ED LECHNER
Football and Basketball, 1938-41; Football Assistant Coach, 1956-61
Inducted September 25, 1976

Ed Lechner came to SMS from Verona and was a three-year standout for the Bears in both football and basketball from 1938 to 1941.  As a gridder, he was a standout under Coach Howard Blair as a member of the Bears’ unbeaten 1940 team which went on to record a school record 18-game winning streak.  He gained acclaim for hauling in numerous touchdown passes form Dwight Bumpus and gained all-conference and Little All-American honorable mention selection in 1940.  He was also a standout defender that year, scoring on a 40-yard pass interception return against Arkansas A & M and recovering a fumble in the end zone against Cape Girardeau.  After several seasons as an area high school coach, Lechner returned to the SMS scene in 1956 as an assistant coach throughout Aldo Sebben’s tenure as head of the SMS grid program.