Soccer Shoes

Scotty:

Some weeks ago I sent in a memory of Coach Ward, but I do not see it posted below so I may have wrongly addressed it. I’ll try again with some rambling memories. Please let me say how much I have enjoyed reading the stories of others and reminiscing about growing up in Huntingdon. A couple of things come to mind. In the fall of ’64 when guys like Danny Woodard, Dale Strickland, Donnie Hall, Jerry Morris, Mud Brown and Jerry “Pee Wee” Robison were some of the really good seniors on the team Coach Ward reluctantly agreed to let the backs on the team wear “soccer shoes”- low cut, light weight shoes with a molded, soft rubber sole having short molded cleats. As I recall only the seniors and a few others who might get in a game(like up and coming sophomore, Steve Barnett) got the shoes. As we all thought the shoes looked “fast” and we thought we ran faster in them everyone was excited to have “soccer shoes”. As I and other sophomores played little we mostly looked forward to wearing soccer shoes in our junior and senior seasons.

The ’64 team went undefeated in the regular season and beat Bolivar handily in the Volunteer Conference championship game. We then went to play mighty Brownsville of the Big Ten in the Little Cotton Bowl in Brownsville. On an early possession Huntingdon drove inside the Brownsville 10 yard line. Our star tailback, Jerry Robison, took a handoff as a hole was opened off tackle. It appeared Pee Wee would score but he slipped as he cut into the hole. When he fell he broke his arm or his shoulder or something knocking him out of the game. Huntingdon failed to score and ended up losing to the Big Ten champion Tomcats by a score of 14-0 as I recall. After the game Coach Ward pronounced that “those darn soccer shoes” were the reason Jerry slipped and was injured. He thereafter banned anyone from wearing soccer shoes with the result that the guys in my class like Steve Barnett, Johnny Carter, Wool Townsend and I never got to wear them in a game where we were playing enough to affect the outcome. He was probably right. I don’t think we ever lost a game where soccer shoes would have been the winning edge.

In the fall of ’65 we lost to Camden and Jackson Northside and tied Paris. I remember that we were pretty much considered failures in the wake of the great team of ’64 and the teams of the late 50’s and of the teams led by the guy I believe to have been the best Huntingdon athlete of our era Bobby Hayes. I have always thought if Bobby had turned down Johnny Vaught’s scholarship offer to Ole Miss and chosen professional baseball we would have seen him pitching in the major leagues. In ‘65 Camden won the Volunteer Conference champion in a great game over Don McLeary led Northside. Everyone picked Camden to be the best team in West Tenn in ’66. They were led by QB Cliff Sturdivant(later a star at UT Martin and Huntingdon’s coach), bruising tailback, Dale Woodard and guard-linebacker, David Dulin, both of whom later starred at Tenn Tech. All spring and summer Coach Ward and all the players worked for one thing, beating Camden. The second game of the year we traveled to Camden. I don’t think I ever played on a team in high school or college that was as well prepared and motivated as our team was that night. Coach Ward had sort of gigged us all year about “those big ole boys at Camden” were looking down there collective noses at us. In the game that is still the most fun I ever had playing we beat Camden 28-0. The sense of accomplishment and satisfaction was immeasurable. We all gained a great sense of pride and the understanding(if we did not already have it) that if we would just listen to Coach Ward and Coach Welch we could accomplish all our football goals.

As many have already posted we all feel a great sense of loss with Coach Ward’s death. However, remembering his contributions to all our lives at an age when we were very impressionable gives us warm memories of the an individual who left us all a little better than he found us.

I look forward to reading future posts.

Tim

Tim Priest

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From: Roberts, Benny
Sent: Thursday, January 17, 2008 2:36 PM
To:
Cc:
Subject: RE: Coach Ward

tim,

being one of the youngest "posters" to this blog i will continue on your story. as you know my dad and mom were great fans. and with judy there we managed to go to every game. i remember cutting up newspapers so i could throw up confetti at brownsville. after pee wee broke his arm, my dad told me to just throw it up on first downs because he didn't think we would score. he turned out to be right. the night of the camden game you were speaking of, i rode with my dad and gene wilkes, gerry and barbara to camden. i remember all the way over there their conversation (strange how that kind of stuff comes back). they came to the conclusion that the only way we would win was for us to receive the opening kickoff and you return it for a touchdown. i can't remember if you did that or not but that thought just entered my mind as i was reading your story.

benny

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From: Tim Priest

To:

Sent: Friday, January 18, 2008 8:29 AM

Subject: RE: Coach Ward

Benny:

No such luck for me on the opening kickoff. Certainly it was an all around team effort.

Tim

Tim Priest

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From: Joe Fortner

Sent: Thu, 1/17/2008

To:
Subject: Fw: Coach Ward

Tim, Great memories of the 64 team, When talking about the shoes, Danny Woodard was given three pairs of shoes. The soccer shoes, a pair for playing on a dry field and a pair playing on a wet field.

Freddie Holiday. enjoyed your post. I have a question, I have always been told the story of the coach of Milan High School football team who at the time was playing Somerville in football each year. He dropped Sommerville from their schedule because of Larry Stewart and stated he would not play them again until Larry Stewart graduated from high school. Instead of playing Somerville he picked up Huntingdon for the next football season and then Bro. Jonas Stewart moved to Huntingdon to pastor the First Baptist Church and Larry played for the Mustangs against Milan High School that fall.

Joe Fortner

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From: Scott Portis

Sent: Sunday, January 20, 2008 12:47 AM
To: '

Subject: Re: Coach Ward

Tim, I remember this game very well. I arrived late (after the kickoff-having driven all the way from Indianapolis, Indiana, where I lived at the time just to see this game) and went from 6th deep in the end zone closest to town to the front row (still in the end zone). You could not stir the people with a stick. Anyway, on your first touchdown run, as you came through the end zone the crowd was so close to the field that you ran right by me and I swiped you on the butt and screamed, "way to go Tim Priest". What a great game and probably the best team the Mustangs ever fielded (most points scored and fewest allowed). Perhaps the more modern teams have topped these records but that '66 team was one of the best in my memory. Geno Dill could tell us more.

While your brother and I were in medical school in Memphis, all medical treatment at the old "John Gaston Hospital" came to a grinding halt on Saturday afternoon when you and the likes of "Jumping Joe Thompson" and the rest of the Vols took the field.

Great memories.

Scotty

PS Johnny Radford, the greatest Mustang fan of all time, continues to "grow" the list of former Mustangs. Welcome to all.

Anyone else with a great story line such as Tim's, we would like to hear from you. It could by about a season, a team, a game, or a single play. Coach Ward would have loved these stories.

Fighting in Lexington

From: Marshall F. Priest MD, FACC
Sent: Tuesday, December 04, 2007 7:09 PM
To: Scott Portis; john pitts; Charlie Rhodes
Cc: Tom Portis; Scott M. Portis; Ronnie&Nancy Rice; Randy Clement; John Clement; Joe Smothers; Gloria Fortner; Betty Ann Tanner; Fred Holladay; Gary Hall; Paul Allen; Ray Ivey; Tim Priest; Wallace Pinkley
Subject: RE: Coach Ward

Scotty and All

I have enjoyed reading the stories and remembrances of Coach Ward offered by those of us who grew up in Huntingdon. I have always been grateful that I grew up in Huntingdon and as you and I have discussed many times, I have wonderful memories of those years. I think much of the success I and others have been able to achieve in our chosen professions can be directly traced to the values and discipline instilled by many of our teachers and coaches at Huntingdon High School. In that regard I often think of Mr. Pudor, Mr. Tate, Coach Ward and Mr. Guy Robert Kirk. While I never had Mr. Kirk for a teacher and never played football for Coach Ward I had tremendous respect for their ability ( including Mr. Pudor and Mr. Tate ) as role models for all of us who knew them and saw them everyday at school. It took only a few years beyond graduation to realize how fortunate I was to have known these people whose guidance and principles have helped me deal with important issues in my professional life even today.

A couple of stories to relate in that regard. I am certain that each of you remembers Dale Strickland who was a stellar defensive end at Huntingdon in the 1960s and who achieved a PhD in wild life biology at the University of Tennessee before moving to Cheyenne, Wyoming where he now lives. I was on a plane with Dale a few years ago and he told me that when he reached ninth grade at Huntingdon he signed up for the easiest freshman classes so that he could focus on extracurricular activities which included football. Early in the school year while walking down the hall Mr. Pudor invited Dale into his office where he informed Dale that with Coach Ward's approval, he ( Mr. Pudor ) rearranged Dale's schedule to include Latin, Algebra I, General Science and English. Dale felt that intervention was a sentinel event in his life and provided him with the confidence to pursue even higher and more difficult goals on the football field and in the classroom.

On a lighter note, a story related to me by my brother Tim which I think occurred during his junior year at Huntingdon. Huntingdon was playing Lexington at Lexington in a very close football game. Tim and the late Johnny Compton were thrown out of the game ( I think in the third quarter ) for fighting. Huntingdon was ahead 7 - 0 in the fourth quarter when Lexington began to sustain a drive toward the end zone. Coach Ward walked back to the bench where Tim and Johnny were seated and uttered something like " You boys better say your prayers that Lexington doesn't score ! " Fortunately for Tim and Johnny, Lexington did not score and Huntingdon won the game. Tim, please correct me if I have erred in recounting that game with Lexington.

Several classes from Huntingdon ( including mine ) will be getting together in the early fall of 2008 and I am eagerly anticipating visiting with old friends and embellishing many of the events that occurred while we were growing up and attending school in Huntingdon, a place and time that will remain very special in my thoughts.

Duck

Duck:

You relate the Lexington game story correctly. Compton and I had gotten into a fight and were ejected. We were much more scared of Coach Ward’s wrath in the event we lost than we were of the Lexington Tigers. Some years later Coach Ward and I laughed about this incident, but I have no doubt that he was deadly serious when he spoke with Johnnie and me on the bench.

Tim Priest