West TN Top Football Programs Historically

[ItsAlwaysSunnyInAtwood]

2 hours ago, stacmot said:

Warning!  The topic of this thread has inspired me to go through my old scrapbook, so I’ve got a little (maybe a lot of) historical trivia concerning 20^th century rural West Tennessee football.  I know it’s a stretch, but it sort of fits in the criterion of all-time history.

On January 30, 2000, the Jackson Sun published a special section on what their readers considered to be the top ten games and teams of the century.  The section was put together by Dan Morris, and he deserves all the credit for the information I’m posting.

I’m sure Byars-Hall/Covington would fit into some of this, but Covington is not located in the Sun’s circulation area.  As a result, I don’t think very many Covington fans had a chance to vote.

Don’t shoot the messenger.  I just thought it was an interesting read related to West Tennessee football history.  I’m sure we could all argue about what and what wasn’t included.

Games:

Bradley Central 50, JCM 48 (3 OTs) -  Thanksgiving Day, 1976 (Class AAA state championship game)

Westview 23, Humboldt 20 – November 6, 1970 (The game was played before an estimated crowd of 9,000 at UTM,  Johnny Brundige kicked a 26 yard field goal to give Westview the win.  Westview’s victory extended the Chargers winning streak at the time to 41 games.)

Humboldt 13, Maryville 10 – December 7, 1979 (Class AA state championship game.  Alan Welch kicked a 25 yard field goal with .06 seconds left in the game to seal the win for the Vikings.  Welch also kicked a 43 yard field goal earlier in the game.)

Milan 10, Kingston 7 – November 26, 1971 (class AA state championship.  Milan’s Larry Utley kicked a 34 yard field goal in the 4^th quarter to give the Bulldogs the victory.)

USJ 3, Bruceton 0 (OT) – December 3, 1993 (Class A state semifinal game.  Larry Kirkland kicked a 20 yard field goal in overtime to send the Bruins to their first state championship game.)

Chicago Austin 13, Jackson High 0 – December 11, 1937 (The game was played at Crump Stadium in Memphis for what was billed as the national prep school championship.)

Dyer County 31, Sequatchie County 26 – December 7, 1973 (Class A state championship)

Ripley 3, Haywood 2 – November 7, 1958 (A 29 yard 1^st half field goal by Ripley’s John Morris proved to be the difference.  The game was somewhat controversial.  On fourth-and-goal inside the 1 yard line, Haywood’s Larry Banks tried the center of the Tiger line and appeared to score.  One official signaled touchdown, but was overruled by other officials.  Haywood scored it’s two points when Ripley took an intentional safety late in the game.)

Paris Grove 21, Memphis Central 20 – December 2, 1949  (Jackson Exchange Bowl.  Grove scored on a last second 4^th down play to finish the season 11-0.)

Haywood 24, Hendersonville Beech 17 (OT) – November 24, 1995 (Class AAAA state semifinal game.  With 15 seconds left, Haywood’s Patrick Black kicked a 32 yard field goal to send the game into overtime.   The Tomcats scored on the second play of overtime on a 7 yard screen from Jason Giompoletti to Marcus Henley.  Beech got to the 2 yard line in their overtime possession before being stopped short on a fourth-down run over right tackle.
 

Teams:

 

Jackson High 1939 – Coach Tury Oman’s Golden Bears finish the season 12-0 shutting out 9 teams and outscoring their opponents 388-20.  Their closest competitor was when they defeated Chicago Austin 7-6 in the season finale.
 
Paris Grove 1949 – Coach Bobby Jelks’ Blue Devils finished 11-0 behind the talents of running back Chick King and end Dan King.  Three players signed with Georgia.  One each went to Vanderbilt, Mississippi St., Memphis St. and Murray St.  Several went to UT Martin.

Newbern 1952 – The Choctaws finished 11-0 and made national news as the “Point-A-Minute Team” by scoring 432 points in 432 minutes of regular season play.  Newbern beat Whitehaven, the Shelby County Champion, 32-7 in the Little Cotton Bowl in Brownsville.

Jackson High 1963 = Coach Tom Fann’s Golden Bears finished the season 11-0 and ranked No. 1 in the state after beating Haywood 26 to 7 on a rainy Thanksgiving Day to win their second consecutive Big Ten Conference championship.  The only team to score more than 7 points against the Golden Bears was Union City which lost 39-12. 

Huntingdon 1966 – Coach Paul Ward’s Mustangs finished the season 11-0 outscoring their opponents 436-33. Led by quarterback Tim Priest (who played at Tennessee) the Mustangs were one of only three teams in the state to finish the season unbeaten.  Portland was the only team to score against Huntingdon’s first team defense.  The Mustangs defeated Portland 22-7 in the Jaycee Bowl in Gallatin.

Haywood 1968 – Among Haywood’s three unbeaten seasons of the 1960s, Coach John Hooper’s 11-0 Tomcats of 1968 were probably the most balanced.  Sophomore quarterback Rockey Felker and Senior running back Steve Stoots led the Tomcats to the state’s No. 1 ranking. In the final Big Ten Conference game ever played on Thanksgiving Day, Haywood beat Jackson High 26-12.  Haywood also defeated Jackson 21-0 during the regular season.

Westview 1970 – Coach Jim Dunn’s Chargers finished the season 10-0 and extended the school’s winning streak to 42.  Senior quarterback Danny Walker guided the school to three of it’s four consecutive unbeaten seasons. 

Humboldt 1979 – Coach Jack Cain’s Vikings completed a 13-0 season by beating Maryville 13-10 for the Class AA state championship.  The Vikings were ranked No. 1 when the traveled to No. 2 Lexington in the semifinals.  More than 6000 spectators surrounded Tiger Stadium to see the Vikings win their sixth shut-out of the year, 7-0.

Bruceton 1989 – Coach Rod Sturdivant’s Tigers  finished the season 14-1. Bruceton lost to Donelson Christian in the second game of the season by a score of 7-28.  The Tigers avenged that loss with a 21-6 victory over DCA in the Class A championship game.
 
Milan 1999 – Coach Jeff Morris saw his Bulldogs finish the season 15-0 and win a second consecutive state championship after moving up from Class 2A to Class 3A.  The Bulldogs outscored their 15 opponents 544-86.  Milan was the first school to win a state football title in one classification and the next year win in a higher classification.  Milan was the smallest Class 3A school in the state in 1999.  The Bulldogs defeated No. 1 ranked Portland 21-14 in the state title game. 

You won't get that from the j sun these days. Great stuff thanks for sharing 

[stacmot]

52 minutes ago, theawesomebro said:

that was super interesting to read and I am not from west TN.  I would love to see this for middle TN or the whole state.  thanks for sharing!

 

Thanks.  I would like to see something like this for the whole state as well.  I'd also like to see something like this for West Tennessee from 2001 to 2022.

[stacmot]

3 minutes ago, WarEagleCartman said:

You won't get that from the j sun these days. Great stuff thanks for sharing 

You're welcome and you are right.  I have a treasure trove of articles from The Commercial Appeal, The Memphis Press-Scimitar, and the Jackson Sun.  IMO prep sports coverage stinks these days.  In defense of these papers, I know they don't have the reporters to go out to all the games.

[BIGPURPLEMACHINE]

16 minutes ago, stacmot said:

You're welcome and you are right.  I have a treasure trove of articles from The Commercial Appeal, The Memphis Press-Scimitar, and the Jackson Sun.  IMO prep sports coverage stinks these days.  In defense of these papers, I know they don't have the reporters to go out to all the games.

I am only saying this regarding the Jackson Sun. Maybe they don’t have the reporters to cover all the high school football games, but they used to. Coverage was sooooo much better. And they will tell you that their sales are nothing like they used to be. So if your coverage isn’t what it used to be and sales aren’t what they used to be…. Hmmmm…. I think you get the point. 

[TryNotToSuck]

35 minutes ago, stacmot said:

You're welcome and you are right.  I have a treasure trove of articles from The Commercial Appeal, The Memphis Press-Scimitar, and the Jackson Sun.  IMO prep sports coverage stinks these days.  In defense of these papers, I know they don't have the reporters to go out to all the games.

Yeah, I think we can blame social media as for one of the reasons. We can always find scores on an instant, especially with Twitter. In the old days, we had to rely on the Jackson Sun in hopes they would bring a reporter out to a game, so we can get a score. Another one is dedication. I noticed with WBBJ, their sports reporter has a segment on the 6:30 PM telecast. When do games go on (other than football)? While he is in the studio doing a telecast.

There was a baseball game in May this year. It was South Side and Hardin County. South Side's pitcher signed to play at South Alabama, and HC's pitcher is signed to play at Memphis, and their short stop signed to play at Notre Dame. No media coverage for an elimination games between two dominate pitchers.

I remember the Jackson Sun had 3 reporters going to games, now they just have 1 I think.

[ItsAlwaysSunnyInAtwood]

4 minutes ago, TryNotToSuck said:

Yeah, I think we can blame social media as for one of the reasons. We can always find scores on an instant, especially with Twitter. In the old days, we had to rely on the Jackson Sun in hopes they would bring a reporter out to a game, so we can get a score. Another one is dedication. I noticed with WBBJ, their sports reporter has a segment on the 6:30 PM telecast. When do games go on (other than football)? While he is in the studio doing a telecast.

There was a baseball game in May this year. It was South Side and Hardin County. South Side's pitcher signed to play at South Alabama, and HC's pitcher is signed to play at Memphis, and their short stop signed to play at Notre Dame. No media coverage for an elimination games between two dominate pitchers.

I remember the Jackson Sun had 3 reporters going to games, now they just have 1 I think.

Even with social media taking the toll it did a lot of the reporters just feed the monster. They'll dedicate more time breaking scores and trying to encapsulate a full game in 140 characters rather than putting that energy into a well thought out descriptive article. You can do both most just seem to choose not to. 

[ItsAlwaysSunnyInAtwood]

38 minutes ago, BIGPURPLEMACHINE said:

I am only saying this regarding the Jackson Sun. Maybe they don’t have the reporters to cover all the high school football games, but they used to. Coverage was sooooo much better. And they will tell you that their sales are nothing like they used to be. So if your coverage isn’t what it used to be and sales aren’t what they used to be…. Hmmmm…. I think you get the point. 

100%. How could they not notice? Or choose not to? I remember as a kid in the late 90's-early 00's if I didn't get to the store or a box for the Sun by 8:30-9am they were gone and you missed everything from Friday night. They put so much effort into the coverage it was can't miss. And I don't care how much social media there is if you "Little Billy" is mentioned in the article and perhaps even a game photo....then little Billy's whole family is buying that and probably most of the community to read about the big game.....even if they saw everything the night before 

Edited July 10, 2022 by WarEagleCartman

[BIGPURPLEMACHINE]

9 minutes ago, WarEagleCartman said:

100%. How could they not notice? Or choose not to? I remember as a kid in the late 90's-early 00's if I didn't get to the store or a box for the Sun by 8:30-9am they were gone and you missed everything from Friday night. They put so much effort into the coverage it was can't miss. And I don't care how much social media there is if you "Little Billy" is mentioned in the article and perhaps even a game photo....then little Billy's whole family is buying that and probably most of the community to read about the big game.....even if they saw everything the night before 

My favorite was the game of the week coverage on Friday morning. They would have an animation for the two teams and detailed insight into the game. Loved reading that. 

[ItsAlwaysSunnyInAtwood]

4 hours ago, BIGPURPLEMACHINE said:

My favorite was the game of the week coverage on Friday morning. They would have an animation for the two teams and detailed insight into the game. Loved reading that. 

Prep Art was my favorite! I think Jeremy pemdas or something like that was his name

[ManOfMillions]

10 hours ago, stacmot said:

I’ve declined to list a top five.  I would like to come up with an objective list, but I’m sure I would show favoritism toward Haywood.  That said, Haywood has been the dominant Class 4A team in West Tennessee (including Shelby Co. and the rural west) over the past 5 years.   Haywood has a 2-2 record against Class 5A Henry County (your number 1 team) over the past 5 years.  In fact, Haywood leads the series with the Pats 9-5-0.  I do believe Haywood’s history, recent success, and consistency definitely merits the Cats being in the top five. But where?  I don’t know.  One of Haywood’s biggest drawbacks is the fact that the Tomcats have made 4 trips to the state championship, and they have never sealed the deal.

I believe that Covington deserves a place at the table as well.  Until this past year, the general consensus has been that Class 3A was the strongest class in West Tennessee, and Covington has been a very successful 3A team.

 

I'm not trying to contradict you in any way.  Out of all the top 5 lists I’ve seen in this thread, I like yours the best. I like your reasoning, and thanks for your work in putting it all together.  Most of all, thank you for including the Haywood Tomcats!  Thanks to @ManOfMillions for including the Tomcats too.

@BIGPURPLEMACHINE, I doubt you’ll tell me, but what school claimed to be the premier program in West Tennessee?  Please tell me it wasn’t Haywood!  I know that last statement is funny after all the campaigning I’ve done for Haywood, but I just don’t think it's wise for a school to place a target like that on its back.

One last statement…I don’t believe there have been any serious efforts to renovate or build a new stadium for Haywood.  So far it has been all talk and no action.

 

@stacmot I do not think you got my joke. My list was purely a stab at the big purple dog turd. I would really struggle to put together a true list. It would be very, very hard. With the parameters that were set I could draw up a list pretty quick. The 1 thing of the 5 that I think Haywood lacks with is community support. I have been to several games there and was not really impressed with the crowd or the atmosphere. Aside from that, Haywood has it all but the gold balls! Using the metrics that were originally set forth my real list would look something like this.

1. Peabody. 

2.  Henry county. 

3.  Haywood. ( with 1 gold ball, would be #1 ) ( NOBODY WANT'S TO SEE THIS TEAM ON THEIR SCHEDULE, EVER) 

4.  Huntingdon. 

5.  UC, Milan, Lake county ( all deserve a mention ) 

[stacmot]

1 hour ago, ManOfMillions said:

@stacmot I do not think you got my joke. My list was purely a stab at the big purple dog turd. I would really struggle to put together a true list. It would be very, very hard. With the parameters that were set I could draw up a list pretty quick. The 1 thing of the 5 that I think Haywood lacks with is community support. I have been to several games there and was not really impressed with the crowd or the atmosphere. Aside from that, Haywood has it all but the gold balls! Using the metrics that were originally set forth my real list would look something like this.

1. Peabody. 

2.  Henry county. 

3.  Haywood. ( with 1 gold ball, would be #1 ) ( NOBODY WANT'S TO SEE THIS TEAM ON THEIR SCHEDULE, EVER) 

4.  Huntingdon. 

5.  UC, Milan, Lake county ( all deserve a mention ) 

 

I don’t guess I got your joke, but I do tend to be more serious in nature.  Especially on a site like Coach T where I don’t really know who I’m talking to.  I confess, I tend to skim through all the banter that goes on between posters who are friends like you and BPM.

Joke or not, at least you included Haywood in the top five, and that’s all I wanted somebody to do.  I wasn’t arguing for anyone to list Haywood as #1,  I just wanted someone to recognize that Haywood (at least in my opinion) should be in the top five.

I wholeheartedly agree with you concerning Haywood’s lack of community support.  It’s definitely not what it should be or what it used to be.


With the exception of a few 1A and 2A schools, I’ve been to games at every 3A, 4A, and 5A school in West Tennessee, IMO, Henry County and Hardin County have the best community support and atmosphere. 
 

Edited July 11, 2022 by stacmot

[ManOfMillions]

8 minutes ago, stacmot said:

I don’t guess I got your joke, but I do tend to be more serious in nature.  Especially on a site like Coach T where I don’t really know who I’m talking to.  I confess, I tend to skim through all the banter that goes on between posters who are friends like you and BPM.

Joke or not, at least you included Haywood in the top five, and that’s all I wanted somebody to do.  I wasn’t arguing for anyone to list Haywood as #1,  I just wanted someone to recognize that Haywood (at least in my opinion) should be in the top five.

I wholeheartedly agree with you concerning Haywood’s lack of community support.  It’s definitely not what it should be or what it used to be.


With the exception of a few 1A and 2A schools, I’ve been to games at every 3A, 4A, and 5A school in West Tennessee, IMO, Henry County and Hardin County have the best community support and atmosphere. 
 

Friend? Where did you draw this up? BPM can jump off a bridge! Don't try to change the narrative around here. J/K. If you can get past the smell of him, he is a really, really good dude. I am proud to call him a true friend. We love to mix it up on the T. Free entertainment! 

 

The joke was that, I did not include the purple pups in my top 5 at all..... I put the arch rivals of the dawgs in that place! They probably should be there to begin with!