The Knox-Lombard Athletic Hall of Fame
The 1976 football team was among the best to ever take the field at Knox. The team finished with a 7-1-1 record, won the Midwest Conference title, and five players were selected as first-team all-conference performers.
Coached by Al Reilly, the 76ers (as they became known) outscored their opponents 203-150. Knox beat Monmouth College 32-28 in the “Battle for the Bronze Turkey” for the first time in 10 years and defeated Lake Forest College 33-0 in the playoffs.
At the time, Knox’s 7-1-1 record was the best in nearly 50 years. The team posted the fourth-best record in school history, tying with the 1898 “Purple and Gold” who also finished with a 7-1-1 mark.
“The 1976 team had a balanced attack led by quarterback Fran Paradise,” said Tom Crabtree ’72. “Fran is the only quarterback in Knox history to have been selected first-team all-conference for the MWC twice, one of which was in 1976.” Fran, who was inducted into the Knox-Lombard Athletic Hall of Fame in 2011, completed 84 passes for 1,075 yards and 12 touchdowns.
“Jim Smith led the rushing attack for the Siwashers, becoming only the second player in school history to gain over 1,000 yards in one season. Jim finished the year with 1,005 yards on 213 carries, good for an average of 111.7 yards per game (and 4.7 yards per carry). ‘Smitty’ scored nine touchdowns on the season and was a first-team all-MWC selection,” Crabtree said.
The three other players on the 1976 team named first-team All-Midwest Conference were Dallas DeVore at guard, Rod Swan at defensive back, and Charlie Range at defensive end.
“No other team in the last 80 years comes close to matching this team’s prowess and I believe their memory and accomplishments should be honored,” Crabtree said.
Twenty-one Knox College individual and team records were established or tied during the 1976 season. The single game team records included 28 first downs and 588 total yards against Monmouth. Among the offensive and defensive season records were most first downs (165), most total plays (671), most total yards (3,038), best offensive average yards per game (337.6), fewest fumbles lost (15) and most passes intercepted (22).
In a December 3, 1976 release from the Knox public information office, coach Reilly saluted his team for its outstanding performance, saying, “Our success this season was in large measure due to the leadership asserted by team members.”
The individual players coach Reilly singled out for praise were senior middle guard and co-captain Steve Baumgartner (selected the most valuable defensive player for Knox), senior quarterback and co-captain Fran Paradise (voted the most valuable Knox offensive player and winner of the Tom Dean Award), senior defensive back Rod Swan, senior offensive guard Dallas DeVore, junior defensive end Charlie Range, junior running back Jim Smith, and senior punter/wide receiver Bill Jones.
United Press International ranked Knox 10th in the nation in NCAA Division III after four weeks and the team’s 7-1-1 record was the best among all Illinois colleges in 1976.
