Sixty years ago last week the Gators defeated a highly touted Deer Park team 21-14 to claim the 22-B District Championship. You may have noticed the caption under last week's touchdown photo which said the Gators would play Corrigan in Sugar Land the following Friday.
The build up to the game was pretty big. Sugar Land hadn't played in a bi-district play-off game since 1944. The following newspaper article indicates an equally high level of enthusiasm in Corrigan, a small town (much like Sugar Land) in East Texas on Highway 59 between Livingston & Lufkin.
Notice a couple of things in the article. First, Corrigan had a very good team. They defeated a Class A school (Groveton) & tied a Class AA school (Livingston). They weren't slouches; both schools eventually won their districts' championships. Also notice that the town intended to 'shut down' & caravan to the Sugar Land where the game was played. Finally, notice that Corrigan's coach was Jasper Cockrell. He's Rita Cockrell Drabek's brother. Many of you may know Mrs. Drabek (she taught me in the 4th grade) as a well-known figure in FBISD for years. I heard her tell a funny story about this game. It involved her first recollection of Sugar Land.
Click here for a link to the 1-minute video of Rita Drabek's story.
As you can see from the following article, the Gators rolled over Corrigan 34 - 0. Unfortunately, my copy of the article is cut off, & I can't get a complete copy on short notice. Anyway, the article points out the game stats were fairly even, but Corrigan was no match to "the explosive running, expert blocking and heads-up football played by the Alligators." The writer even says, "the crazy-leg running of Hall wouldn't have been possible without the holes battered by Harold Collier and Paul Martin and the downfield blocking of halfback Juan de los Santos." When some former Gator players read these excerpts in 2009, they laughed & said, "Exactly right!"
Next week: Sugar Land High's first Regional Championship Game.
Click here for a link to the 1-minute video of Rita Drabek's story.
As you can see from the following article, the Gators rolled over Corrigan 34 - 0. Unfortunately, my copy of the article is cut off, & I can't get a complete copy on short notice. Anyway, the article points out the game stats were fairly even, but Corrigan was no match to "the explosive running, expert blocking and heads-up football played by the Alligators." The writer even says, "the crazy-leg running of Hall wouldn't have been possible without the holes battered by Harold Collier and Paul Martin and the downfield blocking of halfback Juan de los Santos." When some former Gator players read these excerpts in 2009, they laughed & said, "Exactly right!"
Next week: Sugar Land High's first Regional Championship Game.
