Story Courtesy of the Courier Press

EVANSVILLE — After a one-year absence, several Panthers resumed their tradition of dying their hair blond leading up to the Mater Dei game and postseason. But it was much more than bleached blond hair that defeated the Wildcats, 59-0, in the most lopsided game in the history of the series, which dates to 1952. The largest previous differential was Reitz's 52-0 victory in 1962.

"It was a mistake not to do it last year," said all-state defensive end candidate Tony Ewers, sporting his new blond hairdo. "It's amazing and it feels great to be part of making history at Reitz High School." Friday's romp was a testament to the Panthers' overwhelming talent, experience, depth and leadership. Even hard-to-satisfyReitz coach Tony Lewis was beaming after the Panthers had wrapped up their second undefeated regular season in three years and their third consecutive City and Southern Indiana Athletic Conference championship.

Mater Dei, on the other hand, has lost four in a row to fall to 4-5 overall, 3-4 in the SIAC and 3-3 in the City. It's amazing and it feels great to be part of making history at Reitz High School Reitz High School's football team had Mater Dei seeing yellow, then red, on Friday night at Reitz Bowl. Reitz, 9-0 and ranked No. 4, will host Seymour at 6 p.m. CDT next Friday in the first round of the Class 4A Sectional 16 playoffs. Mater Dei will host Forest Park in its Class 2A Sectional 32 opener at noon next Saturday at the Bowl.

The Panthers posted their third consecutive shutout over Mater Dei and have won the West Side Nut Club trophy five straight seasons. Early in the season, running back Alordo Bell was ailing with a bum ankle and quarterback Matt McIntosh was out with a shoulder injury. On Friday, Bell gained 200 yards on 12 carries, including a season-high four touchdowns. McIntosh added 125 yards on nine attempts, including two scores. He also completed seven of 10 passes for an additional 127 yards, including a pair of touchdown passes to Jeff Hudson.

McIntosh and Hudson teamed to douse Lewis in the traditional ice-bucket celebration with about one minute left in the game. "I was trying to avoid it," Lewis said. "They set a booby trap. They sniped around the edge. After they played that well, I didn't mind." Bell pointed out that the Panthers kept rolling, even though he missed three games early in the season. "We're not a one-man team," he said. "I was out most of the season. The rest of the guys made us undefeated for now. I wasn't keeping count (of my touchdowns)." While even Lewis was momentarily satisfied, what this year's edition of the Panthers will truly be remembered for is what they accomplish in the playoffs.

"Today is a good win," Bell said. "Tomorrow it's a new season." Bell dreamed of beating Mater Dei by a lopsided score. "But I didn't think it would happen anytime soon," he said. Lewis said his players were touched that the Panthers' Class of 1942 was honored on Friday night. "After those guys played high school football, they went off to World War II," he said. "It was neat to see those guys again."

West Side Nut Club Trophy Champions