It will not be the Super Bowl
or a state championship game
even. It will not be life or death.
It will not be the mother of all
football games.
WRONG!
Thomson and Lincoln County
fans will be treated to something
tomorrow night at Buddy
Bufford Field in Lincolnton
that they have longed to see
for most of a lifetime. Not since
1951 have these two schools
met on the gridiron in anything
that closely resembles an official
game. This encounter will only
be a meaningless preseason
scrimmage to help two good
teams tune up for the real
action in two weeks. I wonıt try
to convince the players and fans
of that however.
The schools have scrimmaged
in previous jamborees to
conclude spring practice, but
tomorrow night is part of fall
practice. In essence it is football
season. I suggested to Lincoln
County Coach Larry Campbell
that people would willingly
pay $20 to see this scrimmage
and he gave me a sly grin but
responded that he and Coach
Welsh wouldnıt try to pull that
stunt.
I can observe this clash with
the perspective of one that played
for the Red Devils and coached
for the Bulldogs. I lettered at
Lincoln County in 1974 and 1975
and served as an assistant coach
under Jay Hodgin at Thomson
High in 1991 and 1992. Other
than my friend Alton Bentley,
I know of no one else that was
a Red Devil player and a THS
coach. Both programs consider
themselves fortunate that I am
now neither.
Another part of this equation
is that I was a ninth-grade
junior varsity player in 1972
when Coach Campbell became
head coach in Lincolnton. I
was also the offensive line
coach at THS the two seasons
immediately following Coach
Welshıs departure in 1991.
The only real significance of
that fact is that Coach Welsh
contributed much more to my
success as a Bulldog coach than I
contributed as a player to Coach
Campbellıs success.
During my elementary school
years, the Red Devils were not
experiencing the success that
they enjoyed in the 1950s
and early 1960s. They were
having winning seasons but
not capturing championships.
Warren County had become the
areaıs small school powerhouse.
Coach Campbellıs ability
as a motivator of young men
is what got the show on the
road again. Iım sure heıll also
acknowledge the important
role that desegregation played
in helping rebuild the tradition.
The heartbreaking, last minute
7-0 loss to Trion in the state
championship game my junior
year in 1974 is probably the one
defining moment in my decision
to become a coach. Feeling the
hurt of Coach Campbell, his
staff, and my teammates, both
black and white, convinced me that I wanted to continue in high school football. The camaraderie within a team was something I couldnıt give up. I couldnıt play a lick so it had to be through coaching.
Billy Beale, Jr., an assistant during my playing days, gave me my first coaching job. When he accepted the head position at Jenkins County in 1980, he hired Alton Bentley and me as his varsity assistants. I enjoyed some good years in coaching, but not until I arrived in Thomson did I find myself back in a community where high school football was the top game in town. As Bear Bryant once said there were only two seasons, football and spring football. I liked being in a place again where football was king.
Iıve often been asked two questions about Lincoln County and Thomson football. The first played one another in the modern era, and if they did, who would I be pulling for. I can only speculate on the first question because I donıt know for a fact.
Lincoln County is a much smaller school but they have often played larger schools over the years like Burke Co. and Glenn Hills. Thomson played Warren County fairly regularly until recently. Both consider Washington-Wilkes their archrival. My speculative answer would be that folks other than the two head coaches must have been involved in that decision. Coaches like Luther Welsh and Larry Campbell are certainly not afraid of the competition and the gate would have been tremendous. I guess that question will forever remain a mystery.
As for who would I pull for, this is an issue that I can go I can be the consummate politician and check the water before answering. Except in 1991 and 92, if Iım standing north of Little River, Iım still a Red Devil all the way. South of Raysville, I can be a Bulldog. Besides, it means I only have to change colors on fall Saturdays. My season tickets are in the Brickyard too.
Let me remind everyone of the 2002 preseason scrimmage against Screven County. Frankly, the Bulldogs did not play very well. They had a shuffled lineup due to injuries and the coaches were experimenting. Judging by that night things looked bleak. By Christmas, both teams in that scrimmage were 15-0 and state champions.
Tomorrow night Iıll be pulling for both teams to survive without injury and to have another very Merry Christmas.
