It was only a few years after Roger Maris and Babe Ruth, but McKinley’s John “Cyclone” Coen never had to worry about an asterisk.
On this date in 1965, Coen scored two touchdowns and McKinley beat Saint Louis 20-0 in front of a crowd of 6,371 at Honolulu Stadium. Coen’s scores gave him 108 points for the season, breaking the 101 set by Abe Dung of Saint Louis 20 years before.
Dung set his mark in seven games. Coen needed eight. Coen’s record lasted until 1970, when Gary Campbell of Saint Louis eclipsed it.
The victory pulled McKinley into a four-way tie for first place with Punahou, Kamehameha and Farrington. The Govs ended up winning it all.
Though I didn’t see this game, I had the immense pleasure of watching John Coen play quarterback at Central Washington and set records there. He was an All American at Central Wash and my father, head coach Tom Parry, admired and respected John Coen throughout his lifetime. Dad cherished the CWU-Hawaii connection.
Thanks for the memory. He was the man in HS but we forgot(I was 6th gr.) about college. McKinley had a pipeline to the northwest(Autele, Victorino,Cho etc.)in those days.