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6 SEPTEMBER, 1965
The Panther
Panthers Get Ready For Big Season
The Clark College 1965 football team has high hopes for a
better season this year. Like last year the football squad consists
mostly of freshmen and sophomores with good potential and
fortitude.
Without the help of last year’s senior football players the
Panthers are somewhat handi
capped. To replace Elmer Mix
on as quarterback will be the
5’11” 165 pound junior from
LaGrange, Georgia, Dwight El
lison. Ellison has proven over
and over again to be quite capa
ble of taking over the big re
sponsibility as head quarterback.
Ellison has had two years of ex
perience and is one of the team’s
most valuable players. Ellison
is a fairly good passer but most
of his work will be done through
ground coverage.
Veteran players who will be
playing end positions on the
team are as follows: Alphonso
Richardson from St. Louis, Mis
souri. Richardson will be play
ing offensive as well as defens
ive end. Richardson is a senior
and has had four years of ex
perience. The 6’4” 205 pound
bomber should prove to be quite
an asset to the team’s victories.
Raymond Ruffin from Chi
cago, Illinois will be returning
for his third year with the Pan
thers. Ruffin from his previous
experience with the team is ex
pected to show a great deal of
action this year. Ruffin is also
playing both defensive and of
fensive end.
Robert Simmons, a 190 pound
sophomore from Brooklyn, New
York, is another good man ex
pected to total up many points
for the team.
In his second year with the
roaring Panthers is Richard Bol
ton from Atlanta, Georgia. Bol
ton with his determination and
vigor should see a great deal of
action also.
In the division of veteran
tacklers the Panthers will have
the 6’1” 212 pound senior from
Atlanta, Georgia, William Trice.
Trice is playing in the guard
position also on both offense
and defense.
Joseph Strawbridge is another
huge tackier that should throw
a great deal of power against
opposing teams. The 6’2” 225
pound senior from St. Louis,
Missouri will be another terror
ist on the rampage.
Richard Lee who will also be
playing offensive and defensive
tackle is in his second year on
Clark’s gridiron. Lee is a soph
omore from Chicago, Illinois
with good prospects for a good
season.
James Peeks of Atlanta,
Georgia will be presenting his
muscles at their best and will
surely be bull-dozing the way to
victory for the team. Peek is
a 5’11” 215 pound senior with
an enormous amount of experi
ence.
An important man for all
games is Ronald Lovings from
Chicago, Illinois. Lovings is a
sophomore with good hopes for
the future.
Veterans playing position as
guards are as follows. William
Peoples, a strong and powerful
sophomore from Birmingham,
Alabama. Peoples will see quite
a bit of action and should prove
to be a real valuable player.
Drajah Morrow from Little
Rock, Arkansas is a sophomore
who is competent in filling his
position as guard.
In the full-back position are
three very rugged as well as
hard-working stalwarts. They
will be starting in the following
order: Eugene Rhodes, a 5’10”
180 pound sophomore from Syl-
vania, Georgia. Rhodes has
demonstrated his capability of
filling the position many, many
times.
Larry Adams, a freshman
from Gary, Indiana has shown
some storming action in prac
tice and scrimmages. Adams
runs well and is expected to be
a big blaster for the team.
Another hard running full
back from Rome, Georgia is
the 186 pounder John Roberts.
Roberts has really worked hard
in practice and should build a
great deal of experience for him
self by playing in quite a few
games.
Albert C. Nevett from Bess-
mer, Alabama will be filling the
position as center. Nevett is a
6’2” 180 pound sophomore with
experience and a great deal of
confidence for helping the team
on to success.
A big threat in the running-
back position will be Wayman
Docks from Chicago, Illinois.
Docks is a 5’10” 190 pound
sophomore. Docks has reassured
the coaches as well as his team
mates, by his running and co
ordination, that all of his best
effort will be set forward in
bring victory and fame to our
oncoming winning team.
Elijah Nevett a 6’1” 185
pound senior from Bessmer,
Alabama has the running-back
position. This year should be
his most outstanding season.
Nevett will see more than
enough action and is expected
to be one of the high point men.
The freshmen this year are
overwhelming with enthusiasm
for football. They feel very sure
that they will make the great ac
complishment in bringing glory
and honor back to the “Mighty
Panthers.” Some of the out
standing freshmen are as fol
lows: In the position as guards
are Melvin Jenkins of Colum
bus. Georgia, Hayward Daniels
of Decatur, Georgia, Sam Hill
from New Orleans, Louisiana,
and Donald Lisby of Decatur,
Georgia.
Andrew Crump and James
Baskin, both of Texarkana, Ar
kansas, will have the positions
as quarter-backs. James Curb
of Clarksdale, Mississippi will
also quarter-back.
Playing position as tacklers
will be Byron Jones from New
Orleans, Louisiana, Willie Grant
from Texarkana, Arkansas, Lon
nie Malone of Rome, Georgia
and William Lavett of Atlanta,
Georgia.
There is only one freshman
end and he is Mack Gettis. Get-
tis is from Florence, South Car
olina. The same applies for the
only freshman half-back, he is
Eddie Johnson. Johnson plays
both half-back and wing-back.
The wing-backs are Ronald
McDonald of Texarkana, Ar
kansas, Matthew Shopshire of
Griffin, Georgia and Prentices
Cook from Bessmer, Alabama.
L. S. Epps, Head Coach is looking for
ward to a great season.
The center will be Jessie
Childs of Marietta, Georgia.
With the good coaching staff
the team has, there is no reason
why the Panthers are not capa
ble of a perfect season. The
head coach (Coach Epps) has
spent a great deal of extra time
working on and designing up
setting techniques.
Mr. Jesse McClardy, the de
fensive line coach, has shown
untiring efforts to bring the
team up to par.
Mr. Leroy Hambrick, back-
field coach, carefully arranges
devastating moves for the com
ing opponents.
Mr. Robert McFadden also
works diligently in developing a
masterful backfield of stone.
Mr. Elmer Mixon will aid the
quarter-backs while Mr. Curtis
Crockett will be acting as the
offensive line coach. Both Mr.
Mixon and Mr. Crockett are
previous football players of
Clark College.
With the support and cheer
ing from the student body at all
games, the Panthers will be
even more inspired to bring sure
victory for the school.
Panthers to Renew
Old Acquaintance
Clark College’s Panthers will
renew football competition with
two colleges in Tennessee this
season for the first time since
the forties.
Their games this year at Lane
and Knoxville will mark the first
time the Clarkites have invaded
the state since a series with Fisk
was discontinued nearly ten
years ago.
The game with Lane—Clark’s
opener—is scheduled for Sep
tember 25 and will mark the
first time these schools have
competed against each other on
the gridiron since 1942.
The series will be renewed
against the background of a 12-
0 victory for Lane in the last
encounter twenty-three years
ago.
Three weeks later, on Octo
ber 16, the Clarkites will make
their second trip to Tennessee
for the resumption of competi
tion against Knoxville College.
Their last meeting with the Bull
dogs, in 1945, resulted in a 27-
0 victory for Clark.
Clark opened practice in early
September with a roster hard-
hit by graduation losses. The
Panthers are scheduled to play
eight games, only three of which
will be in Atlanta.
Following the opener with
Lane, they meet Fort Valley at
Griffin, Georgia, in the Textile
Classic on October 2. The
Knoxville game comes next, to
1965-66 PAHTHER LINEUP
No.
Name and Position
Ends
Ht.
Wt.
Hometown
82
Alfonzo Richardson
6-4
210
St. Louis, Mo.
86
Robert Simmons
6-3
210
Brooklyn, N. Y.
83
Richard Bolton
6-1
200
Atlanta, Ga.
84
Mack Gettis
6-3
185
Florence, S. C.
87
Raymond Ruffin
Tackles
6-0
180
Chicago, Ill.
75
Joseph Strawbridge
6-1
220
St. Louis, Mo.
76
Willie Grant
6-1
225
Texarkana, Ark.
77
Richard Lee
6-2
225
Birmingham, Ala.
79
Lonnie Malone
6-1
225
Rome, Ga.
72
Ronald Lovings
6-0
220
Chicago, Ill.
73
William Lovette
Guards
6-0
220
Atlanta, Ga.
66
James Peeks
6-1
215
Atlanta, Ga.
54
William Trice
6-0
210
Atlanta, Ga.
67
Drajah Morrow
5-11
180
Little Rock, Ark.
64
Walter Burton
6-0
200
Rochester, N. Y.
63
William Peoples
6-0
180
Birmingham, Ala.
65
Donald Lisby
6-0
180
Decatur, Ga.
60
Haywood Daniels
6-0
210
Decatur, Ga.
61
Melvin Jenkins
Centers
6-0
190
Columbus, Ga.
52
Albert Nevett
6-1
190
Bessemer, Ala.
53
Bryon Jones
6-2
220
New Orleans, La.
50
Jessie Childs
Quarter Backs
5-11
180
Smyrna, Ga.
12
Dwight Ellison
5-11
165
LaGrange, Ga.
11
James Curb
5-11
175
Clarksdale, Miss.
15
Andrew Crump
6-2
190
Texarkana, Ark.
16
James Baskin
Half Backs
5-11
165
Columbus, Ga.
22
Waymon Docks
6-0
190
Chicago, Ill.
29
Ronald McDonald
5-11
165
Texarkana, Ark.
43
Eddie Johnson
6-0
170
Greensboro, Ga.
21
Elijah Nevett
6-0
182
Bessemer, Ala.
27
Prentis Cook
6-0
180
Bessemer, Ala.
44
Clemsy Woods
6-2
190
Atlanta, Ga.
45
Matthew Shopshire
Full Backs
5-11
165
Griffin, Ga.
34
Eugene Rhodes
5-11
185
Sylvania, Ga.
32
Larry Adams
5-11
190
Gary, Ind.
33
John Roberts
6-1
190
Rome, Ga.
College President
V.
W. Henderson
Athletic Director
L. S. Epps
Head Football Coach
L. S. Epps
Head Line Coach
Assistant Line Coach
Backfield Coach
Assistant Backfield Coach ___
Sports Information Director
Student Trainer
Jesse McClardy
Curtis Crockett
. Leroy Hambrick
Robert McFaddei^
Alfred R. Johnson
Craig Morgan
Panthers to Meet Tuskegee
Clark lays a record of one loss in their last twelve homecoming
games on the line against Tuskegee on October 9. It will be the
third contest of the season for the Clarkites who played Lane in
Jackson, Tennessee on September
tile Classic" on October 2. It will
Clarkites before they move
against Knoxville College,
Knoxville, Tennessee on Octo
ber 23.
Clark lost to Tuskegee 21-14
last year. Tuskegee has played
Clark twice in a homecoming
game and was tied 12-12 in
1961 and Clark won 42-0 in
1963. We look forward to win
ning this one.
“More than statistics,” says
Coach Epps, “is the question of
personal injuries, we should be
in good shape for the Tuskegee
game.”
It should be an interesting
game, because Clark will be
doing a lot of passing and run
ning.
be followed by a meeting with
Savannah State College at Sa
vannah on October 23. This will
be Clark’s only excursion away
from their S1AC rivals.
October 30 is the date for the
annual Clark-Morehouse clash
in Atlanta. Alabama State will
provide the opposition for Clark
as they play host to the Panthers
on November 13.
Homecoming for the Panthers
will be against the Golden Ti
gers of Tuskegee at Herndon
Stadium on October 9.
The Clarkites will close their
season on Thanksgiving against
Morris Brown.
25, and Ft. Valley in the “Tex-
be the first home game for the
“We have a good first unit
even though some were lost
through graduation, but in gen
eral our depth is as good or bet
ter than it was last year. If we
can go through the season with
out side-line injuries, we have
a chance for a good season.”
Homecoming
Record
Yr.
Clark
Opponent
’64
34
6
Savannah S.
'63
42
0
Tuskegee
’62
12
12
Tuskegee
’60
14
12
Alabama State
’59
28
12
Savannah S.
'58
8
12
Alabama State
’57
25
19
S. C. State
’56
13
6
Alabama State
’55
21
21
Benedict
’54
12
7
Alabama State
’53
20
9
S. C. State
’52
7
22
Xavier
’51
7
19
Fisk
’50
6
20
Xavier
’49
26
7
Fisk
’48
19
12
Xavier
’47
12
0
Morehouse
’46
Morehouse
’45
20
0
Morehouse
’44
13
0
Morehouse
’43
6
0
Morehouse
Sum
: Won
15;
Lost 4; Tied 2.;