, 62, 64, 73, 74
Highest combined score: 73 (FAHS 42-Ktown 24), 73 (FAHS 48-Nuremburg 14), 94 (FAHS 55-Ktown 44 per 94 Ktown YB)
Champion Teams: 59, 60, 61, 62, 64, 65, 66, 68, 69, 70, 73, 74, 75, 77, 92
Most shut-outs (5): 57, 59, 60