Hamlet Football 1968

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David
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Hamlet Football 1968

Post by David »

10-23-1968OH.jpg
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Veep
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Re: Hamlet Football 1968

Post by Veep »

That 1968 Sanford team was one of the best in N.C. high school history. They had many good players and coach Gay, but their horse was Steve Jones--a great three sport 6 ft. 199 lb. athlete, who played both offense and defense on the football field. He also was the kicker/punter, and set state records in everything he did. Many a player was injured trying to tackle him and several helmets split with collisions on the field. Although Hamlet had a losing season that year, Jody and his fellow Rams did better than most against this team. Jones later finished college at Duke where he ran for over 1200 yards one season and I think that is still a record for them. I've heard that Dr. Al Covington (optometrist in Rockingham also played on that Sanford team).
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freddie hassler
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Re: Hamlet Football 1968

Post by freddie hassler »

I think this is the same Steve Jones who has a Honda dealership in Southern Pines :roll:
Jody Meacham
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Re: Hamlet Football 1968

Post by Jody Meacham »

I think the Honda dealership owner is the same Steve Jones, but not sure.

Jones played six seasons as a running back in the National Football League, most of them with the (then) St. Louis Cardinals. I did tackle him once way downfield and was fortunate my helmet did not split open.

In the 1968 game against Sanford, which was played in Hamlet, the halftime score was 56-6. That's the most points I've ever seen scored in one half of football, and you've got to take into consideration that high school quarters are only 12 minutes long, not 15. I was quarterback in the first half, but Greg Warnock played quarterback in the second half when we scored 18 points.

If I remember correctly, the first few possessions of the game went like this:
-- We kicked off to Sanford, they drove for a touchdown, 7-0.
-- Sanford kicked off to Hamlet, I fumbled the snap from center on the first play, Sanford recovered and drove for a touchdown, 14-0.
-- Sanford kicked off to Hamlet, I threw a pass to Edward Cook who went all the way for a touchdown, 14-6.
-- We kicked off to Sanford, they drove for a touchdown, 21-6 (so we've run one complete offensive play at this point and the bad guys have already scored three times).
-- Rinse and repeat. Greg may remember his scoring plays in the second half.

By the way, we finished that season 0-10 and in the last game against Rockingham, we had 13 players in uniform.
Jody Meacham
HHS Class of 1969
David
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Re: Hamlet Football 1968

Post by David »

You just can't forget bad memories.
Veep
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Re: Hamlet Football 1968

Post by Veep »

Jody,

Was that Greg, or his younger brother Doug Warnock ?
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Re: Hamlet Football 1968

Post by Jody Meacham »

Veep's right. It was Doug. I apologize because he had a great half.
Jody Meacham
HHS Class of 1969
David
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Re: Hamlet Football 1968

Post by David »

Red Ram Football 1968 a.jpg
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Red Ram Football 1968 b.jpg
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Red Ram Football 1968 c.jpg
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Jody Meacham
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Re: Hamlet Football 1968

Post by Jody Meacham »

Remember some about that game, which was my last, but don't remember how we got our touchdown. The Red Ram defender in the top picture who "vainly tries to break up the play" is me. I remember the play, and I was the only player on our team with that model of Riddell shoes.
Jody Meacham
HHS Class of 1969
freddie hassler
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Re: Hamlet Football 1968

Post by freddie hassler »

Jody, I don't remember the model of shoes we worn, but the backfield had 2 pair of low cut
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Re: Hamlet Football 1968

Post by Jody Meacham »

Freddie, I remember my freshman year when practice started in August, there was a big pile of used shoes in the middle of the dressing room underneath the gym. Everybody tried to find a pair that fit.

Mine didn't, and in the first morning practice I got huge bleeding blisters on the backs of my heels. My father went to the drugstore and got bandages and foam that he cut into doughnuts to tape over the blisters so I could go back to the afternoon practice. But I couldn't make it through the whole practice, and for the rest of the week I had to hang around barefoot in shorts while my feet healed enough to wear shoes again.

Daddy felt really bad about it, and I think guilty, too, for pressuring me to play through pain. He took me to Charlotte and paid for an expensive pair of football shoes for me. Every summer after that he took me back to Charlotte for a new pair. Meanwhile, by the time we got to my senior season, the school had thrown all those old shoes away and Coach Bishop found some money somewhere so that everybody would get a new pair of shoes at the start of the season (I think everybody had to pay something, too).

Most players by then were wearing low cut shoes and the most prevalent brand was Spot-Bilt, which had a lot of padding around the edge of the leather where your foot went in. My shoes weren't padded, but were very light and had some kind of strap around the foot that held on snugly and prevented rubbing.
Jody Meacham
HHS Class of 1969
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