Last Friday, Knoxville High School honored the 1975 Panther Football Team, which went 9-0 and is often called one of the greatest Knoxville sports teams ever, on the 50th anniversary of their season. Many of the team members were back for a reunion and were honored before the kick off of last week’s home opener against Mount Pleasant. One of the players, Rex DeMoss, who was a junior on that team, told KNIA/KRLS Sports it was a mix of great athletes, and completely different starters on offense and defense.

DeMoss: “We pretty much had a starting offense and a starting defense, and there wasn’t many that played both ways. We would rotate in, but between our two classes, we had some great athletes.”

The Panthers enjoyed a victory margin of over 37 points per game, and set many school records, some still stand to this day. The closest win was a 24-0 victory over Clarke. Unfortunately, the Panthers missed out on the playoffs due to a points system that rewarded schools for beating bigger schools, which was very different from district play of today. Listen for more on the 1975 Knoxville Football Team later this fall and a full interview with DeMoss Friday on Today’s Lely Radio Sports Page on KNIA/KRLS.

Photo courtesy of Ken Kinne