It may not have been the most physically gifted or imposing team to ever walk the halls of St. Rita.
Heck, some regard the 1961 squad, which registered an undefeated regular season but stubbed its toe in the first round of the playoffs, as a more skilled team.
The Mustangs’ undefeated 1978 team that won the Class 6A state championship was a monster. And the 2006 team that claimed the 7A state title was immensely talented.
However, what can’t be debated is this: since 1910, the National Sports News Service has awarded a National Champion and St. Rita’s ’63 team is the only South Side squad ever to earn the distinction.
This isn’t a myth — it’s fact and a nod to the team’s remarkable dominance.
On Friday, during its much-anticipated Catholic Blue showdown against Mount Carmel, St. Rita will honor the 50-year anniversary of its ’63 team’s 9-0 season with a pre-game dinner and halftime ceremony. Approximately 31 of the 48 rostered players will be in attendance, a few traveling as far as from the East and West Coasts. Some, sadly, have passed on and will be represented by their widows.
“It’s going to be great to see everybody,” said John Byrne, a running back on the ’63 team who now resides in Munster, Ind. “It brings back some great memories.”
There were no state championships back then, kids. Just like there weren’t any water breaks during grueling three-hour practices.
The Prep Bowl was akin to the state championship and St. Rita claimed it by way of a 42-7 win over Vocational in front of 81,270 fans.
That’s not a typo, folks. There were 81,270 fans watching a high school football game.
“It was a blockbuster affair,” Byrne remembered. “Public school vs. private school. Two South Side teams. It was a big game. That’s why 80,000 people were there.”
How dominant was the ’63 team? They outscored opponents 348-60.
They were undersized, even by 1960s standards — only two players tipped the scales beyond 200 pounds. And, yes, the playbook was vanilla, consisting of a half-dozen or more plays.
But under the guidance of coach Ed Buckley, a former Marine who earned nine letters as a three-sport star at Harvard, the ’63 Mustangs resembled a disciplined, well-oiled machine.
Their ability to execute the game plan with impeccable precision combined with Marine-style conditioning produced a take-no-prisoners, never-say-die attitude that resulted in one of the most dominant seasons in state history.
“We were afraid of his [Buckley’s] wrath the next day if we made any mistakes,” Byrne recalled. “He was a legendary coach. We weren’t the most talented team, but we worked hard. We played smart and didn’t make mistakes. We had perfect execution and we played as a team.”
Make no mistake, the ’63 ’Stangs had some great players. Byrne, a St. Margaret of Scotland graduate, went on to play at Indiana before a knee injury ended his career. Larry Smith, an offensive lineman, went on to play at Michigan State. Another lineman, Joe Kosiak, went to Nebraska before finishing at Drake.
And, then, of course, there’s Jim Klutcharch, the quarterback who went to Purdue and has coached at various local high schools, including Shepard.
“The whole season was a highlight for me,” Klutcharch said. “The previous two years we went undefeated and lost in the first round of the playoffs. Fenwick beat us bad both of those years.”
The third time proved to be the charm, as St. Rita beat Fenwick, 22-6, and then dropped undefeated Loyola, 16-15, in a thriller to advance to the Prep Bowl championship. The Ramblers were the only team to come within double digits of the Mustangs all season.
“Loyola was so much bigger than us,” said Klutcharch, who grew up in Sheldon Heights, just outside Roseland. “We connected on a two-point conversion to win 16-15. It was a great game.”
The Mustangs then made quick work of vocational to cap off their undefeated season.
Fifty years ago.
“It’s a lot of years and it makes you feel old,” Klutcharch said. “It wasn’t until years later that you even thought about it [undefeated]. It’s a very neat thing. You’re proud of the fact at how you played and how you did and the guys you played with. A lot of great, great memories.”
