Sept. 24, 2004

The 2005 football season will be the University of Dayton's 100th anniversary season of football. To help commemorate this, the UD Athletic Hall of Fame will induct a special 100th anniversary group of football players as its 2005 class. Six football players will join the Hall and be introduced at halftime of the Dayton-Cornell men's basketball game on January 8. The 2005 Hall of Fame class will bring the total membership in UD's Hall of Fame to 146.

The new members are Jerry VanderHorst (1948-50), Leo Dillon (1968-70), Larry Nickels (1970-72), Mike Duvic (1986-89), Lou Loncar (1986-89) and Andy Pellegrino (1989-92).

JERRY VANDERHORST `51-Football-1948-50

One of the top players when UD resumed football in the years following World War II, Jerry VanderHorst was a two-way starter on the offensive and defensive lines, and was known as the best athlete on the team in those position areas. He was an All-Ohio performer for the Flyers in the 1949 and 1950 seasons.

As a lineman, there are no stats to judge him by, but VanderHorst and his linemates were responsible for opening holes for all-time greats such as Art Bok (who finished his career tied for the UD career scoring record) and Leroy Ka-Ne (who still holds the Flyer single-season record of 7.8 yards per carry).

After graduating from UD, VanderHorst was invited to camp with the Los Angeles Rams. He made the team, but was already married and soon discovered the money in pro football back then was not enough to support his family. The Rams retained a first right of refusal on his contract, and just like that, his football playing days were over.

VanderHorst currently lives in Dayton.

LEO DILLON `71-Football-1968-70

Leo Dillon was a team co-captain and anchored UD's offensive line in during what is arguably the best single-season performance by a Flyer running back. In the fall of 1970, everybody in the stadium-the UD team, fans, water boys and particularly the Flyer opponents-knew that Gary Kosins was going to get the ball. But even against defenses designed to stop him, Kosins led the nation in scoring (18 touchdowns) and was fourth in rushing (1,172 yards). Both of those numbers are UD scholarship records.

Dillon came to UD as an offensive tackle, but moved to center for his final two seasons, where he flourished. He is one of four Dayton players to ever appear in the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Alabama, and one of seven to play in the East-West Shrine Game in San Francisco.

Off the field, Dillon was the second of five UD players to earn a post-graduate scholarship from the National Football Foundation. He was also drafted by the Cleveland Browns after his college playing days were over.

Dillon lives near Pittsburgh.

LARRY NICKELS `73-Football-1970-72

Larry Nickels is remembered in Dayton football history for two things-his left hand and his right hand. One of the greatest receivers to ever play Flyer football, Nickels put up some of UD's best pass-catching numbers when it wasn't common to put up those numbers.

Nickels was named team MVP as a senior in 1972, when he caught a then school-record 44 passes for a then-school record 706 yards (now the fourth and fifth-best single-season marks respectively in UD history), He was the first wideout to be named UD's MVP. Career-wise, he is currently third in receptions (99) and seventh in yardage (1,376), after graduating with both records in his name.

He closed his career with a 10-catch, 186-yard effort against East Carolina that set UD's single-game records in those categories. The ten catches are still a Flyer record (it has been tied twice). Nickels began his varsity career by catching 15 passes for 164 yards as a sophomore, even though he missed half the season with a knee injury. Then in 1971, he set a UD record with 40 receptions (506 yards) in his junior year, before breaking the record again as a senior. After graduation, Nickels was drafted by the Detroit Lions.

After giving pro football a shot, he began a teaching career. He now lives in Springfield.

MIKE DUVIC `89-Football-1986-89

UD's all-time leading scorer (326 points), Duvic is one of the most accurate kickers in NCAA history. He made a school-record 80.7% (46-57) of his field goal attempts over his career, and also holds the NCAA Division III record for FG accuracy (77.6%, 38-49), which is for the regular season games only.

Duvic holds a total of nine UD records, including most field goals (46), most PAT's (189), and best PAT conversion rate in a season (1.000, 59-59)

As a senior, Duvic was named First Team Kodak All-America after making a then-school record 14 field goals (in 17 attempts), and converting all 59 PAT's in UD's run to the 1989 NCAA Division III national championship. He was also named First Team All-America by Pizza Hut and Football Gazette.

He played on teams that finished 43-6-1 overall, and played in the NCAA Division III playoffs four times, and reached the Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl twice. It's worth noting that in playoff action, Duvic never missed a kick.

He currently lives in Dayton.

LOU LONCAR `90-Football-1986-89

Lou Loncar came to Dayton in 1986 as a walk-on, and four seasons later he finished his college football career as the Division III Defensive Player of the Year and MVP of UD's 1989 NCAA Division III National Championship team.

Loncar had a monster senior season, leading the Flyers with a school-record 290 defensive grading points, more than 50 more than his closest teammate. He led UD with 120 tackles in 1989. His 25 tackles for a loss that season were a school record, as were his 10 sacks. UD was 22-2-1 in games he started in his career.

A 1989 team co-captain, Loncar now lives in the Cleveland area.

ANDY PELLEGRINO `93-Football-1989-92

The only position player to start (at center) all four seasons in UD football history, Pellegrino was the starting center on UD's 1989 NCAA Division III National Championship team as a freshman. After starting his career as a national champion, he finished it by being named an AP Little All-America and Kodak All-America in 1992.

In between, teams he was on were 47-3-1, and played in NCAA Division III playoffs all four years, including a second-place finish in 1991.

Stats for offensive linemen are hard to come by, but team accomplishments are not. With Pellegrino snapping the ball, Flyer teams set records for rushing yardage in a season (3,037 in 1990), points per game (42.6 in 1990). The top two individual single season TD performances at Dayton, came with Pellegrino leading the blocking. During his four years, Pellegrino helped open the holes for 169 rushing touchdowns.

A 1992 team co-captain, Pellegrino now lives in Walnut Creek, California, but is relocating with his family back to his hometown of Pittsburgh.