Friday, October 28, 2011

COLONELS FOOTBALL: The Dynasty Begins


Let the Dynasty begin!  We won our first DVC title in 1962.  Three more championships belong to the Colonels in the next four years.  We narrowly miss making it five in a row when we lose a championship game in 1965.  Colonels are winners.

That first championship team was led by captains Charles "Hot Shot" Strong and Julius "Pork Chop" Garcia.  A lot of Colonels had colorful nicknames through the years -- I know, I had one that I choose to forget.  There were twelve senior lettermen on the 1962 team.  Our championship dynasty relates back to them.  They are:  Billy Adams, Jimmy Summerall, Dan Wilkes, Spencer Powers, Carsie Bozeman, Cooper Hogue, Gil Evans, Ray Lovelady, Charles Strong, Julius Garcia, Billy Bobbs, and Jack Jenkins.  We applaud and salute you. Thank you for paving the way for those of us who follow. 

The total domination of that 1962 Colonels team was astounding.  We were undefeated with a record of 10 - 0.  The Colonels scored 371 points that year.  Our opponents combined for 28 points in ten games.  We scored more than 28 points in seven of our victories.  Championships followed in 1963, 1964, and 1966.  The five Colonels teams from 1962 - 1966 amass a record of 46 - 5 -1.  The only loss to a DVC opponent was in the conference championship game in 1965.  During those five years, the only regular season losses were to Big 8 powerhouse Greenville in 1963 and 1964, and to St. Aloysius led by future LSU great Eddie Ray in 1965.  We also lost to Mendenhall in the Oil Bowl on November 22, 1963, the day President Kennedy was assassinated.  A very impressive five years!  Colonels are winners.

During the championship run, the head coach position for the Colonels had changed three times. Bob Dunaway was the head coach in 1962 &1963, Charles Peets in 1964 & 1965, and Homer "Cotton" Robertson in 1966. Although the staff leadership changed, the team stayed consistent. The fifth and final team in that five-year span was the 1966 Colonels.  They, like the 1962 team, were undefeated and finished the regular season 9 - 0.  They were invited to play in the Mississippi Bowl in Clinton against Prentiss.  The Colonels won a hard fought game 7 - 3 when Harvey Spurgeon scored a touchdown late in the game. Following the conclusion of that bowl game, there was a ceremony to present the award for Outstanding Contributor to High School Athletics in Mississippi. The 1966 award went to COACH CAIN!  He is OUR coach.  He had been the one constant for the Colonels.   We all had learned from Coach Cain.  It was awesome to see him recognized for his contributions to high school athletics.  He was one of the great influences in my life.  Because of Coach Cain, Colonels are winners.

The junior high season ended before the high school season, so in 1966 the ninth graders got to practice with the varsity and dress out for the final home game.  Although I was a freshman, I didn't get to play. But, several of my classmates got in for a few plays.  We were part of a winning tradition.  We were Colonels.  

After the Mississippi Bowl, we focused on other sports and also prepared for the next season by lifting weights and running.  Spring training was approached with much enthusiasm.  After five years of such dominance, expectations of the Colonels were high.  We worked hard getting ready for the next season. Playing on the varsity is much different.  I started at the bottom.  But I was a Colonel and that was important to me.  After spring training ended, we moved on to yet more sports for the rest of the school year. 

The summer of 1967 was my last summer before getting a driver's license.  Colonels are expected to lift weights three times a week in the summer to get stronger for the upcoming football season.   Getting there can be a problem when you don't drive yet.  I had one of those Sears Allstate mopeds that I had inherited from my brother, and I would ride from Egremont to the weight room.   I also caught rides with others when it was raining.  I remember goofing off a lot when I went.  I didn't expect to play much, but just being a Colonel was a wonderful experience. Over the summer, the excitement was building for the impending season. 

We made the annual trip to football camp to start practice.  We had thirty-two players on the team, but only nine seniors.  There were First Team players, there were Second Team players, and there were the “leftovers.”  I was one of the Leftovers.  I wasn't very good.  I tried, but I was neither as fast nor as quick as the better players. I wasn't as strong, either.  The good news for me was that during scrimmages, I was on the sidelines a lot. I didn't get as tired as those fighting it out for playing time. Roger Truesdale and I would crack a lot of jokes on the sidelines.  But practices at camp ended with the hill.  The hill is just as hard, if not harder, to run up if you are a Leftover.  We finished camp and headed home to get ready for our first game against Noxubee County.  

Some of my classmates contributed more to the team than I did. While some started, others were on the Second Team ready to step in when needed.   I would mostly watch from the bench. Our seniors that year were George Schimmel, Ken DeCell, Willard Miller, Carl Thornhill, Bobby Rutherford, Charles Weissinger, Charles Ray Tilghman, Roger Truesdale, and Richard Jue.  I looked up to the seniors and wondered if I would be able to contribute as much when I was a senior.  Guys like George and Ken were leaders in the classroom as well as on the football field; I viewed them as role models. 

We were ready for our first game. We had to travel to Macon to play Noxubee County.  They were not in our conference, and we did not know much about them.  We loaded the buses for our trip.  One of the highlights of being a Colonel that first year for me was stopping at a restaurant to eat when going to away games.  Growing up in Egremont didn't create many opportunities to go to restaurants.  I watched some of the other guys to make sure I didn't do anything stupid.  We got to Macon in time to get some rest before the game.  It didn't much matter to me; I wouldn't be playing.  It was a hard fought game and we won 14 - 0.   We had respect for the team from Macon -- the Colonels usually won by more than that.   Colonels are winners.

Our next game was on Our Field against Leflore County.  This was our first conference game.  We were ready.  Or, the team was.  I would watch from the sidelines.  The second team and even the leftovers like me played an important role in helping the starters get ready for the game.  We practiced against them and ran the next opponent's offense and defense to get the starters ready for the game.  The game was even more difficult than the one against Noxubee County.  The game ended as a 7 - 7 tie -- on Our Field!  It wasn't a loss, but it was very disappointing.  Our team needs to improve -- especially on offense.  We have only scored three touchdowns in two games.  We need to practice harder and become more focused.  

The next game is an away game against Cleveland.  We lose 8 - 14.  This was a huge disappointment!  After three games, we are 1-1-1.  That was not a Colonels-type record.   After the Cleveland game, we stopped at the Quickie Drive-in to get something to eat for the long drive home.  There were too many of us for them to handle.  They got our orders mixed up and just gave us whatever came off the grill.  I got a fish sandwich (not what I had ordered), but the buses were loading. I reluctantly took the fish sandwich and got on the bus.  This proved to be a very unpleasant bus ride on so many levels.

My mother was waiting to pick me up when the bus got back to school.  I was glad -- I was feeling sick.  It was only a five-minute drive home, and I was even sicker when we got there.  I barely made it out of the car before I threw up.  I had a fever, too.  My mother helped me into the house -- she took my temperature.  Throughout the night she was there putting cold wet towels on me.  I become somewhat delirious and my fever went up to 106 degrees -- and that was with all the effort my mother was making through the night to keep it down.  She called Dr. Lynch and took me to the hospital.  I had a severe case of food poisoning.  I stayed in the hospital for almost a week.  I had visitors from school who came see me and brought assignments.  Some of my teammates stopped by, as well.  They told me to milk it for as much sympathy as I could. I don't remember how long I was away from football practice.  I do remember being very weak from the food poisoning for some time.  I also know that I never ate at the Quickie Drive-in again

The next game was a big one!  We were playing Leland on Our Field and they were undefeated.  We knew they were good.  And we found out just how good they really were.  We lost 6 - 27 on Our Field.  This was the first loss by any Colonels football team in many years on Our Field.  The team was demoralized.  We won the next two games, but there was another loss to South Panola at Batesville. We tied St. Aloysius at St. Al before wrapping up with two more wins on Our Field.  We finished the season with a record of 5 - 3 - 2.  This had not been a typical Colonel season.  I'm not sure what explains it.  Maybe our team was not as good that year.  Maybe the competition was better than normal.  Maybe there was not the normal Colonel- team chemistry. Whatever the cause, we dedicated ourselves to returning to the Colonel winning tradition in the next year.  Colonels are winners.

Boys on the football team were proud to be Colonels.  One symbol of belonging to that special group was the jacket we all received when we lettered in football for the first time.  In order to letter, you were required to play in a certain number of quarters.  It is possible that you were in one play and the quarter still counts.  There were players on the Second Team who were on the kickoff team.  When we scored, they would get a play in because they were in for the kickoff.  They automatically lettered.  I was not on the kickoff team.  I did not get in very many games.  I knew I was not eligible to letter my sophomore year.  I did not play in enough quarters.  But I was on the list as lettering and I got my football jacket and I was so proud to wear it.  I knew there had to be a mix-up, but I thought it was better not to say anything.  I would do my best to show that I deserved that jacket.  Colonels are winners.


Saturday, October 22, 2011

COLONELS FOOTBALL – Building a Dynasty

As I have said, Rolling Fork was a football school.  We were very successful.   We were the smallest school in the Delta Valley Conference.  How could we be so successful given our size?  We didn't win the conference every year, but we were close to the top every year.  During many games there would be more players suited up on the opposing sidelines than we had boys in the entire student body.   Our coaches always reminded us that it didn't matter how many players our opponent had in uniform, they could only put eleven on the field at a time. We could put eleven on the field, too.  If our eleven were better than their eleven, we would win.  And, win we did on a regular basis.  Other schools held tryouts for the football team.  We didn't have that problem in Rolling Fork. Any boy who was academically eligible, wanted to be on the team, and would dedicate himself to being the best he could be was welcomed as a Colonel.  This was a good thing for me.  I was not very good and would have been cut as a sophomore at any other school.

I often wonder what it was like in the first year or two of building the dynasty. Although the yearbooks from 1958 and 1959 show the football schedule, neither scores nor wins/losses are given.  I know that in 1960, the Colonels won eight games and lost to Leland in a championship game for the DVC title.  We had beaten Leland in the regular season, but lost this game 7 - 6.   We won eight games again in 1961 and went to our first bowl game played as Colonels, the Shrine Bowl. The Colonels made the whole community proud on that trip to Clarksdale by beating West Tallahatchie.

Things began to change as Coaches Dunaway and Mullins joined the staff in 1960.   I believe it was when they arrived that Coach Cain began to focus on coaching the junior high team and developing Colonels. As I look back, I’m reminded of players like the captains in 1960, Larry Jenkins and Eddie Touchberry.  Wayne Gardner, Don Windham, Bill Rochele and Don Hogue were some of the senior lettermen that year. This was their third year in the new school and they had an admirable season. There were others that helped to make football so memorable. The Colonels Band was led by Drum Major Joe Griffin. He was the only male to lead the Colonels band, and it was only that one year. Of course, he had majorettes like Grace Anna Moore, Cheryl Blanchard, and Ann Rodgers that added glamour to the band. And, how could you play football without cheerleaders like Ebbie Freeney, Sue Rodgers, and Sue Bonds? It was fitting that the Homecoming Queen was Lynda Cain, Coach Cain’s daughter.

As an elementary student, I always looked up to the big kids. Captains of the 1961 team were Howard Stokes, Owen Hoffman and Billy Adams.  I remember them and many others. There were thirteen senior lettermen on that team including Eddie Strickland, Kenner Day, Tommy Shropshire, and William Joe. This was their fourth year on the team. The Colonels Band was led by Drum Majorette Chris Lynch. I remember thinking it odd that there were two majorettes named Patsy -- Patsy Perry and Patsy Kiska.  The cheerleaders like Vicki Wade, Jane Bennett, and Lynn Schabillion had a new challenge this year. For the first time, they were joined by a Colonel mascot, Ken DeCell.  The Homecoming Queen that year was Sue Bonds.  

In less than four years, the new school was becoming a powerhouse.  One of the keys to the Colonels’ success was Coach Cain.  Coach Cain was not the head coach during my years.  He did not coach the high school team at all from about 1960.  He took 7th, 8th and 9th graders and prepared them to become Colonels.  Our junior high teams were even more dominant than our high school team.  We played Vicksburg and Yazoo City junior high teams, both much bigger schools.  When they came to Our Field, we won.  We may have lost to Vicksburg or Yazoo City on their field, but never on Our Field.  

Coach Cain was a father figure to many of us.  He was a man we could look up to.  He instilled discipline in unruly 12 and 13 year-old boys.  Coach Cain made us work.   He made us want to work.  He made us want to be better.  He instilled pride in us.  We were being groomed to be Colonels.  We wanted to be Colonels.  We wanted to be the best Colonels we could be because of Coach Cain.  We wanted him to be proud of us.  We grew up under Coach Cain's influence and watchful eye.  We were becoming men.  We would become better men because of Coach Cain.  When we became 9th graders we were a team that could take on bigger schools and take them to the wood shed.  We were dominant and ready to move on.  This is why Colonels were winners.


Another key to victory for the Colonels was the dedication of the players during the off season.  We had a fabulous weight room and used it to become better.  If you did not play other sports like basketball or baseball, your P.E. class would often consist of lifting weights and cross-country running during the off season.  If it was raining, a common occurrence in the Delta, we lifted weights.  If it was nice out, we would run for three miles or so.  We were always trying to get stronger and develop more stamina.  The summer would come, and it was time to slack off, right?  Not a chance.  The weight room continued to operate. In the summer we would come to the gym three days a week.  The city boys would go to lift weights during the early afternoons.  It is comical for me to refer to boys who lived in Rolling Fork as "city boys" since I have lived in cities like Honolulu, Miami, and Las Vegas.  But boys in Rolling Fork had to be contrasted with the "farm boys" who lived and worked on the farms during the summer months.  I was more like a city boy -- I did live in Egremont, after all.  I did not work on a farm.  I worked at "Burns Grocery" and could leave to go lift weights in the early afternoon. A lot of my teammates who lived in Rolling Fork would be there at that time.  Farm boys, on the other hand, came later.  They were dirty, sweaty, and dog tired from having worked outdoors since sun-up.  Still, they came.  They lifted weights to become stronger and better.  This was true dedication.  RFHS was a smaller school and the players had to work harder to keep up, but Colonels were in better shape throughout the year than players at other schools. This is why Colonels were winners.  

We also met to run on the track on off days.  In the spring of 1969, players were told we had to run a timed mile before football camp.  I don't remember this requirement in prior years.  Linemen had to run a mile in seven minutes or less.  Backs and ends had to do it in six.  I was a lineman.  A number of players had to try several times to meet their time.  We always wondered how some players ever made the time required.  Maybe when Doss Shropshire was running his laps, Coach Grayson miscounted and he ran only three laps, instead of four.  We don't know, because no one else was there. 

Brooks Lynch tried and failed in his first attempt to meet the requirement.  I ran and successfully completed my mile in under seven minutes.  I was a runner -- I liked to run -- I was good at it.  My time was five and a half minutes.  Brooks and I were friends, so I ran with him on his second try to pace him.  Coach Grayson was there to time Brooks.  He gave us our time on each lap.  I had a good sense of pace and knew what we needed to do with each stride to run a six-minute mile.  Brooks struggled more and more with each lap.  I wanted to grab a hold of his arm and drag him along faster.  On the last lap Brooks could not keep up the pace.  Our first three laps were exactly on a six-minute pace.  On the last lap we were going slower by a few seconds.  My hopes started sinking.  I knew we would not finish under six minutes.  Brooks had nothing left -- we could not sprint to the finish.  We reached the end.  Coach Grayson showed Brooks the stopwatch -- six minutes exactly!!!  Brooks had made it -- at least, according to the stopwatch.  I knew that Coach Grayson had punched the stopwatch a few seconds early to stop it on six minutes.  Brooks had given his all -- that's what was expected from Colonels.  At times, we thought the coaches demanded too much from us.  But we learned a valuable lesson -- the more that is expected, the more you can do.  We learned that if you give everything, you will accomplish far more than you thought possible.  This is why Colonels are winners.

I was a senior the final year of the Colonels dynasty.  Those of us who played then had inherited a program, a tradition, and Colonel Pride.  All we had to do was continue on the trail blazed by those earlier Colonels. This is why Colonels were winners.
August would roll around and football practice could commence.  Before the official start date, schools were not allowed to have any practices.  The first day of practice would be on a Monday.  For most schools, I assume they would show up for practice on Monday and begin.  Not so for the Colonels.  We would arrive at school on Sunday afternoon just after church. We would board school buses to go to "Football Camp" for the first week of practices.  I think the tradition of Football Camp started in 1960 or 1961 when Coach Dunaway arrived on the scene.  I am reminded of the movie, "Remember the Titans" about a football team in Virginia.  The setting was from the same era as Colonel Football.  They went to football camp and stayed in the dorms of a college near Gettysburg. They got their tails worked off in the movie.  Was this what football camp was like for the Colonels?   I have to laugh just thinking of that question.  We have all seen movies where things are so exaggerated that you know it didn't really happen that way.  It just couldn't happen that way.  In this movie, they had it easy.  In the reality of the Colonels, Football Camp near Grenada Lake offered very rustic conditions in the woods.  There were no luxurious college dorm rooms for us.  Instead, we were greeted with barracks housing lumpy bunk beds, primitive showers and toilets, and a Mess Hall that also included a TV and ping pong tables.   The food was . . .  I'm searching for the right words . . .  the food satisfied our need for survival.  Home cooking was one of the things we missed most.  

I may forget the exact order we would do things, but as I remember, before breakfast we would dress in shorts and tee shirts, grab our helmets, and load buses to take us to the practice area.  The practice area was adjacent to the lake, which was a man-made reservoir.  A large area had been dug out and the earth was used to build a levee to hold the water.  The area where the dirt had been removed would technically be called a borrow pit -- not a barrow pit like those along the side of roads. (We always called them bar’pits.) We would run drills and do conditioning for an hour then load up and go back to the camp for breakfast.  After breakfast, we would have an hour or so of free time to watch TV, play ping pong, or catch up on some sleep.   Then we would get ready for our second practice of the day.  At that time, we would dress in helmets, shoulder pads, and shorts and head back to the borrow pit. This practice would involve contact drills and lots of conditioning. 

As I have indicated, we would be practicing in a pit.  This pit had a large flat grassy area that was perfect for practicing.  But if you can envision a pit, even a large one, it must have an edge.  The edge to this pit was a levee.  Our coaches could not let such an attractive sloping hill go to waste.  At the end of practice we would run the hill.  This involved sprinting up this slope . . . over . . . and over!  Sprinting might not be such an accurate term for what we were doing.   We would start at the bottom and move up the slope as fast as we possibly could.  That was pretty slow for a lot of us.  It was not pleasant running the hill.  We ran the hill to end each practice.  We would be reminded that the boys from Leland were not running this hill; the boys from Cleveland were not running this hill; the boys from Grenada, who lived near here, were not running this hill.  It was our hill.  It belongs to the Colonels   Only the Colonels were running this hill.  This is why Colonels were winners.

After conquering the hill, we would load the buses to go back to the camp for lunch.  After eating, we had a couple of hours to do what we wanted.  Most of us slept.  We were dog-tired and needed to sleep to recover.  There was the third and final practice yet to come.  This practice was in full uniform with full contact.  We practiced until we were ready to drop, and we still had the hill to do.  We did it.  I don't know how.  I wanted to quit so many times but I continued one foot in front of the other up the hill and back down to do it all over again.  And finally, our coaches let us know it would be time to load the buses when we make it back to the top.  The last trip up would be at maximum effort, which for some, seemed like a crawl.  At the top, vomiting was not uncommon.  We got back on the buses, and there was silence.  Everyone was too tired to talk.  We got back to the camp.  Getting off the bus was hard.  I remember being too tired to take off my uniform and get in the showers right away.  But we had to get it done if we wanted to eat.   Being teenage boys we would recover rapidly, but we had worked our tails off.  It wasn't like the movie -- they had it easy in the movie.  This is why Colonels were winners.

If I recall correctly, during my senior year we had one practice called off because of rain, or it was shortened.  We normally practice in the rain; we play games when it is raining.  This event was quite unusual for a Colonels football team.  We don't normally let a little rain stop us.  But this was not a normal rain -- it was Hurricane Camille, or what was left of it.  There were high winds, torrential rain, and a threat of tornadoes. We had no access to news, but we knew there had been a hurricane. We did not know the extent of the devastation that had occurred along the Gulf Coast until Bill Marshall came up for Dedication Night.  You see, because of a severe allergy to poison ivy which was prevalent at camp, Bill Marshall did not attend the majority of football camp that year. When Bill arrived on Thursday evening he told us the “rest of the story” of the hurricane. We had Dedication Night on Thursday night and would dedicate ourselves to giving our all for the upcoming season.  Each year at camp, all individuals would make a solemn pledge to the other teammates to give 110% to a successful season.  We would stand in front of our teammates and make heart-felt promises.  There were misty eyes and outright tears.  We kept the promises we made.  This is why Colonels are winners.  

(by: Kenneth Burns)

Saturday, October 15, 2011

COLONELS FOOTBALL – In the Beginning

I moved to Egremont, Mississippi on January 1, 1959.  Little did I know at the time, the significance of this time period in the history of Sharkey and Issaquena Counties.  Prior to the summer of 1958, there existed at least three separate school districts in the two counties.  For budget and other reasons, it was decided that two schools districts should pool resources and combine into one larger district. The Anguilla District did not join in the process. Basically, Cary and Rolling Fork were becoming one. These schools had been fierce rivals for decades, or so I've been told.  Neither Rolling Fork nor Cary was a large school and the resulting consolidation was not large -- only larger.  The district’s new name was huge, though- Sharkey-Issaquena Line Consolidated School District. Whew!  What a mouthful! During my years there, the entire student body averaged about 700 students in 1st through 12th grades.

Rolling Fork and Cary high schools combined at the beginning of the school year in the fall of 1958.  The construction of the addition to the school that would house elementary school students had not been completed by the start of the school year and Cary elementary school students continued to go to school in Cary until Christmas.  On the first day of school in January, 1959, the Cary elementary school students began attending school in Rolling Fork.  The school had a new name -- Fielding L. Wright Attendance Center, I believe -- but to most of us, it was just Rolling Fork. 

My first day of school at Rolling Fork was the first day the two elementary schools had combined.  Every other first grader had gone to one of the two smaller schools for half a year.   I had lived in Yazoo City and went to school there for the first half of my first grade year until moving to Egremont.  I believe that I have the distinction as the only student who had not attended either of the separate schools, who was there as a first grader for the first day of the combined schools, and who continued for the entire Colonels era which ended when I graduated in May, 1970.

The combined schools needed a new nickname and "Colonels" was chosen.  Cary had been the Panthers and Rolling Fork had been the Bearcats.  A new era began in the South Delta and it revolved around high school football – Colonels Football -- for twelve years.  Rolling Fork High School was a football school.  The entire town, heck the entire community, comprised of most of Sharkey and Issaquena counties, lived and breathed Colonels Football during the 1960s.  It was nice to win in other sports, but it didn't really matter as long as the football team had a winning season. 

Thirty-three members made up the first squad that was led by Coaches Cain, Bishop and Sandifer. Seniors that first year included Joe Warbington, Rush Clements, and Baskin Perry.  Phillip Thomas, Jimmy Hathcock, and Roy Garcia were seniors in the fall of 1959. It was during the third year of the team that Coaches Dunaway and Mullins joined the staff. Larry Jenkins and Eddie Touchberry were Captains that year. Each year the team grew stronger and more athletes contributed to the winning spirit.

The football players and coaches were not the entire story.  Fans were important -- I was a fan in those years.   There was also the supporting cast which included the band, majorettes and cheerleaders.  To a shy little kid, the cheerleaders and majorettes were so glamorous.  Some of the cheerleaders that first year were Lynda Cain, Lisa Jordan and Dot Graft.  Edwina Davis, Fran Bilbo and Ebbie Freeney were on the squad in 1959.  Rebecca Moore was the Drum Majorette both years and other majorettes included Patsy Kiska, Verna Ruth Alexander and Barbara Scott

I remember going to home football games when I was in elementary school.  Football games were such fun for a little kid in those days.  The smells were glorious -- popcorn and hotdogs in the concession stand.  I remember standing in line waiting to get my treats while being mesmerized by the smells.  I think a bag of popcorn was 10 cents.  Hotdogs might have been 25 cents.  I loved being able to get hotdogs at a game.  It was the closest thing to "eating out" that I can remember from that age.  We would go to games and everyone was there.  And I mean everyone!  Friday night home games were where the action was.  Winners always fill the stands.  And, Colonels were winners.

We lost a game at home when I was in third grade.  I remember the sad feeling when the Colonels lost.  We lost two regular season games in 1960.  The second one was to Shaw on October 21.  No other games were lost on "Colonels Field" until October 6, 1967 when I was a sophomore.  When I say no other games were lost, I mean that during that period there was no high school, or junior varsity, or junior high games that were lost on "Our Field."   It simply didn't happen!  It wasn't allowed to happen.  We had that much pride in our football program that a loss on Our Field was unthinkable. 

I have a vivid memory when I was in ninth grade and on the junior high team. We were playing Yazoo City on Our Field. Seniors on the Colonels team were telling us that we could not lose -- it wasn't allowed.  I remember Terry Smithhart and Jimmy Wade threatening us with all kinds of horrors if we lost on Our Field. Yazoo City was a good team. It was a much bigger school, and they had more boys from which to choose.  These boys we were up against weren’t just the run of the mill kind. They continued to play together throughout high school just as we did, and when they were seniors they were undefeated.  In 1969, these Yazoo City boys would be the number one football team in the State of Mississippi.  We had to play them on Our Field when they were ninth graders, just like us.  It would be no easy task to beat them.  However, we had tradition on our side.  We had pride!  We had Coach Cain! And, Colonels were winners.

The afternoon of the game, the bleachers had more fans than I had ever seen for a junior high football game.  The entire varsity team was on the sidelines with us . . .  standing behind us . . . supporting us.  Or . . . maybe they were there to inflict those unmentionable horrors if we lost.  It had to be one or the other.  The tension and excitement were high. The pressure was on. We played the game, and we won. What a relief! It wasn't an easy victory, but there was no doubt which team was better that day. 

Our family started going to away games when my brother, Bobby, was on the team.   We would go to Leland, Indianola, Cleveland and other towns in the Delta Valley Conference.  Occasionally there would be a non-conference game.  The Colonels played Greenville when Bobby was a junior and senior and lost both games.  But both were at Greenville and did not blemish the record on Our Field.  A few other games were lost -- but never at home.  On Friday nights of away games, Rolling Fork and the surrounding area was deserted -- a ghost town.  The visitor bleachers of the other schools were never large enough to hold all of our fans who traveled to the game.  The band had first priority for seats and then parents and other grownups.  We kids would line the fence to watch.  We could move up and down the field with the team and have a field level view.  It was such fun to cheer for the winning team.  On those few games we lost, we felt shock at the outcome.  We were not supposed to lose. Colonels were winners.

 I remember going to some games when it was so cold I was afraid of getting frostbite-- well, I would have been if I had known what frostbite was. Most of the time, the game would end in a victory for the Colonels and we would begin the happy ride home.  The only time there would be a traffic jam in the Mississippi Delta was on Friday nights after football games.   There would be a line of cars as far as you could see heading home.  The headlights seemed as plentiful as the stars in the sky. I would often go to sleep in the car and wake up in bed on Saturday morning, not knowing how I got from the car to my bed.

We had become a football powerhouse because of Coach Cain.  When boys got to 7th grade, their P.E. was with Coach Cain. There we learned football skills throughout the fall.  We would put on our ill-fitting football uniforms and go out to practice, learning the same plays and formations that the high school team used.  It was amazing how much we could do in less than an hour of P.E. class.  We had to get undressed, put on our uniforms, go outside to practice, come back in, take off the uniforms, and maybe, if we hurried,  had time for a shower, or maybe not.  We had to dress back into our school clothes and get to the next class. 

We learned so much during that year that when we got to 8th grade, we were ready to play on the junior high team.  We learned from Coach Cain that Colonels are winners, and that winning was expected of us.  We learned that a small school can play big schools and win, but it takes hard work and pride in the job you are doing every day.  Working hard in practice makes the games seem easy.  We learned valuable lessons from playing football as Rolling Fork Colonels.   I am a better person today because of life’s lessons learned on the practice fields as a Colonel.  We were Colonels; we were winners.

(by: Kenneth Burns)

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Invitation to Readers

 
If you went to school at Rolling Fork High School during the late 1950s or the 1960s, the Colonel's Commentary is yours.  This blog is designed to allow the sharing of stories and comments about our years of growing up in Sharkey and Issaquena counties and going to school in Rolling Fork.  The intention is that everyone should participate. There should be a sense of partnership that we all have. I thought that perhaps someone should “prime the pump” by writing stories that would encourage comments.

My first thought was that I would write a story about Colonels football. This would surely get everyone’s creative juices flowing. It at least worked very well on me. By the time I had finished, I had prepared nine stories! Once I got started, I started thinking of more and more memories. I hope this has the same effect on you.

The plan is to post one story- or blog entry- a week and have readers comment about the stories throughout the week.  We expect much of the value of the blog to be found in the comments you make.  There is so much to be added to the stories that are already prepared.  I may remember things a certain way, and you may remember additional detail I never knew or had forgotten.  Just make sure all comments are respectful and polite.  

As time goes on, we would like more stories to be submitted on various RFHS topics. Perhaps you have something to share about the Colonels band or the choir. You may remember a funny story from shop class or English. Mrs. Bishop’s Chemistry class may have special meaning for you, or you could share a first-person, Mr. Terry story. It seems so many people have one of those stories. Does Colonels, Chuck’s or Ford’s Dairy Bar evoke a memory that you’d like to share? What about taking swimming in P.E.? I wrote about football. Others may have stories related to other sports.

Stories can be from elementary school, junior high, or high school. The topics are not limited, but any story will be subject to approval before being posted on the blog.  We would like all stories to include detail and background information and be presented well.  Don’t be offended if we ask you to beef up a story before being posted.  The author of all stories will be listed.  

I was six years old when the era of the Colonels began, and some of what I have written is only a vague recollection of mine.  I am positive I have made factual errors.  We welcome discussion in the comments to correct any errors you may notice.   But more than just correcting errors, we encourage you to tell us what you remember.   The memory that you have and others may have forgotten will add so much to the joy this blog can provide.  Short memories about the topic of the story should be posted in the comments.  We request anyone with a story to tell from that era to submit a story to be posted.  

Throughout my travels, I have discussed my school years with many people.  I have never met anyone who was as fond of where he or she grew up and went to school as I was of Rolling Fork.   Friends from Rolling Fork tell me their experience is the same.  You can share your memories here.  This is your blog.  We are Colonels.

by: Kenneth Burns

The Colonel's note: Kenneth is the first submitter for the blog. He was a senior on the last Colonels football team. (RFHS Class of 1970)