Saturday, December 10, 2011

COLONELS FOOTBALL: A Decade of Dominance


Colonels Football spanned twelve seasons.  While the yearbooks for the 1958 and 1959 seasons show the schedule, they provide neither scores nor wins/loses. For the ten seasons from 1960 through 1969, the Colonels played 103 games.   Only once during that Decade of Dominance did we win less than eight games.  

Year
Wins
Losses
Ties
1960
 8
3
0
1961
 8
2
0
1962
10
0
0
1963
 8
2
1
1964
 9
1
0
1965
 9
2
0
1966
10
0
0
1967
 5
3
2
1968
 8
1
1
1969
11
0
0
Totals
86
14
4

The Colonels were DVC Champs in five of the ten seasons; we lost in the championship game twice.  The team played in five bowl games, winning four. In our one loss, it was by two points.  By any standard, the Colonel years were very successful.  For a small town like Rolling Fork the success was like a dream.  Over the years, I have had many conversations with people from around the country about the schools we attended and where we grew up.  When I tell my stories, the response is often that the person wished he/she grew up in a community like ours.  I do believe that Colonels Football made my growing up years special to me and to many in our community.

In the DVC we had several regular opponents.  Our toughest foe had to be Leland.  We played them eleven times in the ten-year period for which I found won-loss records. (I’d be interested to know if players from the 1958 and 1959 football seasons would have the information/stats for those first two missing seasons. We played Leland twice in 1960.  We won the regular season game and they won in the DVC Championship game that year by a score of 7 - 6.  In the eleven games, we won seven games and Leland won four times.  We played Greenville twice and lost both times.  We did not lose to another team more than once.  We played Leflore County every year and they were consistently a tough foe.  We lost once and tied them twice.  And, two of our wins against Leflore County were by the score of 7 - 0, and another was a one point victory.  We also played St. Aloysius every year and lost once and tied once.  We never lost against Drew, Belzoni, Indianola, or Grenada.  We did tie Grenada once.  We were 9 - 1 against Cleveland.  The Colonels were a truly dominating force in the DVC.  The 1960s were a Decade of Dominance for the Colonels.

How did such a small school become a football power?  We did not have superior athletes.  We had very few players who played football in college.  College scouts were not at our games drooling over the prospects.  We were good and dominant because of the system.  In the first couple of installments I wrote about the dedication to excellence that was instilled in us by Coach Cain.  I explained how he was our secret weapon, and he didn't even coach the high school team after 1960, I believe.  He focused on the junior high boys and made them ready to be Colonels.  I also wrote about the weight program and football camp.  Those were new and innovative things back in the early 1960s.  If I recall correctly, it was Coach Dunaway who had the weight room built and started taking the team to football camp.  From the yearbooks, it looks like Coach Dunaway came to Rolling Fork in 1959. 

I remember a little, but not much, about the beginnings of the weight program.   My brother, Bobby, was on the junior high team when the weight room was built.  I recall that many people in the community thought it was expecting too much from players to come to the school during the summer to lift weights after working all day.  Coach Dunaway promised that if they would do this, he could turn the team into champions.  In 1960 we were in a conference championship game.  In 1961, we were in a bowl game.  We were DVC Champions in 1962.  The system was working and the entire community bought into it.  Coach Dunaway left and Coach Peets took over.  The success continued.  Coach Peets left and Coach Robertson became Head Coach and finished out the Decade of Dominance of the Colonels.

The changing of head coaches didn't affect the success.  We continued to dominate the competition.  The system stayed the same -- Coach Cain turning little boys into football players, lifting weights in the summer and football camp to start practice before school started.  Our success was also due to keeping our system simple.  We ran the same offense and defense, with very small modifications, year after year.  We ran both with no mistakes.  This was a winning formula.  I'm not sure when the first year of football camp occurred, but I think it was before the 1960 season.  Was it necessary to leave home for a week to practice football?  Other teams didn't do it, but then other teams didn't have a Decade of Dominance.  By the end of the Colonel Era, the entire community knew that lifting weights and attending football camp helped turn the Colonels into winners and threw their support into the program.  The first trip to football camp for a junior high boy was a scary thought.  What would they do to us?  It was one of those rites of passage -- after that first time, we had grown up a lot.  And year after year we went.  And we were winners -- every one of us, because we were Colonels.

There was no great secret for our success.   We became successful because of the dedication and the closeness we had as Colonels.  One of my teammates, when looking at an early draft of one of the first installments, suggested that while I might not want to get too "mushy" that I should express how much we cared for each other and loved one another as brothers.  Each and every one of us knew we could rely on one another.  We made solemn promises to each other that we kept.  Simply put, we were successful because we were Colonels, and we were the only Colonels.  

I wish to thank those who have taken the time to read this series about Colonels Football.  In the process of writing I began to remember more and more.  What started as a single story grew into a larger project.  I had help from others that I wish to thank.  Data from the early yearbooks were provided by Martha Carter Abney and MaryAnne Weissinger Smith.  Grace Anna Moore Hatcher, Phil Griffin, Jim McNeely, and Bob Wixon helped to fill in some details when I needed help.  And, I want to especially thank MaryAnne for setting up the Colonel's Commentary blog to post the stories and for sending out notifications of each post through FaceBook and by email.   I am solely responsible for any errors in the stories. 

By: Kenneth Burns

Thursday, December 1, 2011

COLONELS FOOTBALL: A Perfect Ending

The Colonels finished the 1969 regular season undefeated and untied -- a season marred by the tragedy of the death of an opposing player and an uncertain future for the Colonel.   We were invited to play in the Red Carpet Bowl in Vicksburg, a game that would pit us against Jackson’s St. Joseph Rebels. They were also undefeated but had one tie, according to the "Official Souvenir Program" for the game, which by the way, sold for fifty cents.   The game was scheduled for November 21, 1969, one week after our final regular season game against Belzoni. 

The bowl game had caused us to postpone our end of season party, and we began to realize that it would not be so easy to have a party after the bowl game, either. We would get home too late at night. Our big end of the season bash might not happen. What a disappointment to a bunch of high school boys!

Another minor glitch in our plans was that there would be basketball practice the day after the game.  Basketball practice!?!?  It seems that when the coaches were scheduling games, they did not consider the possibility of a bowl game.  The plan had been that we would finish the football season, practice basketball for a week, and play our first two games on the Monday and Tuesday before Thanksgiving.  The bowl game was on a Friday night, and we would have our first basketball game on Monday night followed by another on Tuesday.  We practiced that weekend.  I looked back at the team photo for the basketball team and there were fourteen players -- thirteen of whom were on the football team.  We lost the first four basketball games of the year.  It wasn't easy to adjust from playing football to basketball in less than 72 hours.  We did, however, win six games in a row to finish the December schedule before Christmas.  And after Christmas, things would be different, very different.

We were excited to be in a bowl game against such a highly respected team.  St. Joe and RFHS had one common opponent -- St. Aloysius.  We had beaten St. Aloysius 28 – 8 while St. Joe routed them 34 - 12.  I remember the coach from St. Aloysius being interviewed on one of the Jackson stations about the game.  He seemed to think St. Joe was the better team.  Whether he really thought that or was just tweaking Coach Robertson, I'm not sure.  However, it surely helped to fire us up.   St. Joe's defense had allowed only 25 points in their eight victories listed in the program.  For some reason, the game they had tied was not listed.  We had allowed 54 points in our ten games, with 20 of those coming in the South Panola game.  It appeared to be a very good matchup.  We looked forward to the challenge.   Our coaches had looked at game tape, and we practiced against the schemes that St. Joe would most likely run against us.  We made no adjustments in our offensive or defensive schemes.  Our attitude was that any adjustment necessary would be for St. Joe to make and not the Colonels.   We would run our offense and defense and they would have to adjust and get ready for a butt-kicking.  We were ready.

The first Red Carpet Bowl was played in 1962.  This year would be the eighth time the bowl was played.  The 1964 Colonels had played in the third Red Carpet Bowl against Forest Hill.  The Colonels won 6 - 0.  The only score was a one-yard run by John Schimmel.  There were trophies given each year to the outstanding back and lineman from each team.  John Schimmel and Danny Martin were the Colonels who received those trophies in 1964.  St. Joe had not played in the Red Carpet Bowl previously. 

St. Joe was a small school, as well.  It was one of the few opponents who played the Colonels with roughly the same number of players in uniform for the game.  Most of the time, the other team had many more players than we did.  The Red Carpet program had team photos.  We had thirty-four players on the Colonels.  St. Joe also had thirty-four players in their team photo.  Their roster listed thirty-eight players.  I noticed they had several ninth graders listed on the roster.  I checked their jersey numbers and the ninth graders were not in the team photo.  Without the added ninth graders, the two teams had the same number of players -- a first for the Colonels.

St. Joe did have the Colonels outnumbered nine to six when it came to cheerleaders. Plus, Charlie Darden was our mascot, and they had nothing to compare to him! They may have had more cheerleaders than us, but with Renee Heigle, Denice Heigle, Mary Beth Blanchard, Janice Smith, Libby Jones and Gail Heigle representing us, we had the prettiest cheerleaders. You could really tell that when comparing the pictures in the program. We were very proud of our cheerleaders -- they helped provide the spirit that is necessary for a championship team.  The Colonels were also proud of the fact that they had an award-winning band to impress and stir the fans. The sound of the band in the auditorium and the cheerleaders pumping up the student body provided us with the most electric atmosphere for that final Colonels pep rally.  

We went through our pre-game warm-ups and before we knew it, it was game time.   I don't remember being as nervous as I was for the South Panola game.  I think our whole team was calm, cool, and ready.   Something unusual happened at the coin toss.  We lost the toss for the first time all year!!!  Was this a bad omen?   We kicked off to start the game.  St. Joe took the ball methodically down the field and scored a touchdown.  This was only the second time all year that we had been behind.   South Panola scored against us on long touchdowns -- fluke plays in part.  South Panola had not been able to march down the field against us.  It looked like we would be in for a heck of a battle with St. Joe.  They missed the extra point.  Score -- 6 - 0, St. Joe's favor.  They kicked off to us.  We had the ball on the 30-yard line.  It was time for us to answer them and drive the length of the field for a score.   I was wrong about that.  First play was either our swing play to the left or option left -- I don't remember which.   Both plays would involve Tom Griffing going around left end.  Our coaches expected St. Joe to be bunched up inside to try to stop Doss on our bread and butter plays, Drive-4 and T-2.   They were right.  I slipped through the line headed downfield looking for a St. Joe player to block.  There didn't seem to be any. Tom and I were there alone with only an open field ahead.  I slightly bumped a St. Joe player who was racing to catch Tom and knocked him off stride; Tom ran 70 yards untouched for a touchdown.    Extra points were generally routine plays.  The kicker made it or missed it and that about sums it up.   St. Joe came at us like kamikazes and blocked the extra point try.   I had a great deal of respect for these Rebels from St. Joe.  I remember thinking that we could still be in for a real battle.  The game was then tied 6 - 6.

We kicked off to them and our coverage team did a good job.  The Rebels had the ball on the 20-yard line, or so.  Would they be able to drive the ball down the field again against our defense?  No!  They fumbled on the first play, and we recovered.   Coach Robertson had a habit of calling the same play over and over and over -- most of the time it would be Doss running up the middle on Drive-4 or T-2.  He called Tom's play around left end again.  Same result!  Touchdown!  We had run two offensive plays and scored two touchdowns.  St. Joe blocked the extra point again.   Colonels were ahead 12 - 6.  I'm not sure, but Tom may not have carried the ball again that game.

Although I came away with tremendous respect for that St. Joe team, we simply dominated the game after their initial score.  The game was never in doubt after our first offensive play.  Doss started carrying the ball on our bread and butter plays, and we drove the ball against them up the middle chewing up the clock and scoring touchdowns.  I also remember Jim McNealy throwing a couple perfect passes to Brooks. Brooks made those catches even though St. Joe players were hanging all over him.  

St. Joe fought hard all game, but they were no match for us.  They had not run the hill in Grenada at football camp; they had not lifted weights all summer with the intensity and focus that we had; and they weren't Colonels.  I salute them for a valiant effort.  We won the game 38 - 12.  We had scored more points against them than all their regular season opponents had combined.  I must give them credit; they did score two touchdowns against us.  South Panola was the only other team to score more than once against us.

There were after-game ceremonies.  The trophy for outstanding back was awarded to Doss.  The one for outstanding lineman went to Brooks.   We were on the field after the game for quite a while receiving congratulations.  It went on and on.  Any hope for a party after the game was evaporating with each passing minute.  We finally got to the locker room, dressed, and loaded the bus for a jubilant trip back to Rolling Fork.   A few of us decided to get together for a couple of beers when we got back.  It was a good thing that my mom had a grocery store that sold beer.  I grabbed a few six-packs and met some of the other guys.  It was our first beer since at least August!!  The Colonels’ Football Team had just played their last game -- EVER!  The era of the Colonel was over.  The era ended with a bowl victory over another undefeated team.  The 1969 Colonels finished with an 11 - 0 record- the PERFECT ENDING! 

Once a Colonel, always a Colonel.  Being a Colonel will live on in our hearts, in our minds, and in our memories.  

I AM A COLONEL!

by Kenneth Burns

Friday, November 25, 2011

COLONELS FOOTBALL: Giving It Our All

11/25/11

We were 6 - 0 and had scored 171 points in our first six games, giving up only 20 points.   Would we be able to stay focused and finish out the season with the same intensity we had so far? There had been distractions.  The death of the Leflore County player made us wonder if playing football was worth it.  There was a district court ruling that required schools to desegregate "immediately."    I remember hearing of it after one of our games, although I don't remember which game.   This ruling required Fielding Wright and Henry Weathers schools to combine.  What did "immediately" mean?  Would it be next week?  Next month?  When?  Would we be able to finish the football season?  We soon learned that "immediately" meant the first day of school in January 1970.  We would get to finish the season, but this was the last Colonels team -- the end of an era!  I don't know if I realized there would never be another Colonels football team at the time.   These distractions could have broken our focus, but they did not.  These things brought us closer together as a team.  During my sophomore and junior years, I remember there being some dissention on the team.  Not so with this team!  Not the 1969 Colonels!   We loved each other as brothers.  I think that is how we were able to stay focused.

We now had to turn our attention to our game against South Panola.  They had lost to Coahoma County.  As I recall from reading the stories in the sports pages, Coahoma County had jumped out to a big lead and South Panola came roaring back, only to fall just short of a comeback victory.  The differences between our team and theirs were significant. South Panola had speed on their team.  They would have 100 players on the sideline; we would have 34.  They had huge defensive linemen. To give the starters a rest, they rotated fresh players in a lot.  They had an offense and a defense composed of different players; almost all of our starters played both offense and defense.  Doss Shropshire and I were the only offensive starters who did not play defense.  Doss didn't play defense because he needed a rest between offensive drives.  He carried the ball on 80% of our offensive plays and when he didn't carry the ball, the majority of the plays were fakes to him and a pass, or an option play around end.   I didn't play defense because I had a bad knee that had to be taped before every practice and game.  It would be much easier for me to re-injure it while playing defense.

I have mentioned that Doss was not fast.  He would break through the hole and get caught from behind time after time.   We kept wishing he wasn't so slow.  There was one game that he sat out because injury.  It was a home game and I believe it was against Leland.  His backup was Mark Stevens.  Mark was one of our fastest players.  We thought that Mark would be able to break into the open never to be caught.  We envisioned lots of long touchdown runs.  The line would open the hole and Mark would run to the end zone.  Nothing could be simpler.  We all knew Doss was a great running back, but we learned just how good he was when we had to play without him.  One of our favorite plays was "Drive-4 right."  Tom Griffing would be a lead blocker helping me or Bill Marshall double team and the ball was given to Doss to run through the "four hole" which is between the center and the right guard.   But Doss didn't always run there.  He had great vision and the hole might be opening up to my left and Doss would veer left and go where the hole was and not where the play was designed to go.  Doss would always "run to daylight" as the saying goes.  Doss had been our starting fullback for three years and had learned how to pick where to run because of that experience.  In the game Mark had to play for Doss, he would run where the play was designed to go.  Mark would get tackled for a medium gain on a play that Doss would have veered to where the hole was and break into the open -- to be tackled from behind after gaining fifteen or twenty yards.   After playing a game without Doss, we were no longer critical of his being caught from behind.  You had to break into the open in order to be caught.  And he would break into the open time and time again for us.
As I look back on that magical 1969 Colonels football season, I cannot remember any of our starters other than Doss who missed a game because of injury, and he missed only one game.   Was our lack of injury that year because of our conditioning, or was it simply our destiny to be great that year?  We needed all our players.  We had none to spare.   We would play against teams that had an offense and defense composed of almost completely different players.  They should have worn us down.  But, that was not the case.  In the fourth quarter, when we should have been exhausted, that was when we dominated.  We always won the fourth quarter when it was crunch time.  It would be the other team who was dragging, not the Colonels.  Running the hill at football camp paid off.  All of the drills that we ran paid off.  The trips to the weight room during the summer paid off.  The running during the summer paid off.  We were victorious.  WE WERE COLONELS!

The South Panola game day arrived -- October 24.  It would be a long trip.  Batesville is 140 miles from Rolling Fork.   We would be on a bus for around three hours traveling to the game.  For the South Panola game, it would not be a school bus.  The boosters had chartered a Greyhound bus to take us to the game.   The pep rally was in the morning.   The atmosphere at school was electric and exciting.  Win this game and we would win the Delta Valley Conference Championship.  Well . . . . . there would still be two conference games against Grenada and Belzoni that we would have to play, but South Panola was the best team we would play all year and the primary obstacle to an undefeated season.  After the pep rally, we loaded the bus and headed off for our football encounter in Batesville.  We stopped along the way for our pre-game meal.  I was even more nervous than for the opening game against Oak Grove.  We arrived in Batesville and tried to rest before the game.  We went out to the field to walk it.  This was where we would do battle in a couple of hours. 

Finally the time came to get dressed for the game.  Part of our uniform was red leggings.  Mine were not in my duffle bag with my uniform.  That night I would have bare legs above my socks.  Later, my mother told me she noticed that I didn't have the leggings when I went out to mid-field for the coin toss.  She was able to spot me in the scrums throughout the night because I was the only one of the Colonels without leggings.  Their captains appeared huge.  We won the coin toss as we had in every other game.  We were ready.  WE WERE COLONELS!

The game started.  In the first half, we fell behind.  We had not been behind all year.  I do not remember the sequence of the scores.  South Panola scored one touchdown on a pass that was tipped by our defensive back.  He was in perfect position to intercept the pass, and it was tipped up and caught by the receiver and taken in for a score.  Another touchdown was scored on a screen pass.  They had a fantastic running back -- very fast.  He caught the pass and there was a missed tackle -- not something that happened very often to the Colonels defense -- and he took it for a long score.   I believe, but am not sure, that their other score was a draw play by the same running back.   We scored once in the first half -- I believe it was a pass to Bob Wixon near the end of the half.  South Panola had missed one extra point and the score at halftime was 20 - 7. 

During halftime, we did not go back to the locker room.  We boarded the bus.  It was closer to the field.  Coach Robertson talked to us!  Actually....... it was an ass-chewing.  We had missed blocks; we had missed tackles; we had missed interceptions.  We were reminded of the work we had done to get this far.  We ran the hill at football camp; we lifted weights all summer; we had dedicated ourselves to this season; and we had pride.  The choice was clear.  We could go back out for the second half and play with all the determination and skill that we had, or we could give up and go home with a loss.  We exited the bus with the determination not to go down without a fight.  WE WERE COLONELS!! 

South Panola had more players than we had; South Panola had players who were bigger than we were; but South Panola's players did not have the hearts of Colonels.  I was playing against a nose tackle who weighed 260 pounds.  According to the game program, I weighed 175 pounds.  And, maybe I did weigh that much with my uniform on.  I could not block him with any consistency during the first half.  He won the early battle.  In the second half, it was different.  He was getting tired and I was getting stronger.  I was winning the private war I was having with him.  It was the same up and down the Colonels line.  We were winning those individual battles, and we were winning them as a team.  We opened holes for Doss to run through.  James Collins or Tom would run an option around end.   We scored and kicked the extra point.  It was still 20 - 14 in their favor.  One more touchdown and extra point and we would be ahead.  Our defense had kept them bottled up the second half.  There were no mental lapses or missed tackles.  We were dominating the play in the second half.  We scored our third touchdown and with the successful extra point, we were now ahead by one point -- 21 - 20.  WE WERE COLONELS!

South Panola was a very good and valiant team and was not ready to give up.  They had time for one last drive down the field.  They moved the ball.  It was gut-wrenching watching this from the sidelines.  Every inch was fought for by each side.  South Panola had seen their lead evaporate, but they had not given up.  As I recall, this was their only drive of the night.  They had scored on three long touchdowns in the first half, but had not been able to sustain a drive against our defense.  They got closer and closer and closer to the end zone.  The Colonels defense finally stopped them.  It was fourth down, but they were close enough to try for a field goal.  On the sideline, all I could do was hold my breath.  If they made it, we would have about 90 seconds left to take the ball down the field for our own field goal attempt.  The teams lined up for the field goal try.  Eddie Wilson and Mike Huoni lined up on the snapper and began talking to him -- telling him what they were going to do to him.  As he snapped the ball, they hit him so hard he was knocked backwards almost into the holder.  I don't think the kicker ever had a chance to kick.  There were 90 seconds for us to run off the clock and -- COLONELS WIN!  COLONELS WIN!  COLONELS WIN!    

We left everything we had on the field that night.  South Panola was a very good team.  We were just better!  We came through in the clutch when everything was on the line.  Every trip up the hill in Grenada at football camp had paid off.  Every mile we had run during the summer for conditioning had paid off.  Every trip to the weight room during the summer had paid off.  Dedicating ourselves to this season and our teammates had paid off.  Winning that game is one of my fondest memories.  The trip home was joyous.  WE WERE COLONELS!

We had three more games on tap.  We played Grenada, St. Aloysius, and our final game was at home against Belzoni.  They all would turn out to be easy victories. Those three teams scored a total of 14 points against us.  The Colonels scored 109 points in those games.  We were undefeated and Delta Valley Conference Champions for the fifth time in the eight seasons beginning with that great 1962 team.  WE WERE COLONELS!

When we dedicated ourselves to our team and the season at football camp, we had given up things like drinking and smoking.  Very early in the season we began making great plans for the party after the Belzoni game.  It was a home game and we would be able to plan an after-game party.  We would be able to drink and we were planning on it!  I don't exactly remember the elaborate plans we made; we had to cancel them.  Following the South Panola game, we were invited to play in the Red Carpet Bowl in Vicksburg.  It would be played one week after the Belzoni game.  Our opponent would be St. Joseph of Jackson.  The party would have to wait.  There would be one more game to complete a perfect season.  And we were determined to make it a perfect season.  WE WERE COLONELS!

by: Kenneth Burns

Friday, November 18, 2011

COLONELS FOOTBALL – The Final Season

11/18/11
We were eager to get started on the 1969 season.  We wondered if the hard work would pay off.  We would know shortly. We practiced hard for the next two weeks before our first game against Oak Grove, Louisiana.  We had never played them and didn't know much about them.  The coaches told us they were a good team -- expected to do well in their district.  As I recall, they had already played a game and had won.  They came to Our Field to play us.  The excitement was high, and we were ready.  

In the early years of the Colonels, team captains were chosen for the year.  I'm not sure when the tradition changed, but by the time I was in high school, the captains were chosen for each game.   We would vote for captains on Thursday after practice.  Only seniors could be selected as a captain.  I knew that at some time during the year I would be selected; the honor tends to get rotated among the seniors so that all the seniors would be captain at least once.   There were only nine seniors on the team.

Our school colors were red and gray.  On game day we would dress in our red blazers -- we looked sharp.  The tradition of the red blazers had started many years before.   The Booster Club had purchased red blazers for use by the Colonels initially, I believe, but they were also used by the concert choir and other groups when representing the school at functions.  Colonels were issued a blazer before the first game and we showed up in dress shirts and tie on game day. We were winners and were expected to look like winners.  During the day, the cheerleaders would track us down and pin a gray paper Colonel with our names and jersey number printed on it.  There were 34 Colonels on the 1969 team.

Pep rallies at RFHS were exciting. For home games, the rallies were held at the end of the school day. For away games, the team departure dictated the time of the pep rally. It was not unusual to have a pep rally in the morning if we had to travel a great distance to play. It didn’t matter what time of the day they were held; they were always exciting!  

The high energy level that had begun that summer was reaching a fever pitch. Friday, September 5, 1969, finally arrived. The first game of the 1969 Colonels season would be played that night.  The pep rally was held last hour of the day. The whole student body was in the auditorium waiting for the Colonels to enter.  As soon as the first player broke the plane of the door, the entire room seemed to erupt in cheer!  To this day remembering that thrill of entering a pep rally sends chills up my spine.  If I close my eyes, I can hear the band playing Hail to the Victors and the cheerleaders leading cheers. Shortly before the end of the pep rally, one of the cheerleaders would announce who the captains for the game would be. For this first game, it was Libby Jones who announced the captains.  She read from a slip of paper and said, "The captains for the game tonight will be 'Skunk' Burns and Tom Griffing."  I was stunned!    I knew I would have my chance to be captain eventually. I just never expected to be a captain in the first game. It was a tremendous honor to me.   The first pep rally of the 1969 season ended and we marched out. I knew this would be an awesome year.
We headed back to the gym for our pre-game routine.  Typically, we would change into shorts and tee-shirts and lay on mattresses on the gym floor.  This was to be quiet time to focus on the assignment before us and to rest.  Some were able to take a nap; I was too nervous to sleep.  I kept wondering if I would be able to block my man.  I had worked hard, but I had never been in a varsity game when it counted.  The prior two years, I had played very little.  I wondered if I would be the weak link.  At our Dedication Night, I had promised my teammates and the coaches that I would do my best; would that be good enough?  Some of my teammates probably were having the same thoughts.   We all wanted the entire community to be proud of Colonels Football this year.  We did not want to disappoint the fans, the school, or the coaches.  More importantly, we did not want to disappoint each other.  We were as close to our teammates as we were to our families.  I do not remember any discord on this team.  We were a team!  We were winners!  We were Colonels!

It was time to start getting ready.  We loosened up and stretched and started getting dressed.  I was nervous.  I suspect that others were nervous too.  We went to Our Field for pre-game warm-ups.  The stands were already full of excited fans and they cheered as we took the field.  It was a hot and humid Mississippi Delta night.  We did exercises.  We ran some drills.   The coaches had us gather in the end-zone to run some plays.  We didn't run our normal plays that we would use in the game.  Coach Robertson had us run our spread formation and throw some passes.   The Oak Grove coaches were watching us.  Coach was toying with them -- showing a formation we would not use at all during the game.  After running a few plays, we left the field to gather for Coach Robertson's brief motivational speech and team prayer. This was a warm night, so we had gathered a short distance from the field.  "Amen" arrived, and we let loose a unified cheer. Then we entered the field.   The cheerleaders always painted a giant Colonel that leaned against the goal post. We would burst through and run onto the field.   There were six cheerleaders and they would generally run onto the field with the first six players to burst through.  Guys who dated cheerleaders would try to make their way to front of the line to run along with their girlfriends.

Tom and I walked out to the center of the field for the coin toss.  We shook hands with the Oak Grove captains.  They didn't look so big.  They were about the same size that we are.  I was still nervous.  The visitors got to call heads or tails for the coin toss.  They loss the toss!  We got to receive the opening kickoff.  In 1969 the Colonels won the coin toss 10 straight games.  For every home game, the opponents called it incorrectly and for every regular season away game, we called it correctly.  Colonels were winners, even on the coin toss!

We received the kickoff and started our drive to the end zone.  It only took a couple of plays and a few blocks and I was no longer nervous.  We were opening holes and Doss was running wild.   He was caught from behind several times.  Doss was quick and could read the hole well, but he was not fast.   He piled up the yards that night.  I mentioned it was hot and humid.  We had several players who went down with leg cramps at different times.  After one play, there were three players who were suffering with cramps.  When there were just a few seconds left in the third quarter, we had the ball on the 3-yard line and were ready to score.   We would not have time to get the play off and would have to jog to the other end of the field.   We were just too tired to do that.   I called timeout.  That was what a captain is supposed to do, or so I thought. We scored on the last play of the third quarter and avoided the jog to the other end of the field.  

We won that game 35 - 0.  I was reminded by one of my teammates that an Oak Grove player suffered a horrible injury to his leg.  I remembered him being carried off the field.  I do not know how or why it happened, but we were told that he lost his leg because of the injury.   It was demoralizing to a high school football player when something like this occurred.  We wanted to win, but we wanted our opponents to come through the game unscathed.   As bad as this was, it was not the worst thing to occur during the 1969 season.

Our coaches were furious with us.  I got an ear-full on the sideline for calling the timeout.   After the game, Coach Robertson was very critical -- we were not in shape and it showed on the field.  We were practically a disgrace to the Colonel uniform.   I wanted to say, and I assume others wanted to say, "But, Coach, we won the game!  They didn't score and we scored 35 points."  No one spoke up.   Practice on Monday was the worst ever.   The coaches were going to get us in shape.  We practiced longer and harder than we ever had.  We didn't finish practice until 7 pm.   I wasn't sure I understood the coaches’ dissatisfaction with our performance.  It was a very hot and humid night.  Cramps are normal.  We gave our all.  Maybe they just wanted to keep us from getting an inflated ego from an easy win.  There were nine more games to play, and we couldn't “rest on our laurels.”   That was a favorite expression of Coach Cain.  That must have been it.  There is no other satisfactory explanation.

Our next game was at home against Leflore County, a DVC team that we played every year.  Two years earlier, they had tied us on Our Field.  In 1968, we narrowly escaped with a one-point victory.   Traditionally, this team had proved to be a very tough opponent.  This year, however, we were ready and excited to open conference play against them.   In the Oak Grove game, we had great success with our running game.  I don't remember us throwing a single pass.  But against Leflore County, we threw four passes; they were all play-action passes that were thrown after faking our best running play. Three of the passes were completed for touchdowns, and the fourth was dropped; it should have been a touchdown.  Nonetheless, we won the game 42 - 0.  

A Leflore County player was injured on the far sideline when he was tackled.   He stayed down.  We later heard that although he had a severe headache on the bus ride to the game, he did not tell his coaches.  He told the player sitting next to him not to tell; he didn't want to be kept out of the game.   He died from his injuries.  We were devastated.  The Colonels went to Itta Bena for the funeral.  The church was over-flowing.  We just stood outside to pay our respects.  Many of us were so shaken by his death that we didn't know if we wanted to continue with the season.  There was discussion among the players about just canceling the rest of the season. Those were just temporary thoughts. We vowed to continue so we could be the best we could be.

The next week, we would play our first away game against Cleveland.   We had great success the week before passing the ball.  Three touchdowns passing!  I don't think we threw a pass against Cleveland.  After one punt, we started a drive on the five-yard line.  We ran "Drive-4" thirteen times in a row and drove the entire length of the field to score.  After we had run the play three or four times, I could hear the Cleveland safety shouting to the other defensive backs to watch for the fake.  They were not cheating up to stop the run.  Their coaches had told them that the minute they cheat up to stop the run, it will be a fake and a pass over the top for a touchdown.  They slowed us down some.  We won the game 27 - 0.  We had played three games and had not been scored on.  And, we had scored 104 points in those games.  An interesting sidebar is that the 1970 yearbook has the scores for the first two games reversed. This wasn’t a problem, but caused a little confusion when I was trying to research. Nonetheless, Colonels were winners.

During the next three games our opponents scored one touchdown each game.  We beat Coahoma County 20 - 7 on their field.  They were good; the Colonels were better.  Then, Leland came to play on Our Field.  We had lost to them the last two years.  They broke the unbeaten string on Our Field in 1967.  We could not let that happen again.  We prevailed 13 - 6.  It was our toughest game so far.  For the next game, we went to Indianola to play and won 34 - 7.   We had played six games in six weeks and had a bye week following the Indianola game.   We needed the break.  Our next game would be against South Panola.  They had lost a game to Coahoma County, but they had a lot of talent and were explosive.  It would be our biggest test.   

Up until this point, this season had been everything we expected and more. That energy that we began to feel over the summer had really turned into something as the season ensued. On the scoreboard, we had been awesome. There had been devastating moments with players on the opposing sides, but we continued to stay the course. It was obvious that the Colonels were winners, and the expectations for this season were especially high. This final season was only about a half complete, but it was proving to be noteworthy. As we moved into the next phase, that would be even more evident.

Friday, November 11, 2011

COLONELS FOOTBALL: A New Beginning

Each day I think of more wonderful memories from the Era of the Colonel.  I had mentioned earlier that the 1961 Colonels Cheerleaders had a new challenge -- a Colonel Mascot. There was one thing that could always be said for the Colonels, we were “top shelf.”  Other teams might have had someone in an animal costume running up and down the sidelines, but we had a live replica of a Colonel.  He would be our "Little Colonel."   Ken DeCell was the first fortunate one to be able to hold that esteemed honor.  He got to hang out with those glamorous cheerleaders and was the envy of all the elementary school boys.  Mascots remained in those positions for a couple of years. Ken stayed until he completed seventh grade at which time another moved into his place.  Walter Burnett was the next lucky young man. He served during the 1964 and 1965 football seasons where he rubbed elbows with the likes of Marion Chase, Phyllis Harris, and the beautiful Cortright sisters.  When the Burnetts moved, Hollis Carter ably stepped in for the 1966 and 1967 seasons.  In those years, Hollis cheered with Vicki French, Beverly Bobbs, Kathy Stewart, and the Walker sisters.  Charlie Darden had the honor of being our mascot for the final two seasons, 1968 and 1969.  Today, I see his image each time I pick up the Colonel yearbook from my senior year. Although the cover image is a silhouette, I believe I can detect quite a smile since he worked with such beauties as Libby Jones, Susan Perkins, Denise Heigle, and Janice Smith, among others.

Although that 1968 team had been good, it had not won a championship.  There was room for improvement.   As always when one season was over, we started getting ready for the next.  Many football players played other sports, but if they didn’t, there was weight lifting and cross country running during P.E. class to keep them in shape. We would be getting ready mentally and physically for a grueling spring training session.

In the spring of 1969, we would be joined by a good crop of ninth graders that included Marshall Lynch, Butch Newman, and Scott Neeper.  Their 1968 junior high Colonels team had been undefeated.   As always Coach Cain had done a wonderful job of preparing them to be winners and to be Colonels. It was now expected of him, and Coach Cain never let us down.

During the fall of 1968, Mike Huoni and I probably had been the two worst players on the team.  That junior year was one where I had not gotten into enough games to letter.  However, for spring training in 1969, I was elevated to first team Center; there simply wasn't anyone else for the position.  In all the spring practices, I was pitted against Mike.  He and I were very close friends, and we both had worked hard to improve throughout that spring. In our estimation there was only one way to go- up.

Coach Robertson coached the line.  In drill after drill Mike and I faced off and neither was able to get a clear advantage.  It was a stalemate.  Coach Robertson expected me to be able to block Mike.  If I couldn't block Mike Huoni, how would I be able to block middle linebackers and nose tackles in the Delta Valley Conference? With each play I could see the disappointment on Coach Robertson's face.  However, he offered words of encouragement and kept me as Mike’s opponent all spring.  Some plays I would get a good block on Mike and in other plays he would beat the block and get the tackle.  I'm sure Coach Robertson thought it would be a long fall season if he had to rely on me as the starting Center.  

Spring training was coming to a close. Our upcoming Spring Game offered a chance to showcase next year's talent for the fans.  Coaches sometimes would make strategic changes at this point. That was the case this year. For the game, Mike would be moved to a different position.  He would no longer be playing opposite me.  Another player, one of our better linemen, would have to block Mike.  I would be blocking a different player. 

The game started and Mike was making tackle after tackle.  Coach Robertson was amazed at Mike's performance.  With all of his hard work and determination, Mike had become one of the best defensive players on our team.  I had a very good Spring Game, as well.  I successfully blocked my assigned player throughout the game.  It became apparent that as Mike and I battled throughout the spring, we had both improved as players. However, it had gone unnoticed until we were each faced with different opponents.

A few weeks after the Spring Game, Mike and I happened to be playing tennis.  Coach Robertson came by the courts and stopped to talk to us.   This man that we had felt we disappointed over and over again was telling us something quite different. He told both of us that he was proud of the hard work we had put in during the spring and that it had paid off.  During the conversation he suggested we were the two most improved players on the team.  I no longer detected any hint of disappointment from him about me being the starting Center.  The same was true for Mike. Where he had been Second Team all spring, Coach told him he would be elevated to First Team for the fall. We were two very proud young men as we watched Coach drive away.

The summer of 1969 was different from the prior two summers. There was something in the air. We lifted weights and ran as we normally did to be conditioned for football camp, but this was something more.  It was hard to put your finger on. Maybe I sensed this because I was a senior and would be starting for the team. Perhaps that was what made me sense a difference.  One thing I know is that I had a different attitude that summer and I detected it in my teammates, as well.  We were more focused on the season and more dedicated to the summer workouts.  We were able to run our miles in the required time which reflected the work we had done over the summer.  In my mind, this team was closer and more supportive of each other than had been the case the previous two years. I ran with Brooks to pace him when he ran his mile.  In the weight room throughout the summer we all encouraged one another.  This just may have been a change in my perspective, but I truly believe the 1969 Colonels had a special chemistry that started that summer.  Although we did not know that this would be the last Colonels team, it was fitting that this last Colonels team was destined to be one of the best.

On Sunday, August 17, 1969 we loaded the buses and headed to Grenada for our annual camp.  On this same day Hurricane Camille was approaching the Mississippi Gulf Coast with a vast energy level that was not unlike that of our players.  We went to bed that night unaware of the impending devastation that Camille would later inflict up and down our coastline. For our first team practice that Monday morning, we worked out before breakfast in shorts and helmets. There was great excitement, and we were in high spirits.  Just as we got back to the camp and had breakfast, it started to rain.  That did not deter us, we did our morning practice in the rain; it grew worse.  By lunch time, it was raining very hard, and the wind was howling.  As I recall, the coaches conferred, and the afternoon practice was cancelled; this was unprecedented.  Apparently, the wind and the tornado warnings were the worry, not the rain. So instead, we had "skull practice," a session where we go over strategy, assignments, and duties. Of course, we were also told that we would have to practice extra hard to make up for the missed practice, and that we did.  The rest of the week we practiced, and we practiced hard.  We even practiced in the rains that were the remnants of Camille.  We are Colonels, and we wanted to be the best. 

Thursday night was our "Dedication Night."  We made solemn pledges to each other that we would be the best we could be. We would place our focus on the team and not on our self. As the ceremony ensued, there was confession of our sins.  We all acknowledged that we had not done everything we could to be the best that we could be.  Of course, there were players who smoked; they pledged to give up smoking during the season.  We all pledged not to take a drink of alcohol during the season.  There were a lot of tears, but all in all, we came together as one.  By the end of the evening, we were ready for our final day of practice. 

That energy that had been so present throughout the week truly came to light on Friday. Our spirits were sky high, and it showed during our practices that day.  There was no doubt that we had created something special. It didn’t just happen that week, but it certainly culminated there. We were ready to go home, united as ONE!  We are family!  We will be the best, and we will make everyone proud!

On Saturday, we got up, had breakfast, and packed to go home.  It seemed like any other close to camp. Little did we know of the finality of it all. We had just experienced the last football camp for the Colonels. Fate made us the last Colonels Football team, but no one here knew that, not on that day.  Our high continued on the drive back. We were met by our escorts. They came every year. The cheerleaders had made signs and were accompanied by many other fans. They parked along the road waving the signs and cheering for us as we passed. They then would jump in their cars and drive ahead to do it all again.  When we arrived at school, there were even more people waiting for us. They came to celebrate and cheer our return from camp. And lo and behold, the cheerleaders were right there in front, leading the cheers. That view from the window of the bus was truly awesome; rather similar to a ticker-tape parade, I would imagine.  

The expectations for this team were high.  Everyone sensed that this team was special!  A unique bond had been formed among the players.  It didn’t stop there, though.  Everyone came together -- the cheerleaders, the pep squad, the band, and the entire student body.  That bond extended into the community- parents, grandparents, former students, and those with no relationship to the team or school.  We were all united to make this team the best.  The 1969 Colonels were special, as we were all about to see!
by: Kenneth Burns