October 3, 2024 • 31 mins
John Tyler vs. Plano East: 30 Years Later
Best high school football stories from around the country.
Please hit subscribe and share with the coaches and players you know!
Coach Dooley's List: https://www.coachdooleyslist.com/
97-Yard FG Try: https://x.com/gocoffeetown/status/1840005060337483948
8-Man Football Team Punts: https://www.klkntv.com/nebraska-school-used-125000-in-child-nutrition-funds-for-scoreboards-auditor-says/
Apalachee HS Returns: https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/2024/09/27/apalachee-football-school-shooting-georgia/75411235007/
John Tyler vs. Plano East Documentary: https://youtu.be/FkNP9jggB2I
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey all, welcome in to Go Fight, win the show
with all the high school football stories you love. On
this week's episode, the longest kick that I've ever heard of?
Think about the longest kick you can imagine it's even
longer than that. Plus a Nebraska high school football team
that you might have thought was already understaffed, Well guess again,
(00:21):
it gets worse. And an update on the Appalaschi High
School football team as they rebound and pay tremendous tribute
to the fallen victims of the school shooting at Appalachie High.
And a history look back on a comeback for the
(00:42):
Ages that just was not meant to be. It's all
coming up on Go Fight, when lock in It's time
to go was get the Battle of Donnie Cougin. Let
that pudge. You know, if you have any part in
(01:07):
your high school sports teams organization, the operations game in,
game out, weekend, week out, of how things run, then
you know how tough it can be to get the
equipment that you need. Helmets are expensive, jerseys tough to source.
You got a number four on the team, but he
(01:28):
lost his jersey. How do you get another one? Well,
my guy coach Billy Dooley over at Coachdooley'slist dot com
has all of the things that you need right there.
If you've ever heard of Angie's List, a compiled list
of resources, high optimized, high octane network of vendors, That's
(01:54):
what Coach Dooley's List is, except it's geared specifically towards
those in high school sports can unities. He's got a
great list of vendors that he trusts. He's been a
coach for decades and he knows the best of the best.
And if he doesn't, well, then his fellow coaches that
he's reached out to they know. They know where the
(02:15):
best place to get football cleats are. They know where
the best place to get peanut oil is for the
concession stand. Check out Coach Dooley'slist dot com. There's a
link in the show description. If you or your team
needs a better option for game day, for practices for
the season, checkout Coach Dooley'slist dot com. Y'all tag me
(02:38):
in a tweet over on at Go Coffeetown and we'll
start our stories of the week here on Go Fight Win,
as we always do. Taking a look at all the
high school football stories that we love and this one
comes out of the state of West Virginia. Joey Johnson
at Joey Johnson TM. He is a reporter for the
(02:59):
Gazette in Herald Sports. Retired military guy, retired federal government,
but he also plays guitar in an acoustic trio. Joey
Johnson has seen some things, but Joey Johnson has never
seen anything like this on a football field. This tweet
is from Joey. Riverside attempted a ninety seven yard field goal,
(03:24):
not kidding ninety seven yards. SC's Brown ran it back
forty yards for a touchdown. Halftime score Riverside thirty two,
SC twenty and the SC in question there is South Charleston. Now,
Riverside did go on to get the win, but imagine
(03:44):
trotting your kicker out there right before half to say, hey, son,
it's a field position game and we're gonna do what
we can, and who knows, maybe you've got a leg
of the gods and you stick this one through the
up rights. And as I look at the picture here,
I'm struck at everyone on the sidelines huddled together to watch.
(04:08):
You don't always have the full attention of your full
team on the sideline. Sometimes the backups are off, you know,
screwing around squirting each other with water bottles before a
field goal kick. They've been beaten up by the starting
varsity football players all week. Maybe there's some freshmen that
are just there on the depth chart in case things
really get sideways. But everyone on this sideline is wrapped.
(04:31):
They are just curious, how's this thing gonna go? And
the snap gets down, it looks like there is a
kick attempt. I mean the kicker. This is just a still,
it's not a video with the kicker is in full
kicking form. Here. He's got the arm extended, he's approaching
the ball, and that's a ninety seven yard kick and
(04:53):
South Charleston ran it back forty yards for the touchdown.
So let's do some quick math right here. Ninety seven
yard field goal means that he attempted it from the gosh,
what is that the twenty five to twenty from about
the fourteen yard line, thirteen yard line, So the kick
(05:15):
never had a shot. Man, if that thing goes forty
yards on the return, then he only gets it about
twenty seven yards on the kick. Just a fascinating decision.
I'd love to hear what the coach was thinking. I'm
gonna go through Joey's tweets really quick and see if
he got a postgame quote from the coach, But I
(05:38):
don't see anything. He's saying that the first Riversidees first
punt was a comedy of errors that lost them fifteen
yards and gave SC the ball on about the ten
yard line. And he says the second punt was worse
and was snapped over the punter's head and lost them
(05:58):
twenty five yards and gave SC the ball on about
the twelve yard line. The coach had no choice but
to try something different. The coach team was backed up
against the wall and was simply trying to get the
ball out of there. Well, look, man, I don't know
if you're a coach, like, what's the higher percentage play here?
(06:23):
To kick a ninety seven yard dagum field goal or
to just freaking go for it on fourth down? What
are we doing here? If you're the kicker, this is
really hurting your average and it ends up as a
touchdown for South Charleston. The good news for Riverside is
(06:46):
they did win the game. Their first win of the year.
They win a fifty six to twenty I guess they
had some more manageable field goals in there somewhere. Maybe not.
Looks like they just scored eight touchdowns and hit all
the pats, but they definitely did not make the ninety
(07:07):
seven yard field goal attempt. That one goes down in
the record books. For me. I didn't see it in person,
but appreciate y'all tagging me in it. Coach, maybe you're
punishing your punter. Maybe you're just throwing your hands up
and saying, look, it ain't working, and that's a classic
(07:27):
high school football coaching decision there, just banging your head
against the wall and look. The definition of insanity is
trying the same thing over and over and expecting a
different result. I don't think that they will be trying
a ninety seven yard field goal though, because you only
had to try that once to show a little bit
(07:48):
of insanity there. But I love it. I do admire it.
I do admire it. Change things up, you never know
what might happen. Unfortunately it became a kicks and if
you're a player on the field for the ninety seven
yard field goal, I don't blame you for being a
little flummox and not being able to tackle the cat
(08:12):
when you're returning a ninety seven yard field goal attempt.
All right, This next story is out of Nebraska, from
Nebraska eight Now. ABC affiliate Nolan Dorn writes the story
(08:32):
and the headline reads, Nebraska high school football team cancel
season due to quote lack of available players. Now here's
the kicker. No affiliation to my last story there. The
Southern Valley Eagles are an eight man football team. They're
already a little short staffed according to your traditional football system.
(08:58):
I know eight man football is a big deal in Nebraska.
There's a lot of that that happens out there amongst
the corn But yeah, there was a release from the
principal of whereas the Southern Valley Schools due to lack
(09:24):
of available players. Southern Valley Schools has canceled the remainder
of their twenty twenty four high school football season, effective immediately.
This includes both the varsity and junior varsity levels. They
couldn't even sandwich the varsity and junior varsity teams together
to come up with eight guys to play. You know,
(09:45):
you need a little bit more depth I guess maybe
you need sixteen players to compete, but it says they
did not come to the decision lightly. But we could
not in good conscience put the few players we have
left in that position. You know, the joke there is
that you couldn't come up with enough guys for an
(10:06):
eight man football team. But I think this is something
that's that's that we're gonna see. We're gonna see more
and more of It's unfortunate as players just don't want
to get hurt, They don't want to get injured. Schools
don't have the resources, they haven't hit up coach dooley'slist
dot com to find the best options for their equipment.
(10:28):
And you got to say, hey, we're gonna have to
punt on this. We can't play football right now. We
can't just keep trotting eight guys out there and expect
them to give it. They're all for Southern Valley and
I hate that for him, and I hope that they
can find some some more guys. I hope they can
(10:49):
find some more players out there because or look selfishly
for the players and their families. If they really want
to play ball, then I hope that they can. I
hope they can find another school, you know, I hope
they can find a way to go. I hope they
can go play another story here out. In Nebraska, Chase
(11:13):
County Schools used one hundred and twenty five thousand dollars
in child nutrition funds to buy two video scoreboards for
the gym. The state auditor, Mike Foley said the total
cost of the scoreboards was one hundred and seventy thousand dollars,
with about seventy five percent improperly covered by school lunch money.
(11:35):
Clearly Nebraska is just having some issues at the county
and school levels there. The audit said. The school board
was supposed to be for a digital menu that should
have only cost one thousand dollars. Well, they're gonna get
some good, good menus. You won't be able to eat much,
(11:56):
but that video board is gonna look real nice. So
think about that while you're eating your off brand pretzels
for lunch, because that's all they could afford after the scoreboards.
Chase County Schools in Imperial, Nebraska one hundred and twenty
five grand. That's going towards the lunches for the kids. Yeah,
(12:21):
that's probably not the best. Probably not the best use
of the money, because look, if you're trying to boost
your athletics presence and have a better experience at your
high school basketball games or whatever volleyball, you need your
up and coming prospects to be eaten good. You know,
(12:42):
it's Nebraska. You're expecting some corn fed boys and girls
coming up through there with thick, ruddy ankles, and instead
that money is going towards the video board. That's not
going to fill their bellies up or help them hit
their max is in the gym. All in all, the
(13:04):
school district acted improperly in this expenditure and used sleight
of hand tactics to make an extravagant expenditure on gymnasium
equipment using federal child nutrition dollars. The auditor said, yeah,
I'd advise against that. Anyone out there listening thinking, hey,
(13:25):
we got a lot of money over here in nutrition.
These kids really need to eat the best hamburgers and
pizza and chocolate milk, or can we motivate them with
a video board. I'd hear an argument on both sides
of it, but I think if you're messing with federal
money for kids to eat for a video board, then
(13:50):
probably not thinking clearly, Go Huskers. Great story here out
of my neck of the woods. In Georgia, Apples High
School returned to the high school football field after the
school shooting that took four lives last month. Hate that
(14:11):
they even had a break for that reason, but I
am glad to see that something that can bring communities together,
like high school football is helping some some element of
something that feels normal, something that can bring a little
(14:32):
bit of joy to people that need it, is coming back.
Apple As she did not win the game, still haven't
won a game this year. But I don't think that
really matters for them, doesn't really matter for anybody else,
I don't think in that soulenge, just the fact that
they're out there playing and honoring them. I saw they
were at the Falcons game. Dwayne the Rock Johnson came
(14:54):
and visited them and encouraged them as well. So, look, tragedy,
unspeakable things will never be the same there. But while
you're you're waiting for something to come back that can
just fill your bucket, Just fill your tank up a
little bit, keep everybody together. You know, you go through
(15:17):
these things, you can't go through them alone. You can't
keep everybody spread apart. You got you gotta come back,
you gotta unite, you gotta rally around something. So I
was really really glad to see that, speaking of things
that are unspeakable and tragic. Look, there's a lot of
schools in Tennessee, a lot of schools in North Carolina,
(15:40):
some in Georgia right now that may not play football
again this season due to the effects of Hurricane Helene
really rocking. A lot of Appalachian communities just went right
over us, went right over our house on seventh on Friday,
around seventh in the morning that I just passed right
(16:02):
over us, and we were watching it and wondering, you know,
is it gonna hit us? Is it gonna cause a
lot of problems for us? Well, we had no idea
and really could not imagine the toll that it would
take on so many different communities throughout the region slightly
north of US. So look, if you are in the
(16:22):
southeast like I am, and you were spared like I was,
like my family was, then you know, consider helping those
people out.
Speaker 2 (16:30):
Man.
Speaker 1 (16:30):
It's bigger than football, obviously, but I realized that this
is a regional interest show really peaked interest in the Southeast,
and high school football is king in Texas in those
red dirt states. And I know y'all have gone through
your own share of storms and everything that comes with that,
(16:51):
but it's looking like Helleen is. And not to take
anything away from what y'all have been through in other
parts of the country, but it's looking like Helleen is
the worst or second worst, I don't know, split in
hairs because they're all human lives, and it's looking like
it's one of the worst story storms to hit the
(17:12):
United States this century from what I'm seeing. So look,
if you have an organization that you trust, whether it's
Red Cross, Samaritan's Purse, that's what I'm given to, my
family's given to. But whatever you want to do, man,
whatever you're able to give up goods or water bottles,
(17:35):
palets of water bottles, clothing, if there are places in
your community that are taking it and accepting it, Like,
don't overthink this, don't find excuses. Go do it. If
you weren't hurt by it, if you weren't affected by it,
people need it, And think about what you would appreciate
and what you would hope that people would think about
(17:57):
if the roles were reverse for you and your family,
so certainly praying for them, and not just praying, but
doing what we can here in our neighborhood. I know,
and a lot of people that I respect are doing
the same. So if you've been on the edge, you've
been on the fence, or you've just kind of seen
things like I don't know, maybe I can help out.
(18:18):
I assure you that you can so find a way
to do it. And hopefully those high school football teams
will have some good stories of resilience of their own
coming out of there. But for right now, they need
our help. They need our hearts, they need our hands,
they need our feet, So let's give them. Let's give
them to them, all right? Coming up, I had a
reason to reflect and think about one of the greatest
(18:43):
comebacks in high school football history. That wasn't plane O
East and John Tyler thirty years ago. We're gonna talk
about it next.
Speaker 3 (19:00):
All right.
Speaker 1 (19:00):
A lot of y'all listening may know that I attended
the University of Georgia, a fine institution, grew up a
big Bulldogs fan. Now in my media career, I learned
to not be a totally biased and slobber barking fool
(19:21):
of a fan viewing the world through rose colored glasses.
I appreciate and respect and admire the dynasty that Nick
Saban built while he was there, and looks like he
still got a little bit of that lingering after he's
gone with Kaitlin de Boor. But as I was watching
Georgia mount a furious comeback at Alabama this past weekend,
(19:47):
only to fall flat and lose in what many are
billing as the greatest regular season SEC football game they've
ever seen. It's amazing how Georgia somehow finds a way
to be in so many of those games with Alabama,
but Alabama always finds a way to win. I was
reminded of a high school football game, and to be
(20:09):
honest with y'all, this game is a big part of
why I thought about Coffeetown High school football. This radio call,
These legends that are in the booth, they were actually
in varsity Blues, but their radio call inspired part of
(20:29):
what made Coffeetown Coffeetown. And you can hear the emotion
in their voice, you can hear the pain as Plano
East plays John Tyler A little background. November twenty sixth
nineteen ninety four high school football playoff game in Texas.
The John Tyler High School Lions were playing the Plano
(20:51):
East Senior High School Panthers. This game was wild all right.
The Region two semi final in the five A Division
two Texas High School football Playoffs kicked off at nine pm.
This is according to Wikipedia. Both teams were undefeated twelve
and zero to that point in the year, and John
(21:12):
Tyler was only giving up fourteen points per game. Plano
East was only giving up around eight. Okay, Plano East
number two in the state, Tyler ranked number three. That's
the stage. It was an electric showdown. It was seven
to seven at the end of the first, but at
halftime the Lions John Tyler were up twenty one to fourteen,
(21:33):
and then they went up twenty four to seventeen in
the third. So the Lions only go on to score
a field goal in the fourth to make it twenty
seven to seventeen, and then towards the end of the quarter,
as the Panthers were at first in goal, it was
stripped and the fumble was returned ninety yards for a
touchdown and they went up thirty four to seventeen with
(21:54):
four to twenty four remaining. On the fourth play of
the Panthers' next possession, another fumble went to the house
and the lines were up forty one seventeen with only
three minutes left and a lot of fans were leaving.
The Panthers went on a two play seventy yard drive
cut the lead to forty one twenty three with two
(22:14):
thirty six left. Then they did not They did three
on side kicks in a row and got the ball
each time. Holy Han's team and score touchdowns on each
of them, so they get it to within forty four
to forty one with only twenty four seconds left. Here's
the radio call of Plano East and John Tyler the
(22:37):
last few minutes of the game. It is an absolute
heartbreaker for Plano East, but it is something that you
just have to listen to to believe.
Speaker 2 (22:47):
Here we go, Ango, bango, a bombco bombs to the
ball too, forty two left to go, A loging in motion.
Wley wants to throw.
Speaker 4 (22:56):
Looks, looks, looks throw a touchdown? Dad coming that a
way to go. Jeff Whitley on side kick, all right,
first in ten ball at the forty four Whitley straight
drop pretty good protection throws Tarrence Green, Hi.
Speaker 2 (23:19):
Great kitch quitting that one, buddy?
Speaker 3 (23:22):
What ifill is quitting that one? Never died too?
Speaker 2 (23:27):
Twenty four to go.
Speaker 4 (23:31):
Jacobell to the right, Terrence Green to the left, and
I'm going.
Speaker 1 (23:35):
To eighty eight again.
Speaker 4 (23:36):
What do you say, coach? They're bringing the backwards on
that side again.
Speaker 2 (23:40):
Let oh look at this in the end zone. Kevin
coy tremendous effort and Jeff Whitley, way to get rid
of the football, babe, fourth and five.
Speaker 4 (23:53):
Folks from the five one thirty one possibly left in
somebody's career here bubble Woods in motion, Whitley touching, John
Braddock cuts down.
Speaker 2 (24:05):
Baby kid easy, yeah, yes, say they got it playing
he touched it up.
Speaker 4 (24:15):
Off football one twenty four left to go, ten point
ball game and.
Speaker 2 (24:20):
The plain O East Panthers absolutely refused to say quit.
Frego Hall blitz screen past the green.
Speaker 3 (24:28):
Yeah he going, yeah, it's free.
Speaker 2 (24:31):
Oh hurry twenty five Oh he's oh baby, Oh stuffs
the quat good gosha mighty if they score, I'm gonna
jump out of his booty.
Speaker 4 (24:43):
Woods in motion, Whitley, yeahs down a baby that is down.
Speaker 2 (24:51):
Tom Braddock not over the labs. Hey get a two
point here, and they're within a field goal, winning the game,
winning the game, winning, winning game winning the game. Well
here we go, folks. Can the improbable happen? Three times?
It's gonna happen? Pauseive thinking again again, Good gosh, I
(25:17):
don't believe if this is unbelievable. Two timeouts left too, men,
we woke up girl, the cookie man Viller. Look at
thirty three over there, he's getting this stuff back on. Man,
we're gonna celebrate. Break out the oreos. Baby, come on, baby,
I'm out of words. I'm just gonna let it happen.
Speaker 4 (25:37):
Second and ten, ball at midfield, all in.
Speaker 2 (25:41):
Motion, blitz, come and look out, scream pass greed in trouble.
He's going, going, He's going, He's still, he's going. He's down.
Good time, everybody, the most improbable comeback you've ever seen.
Thirty one seconds plane o east first and ten fallas
(26:01):
the twenty two. They trail by four. They've got to
have a touchdown. Whley going to throw frost back. Got
am mighty hold this thing. Jesus believe it. I don't
believe it. Oh how oh it is?
Speaker 3 (26:23):
Oh my?
Speaker 2 (26:25):
Do you believe it? Everybody on their cars in the
radio factor planeo roah and miss plays comeback of all times,
of all time. It has to be twenty four seconds left.
I done, went my breeches. Unbelievable, And I'm gonna tell
you what. Chen l eight gentle five overs, the mother
(26:46):
big boys. They've been packing in too.
Speaker 3 (26:47):
They didn't get any of this on camera. We ain't
got it.
Speaker 4 (26:51):
Tell it to him for a premium you sang right,
sell it to him for here's the kickoff. Twenty four
seconds left.
Speaker 2 (26:57):
Terrence Green boots it high and deep, gonna be driving
the second Roory.
Speaker 3 (27:04):
Gotta crowl. No oh no, oh God, Oh my gosh, no,
come on, no, no, oh gosh, I don't believe it.
Speaker 2 (27:21):
God bless those kids.
Speaker 3 (27:23):
I am sick.
Speaker 1 (27:24):
I want to throw up. God, bless those kids. I
am sick. I want to throw up. Good gosh a
mighty those radio announcers Denny Garner and Eddie Clinton, two
actual Texas high school football announcers. You can see them
in Varsity Blues. Great cameo for those fellas. The return
(27:44):
man Roderick Dunn caught the ball at his own three
on that final kickoff and took it ninety seven yards
to get the win. Now he had muffed the catches
on the final two on side kicks and it was
the only touchdown of his high school career. Talk about
a redemption story man heartbreaker for Plano East, John Tyler legendary.
(28:12):
The Lions, of course, went on to win the state championship.
How do you not after that? Now that would be
the real that would be the meta story and all this.
What if John Tyler had that furious comeback only did
not win state? But they did, and it does go
down as maybe the greatest high school football game of
(28:33):
all times. And yeah, look that Georgia Alabama game just
had some shades of that. I don't know if it's
as heartbreaking. Georgia and Alabama will have plenty of chances
to meet up again. Georgia will have other chances this
season to rectify what happened in that game against Bama.
(28:53):
And this was a state playoff game in Texas. I mean,
the the magnitude of that is hard to match, even
in SEC highs, even in SEC football regular season games.
They did have a receiver there at Bamma, Ryan Williams.
(29:13):
You may or may not have heard, he's seventeen years
old and he should be in high school. But it
did remind me of that game. A furious comeback Georgia
briefly takes the lead, only to lose it in the end.
What a game, What a story. Some big time throws
(29:36):
and then a huge kickoff return at the very end
there to seal the deal for John Tyler. One of
those things that just lives in the lore of not
only high school sports, but I think in football in
the country. You don't have to be a huge high
school football fan who appreciate that and appreciate that story
(29:56):
and everything that went into it. Bleacher Report actually did
a great documentary on it, a little mini doc a
few years ago that I invite you to check out.
I'll include a link to that in the show description
here as well. But what a story. One of those
high school football stories that we love and we share
a lot of them here on Go Fight Win. Continue
to tag at go coffeetown on x if you see
(30:19):
these stories, If you have a coach or a player
that you think I should speak with or interview, Go
coffeetown dot com has a submission link for you to
submit those ideas your own stories. I'd love to hear
your own high school football stories that are worth repeating
and worth sharing as the decades make them more and
(30:39):
more glamorous. Those fish stories that just get better and
better as the years go by and as your mind
gets separated from the reality of what actually happened. Hit
me up there at Go Coffeetown on X at Wes
Underscore in Ship. My name is Wes Blankenship. This is
go fight, win, Hit like hit Subscribe, tell your coach
(31:01):
about us, tell your team about us, help this thing grow,
help others discover this show that is really just here
to celebrate the sport that we all love with the
stories that we all love about it. You all have
a great week. Go beat those teams. Go beat those
teams one week's season. Just don't try a ninety seven
(31:24):
yard field goal. Come on,
Hey all, welcome in to Go Fight, win the show
with all the high school football stories you love. On
this week's episode, the longest kick that I've ever heard of?
Think about the longest kick you can imagine it's even
longer than that. Plus a Nebraska high school football team
that you might have thought was already understaffed, Well guess again,
(00:21):
it gets worse. And an update on the Appalaschi High
School football team as they rebound and pay tremendous tribute
to the fallen victims of the school shooting at Appalachie High.
And a history look back on a comeback for the
(00:42):
Ages that just was not meant to be. It's all
coming up on Go Fight, when lock in It's time
to go was get the Battle of Donnie Cougin. Let
that pudge. You know, if you have any part in
(01:07):
your high school sports teams organization, the operations game in,
game out, weekend, week out, of how things run, then
you know how tough it can be to get the
equipment that you need. Helmets are expensive, jerseys tough to source.
You got a number four on the team, but he
(01:28):
lost his jersey. How do you get another one? Well,
my guy coach Billy Dooley over at Coachdooley'slist dot com
has all of the things that you need right there.
If you've ever heard of Angie's List, a compiled list
of resources, high optimized, high octane network of vendors, That's
(01:54):
what Coach Dooley's List is, except it's geared specifically towards
those in high school sports can unities. He's got a
great list of vendors that he trusts. He's been a
coach for decades and he knows the best of the best.
And if he doesn't, well, then his fellow coaches that
he's reached out to they know. They know where the
(02:15):
best place to get football cleats are. They know where
the best place to get peanut oil is for the
concession stand. Check out Coach Dooley'slist dot com. There's a
link in the show description. If you or your team
needs a better option for game day, for practices for
the season, checkout Coach Dooley'slist dot com. Y'all tag me
(02:38):
in a tweet over on at Go Coffeetown and we'll
start our stories of the week here on Go Fight Win,
as we always do. Taking a look at all the
high school football stories that we love and this one
comes out of the state of West Virginia. Joey Johnson
at Joey Johnson TM. He is a reporter for the
(02:59):
Gazette in Herald Sports. Retired military guy, retired federal government,
but he also plays guitar in an acoustic trio. Joey
Johnson has seen some things, but Joey Johnson has never
seen anything like this on a football field. This tweet
is from Joey. Riverside attempted a ninety seven yard field goal,
(03:24):
not kidding ninety seven yards. SC's Brown ran it back
forty yards for a touchdown. Halftime score Riverside thirty two,
SC twenty and the SC in question there is South Charleston. Now,
Riverside did go on to get the win, but imagine
(03:44):
trotting your kicker out there right before half to say, hey, son,
it's a field position game and we're gonna do what
we can, and who knows, maybe you've got a leg
of the gods and you stick this one through the
up rights. And as I look at the picture here,
I'm struck at everyone on the sidelines huddled together to watch.
(04:08):
You don't always have the full attention of your full
team on the sideline. Sometimes the backups are off, you know,
screwing around squirting each other with water bottles before a
field goal kick. They've been beaten up by the starting
varsity football players all week. Maybe there's some freshmen that
are just there on the depth chart in case things
really get sideways. But everyone on this sideline is wrapped.
(04:31):
They are just curious, how's this thing gonna go? And
the snap gets down, it looks like there is a
kick attempt. I mean the kicker. This is just a still,
it's not a video with the kicker is in full
kicking form. Here. He's got the arm extended, he's approaching
the ball, and that's a ninety seven yard kick and
(04:53):
South Charleston ran it back forty yards for the touchdown.
So let's do some quick math right here. Ninety seven
yard field goal means that he attempted it from the gosh,
what is that the twenty five to twenty from about
the fourteen yard line, thirteen yard line, So the kick
(05:15):
never had a shot. Man, if that thing goes forty
yards on the return, then he only gets it about
twenty seven yards on the kick. Just a fascinating decision.
I'd love to hear what the coach was thinking. I'm
gonna go through Joey's tweets really quick and see if
he got a postgame quote from the coach, But I
(05:38):
don't see anything. He's saying that the first Riversidees first
punt was a comedy of errors that lost them fifteen
yards and gave SC the ball on about the ten
yard line. And he says the second punt was worse
and was snapped over the punter's head and lost them
(05:58):
twenty five yards and gave SC the ball on about
the twelve yard line. The coach had no choice but
to try something different. The coach team was backed up
against the wall and was simply trying to get the
ball out of there. Well, look, man, I don't know
if you're a coach, like, what's the higher percentage play here?
(06:23):
To kick a ninety seven yard dagum field goal or
to just freaking go for it on fourth down? What
are we doing here? If you're the kicker, this is
really hurting your average and it ends up as a
touchdown for South Charleston. The good news for Riverside is
(06:46):
they did win the game. Their first win of the year.
They win a fifty six to twenty I guess they
had some more manageable field goals in there somewhere. Maybe not.
Looks like they just scored eight touchdowns and hit all
the pats, but they definitely did not make the ninety
(07:07):
seven yard field goal attempt. That one goes down in
the record books. For me. I didn't see it in person,
but appreciate y'all tagging me in it. Coach, maybe you're
punishing your punter. Maybe you're just throwing your hands up
and saying, look, it ain't working, and that's a classic
(07:27):
high school football coaching decision there, just banging your head
against the wall and look. The definition of insanity is
trying the same thing over and over and expecting a
different result. I don't think that they will be trying
a ninety seven yard field goal though, because you only
had to try that once to show a little bit
(07:48):
of insanity there. But I love it. I do admire it.
I do admire it. Change things up, you never know
what might happen. Unfortunately it became a kicks and if
you're a player on the field for the ninety seven
yard field goal, I don't blame you for being a
little flummox and not being able to tackle the cat
(08:12):
when you're returning a ninety seven yard field goal attempt.
All right, This next story is out of Nebraska, from
Nebraska eight Now. ABC affiliate Nolan Dorn writes the story
(08:32):
and the headline reads, Nebraska high school football team cancel
season due to quote lack of available players. Now here's
the kicker. No affiliation to my last story there. The
Southern Valley Eagles are an eight man football team. They're
already a little short staffed according to your traditional football system.
(08:58):
I know eight man football is a big deal in Nebraska.
There's a lot of that that happens out there amongst
the corn But yeah, there was a release from the
principal of whereas the Southern Valley Schools due to lack
(09:24):
of available players. Southern Valley Schools has canceled the remainder
of their twenty twenty four high school football season, effective immediately.
This includes both the varsity and junior varsity levels. They
couldn't even sandwich the varsity and junior varsity teams together
to come up with eight guys to play. You know,
(09:45):
you need a little bit more depth I guess maybe
you need sixteen players to compete, but it says they
did not come to the decision lightly. But we could
not in good conscience put the few players we have
left in that position. You know, the joke there is
that you couldn't come up with enough guys for an
(10:06):
eight man football team. But I think this is something
that's that's that we're gonna see. We're gonna see more
and more of It's unfortunate as players just don't want
to get hurt, They don't want to get injured. Schools
don't have the resources, they haven't hit up coach dooley'slist
dot com to find the best options for their equipment.
(10:28):
And you got to say, hey, we're gonna have to
punt on this. We can't play football right now. We
can't just keep trotting eight guys out there and expect
them to give it. They're all for Southern Valley and
I hate that for him, and I hope that they
can find some some more guys. I hope they can
(10:49):
find some more players out there because or look selfishly
for the players and their families. If they really want
to play ball, then I hope that they can. I
hope they can find another school, you know, I hope
they can find a way to go. I hope they
can go play another story here out. In Nebraska, Chase
(11:13):
County Schools used one hundred and twenty five thousand dollars
in child nutrition funds to buy two video scoreboards for
the gym. The state auditor, Mike Foley said the total
cost of the scoreboards was one hundred and seventy thousand dollars,
with about seventy five percent improperly covered by school lunch money.
(11:35):
Clearly Nebraska is just having some issues at the county
and school levels there. The audit said. The school board
was supposed to be for a digital menu that should
have only cost one thousand dollars. Well, they're gonna get
some good, good menus. You won't be able to eat much,
(11:56):
but that video board is gonna look real nice. So
think about that while you're eating your off brand pretzels
for lunch, because that's all they could afford after the scoreboards.
Chase County Schools in Imperial, Nebraska one hundred and twenty
five grand. That's going towards the lunches for the kids. Yeah,
(12:21):
that's probably not the best. Probably not the best use
of the money, because look, if you're trying to boost
your athletics presence and have a better experience at your
high school basketball games or whatever volleyball, you need your
up and coming prospects to be eaten good. You know,
(12:42):
it's Nebraska. You're expecting some corn fed boys and girls
coming up through there with thick, ruddy ankles, and instead
that money is going towards the video board. That's not
going to fill their bellies up or help them hit
their max is in the gym. All in all, the
(13:04):
school district acted improperly in this expenditure and used sleight
of hand tactics to make an extravagant expenditure on gymnasium
equipment using federal child nutrition dollars. The auditor said, yeah,
I'd advise against that. Anyone out there listening thinking, hey,
(13:25):
we got a lot of money over here in nutrition.
These kids really need to eat the best hamburgers and
pizza and chocolate milk, or can we motivate them with
a video board. I'd hear an argument on both sides
of it, but I think if you're messing with federal
money for kids to eat for a video board, then
(13:50):
probably not thinking clearly, Go Huskers. Great story here out
of my neck of the woods. In Georgia, Apples High
School returned to the high school football field after the
school shooting that took four lives last month. Hate that
(14:11):
they even had a break for that reason, but I
am glad to see that something that can bring communities together,
like high school football is helping some some element of
something that feels normal, something that can bring a little
(14:32):
bit of joy to people that need it, is coming back.
Apple As she did not win the game, still haven't
won a game this year. But I don't think that
really matters for them, doesn't really matter for anybody else,
I don't think in that soulenge, just the fact that
they're out there playing and honoring them. I saw they
were at the Falcons game. Dwayne the Rock Johnson came
(14:54):
and visited them and encouraged them as well. So, look, tragedy,
unspeakable things will never be the same there. But while
you're you're waiting for something to come back that can
just fill your bucket, Just fill your tank up a
little bit, keep everybody together. You know, you go through
(15:17):
these things, you can't go through them alone. You can't
keep everybody spread apart. You got you gotta come back,
you gotta unite, you gotta rally around something. So I
was really really glad to see that, speaking of things
that are unspeakable and tragic. Look, there's a lot of
schools in Tennessee, a lot of schools in North Carolina,
(15:40):
some in Georgia right now that may not play football
again this season due to the effects of Hurricane Helene
really rocking. A lot of Appalachian communities just went right
over us, went right over our house on seventh on Friday,
around seventh in the morning that I just passed right
(16:02):
over us, and we were watching it and wondering, you know,
is it gonna hit us? Is it gonna cause a
lot of problems for us? Well, we had no idea
and really could not imagine the toll that it would
take on so many different communities throughout the region slightly
north of US. So look, if you are in the
(16:22):
southeast like I am, and you were spared like I was,
like my family was, then you know, consider helping those
people out.
Speaker 2 (16:30):
Man.
Speaker 1 (16:30):
It's bigger than football, obviously, but I realized that this
is a regional interest show really peaked interest in the Southeast,
and high school football is king in Texas in those
red dirt states. And I know y'all have gone through
your own share of storms and everything that comes with that,
(16:51):
but it's looking like Helleen is. And not to take
anything away from what y'all have been through in other
parts of the country, but it's looking like Helleen is
the worst or second worst, I don't know, split in
hairs because they're all human lives, and it's looking like
it's one of the worst story storms to hit the
(17:12):
United States this century from what I'm seeing. So look,
if you have an organization that you trust, whether it's
Red Cross, Samaritan's Purse, that's what I'm given to, my
family's given to. But whatever you want to do, man,
whatever you're able to give up goods or water bottles,
(17:35):
palets of water bottles, clothing, if there are places in
your community that are taking it and accepting it, Like,
don't overthink this, don't find excuses. Go do it. If
you weren't hurt by it, if you weren't affected by it,
people need it, And think about what you would appreciate
and what you would hope that people would think about
(17:57):
if the roles were reverse for you and your family,
so certainly praying for them, and not just praying, but
doing what we can here in our neighborhood. I know,
and a lot of people that I respect are doing
the same. So if you've been on the edge, you've
been on the fence, or you've just kind of seen
things like I don't know, maybe I can help out.
(18:18):
I assure you that you can so find a way
to do it. And hopefully those high school football teams
will have some good stories of resilience of their own
coming out of there. But for right now, they need
our help. They need our hearts, they need our hands,
they need our feet, So let's give them. Let's give
them to them, all right? Coming up, I had a
reason to reflect and think about one of the greatest
(18:43):
comebacks in high school football history. That wasn't plane O
East and John Tyler thirty years ago. We're gonna talk
about it next.
Speaker 3 (19:00):
All right.
Speaker 1 (19:00):
A lot of y'all listening may know that I attended
the University of Georgia, a fine institution, grew up a
big Bulldogs fan. Now in my media career, I learned
to not be a totally biased and slobber barking fool
(19:21):
of a fan viewing the world through rose colored glasses.
I appreciate and respect and admire the dynasty that Nick
Saban built while he was there, and looks like he
still got a little bit of that lingering after he's
gone with Kaitlin de Boor. But as I was watching
Georgia mount a furious comeback at Alabama this past weekend,
(19:47):
only to fall flat and lose in what many are
billing as the greatest regular season SEC football game they've
ever seen. It's amazing how Georgia somehow finds a way
to be in so many of those games with Alabama,
but Alabama always finds a way to win. I was
reminded of a high school football game, and to be
(20:09):
honest with y'all, this game is a big part of
why I thought about Coffeetown High school football. This radio call,
These legends that are in the booth, they were actually
in varsity Blues, but their radio call inspired part of
(20:29):
what made Coffeetown Coffeetown. And you can hear the emotion
in their voice, you can hear the pain as Plano
East plays John Tyler A little background. November twenty sixth
nineteen ninety four high school football playoff game in Texas.
The John Tyler High School Lions were playing the Plano
(20:51):
East Senior High School Panthers. This game was wild all right.
The Region two semi final in the five A Division
two Texas High School football Playoffs kicked off at nine pm.
This is according to Wikipedia. Both teams were undefeated twelve
and zero to that point in the year, and John
(21:12):
Tyler was only giving up fourteen points per game. Plano
East was only giving up around eight. Okay, Plano East
number two in the state, Tyler ranked number three. That's
the stage. It was an electric showdown. It was seven
to seven at the end of the first, but at
halftime the Lions John Tyler were up twenty one to fourteen,
(21:33):
and then they went up twenty four to seventeen in
the third. So the Lions only go on to score
a field goal in the fourth to make it twenty
seven to seventeen, and then towards the end of the quarter,
as the Panthers were at first in goal, it was
stripped and the fumble was returned ninety yards for a
touchdown and they went up thirty four to seventeen with
(21:54):
four to twenty four remaining. On the fourth play of
the Panthers' next possession, another fumble went to the house
and the lines were up forty one seventeen with only
three minutes left and a lot of fans were leaving.
The Panthers went on a two play seventy yard drive
cut the lead to forty one twenty three with two
(22:14):
thirty six left. Then they did not They did three
on side kicks in a row and got the ball
each time. Holy Han's team and score touchdowns on each
of them, so they get it to within forty four
to forty one with only twenty four seconds left. Here's
the radio call of Plano East and John Tyler the
(22:37):
last few minutes of the game. It is an absolute
heartbreaker for Plano East, but it is something that you
just have to listen to to believe.
Speaker 2 (22:47):
Here we go, Ango, bango, a bombco bombs to the
ball too, forty two left to go, A loging in motion.
Wley wants to throw.
Speaker 4 (22:56):
Looks, looks, looks throw a touchdown? Dad coming that a
way to go. Jeff Whitley on side kick, all right,
first in ten ball at the forty four Whitley straight
drop pretty good protection throws Tarrence Green, Hi.
Speaker 2 (23:19):
Great kitch quitting that one, buddy?
Speaker 3 (23:22):
What ifill is quitting that one? Never died too?
Speaker 2 (23:27):
Twenty four to go.
Speaker 4 (23:31):
Jacobell to the right, Terrence Green to the left, and
I'm going.
Speaker 1 (23:35):
To eighty eight again.
Speaker 4 (23:36):
What do you say, coach? They're bringing the backwards on
that side again.
Speaker 2 (23:40):
Let oh look at this in the end zone. Kevin
coy tremendous effort and Jeff Whitley, way to get rid
of the football, babe, fourth and five.
Speaker 4 (23:53):
Folks from the five one thirty one possibly left in
somebody's career here bubble Woods in motion, Whitley touching, John
Braddock cuts down.
Speaker 2 (24:05):
Baby kid easy, yeah, yes, say they got it playing
he touched it up.
Speaker 4 (24:15):
Off football one twenty four left to go, ten point
ball game and.
Speaker 2 (24:20):
The plain O East Panthers absolutely refused to say quit.
Frego Hall blitz screen past the green.
Speaker 3 (24:28):
Yeah he going, yeah, it's free.
Speaker 2 (24:31):
Oh hurry twenty five Oh he's oh baby, Oh stuffs
the quat good gosha mighty if they score, I'm gonna
jump out of his booty.
Speaker 4 (24:43):
Woods in motion, Whitley, yeahs down a baby that is down.
Speaker 2 (24:51):
Tom Braddock not over the labs. Hey get a two
point here, and they're within a field goal, winning the game,
winning the game, winning, winning game winning the game. Well
here we go, folks. Can the improbable happen? Three times?
It's gonna happen? Pauseive thinking again again, Good gosh, I
(25:17):
don't believe if this is unbelievable. Two timeouts left too, men,
we woke up girl, the cookie man Viller. Look at
thirty three over there, he's getting this stuff back on. Man,
we're gonna celebrate. Break out the oreos. Baby, come on, baby,
I'm out of words. I'm just gonna let it happen.
Speaker 4 (25:37):
Second and ten, ball at midfield, all in.
Speaker 2 (25:41):
Motion, blitz, come and look out, scream pass greed in trouble.
He's going, going, He's going, He's still, he's going. He's down.
Good time, everybody, the most improbable comeback you've ever seen.
Thirty one seconds plane o east first and ten fallas
(26:01):
the twenty two. They trail by four. They've got to
have a touchdown. Whley going to throw frost back. Got
am mighty hold this thing. Jesus believe it. I don't
believe it. Oh how oh it is?
Speaker 3 (26:23):
Oh my?
Speaker 2 (26:25):
Do you believe it? Everybody on their cars in the
radio factor planeo roah and miss plays comeback of all times,
of all time. It has to be twenty four seconds left.
I done, went my breeches. Unbelievable, And I'm gonna tell
you what. Chen l eight gentle five overs, the mother
(26:46):
big boys. They've been packing in too.
Speaker 3 (26:47):
They didn't get any of this on camera. We ain't
got it.
Speaker 4 (26:51):
Tell it to him for a premium you sang right,
sell it to him for here's the kickoff. Twenty four
seconds left.
Speaker 2 (26:57):
Terrence Green boots it high and deep, gonna be driving
the second Roory.
Speaker 3 (27:04):
Gotta crowl. No oh no, oh God, Oh my gosh, no,
come on, no, no, oh gosh, I don't believe it.
Speaker 2 (27:21):
God bless those kids.
Speaker 3 (27:23):
I am sick.
Speaker 1 (27:24):
I want to throw up. God, bless those kids. I
am sick. I want to throw up. Good gosh a
mighty those radio announcers Denny Garner and Eddie Clinton, two
actual Texas high school football announcers. You can see them
in Varsity Blues. Great cameo for those fellas. The return
(27:44):
man Roderick Dunn caught the ball at his own three
on that final kickoff and took it ninety seven yards
to get the win. Now he had muffed the catches
on the final two on side kicks and it was
the only touchdown of his high school career. Talk about
a redemption story man heartbreaker for Plano East, John Tyler legendary.
(28:12):
The Lions, of course, went on to win the state championship.
How do you not after that? Now that would be
the real that would be the meta story and all this.
What if John Tyler had that furious comeback only did
not win state? But they did, and it does go
down as maybe the greatest high school football game of
(28:33):
all times. And yeah, look that Georgia Alabama game just
had some shades of that. I don't know if it's
as heartbreaking. Georgia and Alabama will have plenty of chances
to meet up again. Georgia will have other chances this
season to rectify what happened in that game against Bama.
(28:53):
And this was a state playoff game in Texas. I mean,
the the magnitude of that is hard to match, even
in SEC highs, even in SEC football regular season games.
They did have a receiver there at Bamma, Ryan Williams.
(29:13):
You may or may not have heard, he's seventeen years
old and he should be in high school. But it
did remind me of that game. A furious comeback Georgia
briefly takes the lead, only to lose it in the end.
What a game, What a story. Some big time throws
(29:36):
and then a huge kickoff return at the very end
there to seal the deal for John Tyler. One of
those things that just lives in the lore of not
only high school sports, but I think in football in
the country. You don't have to be a huge high
school football fan who appreciate that and appreciate that story
(29:56):
and everything that went into it. Bleacher Report actually did
a great documentary on it, a little mini doc a
few years ago that I invite you to check out.
I'll include a link to that in the show description
here as well. But what a story. One of those
high school football stories that we love and we share
a lot of them here on Go Fight Win. Continue
to tag at go coffeetown on x if you see
(30:19):
these stories, If you have a coach or a player
that you think I should speak with or interview, Go
coffeetown dot com has a submission link for you to
submit those ideas your own stories. I'd love to hear
your own high school football stories that are worth repeating
and worth sharing as the decades make them more and
(30:39):
more glamorous. Those fish stories that just get better and
better as the years go by and as your mind
gets separated from the reality of what actually happened. Hit
me up there at Go Coffeetown on X at Wes
Underscore in Ship. My name is Wes Blankenship. This is
go fight, win, Hit like hit Subscribe, tell your coach
(31:01):
about us, tell your team about us, help this thing grow,
help others discover this show that is really just here
to celebrate the sport that we all love with the
stories that we all love about it. You all have
a great week. Go beat those teams. Go beat those
teams one week's season. Just don't try a ninety seven
(31:24):
yard field goal. Come on,
Host
Wes Blankenship
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