rhart said:

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You can't love Texas High School football and not enjoy the stories of the programs that changed the course. I grew up in Midland, watched the first televised State Championship game broadcasted live by KOSA Odessa, from Bobcat Stadium in San Angelo. Permian beat SA Lee 11-6, with Billie Dale and Glen Hassell leading the team. Gene Mayfield had taken a new school to the championship in 4 years. My alma mater Lee High School in Midland started the same year, 1961. Permian, San Angelo at Abilene Cooper doninated the "Little SW Conference" but the AD in Midland, Tugboat Jones, who had coached at Highland Park hired Jim Acree to take the Lee program (0-10) at the end of the '69 season. Acree won the 4-A State Championship at Corsicana in 1963, and after a stint at Texas Tech brought his star from Corsicana Donnie Denbow to Lee. Acree went 2-8, 5-5, then 8-2 in 1972, losing a controversial battle with Permian 14-13 in Midland on Halloween night.

Our program was built on the mantra to beat Permian. Acree lost half of his first team because of his savage work ethic. But that first team, as Diamond Jim said won the two most important games of the year, homecoming against Odessa High, and the city rivalry against Midland High. We worked the off season from 6AM till dark, every day. We ran plays in the girls gym, ran B team track, and watched game films at home after practice, because we were told "Permian does it".

After the '72 loss to Permian, they completed the season 15-0. The closest game after ours was a 28 point difference. Midland Lee was ranked #6 in the State in the final AP poll with a 8-2 record.

Acreee finally caught up with Permian 2 years later, beating them 34-7.

After Acree was run off from Lee, Gil Bartosh moved from Permian to Lee, then Spike Dykes and John Parchmen lead Lee to the eventually 3 straight State Championships in '99, '00 & '01.

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You really know your history. I'd love to talk to you. I'd like to compare notes.
You sound like the great Bill Hart.

Ector closed in 1982 not 1970.

I'm from Fort Stockton and the were in our district. I'm 1973 we played them in basketball on a Tuesday afternoon with just players, coaches, managers and the police in the gym.

This is one of the best threads I've read in a while. Thank you to everyone sharing their personal stories.

So much I want to say, so much to reminisce about. However, I just want y'all to know how much Permian meant to me.
To be honest I quit football as a sophomore after some of the guys from Friday Night Light fame beat me to a pulp on the practice squad
We were small, we were underdogs, etc. But we outworked anybody, that i can guarantee.
As far as cheating? I'm sure that the district was gerrymandered. Did a coach supervise a workout in the summer? Yes, and so what? Nonetheless, there is no amount of "cheating" that could make up for our heart.
Our off season was brutal, but our pride and accountability would not allow us to quit. Even a military guy stated that boot camp was nothing comparatively.
I just wish all young men would be able to go through it and understand teamwork, dedication and hard work. The world would be a better place for it.
Say what you want about Permian but it was the best damned thing I have ever been a part of outside of marriage. I will defend and honor that legacy till my dying day
Gig 'Em

Glad I saw this thread. Will have to catch the replay Saturday night at 10:30pm.

Went to a few playoff games as a young kid at Texas Stadium as my Dad has lots of family in Odessa. One of the games was like three degrees and the coldest I've ever been. Lloyd Hill was on the team and was an absolute baller.

jja79 said:

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Ector closed in 1982 not 1970.

I'm from Fort Stockton and the were in our district. I'm 1973 we played them in basketball on a Tuesday afternoon with just players coaxed, managers5and the police in the gym.

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That's right. I graduated from Andrews in 1973 (we were undefeated in district hoops that year). The district 2-3A board stipulated those conditions for Ector home games (coaches, players, managers, trainers and school adminstration only) due to numerous instances of physical attacks and harassment of opposing team fans. So the Ector students, parents and other fans had to go on the road to see their team. Pecos was almost as bad, after we beat them in their gym to clinch district, some of our fans were attacked after the game. One of our (female) counselors was hit in the back with a brick! One of their better players, Mike Sadler (who was also a good football players and baseball catcher IIRC) came up to the restaurant where our team, cheerleaders, etc. were having the post game meal and almost ran over some of our group in the parking lot. One of our LBs from the football team kicked in his car door and challenged him to a fight but Sadler declined.

Back to Ector, if you recall their basketball team wasn't particularly tall but they were super quick. I remember a rebounding drill their coach installed where the entire team would fight for rebounds and as each player collected a rebound he got to sit out. The last man standing had to wear a pair of pink panties pulled over his gym shorts for the remainder of practice. Needless to say, those dudes crashed the boards hard!

rhart said:

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I played against Joe Bob. We played a little city football together in '78. Will never forget Joe Bob starting for the sips as a true freshman against ou, and him nailing Joe Washington in an open field tackle. He was the best 138 lb football player of all time! He might have gotten to 145!

We had a kid on our Lee team Randy Reddell, who was a spirited back up and wore #10. He was nick named Joe Bob Reddell. Our season was pointed towards the Permian game. Off of the '72 team, David Shipman came to A&M and QB'd Emory Bellard's last wishbone attack. He was a man amongst the boys in '72.

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Yep, Joe Bob had to be one of the best players pound for pound of his era at least. He played Safety his Soph year at Permian. Opposing teams had to be licking their lips seeing a 5'7 135 lb (maybe at that time) "little kid" back there. But he made something like 18 interceptions that year and was 3rd team all-state. He was 1st team all-state at CB as a JR then 1st team on offense (WR) and defense (CB). I think he was pretty disappointed that he wasn't selected for the HS all-star game (David Shipman got the nod). But he was picked for the Oil Bowl (Texas HS all stars vs Oklahoma HS all stars) and played well.

Even though he was undersized, he didn't back down from anyone. My uncle Carelton (Joe's dad) told me a few stories along those lines. At Permian they had the "bull ring" drill where you form a circle with one guy in the middle and then the coach calls out the number of a player to hit the man in the middle. They had the linemen in one group and everyone else in another group (or groups). So one day Joe Bob gets into the circle with the linemen. One of the OL who had some pretty good size, grabbed him by the collar and pulled him out saying something like "hey little buddy, you best get out of here before you get hurt". Joe Bob pulled away from him, then proceeded to pick him up and body slam him on the ground and got back in the circle.

I don't know if you recall that in 1970 Permian played Wichita Falls in bi-district at Wichita Falls. WF was heavily favored as they had a group of seniors that had won state the previous year and had several blue chip players including Lawrence Williams, Ronnie Littleton and Joey Aboussie who was a HS All-American. Permian won 22-19 with WF missing two 2-point conversion attempts. My uncle went to a number of practices in Austin when Joe Bob was at Texas. He said Joey Aboussie told him that Joe Bob hit him harder in that game than anyone else had ever hit him before or since. Pretty strong praise!

I can never forget Wichita Falls; they came into Midland in 1969 like an F5 tornado a had Lee 48-0....in the first half. Lee went 0-10 and hired Jim Acree to right the ship. Plenty of D1 talent on WF old High!

We just had our 45th reunion of the 1972 Lee football team. I really enjoyed re-living that season. The press articles from both Odessa and Midland continued for weeks about the Lee-Permian game. We scored the game winning 2-point conversion with about a minute to go to for the lead 15-14, but called offsides and told our left tackle lined up offsides. Looking at the film, his (Bruce Peeler) feet were behind the guards, just as every play before. We had to beat Permian because we had lost to Abilene Cooper two weeks earlier 7-3. We had lost a JV player from a lightning bolt strike on Monday of the Cooper game, and lost on a dreary, rainy cold night in Abilene. If we had beat Cooper, we could have tied Permian and advanced to the playoffs.

Permian finish 15-0 and were never threatened. The closest game in the playoffs was a 28 point win for the Panthers. I believe that was the first year a team was awarded the mythical high school national championship. Lee finished in the final AP state rankings #6 in the state, with an 8-2 record.

I grew up in Wichita Falls. I played there in mid 70's. I was in the stands watching MOJO take out that Old High team That many thought were better than the state Champion team. I was able to coach at WFHS for quite awhile. We had a few good runs in the the mid to late 80's. as a freshman / JV coach back then I ran a scouting crew. Got to see Permian & Lee play some. Always great atmosphere.

rhart said:

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I can never forget Wichita Falls; they came into Midland in 1969 like an F5 tornado a had Lee 48-0....in the first half. Lee went 0-10 and hired Jim Acree to right the ship. Plenty of D1 talent on WF old High!

We just had our 45th reunion of the 1972 Lee football team. I really enjoyed re-living that season. The press articles from both Odessa and Midland continued for weeks about the Lee-Permian game. We scored the game winning 2-point conversion with about a minute to go to for the lead 15-14, but called offsides and told our left tackle lined up offsides. Looking at the film, his (Bruce Peeler) feet were behind the guards, just as every play before. We had to beat Permian because we had lost to Abilene Cooper two weeks earlier 7-3. We had lost a JV player from a lightning bolt strike on Monday of the Cooper game, and lost on a dreary, rainy cold night in Abilene. If we had beat Cooper, we could have tied Permian and advanced to the playoffs.

Permian finish 15-0 and were never threatened. The closest game in the playoffs was a 28 point win for the Panthers. I believe that was the first year a team was awarded the mythical high school national championship. Lee finished in the final AP state rankings #6 in the state, with an 8-2 record.

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That two point conversion penalty sounds like the same kind of call that bit Permian against PN-G in the championship game in 1975. Permian had 2 second half TDs called back for Illegal Formation because the slot receiver was in "no man's land" not on the LOS and not off the LOS was the explanation from the officials mentioned in the documentary. According to Permian HC John Wilkinson, the player had been lined up in the same spot the entire game w/o a call being made until late. PN-G won 20-10.

No, not Bill Hart, but my buddies always said I was the greatest QB to never play at Midland Lee!

Just a San Angelo Central Bobcat from the late 90s approving this thread. None of my friends in the Metroplex/Houston/etc could understand how we had to drive 2-4 hours in a yellow dog to get to games every week.

Back when the speed limit was 55 MPH those yellow hounds didn't get above 50!
The Bobcats back in the early 70's, as did Abilene High, had their own bus! Still didn't go above 50,
making a long drive from Odessa to Abilene or San Angelo. We had a non conference game with Plainview,
about a 7 hour drive.

It was a great story. Roy Williams was a complete bad a**

Y'all move this discussion to the West Texas board!

I am a little younger than some in this thread but I can remember watching Roy Williams as a high schooler.

Also remember playing against guys like Cedric Benson and Eric Winston.

This thread brings back memories of good Ol West Texas.

Not to mention some of the talent Odessa High had in the Sheppard boys. I played against Woody, but Daryl was a true star. Don't know how Permian didn't figure out how to draft him!

From Daryl came Derick, I think. Don't know who begat who, but some dude named Sheppard tore it up at OU a few years ago!

rhart said:

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Not to mention some of the talent Odessa High had in the Sheppard boys. I played against Woody, but Daryl was a true star. Don't know how Permian didn't figure out how to draft him!

From Daryl came Derick, I think. Don't know who begat who, but some dude named Sheppard tore it up at OU a few years ago!

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When Daryl Sheppard was 12, I saw him in the state Little League tournament in Andrews. He was skinny but he was already about 6 ft tall and just oozed athleticism, ran like the wind.

The tournament was won by the Andrews team by the way. The catcher on that team was a big stocky kid named Jackie French and he hit something like 15 home runs in the 10 game regular season. He hit at least a couple of moon shots in the tournament, one of them might have cleared the lights in the outfield but was in between light standards so hard to tell for sure.

What year did Shaud Williams play at Andrews?

I know he beat my Calallen Wildcats in the State baseball tourney. Had an Aunt and Uncle in Andrews, (worked for Exxon) and an Aunt and Uncle in Frankel City (He was the plant manager for Phillips 66 plant).

I grew in Lubbock, Coronado....we always sucked

My dad played for Permian c/o 75. Loved hearing about his stories of playing alongside Daryl Hunt, and how intense the practices/coaches were then.

rhart said:

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What year did Shaud Williams play at Andrews?

I know he beat my Calallen Wildcats in the State baseball tourney. Had an Aunt and Uncle in Andrews, (worked for Exxon) and an Aunt and Uncle in Frankel City (He was the plant manager for Phillips 66 plant).

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95-98 for football. First time I ever heard of him I was reading the Sports section of the Houston Chronicle and saw a little blurb where Shaud Williams ran for 440 yards against Fort Stockton. That was his Soph year.

The year they won that State Championship in baseball, Shaud Williams stole 48 bases in 48 attempts, 3 in the State tournament. Never heard of that kind of success rate on the base paths.

My step-dad worked for Exxon (mom worked for Amoco), he probably knew both of your Aunts and Uncles (seems like he knew pretty much everyone in and around Andrews). What are their names if you don't mind?

aggieREX11 said:

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My dad played for Permian c/o 75. Loved hearing about his stories of playing alongside Daryl Hunt, and how intense the practices/coaches were then.

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I saw Daryl Hunt play on that 72 team, he was a beast. IIRC, he was the first black player (maybe first black student) at Permian. There were rumors that the attendance zone line was moved a block or two so that he was zoned for Permian instead of OHS.

Ask your Dad if he saw Daryl Hunt box Gerald Galloway from Andrews in the Golden Gloves tournament (in Odessa I think). I believe it was in 75, they had a special division just for football players and those two fought in the finals IIRC. I was at A&M so didn't see it but apparently they beat the Hell out of each other in the ring and it was a bloody mess. Galloway was a blue chip DL that signed with A&M but he never played much (if at all) that I know of.

Muck Fojo, Go Bobcats. I'd rather watch a documentary on how cardboard is made..

Seriously though, I do miss those rivalry games. I remember San Angelo Stadium being jam packed when those guys came to town, and, win or lose, it was always a great rivalry and great atmosphere.

Also seriously, Muck Fojo...

In the early 70' we had to box in the open division. Acree was the AAU champion. He boxed at OU, then in the Army in Korea. He returned to OU to play football, and was backup linebacker to Jerry Tubbs.

The 1963 State Champions Corsicana Tigers dedicated a bronze statue of Coach Acree this past spring. Jerry Moore was on his staff there, and they both went to Tech. Coach Moore later lead Appalacian State to a huge upset of Michigan.

ags1995 said:

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I put on my autographed helmet and ran 18 sweep with my 15 year old last night. Fun times. Still remember the offense from then. Since we ran it from the 4th grade on it was so simple and so much fun.
Cannot believe that I still remembered!
That 65 team was loaded with the dads I knew growing up. Fun fact: Mr. Dennard had a son who was the burger king "king" back in the day. RIP Richard.

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It's 18 "pitch" and 8 "sweep" .

30 trap, Boot @ 9, Waggle @ 8, 45 counter, 36G....good times.

It was 43 counter when I was there but maybe the play changed slightly over the years.

czar_iv said:

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It was 43 counter when I was there but maybe the play changed slightly over the years.

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Same play for everybody but tight guard. Against odd front tg kicked the tackle (3 hole) vs even front kicked or "logged" the end (5 hole).
How about 236 throwback, 18 pitch whirly gig, or a "David block"

On a random note... Anyone else annoyed that they changed the name of Hood? Too much of this PC bs going on everywhere but I thought we would fight it here.

These idiots don't even realize that the county, the school district & a jr high are all named after Mathew Ector, a Confederate soldier/officer.

But we can't have a school named after John B. Hood

Midland Lee High '76 here! Felix Acree was in my class. We made it a few rounds in State '75 in football (Keith Bishop ended up with Denver Broncos I think) and Final Four in basketball. We did a lot of driving to travel to those games! Both of my cousins went to Permian and I think while I was being bussed to Austin Freshman so that Midland could be integrated there was only one single black gal at Permian!

There is a huge push on our LHS Facebook page to change our school name and mascot. Apparently Robert E. Lee is a traitor and Rebels are not PC. Our Rebel battle flag went about 21 years ago.

BA;
Felix and his lovely with Cynthia attended our 45th reunion this past month. She is a Panther and Coach Acree must have bit a hole through his lip! After seeing the unveiling of Coach Acree's statue in Cosicana, Felix really looks like his Dad. Kinda scary, he is such a nice guy but I flash back to Coach Acree chewin' my ear off. Coach Denbow is now the Mayor of Corsicana. Coach Jackie Edwards and Jerry Moore were also at the dedication, which was an all day event.

Quote:

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My brother-in-law when he was in the sixth grade and playing football was learning and using Permian's playbook.

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That happens at ALL single HS school districts and in as many feeder schools in multiple district HSs as coaches can get done. Plus, it has been going on for a LONG time. Maybe not the EXACT playbook, but the offensive system. Lewisville has 5 HSs and at their jr. high games, I knew which ones fed into what schools due to their offensive formations. Some jr. high coaches have a little freedom to "freelance" under the system while others don't.

Now, I'm talking 7th grade and up. Pee-wee varies by size of the town/area.

Col. Steve Austin said:

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Now, I heard tell of some attendance zone lines being moved or blurred to pick up a stud LB or RB back in the day rather than letting them go to OHS.

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The high school boundaries in Odessa haven't been changed since the federal court ruling set them in the early 80s.

Col. Steve Austin said:

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I saw Daryl Hunt play on that 72 team, he was a beast. IIRC, he was the first black player (maybe first black student) at Permian. There were rumors that the attendance zone line was moved a block or two so that he was zoned for Permian instead of OHS.

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Hunt's mom was a teacher at Permian. They lived in apartments near the corner of 42nd and Grandview at the time. WAAAAAAYY in Permian's attendance zone.

I watched em get their ass handed to em, whatever. Take it ti the appropriate board.

I found this thread while searching for former Permian and Texas A & M quarterback David Shipman. Rumor is he has passed away, and I was trying to confirm. Apparently the news is true.