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The Sylvania Times
Wednesday, July 20, 2022 - Page 9
It’s hard to beat a person who never gives up -Babe Ruth
SPORTS
Around
the horn
PLAYOFFS, FOOTBALL
BROADCASTS, AND
THE EVOLUTION OF
INTERSCHOLASTIC ATHLETICS
AT SYLVANLA HIGH SCHOOL
WRASTLING TRIVIA
Burton Kemp
The beginning that keeps
on giving - 15 days until
the first regular season
softball game, 12 until
the Greenbrier scrimmage
and 29 days until the first
regular season football
game, 22 until the
Effingham County
scrimmage. As mentioned
elsewhere the summer
practices for the winter
sports are over. The sports
of August and September,
the so-called Fall Sports,
are getting ready.
I also say that
nomenclature. Fall Sports,
is not so accurate in many
cases. By September 22,
the
autumnal equinox, softball
will have gone through 19
regular season scheduled
dates on the
schedule with just six
remaining. Football will
have played 40% of its
regular season schedule.
I have not thrown this out
yet, but I can guarantee
you that I will again. Since
softball is already
guaranteed a state playoff
spot on October 18-19, this
is significant. The GHSA
has given us a
brand new softball playoff
format. It shortens the
playoff season by a week
but takes away the
opportunity for a region
runner-up to host a playoff
game. The first two rounds
of the playoffs,
formally spread out over
two weeks, will now be
accomplished in two days.
If you are familiar
with the NCAA softball
and baseball regionals then
you will easily understand
this new format.
The eight region
champions will host a
double elimination, four
team tournament. Each
tournament will represent
one of the four team
brackets in the traditional
format. At each of the
four team tournaments
will be a region champion,
region runner-up, region
third seed, and region
fourth seed. The champion
will play the number four
and the runner-up will play
the number
three. Then winners play
and losers play etc. This
will take place over two
days. The winner of
each tournament advances
to Columbus on October
26-29. This is also how
wrestling is set up
except that wrestling is
single elimination and
is accomplished in one
afternoon as it constitutes
three matches maximum.
As for the playoffs in most
sports our Region 3 A D-l
is paired with Region 4A
D-l. That Region
4AD-1 includes five
schools, most totally
unfamiliar to local
fans. Those schools are
Crawford
County, Heard County,
Lamar County, Schley
County, and Temple. In
each of the four team
softball regionals our 3A
team will be matched the
appropriate 4A team. As
our 3A has but five
football playing schools,
the gridiron Gamecocks
must realistically win just
one game to make
the playoffs (if someone
goes 0-4) with two wins
guaranteeing a spot (hard
to see three teams
going 2-2). The first region
football game is not until
October 14 when Bryan
County is here for
Homecoming. That night
we will be looking to “set
right” one of our most
embarrassing losses
ever that came a year ago.
A question that has come
up from a lot of folks is
the status of Gamecocktv
for the upcoming
football season. We lost
the only producer, Alex
Collins, the remarkable
production has ever
had. If he cannot be
replaced then we will have
to find other avenues. One
distinct possibility is
to do what the GHSA
wants everyone to do
- become part of the
National Federation of
High
Schools (NFHS) Network.
Doing this would
guarantee a broadcast of at
least all home games.
The drawback is the
$10.99/ month or $69.99/
year fee. That fee does get
you access to all and
sports, both regular season
and playoffs, involving
schools who are members
of the NHFS
Network. The Network
also has exclusive rights
to any member school’s
home activities. That is
why we were unable to
broadcast from Pelham.
The NFHS Network does
furnish all equipment
and Andy Tomlin and I
will still be able to do play
by play to accompany the
broadcast. I will
keep you in the loop on
this matter.
I was thinking about this
not long ago and then
somehow it came up in the
Times office last
week. Some folks know
how much I love old time
NWA and WCW wrastling
(as opposed to
wrestling). Can you
answer the following?
-Who said “I am the man
of the hour, the man with
the power, too sweet to
ever be sour”?
(Superstar Billy Graham
does not count).
-Who said “We snack
on danger and dine on
death”?
-What manager always
said following an
interview “It has been a
pleasure, naturally yours”?
-The gimme now, “To be
the man, you gotta beat the
man!”
-Not a quote but, name the
original Four Horsemen.
Burton Kemp
Sports Editor
Continuing with the first
year of football, uniforms
were pieced together. Jesse
Griffin, whose father was
the sheriff, had a complete
uniform, including helmet,
from Sears and Roebuck.
Those uniform pants, and
a pair belonging to Lamar
“Fatty” Fields, who had
attended Emory and had a
unifomi in his closet, served
as a pattern for mothers.
They took khaki pants and
sewed cotton, or a certain
feminine product, in them
for padding. Boys bought
high top brogans and the
shoe shop owned by George
Greene made leather, screw
on cleats for them. “The
only thing furnished for us
was the place to play and the
cold showers, most of us did
have shoulder pads,” said
Rayford Williams.
While almost everyone
ended up with a pair of
pants and an Orange and
Black sweatshirt/jersey,
there were but three helmets
for the entire team. Fields’
uniform was complete save
for a helmet. Griffin, with
his Sears special, wore one.
Hagan, the center, got one
and whoever carried the
ball got one. Naturally
the team’s trick play was
allowing someone to carry
the ball who was not wearing
a helmet. Lineman Rayford
Williams said, “The first
thing my opponent did was
to hit me in the head with
his knee.”
So they went forth, the SHS
No-Names, in search of foe.
Running from a double wing
offense and a 7-4 defense,
the team made its debut on
September 30, 1932 at the
College Field in Statesboro.
They lost to the Statesboro
Blue Devils by a 38-0
margin. It was, however,
interscholastic football.
They did pick up three first
downs, including one on
a pass. The team recorded
an 0-8 worksheet that year,
scoring but one touchdown.
Roberts Crockett scored
those lone points on October
14 in a loss to Collins. Other
opponents that season were
Claxton, Millen (home and
home), Swainsboro, ECI,
and Waynesboro.
It might be noteworthy
that every school on the
SHS schedule had been
playing football for years.
Statesboro every year since
1921, ECI and Swainsboro
every year since 1919,
Millen off and on since
1915, Waynesboro since
1914, and Claxton steady
since 1924. Only Collins,
since 1930, was fairly new
to the sport.
Home games that first
year were played at the
old fair grounds, now the
old Cail Field. “We cut
the grass with slings,” said
Bob Howard. “It was yellow
weeds with big stalks. We
lined off the field, if it got
lined off.” Rayford Williams
remembered “There were no
line markers, only out of
bounds markers.”
“It was just do the best you
can,” said Elliot Hagan. “It
is hard for anybody that
wasn’t there to imagine how
bad the times were. Thus
that was why we didn’t have
anything.” Lawton Greene
recanted in a letter “In my
mind I can see Jesse Griffin
as he hit the line hard and
was carried off the field.
But he soon recovered and
was back in the game. And
Noble Boykin with his head
back and his hair flying [no
helmet] as he tried to run
through the opposing line.”
As was the case with the
other sports at SHS during
this time period, one of
the major highlights of the
season was the road trips.
According to Bob Howard,
sometimes the team got to
one of these games the best
way they could. Always
a small boy who seldom
played, Howard recounted
getting to play the entire first
half in Swainsboro because
John C. Hollingsworth, Jim
Moore and others did not
get there until halftime.
The team did get a bus trip
to see the University of
Georgia play that season.
The bus broke down on the
way home. Cheek called
PART IV
the operator, told her the
names of all the boys, and
she called their parents and
told them they would not be
home that night.
While the Telephone
reported on October 25
that “Sylvania Hi’s football
team, no matter how weak
it may seem, has hopes of
winning games to come
with teams that are equally
as bum,” the players did
not become discouraged.
They said no one was
critical of them and that the
community stayed behind
them. The Hi-Lights of
Sylvania Hi said on October
14, “These good sports are
fighting for you, so why not
pull for them? They expect
you to boast football, to go
to their games and pull for
them with all your strength.
Go to their games and let
them know you want them
to win and are betting on
them.”
Even following a winless
season, an overflow crowd
came to the football banquet
at the White House tea room
on November 24. From
that team Elliot Hagan and
Roberts Crockett tried out
for the football team at the
University of Georgia the
following fall. “We didn’t
realize how little we really
knew about football. The
first few days, they’d pick
a team to practice, usually
we got sent to push things
around,” stated Hagan. “We
got tired of that and quit.
We joined the band, so we
still got to go to all the
games.” Hagan went on to
be elected President of the
freshman class at UGA.
John C. Hollingsworth, a
senior on the team in 1932
who did not take his exams,
was thus able to return to
play in the fall of ’33. He
received a scholarship to
play at Georgia Military
College. When he got there
he practiced a couple of
weeks and then went to
Brewton Parker Institute.
After getting kicked in the
head that first season he
played no more.
AgroupofSCHS
competitive cheerleaders
work on their routine.
Pictured are bases CeCe
Robertson (L) and
Lilly Doss (R) about to
lift Payton Lee. Jada
Dockery is the side spotter.
Kerrigan Bogart's, the back
spotter, legs are visible.
Members of the SCHS Lady Gamecock softball team are about to begin unloading a
portion of the 550 quarters of Powerade they received through a special program operated
by Food Lion. Regular customers bought the quarts at a reduced price the week of July
4, designating them for the softball team. At the end of the week Food Lion. Uniformed
members of the team will be bagging groceries on July 30 to thank the community for
their support.
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