lostaussie
12-14-2005, 09:21 PM
i hope you find this very interesting. this is a team that , when i was a child, i could not wait to get up on saturday morning, read the newspaper, and see how much they won by. class B team with at least 2 names that everyone will know. enjoy..........
Article in Amarillo paper about 75 Big Sandy Wildcats
Amarillo Globe News
Beilue: '75 Big Sandy: Legendary team was a handful
By Jon Mark Beilue
Opinion
They were selling blue bumper stickers in the parking lot that afternoon that proclaimed "Big Sandy, 1975 Class B State Champions.'' Unbeknownst to us, they were being sold before the game.
Had we known, that would have been a nice motivational moment for us, and, who knows, a few might have got in line to buy a couple and avoid the rush.
When a team was doing what the Big Sandy Wildcats were doing 30 years ago, some brashness was irritating, but understandable. Their coach, Jim Norman, was also the mayor. You can't fight City Hall, and it was awfully hard fighting that football team.
I don't know much about the current Big Sandy Wildcats, Stratford's opponent Saturday for the 1A state championship, but they're obviously plenty good. But I am familiar with the one 30 years ago when they last made an appearance for a state title.
With all due respect to the Stratford Elks, be glad you're playing this one. You have a chance.
I'm not one of those old fogeys who thinks teams back in the day were better than the current ones. On average, teams today are much better. They're better-coached, training methods are more sophisticated. Most are bigger, faster and stronger.
That said, there are some teams that stand the test of time, and the '75 Big Sandy team is one. It dominated then. It would dominate now.
They were like some unseen mythological force that would wreak havoc each Friday night. There was no statewide Friday Night Extra highlight shows then, no Web sites to keep fans informed.
To follow the exploits of Big Sandy back then, you just waited for the newspaper each Saturday or Sunday, and looked for the tiny agate scores: Big Sandy 73, Harmony 0. Big Sandy 66, Union Grove 0. Big Sandy 71, Mount Enterprise 0. Big Sandy 91, Carlisle 0.
This East Texas football machine, located between Tyler and Longview, won a Class B (now 1A) state title in 1973, and were co-champions in 1974. But the 1975 season topped anything seen before on a national scale.
And up in the Panhandle, an ol' bunch of Groom Tigers, coached by Don Sessom, kept one eye on them, thinking we might eventually have a chance to see Big Sandy up close and personal. It was a foregone conclusion Big Sandy would get there, which the Wildcats did with their closest game of the year so far, 38-0 over Moody in the semifinals. But not so much your local Tigers.
Yet when we edged Celina, 15-13, in the semifinals, it sealed the deal. I remember the following Saturday morning, after we met to run sprints at the school, floating in the indoor swimming pool thinking, "Man, we're gonna play Big Sandy.''
That came under the heading of "be careful for what you wish for because you just might get it.'' That next week brought Big Sandy into focus.
They were 61-1-1 over the previous five years, and entered the state title game on a 42-game unbeaten streak. Their numbers that year looked like a series of typographical errors.
They would set a national high school scoring record with 824 points in 14 games, a record that would stand for 19 years. They came into our game having allowed 13 points - for the season. The season! Eleven shutouts. Their starters may not have lettered, averaging 15 minutes a game in one rout after another.
They had 6-foot, 200-pound running back David Overstreet, who was just under 3,000 yards rushing and had scored 52 touchdowns. He was averaging - no joke - 23.8 yards a carry. When a 7- or 8-yard average in high school is considered very good, Overstreet averaged nearly 24 yards an attempt.
No wonder he would sign with Oklahoma and run in Barry Switzer's wishbone. He later played for the Miami Dolphins before he was killed in an auto accident in 1984.
Yet he may not have been Big Sandy's best player. It may have been a lightning-quick 200-pound linebacker/tight end who would go on to become an All-America defensive back at Tulsa.
Common last name, uncommon first name. Smith, Lovie. You may know him today as the head coach of the Chicago Bears.
Their entire team seemed to be a collection of players from 180 to 210 pounds, all quick and fast. Heck, two of their linemen would run on a 1600 relay that would win a state track title the following May.
Still, we were stupid enough or farm-boy tough enough to think we could play with the great Big Sandy. We didn't come riding in on a truckload of turnips, though considering our normal yellow-dog bus transportation, with the duffel bags of football equipment in the back, that might have been preferable.
Garet von Netzer, then sports editor of the Globe-News, wrote in a column that week: "Look for the Tigers to make the most of a unique chance. They comprise the toughest - in a pure physical sense - high school football team I've ever had the privilege of watching.''
Groom hadn't lost a game either, and traditional power Celina had gone down in the semifinals. We had four all-state players, and a lot would rather hit something than breathe.
Our offensive line, tackle to tackle, averaged 210 pounds, very big at the time.
Me?
I was a starting safety and end, an insignificant cog in the Tiger football machine.
For some reason, we met in Jacksboro. There was some talk about playing in Wichita Falls, but our coaches were leery about putting that team on artificial turf. So they looked around for the worst nearby playing surface, and, by golly, found it in Jacksboro.
I remember punters and kickers went out first for pre-game warmup, and being so jacked up, I shanked a punt that went not only off the field, but into an already-packed stands. Better get a grip.
After the opening kickoff, it was, as they say, a rather intense affair.
It was like The Longest Yard out there.
Our safety, Bimbo Bivens, recovered a fumble on Big Sandy's first possession, We drove inside their 5, and then fumbled. Our defensive tackle, Art Brown, led the interior front which nailed Overstreet in the end zone for a safety.
That was notable for two reasons: it was the first time Big Sandy had trailed that season, and we were under the assumption that the first one who scored won.
But we played on, and led 2-0 after the first quarter. Overstreet scored twice in the second quarter for a 13-2 lead, a score that remained until 5:32 left in the game.
We simply couldn't generate any offense, finishing with only 110 yards and three first downs.
Big Sandy was just unbelievably quick and tough. But, proud to say, they didn't generate much offense either.
The nation's all-time scoring team had a modest 228 yards.
Overstreet, bothered some by a tender hamstring, finished with 73 yards on 18 carries, and 27 came on one play. A team that had punted only six times all year, punted four times that afternoon. Another time we held them on downs.
In a 1999 story on Big Sandy, the Dallas Morning News reported frustrated Big Sandy fans, spoiled by their name-the-score offense, were booing the offense in the second half. It was hard to tell at the time since Lovie Smith spent most of the game on top of me.
The Wildcats scored a couple of more touchdowns in the final 5 minutes, one on a fourth-down run by Gary Chalk from the 3, and another when Chalk returned an interception to the 6 to set up Oversrteet's third touchdown.
We lost 28-2, and ate at the Green Frog afterward.
Five years ago, I was driving in East Texas, and took a slight detour through Big Sandy just out of curiosity. Why, they had a Pizza Hut, two or three stoplights, a car dealership. No wonder they won.
Seldom have I thought about that town or team until this week. Now 30 years and five days later, another rural Panhandle team is facing a speedy quick bunch from Big Sandy for a state championship.
Here's hoping the Stratford Elks can bring back something the Groom Tigers couldn't quite do.
The Elks already know this, but just a reminder: No matter the level of talent, no matter the decade, no matter the playing surface, they still go down when you hit them hard.
Jon Mark Beilue is sports editor of the Globe-News. He can be reached at jon.beilue@amarillo.com.
Scoring Machine
The Big Sandy Wildcats romped to the then-Class B state championship in 1975, going 14-0 with 11 shutouts while setting the national record with 824 points. A game-by-game breakdown:
REGULAR SEASON SCORE
Winona 43-0
Sabine 54-0
Union Grove 66-0
Hawkins 55-7
Como-Pickton 63-0
Union Hill 60-0
Harmony 73-0
Leverett's Chapel 62-0
Mount Enterprise 71-0
Carlisle 91-0
STATE PLAYOFFS SCORE
Mildred 65-6
Axtell 55-0
Moody 38-0
Groom 28-2
TOTALS 824-15
Article in Amarillo paper about 75 Big Sandy Wildcats
Amarillo Globe News
Beilue: '75 Big Sandy: Legendary team was a handful
By Jon Mark Beilue
Opinion
They were selling blue bumper stickers in the parking lot that afternoon that proclaimed "Big Sandy, 1975 Class B State Champions.'' Unbeknownst to us, they were being sold before the game.
Had we known, that would have been a nice motivational moment for us, and, who knows, a few might have got in line to buy a couple and avoid the rush.
When a team was doing what the Big Sandy Wildcats were doing 30 years ago, some brashness was irritating, but understandable. Their coach, Jim Norman, was also the mayor. You can't fight City Hall, and it was awfully hard fighting that football team.
I don't know much about the current Big Sandy Wildcats, Stratford's opponent Saturday for the 1A state championship, but they're obviously plenty good. But I am familiar with the one 30 years ago when they last made an appearance for a state title.
With all due respect to the Stratford Elks, be glad you're playing this one. You have a chance.
I'm not one of those old fogeys who thinks teams back in the day were better than the current ones. On average, teams today are much better. They're better-coached, training methods are more sophisticated. Most are bigger, faster and stronger.
That said, there are some teams that stand the test of time, and the '75 Big Sandy team is one. It dominated then. It would dominate now.
They were like some unseen mythological force that would wreak havoc each Friday night. There was no statewide Friday Night Extra highlight shows then, no Web sites to keep fans informed.
To follow the exploits of Big Sandy back then, you just waited for the newspaper each Saturday or Sunday, and looked for the tiny agate scores: Big Sandy 73, Harmony 0. Big Sandy 66, Union Grove 0. Big Sandy 71, Mount Enterprise 0. Big Sandy 91, Carlisle 0.
This East Texas football machine, located between Tyler and Longview, won a Class B (now 1A) state title in 1973, and were co-champions in 1974. But the 1975 season topped anything seen before on a national scale.
And up in the Panhandle, an ol' bunch of Groom Tigers, coached by Don Sessom, kept one eye on them, thinking we might eventually have a chance to see Big Sandy up close and personal. It was a foregone conclusion Big Sandy would get there, which the Wildcats did with their closest game of the year so far, 38-0 over Moody in the semifinals. But not so much your local Tigers.
Yet when we edged Celina, 15-13, in the semifinals, it sealed the deal. I remember the following Saturday morning, after we met to run sprints at the school, floating in the indoor swimming pool thinking, "Man, we're gonna play Big Sandy.''
That came under the heading of "be careful for what you wish for because you just might get it.'' That next week brought Big Sandy into focus.
They were 61-1-1 over the previous five years, and entered the state title game on a 42-game unbeaten streak. Their numbers that year looked like a series of typographical errors.
They would set a national high school scoring record with 824 points in 14 games, a record that would stand for 19 years. They came into our game having allowed 13 points - for the season. The season! Eleven shutouts. Their starters may not have lettered, averaging 15 minutes a game in one rout after another.
They had 6-foot, 200-pound running back David Overstreet, who was just under 3,000 yards rushing and had scored 52 touchdowns. He was averaging - no joke - 23.8 yards a carry. When a 7- or 8-yard average in high school is considered very good, Overstreet averaged nearly 24 yards an attempt.
No wonder he would sign with Oklahoma and run in Barry Switzer's wishbone. He later played for the Miami Dolphins before he was killed in an auto accident in 1984.
Yet he may not have been Big Sandy's best player. It may have been a lightning-quick 200-pound linebacker/tight end who would go on to become an All-America defensive back at Tulsa.
Common last name, uncommon first name. Smith, Lovie. You may know him today as the head coach of the Chicago Bears.
Their entire team seemed to be a collection of players from 180 to 210 pounds, all quick and fast. Heck, two of their linemen would run on a 1600 relay that would win a state track title the following May.
Still, we were stupid enough or farm-boy tough enough to think we could play with the great Big Sandy. We didn't come riding in on a truckload of turnips, though considering our normal yellow-dog bus transportation, with the duffel bags of football equipment in the back, that might have been preferable.
Garet von Netzer, then sports editor of the Globe-News, wrote in a column that week: "Look for the Tigers to make the most of a unique chance. They comprise the toughest - in a pure physical sense - high school football team I've ever had the privilege of watching.''
Groom hadn't lost a game either, and traditional power Celina had gone down in the semifinals. We had four all-state players, and a lot would rather hit something than breathe.
Our offensive line, tackle to tackle, averaged 210 pounds, very big at the time.
Me?
I was a starting safety and end, an insignificant cog in the Tiger football machine.
For some reason, we met in Jacksboro. There was some talk about playing in Wichita Falls, but our coaches were leery about putting that team on artificial turf. So they looked around for the worst nearby playing surface, and, by golly, found it in Jacksboro.
I remember punters and kickers went out first for pre-game warmup, and being so jacked up, I shanked a punt that went not only off the field, but into an already-packed stands. Better get a grip.
After the opening kickoff, it was, as they say, a rather intense affair.
It was like The Longest Yard out there.
Our safety, Bimbo Bivens, recovered a fumble on Big Sandy's first possession, We drove inside their 5, and then fumbled. Our defensive tackle, Art Brown, led the interior front which nailed Overstreet in the end zone for a safety.
That was notable for two reasons: it was the first time Big Sandy had trailed that season, and we were under the assumption that the first one who scored won.
But we played on, and led 2-0 after the first quarter. Overstreet scored twice in the second quarter for a 13-2 lead, a score that remained until 5:32 left in the game.
We simply couldn't generate any offense, finishing with only 110 yards and three first downs.
Big Sandy was just unbelievably quick and tough. But, proud to say, they didn't generate much offense either.
The nation's all-time scoring team had a modest 228 yards.
Overstreet, bothered some by a tender hamstring, finished with 73 yards on 18 carries, and 27 came on one play. A team that had punted only six times all year, punted four times that afternoon. Another time we held them on downs.
In a 1999 story on Big Sandy, the Dallas Morning News reported frustrated Big Sandy fans, spoiled by their name-the-score offense, were booing the offense in the second half. It was hard to tell at the time since Lovie Smith spent most of the game on top of me.
The Wildcats scored a couple of more touchdowns in the final 5 minutes, one on a fourth-down run by Gary Chalk from the 3, and another when Chalk returned an interception to the 6 to set up Oversrteet's third touchdown.
We lost 28-2, and ate at the Green Frog afterward.
Five years ago, I was driving in East Texas, and took a slight detour through Big Sandy just out of curiosity. Why, they had a Pizza Hut, two or three stoplights, a car dealership. No wonder they won.
Seldom have I thought about that town or team until this week. Now 30 years and five days later, another rural Panhandle team is facing a speedy quick bunch from Big Sandy for a state championship.
Here's hoping the Stratford Elks can bring back something the Groom Tigers couldn't quite do.
The Elks already know this, but just a reminder: No matter the level of talent, no matter the decade, no matter the playing surface, they still go down when you hit them hard.
Jon Mark Beilue is sports editor of the Globe-News. He can be reached at jon.beilue@amarillo.com.
Scoring Machine
The Big Sandy Wildcats romped to the then-Class B state championship in 1975, going 14-0 with 11 shutouts while setting the national record with 824 points. A game-by-game breakdown:
REGULAR SEASON SCORE
Winona 43-0
Sabine 54-0
Union Grove 66-0
Hawkins 55-7
Como-Pickton 63-0
Union Hill 60-0
Harmony 73-0
Leverett's Chapel 62-0
Mount Enterprise 71-0
Carlisle 91-0
STATE PLAYOFFS SCORE
Mildred 65-6
Axtell 55-0
Moody 38-0
Groom 28-2
TOTALS 824-15