Ottumwa -- Former Indian Hills football players Odell Watson and Rick Upchurch traveled to Las Vegas recently to visit with Al Daniels, their coach at IHCC back in the 1970s, and present him with a special piece of jewelry.
The 1971 Indian Hills team won the Iowa Junior College Conference championship, the first title in school history, with Watson and Upchurch two of the key performers on that squad. Daniels, who was the head coach of the Golden Falcons for three seasons, was at the helm in '71 when IHCC finished 6-2-1 overall and 5-0-1 in league games. He was named the conference coach of the year and Watson and Upchurch were both all-conference and all-American honorees.
Watson spearheaded the effort to get championship rings made for the players from that team who expressed an interest in having one. And Daniels was given his ring by the two former Falcons.
Around 30 members of the 1971 title-winning team gathered for a reunion in November 2016, visiting both the Indian Hills Centerville and Ottumwa campuses.