64TNChamp

The name, Science Hill, was undoubtedly derived from the location of the HS in downtown JC, abutted by a Methodist church and St. Mary's, and across the street from a vibrant, Sevier Hotel. What seemed like never-ending flights of steps led to one's first class at Science Hill. My father and uncle were graduates in the '20's. Good luck (I've detested SH since '58)... Wore uniforms for both. At DB's last Championship, 1964, SH was 4-4-2, and had talent, but no leadership or cohesion. Indians could not participate in Big 7 (6, or whatever), but defeated Greenville and Morristown, conference's best. On the other hand, Kingsport in '64 had 7 eventual D1 players and two other "small college" players of note on a 34-man "traveling squad."(There were only 100 D1 schools-I went to the smallest, 2,500 students). Ergo, talent and great team cohesion. JC had a marvelous elementary school, tackle football program, 7 or 8 schools. I was one of 2 fourth graders;..in 6th, my school, Northside, was undefeated, coached by a former Washington Redskin, had 4 eventual- collegiant footballers, and beat an All-Star team from all the others, including a Catholic school on Thanksgiving evening in the current stadium. Coach Kermit Tipton coached the Hill Toppers. Coach Bill Jasper, DB,..the Indians of '57, '58, '59, ..were awesome. SH cheerleaders would come to elementary schools to marshall support (and hand out "free" $0.10 tickets--to no avail, games were lopsided, decided early). Steve Spurrier arrived the year I left for 3 years in Hickory, NC. Spurrier, of course, made life miserable for DB in multiple sports. His favorite receiver, Jimmy Sanders, was the quarterback of my elementary school team. 1. Don't let them change the mascot/name. 2. Beat Mary-vile. 3. Waste the Hill Toppers.

Without a doubt WaCoJack

I suppose at some point Friday the LAST DB Tennessee State Champions will be honored--50 years!

50

As someone who knows more than a little about being a DB football state champion,..no. He should stay: we won INSPITE of our coaches.

Good luck to Indians. Kill 'em. Never really cared for them. Seems like only yesterday...49+years???

Do you happen to know anyone from '63, '64, or '65 great Pounder teams? Looking for game film DB vs. Central, 1964, 0-0 tie. Would love to trade your choice of nation-wide HS memorabilia, meaning lettermen jackets, t-shirts, and sweats for you same. You guys were Gods!

Good luck, Indians. Kill 'em (channelling Chuck Lane). From someone who's worn the colors of both; one with some notariety, nobility,

Spear, Spanky, and Snark0...Yeah, the tune up went 89-0, the season went undefeated (your last, who's counting? 44, 45,46...?--although I use the "royal your"). Sure some of my team mates are possibly more successful than I: State's Exhibit "A," my dealing with self-absorbed, rubes on a high school football site, when I'm sure they team mates better things to do Re: attempting to teach those with little to no humility. But let's just consider I did get to leave (and never really looked back)as most of them. Shall we compare CVs, respective last games (mine was 1994), or net worths? Dr. Tom Million

Which one was this Ketron, Sullivan Central, Blountville, Lynview, Rogersville, Churchill? Does the schedule start next week, or are there more "tune ups," to pad the 700+ wins? "Roll Tribe," or walk, or hire a proxy--just phone it in. When I see EC playing Union, or DLS traveling to Lauderdale, Mission vs. Don Bosco, Hoover and S. Pan, I wounder why all the swagger that is DB who evidently never sticks it out there. Sure, 1-0 vs. MBA, 50-50 vs. Oakridge, 0-10 Marysville, 0-5 Murphy. Doesn't seem to match all the hype/in-your-face. Ever considered scheduling an OPPONENT? (or at least making it out of the first round?). Bottom Line: My senior year one team made an extra point--allowed 30 others. Trailed for about 2 minutes ALL season. Spent the night TWICE just to get at the best we could schedule. Played outta state. Lots of my team mates stared at D-1, others did just as well at smaller schools. Most became successful in life. Never said a word, just did our jobs. Won the LAST State Championship.

Ah,.. boasting Re: beating a team from Sullivan County, TN, no matter how many times, really? Can they walk over or is the game at DB? Maybe one the surviving actual State Champions at Dobyns-Bennett should Rx a little stronger schedule to support the failure to make the second round or at least rein in some of the braggadocio that crescendo with the year's last CT post(s): "It snowed. Doggie ate my homework. Riggs ran wild. Should have prepared better. Grandma died...again. Flat tire on the way. Safety was only option. Left Art Brummet's helmet back in Kingsport, et. al."

I would strongly counsel against going to WFU. 1. Other than Foothills, there is no microbrewery worth visiting. 2. After 1981 the uniforms have lost panache. 3. The school work is to frackin' hard. 4. Regardless what they say, good BBQ is tough to find. 4. Since Jimmy "The Jet" Johnson, Butch Henry, Billy Overton, and Bob Grant, all the blacks are panty wastes. 5. The standium is too small and the fans are more concerned with 19th Century Anglo-Irish poets than converting third downs. 6. The women don't shave, but do smoke. If you're smart enough to go there, I'd chose Stanford, and preferably only if the Indians, Cardinal, Trees have a quarterback like Plunkett (oh, yeah, they do). Go Ducks! And I realize DB runs from a tough game (or just won't drive to one), but why not institute an alumni game vs. JC, Oak Ridge, Chat. C, or collectively, all the little one-horse schools from the immediate area who have thought themselves competitive for near a century?

I prefer the 1963 Chattanooga Central "Purple Pounders:" maze pant, solid deep purple jersey with white numerals, maze helmet with one purple and two white stripes. Uniform of the Gods, played like them. Could anyone give me access or at least privy to film (or where abouts of #76 Brian Millsap) 1964 Central vs. DB, Univ. Chat, Sat. nite Oct? Go Ducks! Go De LaSalle Spartans; exocise St. Thomas from the National Top 10.

Thanks, Art. Any more stats? I saw the first time they played after the hiatus in '67 at JC and the incorportation of Langston. The JC Press's choice of the words, "...Refused to play" is interesting: perhaps that is more of the same acrimony that lead to the suspension of DB-JC temporarily. There was a lone Indian that would have taken a full-scholarship offer to Duke in Hickory, NC had not the prospect of a little retribution vs. Science Hill been proffered. In '64 JC was 4-4-2, and mention was made of 5th-ranked Oak Ridge game. In that game "John Thomas (Tommy Thomas)" was mentioned, my best friend for many years prior to '63 and a recipient of a "700-DB-Wins" t-shirt sent to him this week! I played OR when they were ranked, I think the paper mis-wrote of the '63 OR team. DB vs. OR, '63--0-26; '64--12-0. even more convincing vs. OR in '65. The '67 game was very embarassing like '66 DB vs. Alcoa (Albert Davis and David David) that ended 34-game DB win/tie streak. I'd still like to suit up: 3-0 on that field all in maroon and gold-- though this time in grey.

Would someone be so kind: 1. W/L record in series. 2. Longest streak by both, including DB's current streak. 3. GC's record vs. SHHS. 4. Whether and if, when has SHHS won a State Championship in football. 5. Also, mention has been made of memorable games in JC stadium, could someone elaborate. Thanks, Wore the uniform of both.

Would one of you stat' guys be so kind to give me: 1. W-L record in the series. 2. Longest streak of W's by either including present DB streak? 3. Coach Clark's record vs. JC? 4. Whether, and when JC won a Football State Championship? Thanks for the stats, TN Champ

Having played for both, AND State Champion from DB's last: all the best to the Indians--kill 'em.

DB and JC fought over choice of referees. This topic was beat to death last year on this site; maybe you can access the archives. There was political bad blood in the then Big 7 with bus-rocking, people-knocking incidents that precluded football. I was born in JC and played on a City Champ as a sixth-grader (even beat the All-Stars on Halloween); we played tackle football for elementary schools as early as the fourth grade in my case. Junior High was 7th-9th grades, but everyone dressed and practiced virtually together. I left JC after the 7th to move to Hickory, NC, and returned for my junior and senior years at DB: as you can see from the above, "The Last State Champ." I did not play with Spurrier in either case, although did have a great conversation with Once-Head-Coach, Tom Pugh, one evening Re: how DB tried to defend against Spurrier. The plan involved attempting to shut down his primary receiver, Jimmy Sanders, who was the sixth-grade quarterback of my elementary team when I was a fourth grader. I never would have come back to East Tennessee if I would have known I could not play Johnson City. My coach at Hickory offered me a full scholarship to Duke as a sophomore just to stay. I hated Johnson City for personal reasons. When all this went down, it killed me but probably saved the lives of several Hilltoppers. Johnson City had several stars in '64 but most notably, Tommy Thomas (MTSU) and Bobby Yeiser (Vandy), one was my best friend for years and the other a playmate, and reasonably good tackle, although untested versus the Tennesses State Champs 1964.

Two memories: In the mid-fifties, SH cheerleaders would come to all elementary schools with free tickets for the Kingsport game. Packing the stadium didn't help, the great Jasper-led teams, clad in almost all white, maroon Jets-like inserts with a number inside, single thin maroon striped helmet, would waste the Hilltoppers. In the late sixties, after the bureaucratic hiatus of not playing each other, finally both loaded squads got to square off in JC. The stadium was packed beyond standing-room-only. Johnson City embarassed DB, my coaches, players I still knew, me. I had worn the uniform of both teams, but only loved one.

When I see Maryville in unapproved website rated as high as #3 in the Nation then scroll down to all the great teams below, or look at Tennessee's record in general versus other states, I need to make a note to seriously ask Ned what anti-virus he uses to "protect" is proprietary software or maybe just some good, old-fashioned East Tennessee common sense when "tradin' horses."

Would anyone care to trade a De La Salle t-shirt for DB same...prefer the older the better, maroon over grey. My DLS is green with hand holding large DLS "Spartans" helmet on one side, DLS on opposite, circa 2005?

Sorry, I guess my memory isn't that good: Walton was #51; Boyd Page was #50. Which proves, you cannot tell one lawyer from another--even forty-one years ago.

Art, Please say "Hi," to Bill if you happen to speak with him again. Ask him if he remembers a similar, yet more overt rock throwing incident in '63 at Morristown? Also, please tell him local realtor, Eddie Grills (#41), and Freddie Walton's brother, John (#50) have a tape of all those '64 games with the exception of Chat.Cent. At the only reunion in 1999 most of us sat in a small room at the high school after that evening's game watching game films until 2am without alcohol. And, yes, Bud, I have some colorful memories of that evening, my team mates, and almost every down of that magical season. Good luck Friday and thoughout the playoffs.

Art, Thanks for the "heads-up"-historical perspective. The behind the scenes machinations of school officals, petulance, and disregard for player and coaches was amazing. I probably would never have played for DB had it not been for the potential to face JC. I played in JC's every good elementary school league, grades 4-6. My school won the city championship, also beating an all-star team from the other seven schools. As a seventh grader I was exposed to the system in place, coaches, field house, stadium,and more importantly, prospective team mates. In elementary school I remember the high school's cheerleaders coming to my school to hand out free tickets and generate excite for only one game: Kingsport. The great Jasper-lead team of the early 60's was a jugarnaut, scoring at will. When I returned to E.TN, I still had "friends" on the team, notably Bobby Yeiser (Vandy), and Tommy Thomas (Mid.TN St.) with whom I had grown up next door. Both were "go-to," Yeiser, All-E.TN tackle (my position) and Thomas, a very illusive running back; both played for E.TN in an all-star game versus SW VA along with Nick Showalter and John Walton from DB. What is a little more tacit and probably more speculative from your excellent recount of the dealings to take DB out of the Big 7, was an incident in Erwin that involved rocks thrown at a DB bus with broken windows, fan taunting, etc. I think Erwin, the perennial weak team of the Big 7, played a major part in the final decision. Needless to say, I was crestfallen not to get a shot at Thomas, Yeiser and others. Coach Chuck Lane, our backfield coach, had played at JC. I think Chuck truly despised JC, and wanted a match-up as badly as I. As seniors, my team "snuck up" on virtually the rest of the State, winning in one state poll and a phyrric victory when the other poll winner, Maryville, lost their bowl game, 0-28, to a team twice beaten. Science Hill went 4-4-2 that year and there was even talk one afternoon of a very rare DB bowl game versus them. Too bad,..would have been a blood bath.