Great Roscoe Football Teams: 1945 Plowboys

Ready for the big game: Bobby Emerson, Alton Green, Lynn Williamson, Gene Witherspoon.

This is the second in a review of four of the great Roscoe Plowboy football teams of the last century. The first was the 1922 team in last week’s Roscoe Hard Times. Next week will feature the 1982 Plowboys.

With all the Plowboy teams that have advanced to Regional or farther, some readers may wonder why the 1945 Plowboys, who lost their bi-district game, are included in this series. The reason is that they may be the best Plowboy team of all, despite that bi-district loss, which was the result of a perfect storm of bad luck.

Their coach, Gordon Wood, who was at Roscoe for two years, is considered by many to be the greatest high school coach ever. He coached for 42 years and won more games than any other coach in the history of football, 396 to be exact, and his record includes nine state championships—two at Stamford and seven at Brownwood. In 1971, he was asked in an interview which team was the best he ever coached, and his answer was the 1945 Roscoe Plowboys.

No Plowboy team before or since has played before larger crowds than Coach Wood’s team did that fall of 1945. The war was finally over, the soldiers had come home, and everyone was eager to return to normal life. High school football surged in popularity, and the Plowboys’ success grew as the team won one big game after another.  

Wood, who had joined in the Navy in 1942, received his discharge late that summer and landed the coaching job in Roscoe, along with teaching three math classes and driving the bus. He inherited a team loaded with talent. Its captains were 152-pound halfback Walter Maloney, whose running style one sportswriter described as “poetry in motion,” and 270-pound tackle J. T. Lyday, who was the fastest lineman on the team. Other standout players included Alton Green, Harold Haynes, Jackie Nemir, Bobby Emerson, Gene and Don Witherspoon, Harold Duvall, Lynn Williamson, and Douglas Buckner.

Coach Wood built his offense around Maloney, who often passed as well as ran with the ball. And the Plowboy defense was also formidable, as it later proved time and time again. The team scrimmaged Sweetwater twice and according to Wood “beat them pretty good.”

1945 Plowboy Backs: Harold Haynes, Don Witherspoon, Alton Green, Walter Maloney, Jackie Nemir. (Click to enlarge.)

The season began with the Plowboys dominating their opponents, beating Hamlin 67-0, Stamford 20-6, and Hobbs 30-0. Their first district game was with undefeated Roby, which already had district wins over Snyder and Rotan and had yet to be scored upon. Fan interest was such that the game was moved to the Mustang Bowl in Sweetwater to accommodate the anticipated crowd, and even though the game was played on a Thursday night, over 2000 people attended.

The result was another Plowboy runaway win with the final score 29-0. There was no scoring in the first quarter, but then Maloney broke loose in the second and third quarters, scoring four touchdowns on runs of 32, 7, 62, and 33 yards. He also kicked 3 extra points. After his last TD in the third quarter, Coach Wood sent in the substitutes. Roby made only one first down the entire game.

Next up was Colorado City, a preseason favorite along with Merkel to win District 8-A. Like Roby, they were also 2-0 in district when they played the Plowboys, and a crowd of 2500 showed up for the game in Roscoe. The Wolves jumped out to an early 7-0 lead, but the Plowboys went ahead 12-7 on the last play of the half. Then they ran away with the game with three third-quarter scores. Colorado City got another TD in the fourth, but the final score was 30-13, and the Plowboys remained undefeated.

The following week the Plowboys beat Rotan 30-0, pushing their record to 6-0 overall and 3-0 in district play. Next on the schedule was the Merkel Badgers, the match-up the whole Big Country had been waiting for. Merkel had won Regional the year before, and many expected them to repeat. (Back then, Regional was as far as Class A teams went. State Championships were reserved for the larger schools.) Like Roscoe, the Badgers were undefeated in district, and it was almost certain that whoever won the game would go on to become the District Champs.

The Badgers’ star running back was Billy Wayne Frazier, who had led the nation in schoolboy scoring the year before with 246 points, and sportswriters promoted the upcoming contest as Frazier vs. Maloney. Maloney was leading the state in scoring with 117 points. Added incentive for Roscoe was Merkel’s victory over them the previous year for the Plowboys’ only district loss.

Interest was great enough that Hardin-Simmons offered the use of its field as a crowd of between 3000 and 4000 was expected. Merkel declined, however, preferring to play the game on their home field. As it turned out, though, their field wasn’t big enough, as between 4000 and 5000 showed up, packing the stands and sidelines.

The much-anticipated game began with a bang. Don Witherspoon received Merkel’s kickoff and handed the ball to Maloney on a crossing pattern at the 15-yard line. Maloney then made a spectacular run up the middle to the 40 before cutting back to the right and into the clear for an 85-yard touchdown that electrified the crowd. He then ran for the extra point, and the Plowboys were up 7-0. Merkel came right back with a 57-yard drive and a touchdown pass to Frazier to narrow the score to 7-6. They held the Plowboys for the rest of the half and scored again in the second quarter to lead at halftime 12-7. However, in the third quarter, the Plowboys put together a drive ending with an 8-yard Maloney run. He passed to Witherspoon for the extra point, and the Plowboys took the lead 14-12. In the fourth quarter both teams made long drives, but neither was able to score, and the Plowboys hung on for a two-point win.

Roscoe then took care of Loraine 54-0 and Snyder 44-0 in their last two games to wrap up the district title.

Coach Wood then made what he called one of the dumbest coaching decisions of his career. Roscoe had an open week before the bi-district game, and Anson, the undefeated winners of District 11-A, did, too. It was proposed that they play one another as a warm-up for the playoffs, and Coach Wood accepted the challenge. So, that Friday evening the game was played at Hardin-Simmons stadium in Abilene before a crowd of 4000. In a hard-fought contest, the Plowboys won 14-0 with Maloney scoring both touchdowns, giving him 187 points for the year, more than any other high-school player in the state. Unfortunately, in the fourth quarter at the end of a long run, he tore his Achilles tendon, an injury that takes weeks to heal.

That injury was just the first thing that went wrong for the Plowboys. The following Monday, J. T. Lyday and Alton Green were in a car involved in a head-on collision. Lyday, the team’s co-captain and best lineman, had to have nine stitches over one eye, and Green, a 190-pound fullback and one of the best defensive players, had a torn-up knee. Also, that same week, the flu bug hit the school, and several starters caught it. On the Wednesday before the big game, only eight players showed up for practice, and on Friday, only twelve suited up for the game—and some of them were not 100%.

Even so, the bi-district game with Monahans wasn’t decided until late in the game. The fourth quarter began with the score still 0-0, but 118-pound quarterback Jackie Nemir scored on a 15-yard run, and the Plowboys took the lead 6-0. Monahans then finally put together a long drive for a touchdown to tie the score at 6-6. Then, right before the end of the game, the Plowboys punted and a Monahans player returned it 57 yards for a touchdown. The extra point was good, and the Lobos won the game 13-6. It was an unfortunate ending for a team that had so much talent and promise. Coach Wood said that on any other week the Plowboys would have easily beat them.

1945 Plowboy Line: Arnold Hunter, Harold Duvall, Bobby Emerson, Gene Witherspoon, Douglas Buckner, Lynn Williamson, J. T. Lyday, Jimmy Ford (Click to enlarge.)

Walter Maloney went on to star at Texas Tech and afterwards served in the Navy, where he played for the Navy football team. Upon returning to civilian life, he was offered to coach the Washington Redskins, but since a pharmacist made more money at the time, he declined, saying he had a family to care for. He was later named a member of Gordon Wood’s All-Time Football Squad, made up of players Wood coached during his long career. 

Alton Green went to ACC, where he captained the Wildcats’ only undefeated team ever, and in 1950 he signed with the Green Bay Packers. He was later inducted into the ACU Athletic Hall of Fame. J. T. Lyday, also a member of Gordon Wood’s All-Time Team, went to Baylor but suffered a neck injury and never got to play college ball. Harold Duvall got a scholarship to play for Texas A&M but transferred to Texas Tech after one year and played there for a year. Others on the 1945 Plowboys may have played college ball, but these are the ones I know about. Quarterback Jackie Nemir died of a kidney ailment the year after graduating from Roscoe. And, in an ironic twist, Billy Wayne Frazier, Merkel's big star in 1945, moved to Roscoe a year or so later and lived here for the rest of his life, working for Nolan County, Precinct 1, which is Roscoe's precinct.

Coach Wood went on to be named Texas Coach of the Year in 1955 and 1969 and runner up for Coach of the Year in 1959 and 1970.

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Sources: Coach of the Century: An Autobiography of Gordon Wood, as told to John Carver. Plano: Hard Times Cattle Company Publishing, 2001; Gordon L. Wood interview with Fred Carpenter in Brownwood on July 18, 1971 (Audio file at the Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library at Texas Tech in Lubbock); the 1946 Gleaner, and several articles from the Sweetwater Reporter (Portals of Texas website) and Abilene Reporter-News (Newspapers.com) from the fall of 1945. Thanks to David Maloney for his help in providing information along with several links to online articles.  

Next week: The 1982 Plowboys

 
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TEXAS COACHES PICK 2018 PLOWBOYS FIFTH IN REGION

The Texas High School Coaches Association released its 2018 Pre-Season Poll last week, picking the Plowboys as Region II's fifth-strongest team. There are four districts in Region II, Class 2A, Division II, each with six teams, for a total of 24. District 7-2A-II is considered the region's strongest district with four teams in the top ten: Albany, Hamlin, Roscoe, and Cross Plains.

Here are the pre-season rankings of Region II's top ten teams, along with last year's records, and the numbers of the coaches' prediction points:
 
                                           2017     Points
            1. Albany               13-1        39
            2. Wellington       13-2        37
            3. Hamlin             10-3        32
            4. Windthorst        6-6        17
            5. Roscoe                6-5        16
            6. Santo                  7-5        14
            7. Menard              9-3        13
            7. Munday             9-4        13
            9. Memphis           6-5        12
          10. Cross Plains      6-5        10

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DIRTY RIVER BOYS AT LUMBERYARD SATURDAY

The Dirty River Boys

The Dirty River Boys, a band from El Paso that plays what they call “outlaw folk American,” bring their show to the Lumberyard Saturday night. The band is highly energetic, and their music varies from blue grass to southern rock. In addition to the usual guitars, fiddles, and drums, expect to hear also mandolins, harmonicas, banjos, and the Cajun box, along with three- and four-part vocal harmonies to tightly written songs. The band has released two albums, The Science of Flight (2012) and The Dirty River Boys (2014).

Their latest single, “Mesa,” is listed in the current issue of The Rolling Stone as one of the 10 Best Country and Americana Songs of the Week.

Other singles showing the band's sound and range include “Down by the River,” “Raise Some Hell Tonight,” “Skate and Destroy,” and “Boomtown.”

For reservations and more information, contact the Lumberyard at 325-766-2457.

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WEATHER REPORT: A BRIEF BREAK IN THE HEAT

Summer clouds over Roscoe yesterday.

Although there were three days in the past week with highs of 99°F or above, the week still felt like a bit of a break from the relentless heat of the week before. The week’s high came on Sunday at 101°, but then on Monday a cold front moved in, dropping the high to a more tolerable 90°--and yesterday's high was only 89°.  There was also some thunder along with a light shower Monday morning, but the rain didn’t amount to much, just enough to make a few small puddles. My rain gauge showed .14”, but Kenny Landfried’s official total for Roscoe was only .06”. The low Monday night dropped to 71°, yesterday 68° and this morning was a cool 66°, the coolest it's been since June 4, almost two months ago.

The upcoming week will see highs in the mid-nineties, 94° today, 95° tomorrow, 97° Friday, 95° Saturday and Sunday, and 97° next Monday and Tuesday. Skies will be sunny or partly cloudy, and lows will be in the low to mid-seventies. Winds will be from the east-southeast today, and from the south-southeast or south in the days following. We are now in August, when every day is pretty much the same as the day before.

There is a 10% chance of rain on Sunday and a 0% chance on all the others, so any relief from the drought in the near future is highly unlikely.

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† KENNETH L. HOPE, SR.

Services for Kenneth “Kenny” L. Hope, Sr., 55, were held at 2:00pm Friday, July 27, at Bethel Assembly with Rev. Carter Edmondson officiating. Interment at Roscoe Cemetery followed. He passed away July 24 at Hendrick Medical Center in Abilene.

Kenny was born September 12, 1962 in Borger to the late Kenneth and Mary Ann (Taylor) Hope. He married Belma Galvan August 6, 1980, in Sweetwater. He was employed by Gemini Wind Services as a Lead Technician, had lived in Nolan County for 40 years, and was a member of Bethel Assembly. He loved his wife, his grandkids, camping and fishing, farming and driving a tractor, and climbing wind turbines. He was a patriot, loved President Trump, traveling and sightseeing, finding rocks, and watching baseball and Plowboy football.

He is survived by his wife Belma of Sweetwater; children, Kenny Hope, Jr., and wife Melissa of Roscoe, Kassie Bromley and husband Brandon of Sweetwater, K.C. Hope and wife Amber of Roscoe, Kallie Hope of Sweetwater, and Matt Hope and wife Crystal of Seymore; brothers, Donny Hope and wife Linda of Pampa and J.W. Hope of Borger; sisters, Debbie Lusk of Seymore, Valarie Thompson of Houston, Willie Gordon and husband Jeff of Breckenridge, Judy Kent and husband Jerry of Potts Camp, Mississippi; uncle, Gerald Hope of Sweetwater; sixteen grandchildren; in-laws, Jesus and Mary Alice Galvan of Roscoe; brothers-in-law, Josh Boston and wife Delma of Roscoe and Jesus Galvan of Roscoe.

He was preceded in death by uncles A.C. Hope, Erasel Hope, and Ted Hope.

Pallbearers were Kolton Hope, Kolby Hope, Blake Hope, Justin Conley, Bo Young, and Daniel Bromley. Honorary pallbearers were Matt Hope and Zech Welch.

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