Johnny Rodriguez at the Lumberyard Friday

Johnny Rodriguez

Country music great Johnny Rodriguez, who drew a large crowd the last time he was Roscoe, returns for an encore performance Friday night.

His former number one hits on the country chart include “You Always Come Back to Hurting Me,” “Ridin’ My Thumb to Mexico,” “That’s the Way Love Goes,” “I Just Can’t Get Her Out of My Mind,” “Just Get Up and Close the Door,” and “Love Put a Song in My Heart.”  

He was inducted into the Texas Country Music Hall of Fame in 2007 and has been honored by three U.S. presidents: Jimmy Carter, George H.W. Bush, and George W. Bush. He played at George H.W. Bush's inaugural ball.

Over a long career, he has released many albums, the most recent being Johnny Rodriguez: Live from Texas.

He will take the stage about 9:30. For reservations and more information, contact the Lumberyard at 325-766-2457.

--o--

GREAT ROSCOE FOOTBALL TEAMS: WEEK 1 – THE 1922 TEAM

This week the first of four great Roscoe football teams will be featured as a lead-in to the 2018 Plowboy football season. I refer to it as the 1922 team instead of the 1922 Plowboys because Roscoe’s teams didn’t get that name until 1924 or 1925.

Line: Wade Forester, Mike Risinger, Grady Sloan, Roy Clayton, Ernest Duncan, Gilmer Williams, Marvin Leech. Backfield: Schley Copeland, Jack Johnson, Cecil Smith, Sam Fitzhugh. Coach: M. L. H. Baze. (Click photo to enlarge.)

Don’t let the uniforms, helmets, and Model T Fords in the above photo fool you. The 1922 team was a powerhouse for a school its size. It was chosen to lead off this series for its record of 8-1 and strength of schedule.

Playing in an era before organized playoffs or divisions into classes according to school size, they mixed it up with teams of much larger schools, particularly Sweetwater and Big Spring, and to a lesser extent, Midland. Roscoe’s 1920 population was around 1000 (the 1920 census count was by county precinct for smaller towns), while Sweetwater’s was 4307 and Big Spring’s 4273, both four times Roscoe’s, and Midland’s about 2,000, twice Roscoe’s size.

The team’s only loss was to Big Spring, which also had a good team that year, going 6-2 with losses only to San Angelo Central (6-1-2) and state finalist Abilene (8-1).

Roscoe opened its season by blanking Sweetwater twice, 7-0 the first time and 25-0 the second. They then downed Midland 27-25, the Roscoe Town Team 14-0, and Clyde 25-0 before falling to Big Spring 18-12 for their only loss of the season. They then won their last three games, defeating Hamlin 26-0, Merkel 20-0, and the ACC Reserves 26-17.

It is not known how many went on to play college ball, but running back Sam Fitzhugh was one of the Roscoe players who later starred at Tarleton and were responsible for Roscoe High adopting the team name of Plowboys a couple of years later.

A substitute on the team was Tonto Coleman, who went on to letter in three sports at ACC and later became its head coach from 1942-49. From there he became an assistant coach at Florida (1950-52) and the defensive coordinator at Georgia Tech (1952-65) before becoming the Commissioner of the SEC (Southeastern Conference) from 1965-72.

The team was coached by M. L. H. Baze, who was also the school’s superintendent. 

This is team photo for the 1922 team. It has been cut out, and Coach Baze seems to have lost his head. Second from the left sitting is Tonto Coleman, who went on to become the Commissioner of the SEC. (Click to enlarge.)

The only article I’ve been able to locate about the team was this one, which appeared in the Roscoe Times on December 1, 1922:

ROSCOE 26 – ACC RESERVES 17

Roscoe high school closed its season in glorious fashion Thanksgiving Day by defeating the Abilene Christian College reserves on the Roscoe field 26 to 17.

The game furnished several thrills that kept the crowd in a high pitch of excitement. A.C.C. outplayed Roscoe in the first half and were leading 17 to 13 at the half. But during the second half, it was a different story. Behind perfect interference, Sam Fitzhugh made several long runs, and Jack Johnson and Schley Copeland played the game of their lives. The generalship of Cecil Smith would have done credit to any college player and the entire line played a great game against their much heavier college opponents. Just to show they weren’t tired out, the Roscoe lads played Snyder a basketball game Thanksgiving night, and also won over them.

For the season, Roscoe won 8 of 9 games and scored 179 points to their opponents’ 60. Only three opponents scored on them, and only one, Big Spring, was able to win, that by 18-12.

Next week: The 1945 Plowboys

 
--o--

WEATHER REPORT: HEAT WAVE CONTINUES

The flags at school were flying with winds from the east yesterday.

It’s been hot, really hot, this past week. Starting with last Tuesday, Roscoe had seven triple-digit days with highs of 101°F, 103°, 107°, 106°, 106°, 109°, and 101° in that order. The hottest day was Sunday’s 109°, which was also the hottest day of the year so far. The lows ranged from 75° to 79° on those days.

Then on Monday afternoon, a norther blew in with strong, gusty winds and cooled things down, resulting in a low yesterday morning of only 70°, which felt downright cool. Yesterday’s high of 96°, which under other circumstances might seem blazing, seemed nice after all the excessive heat of the preceding days.

It could have been worse, I guess. I had to go to Houston over the weekend, and when I returned on Monday, the weather in Waco and surrounding area was 111°, and I was told it had been 114° the day before.

The forecast is for cooler weather but not by much. None of the days are predicted to be 100° or more, but there are a couple of 99°s and a 98°. Today’s high should be 99°, tomorrow’s 97°, and Friday’s 94°. Saturday’s 99°, and Sunday’s 98°. Lows will be in the mid-seventies, and no rain is in the forecast until next Monday with a 30% chance and Tuesday with 60%.

--o--