YEA! School Has Started.....

Staff Writer I was born in October of 1950, and I feel sure that Dad was keeping up with Jackrabbit Football and his office work at Southland Athletic Mfg. Co. before and after benamed ing at the hospital in Terrell as I entered this world. It just so happened that my birthdate fell upon a Friday, and more than likely, the Rabbits were playing that night.

Let’s go back to the 19491950 school year and see what was going on with football then. The 1949 JACKRABBITS began their practices on August 16. The week preceding the opening of school was spent at a “summer training camp” at a place listed in a yearbook as Crandview, Texas (I can only find a “Grandview” listed as being in Texas as I search now.)–and these carried the team through September 9. The boys then had four days of practice after school began before that special opening game with Kemp on September 16, which Forney won by a score of 35–0. Bobby Boone, Dan Hunter, and J. C. Mitchell were in the headlines for scoring, and the whole team played a good game, according to witnesses. The Jackrabbits went on to finish the season with a record of 4 wins, 4 losses, and 2 ties.

Three years later, 19521953 school year, the “Jackrabbit” logo had changed somewhat, but the school song remained the same.....”Bless this school and may it ever shine/It’s Forney High we love/It’s for her that we pine/May she grow, and grow from year to year/It’s Forney High we love so dear.”

The 1952 Forney Jackrabbits began the season by defeating a “Class A” team, Seagoville, 20–0, in a scrimmage, and the season ended with a 28–6 victory over Hallsville, to bring their record to 2 consecutive Regional Championships and 25 straight victories without a loss in two years! Most games during the season were by scores that resembled the 71–0 defeat of neighboring rival, Crandall Pirates. I would like to say I remembered these games, but at a little more than 2 years of age, I doubt I even attended any of them! Nearly every member of the team won some honor, and the Captains were Brooksy Roland, Charles Osborne, and Robert Griffin. I knew them later when they were “men,” and I was one of the “boys” of the town.

Now, by the 1955-1956 school year, I was beginning to know what things were “all about,” or so at least I thought! And I was old enough that Dad took me to a game or three. I envied the boys who were allowed by their parents to play “cup football,” but my Dad was a firm believer that the purpose of paying for and going to see a football game was to WATCH and ENJOY. I found out a little later that had Dad had his real choice, he would have “walked the sidelines” with the other “old men” of the town (He later did so.) as they cheered and critiqued the game right next to the field!

1955 Football Season–the song was still the same, but the Rabbit Logo had changed somewhat again! And, I had begun to notice the cheerleaders, majorettes, and band members much more so than I had in previous years. I couldn’t find information about the team’s record or honors, but I do remember that for the first time, I knew who some of the guys were from seeing them in town and around. I mean, what did you expect? I was 5 years old, going on 6!

I knew Sonny Compton, our neighbor and son of the oldest lady in the neighborhood– Bessie Compton (and husband, Joe)–who let David Costello and me shoot B. B. guns in her yard! Larry Shipley was the son of one of the men who worked with Dad at Southland Athletic–Luke Shipley. David Tune was the son of Nettie Tune, a funloving lady who rode to work with Dad and some of the other “sewing machine and office ladies” at Southland.

**Interesting to note, the Senior Class History, 19551956, stated that “since almost half the Senior Class is made up of students from Tripp, we came together as one class in the school year of 1952-1953. Fifty students made up our Freshman Class with Miss Leta Barkley and Mr. Lenord Donahue as our sponsors.....we ended a prosperous freshman year.”** And now we come to the 1956-1957 school year and the 1956 Jackrabbit Football Team and another ”drawing” of the mascot! I also knew some of the 1st Graders during this school year from the neighborhood and from seeing some whose folks worked in the stores of Forney.....Pat Adams, Patricia Adams, Paula Hughes, Willie Roland, Melissa Venner, Rollie Weatherford.

**Interesting to note again, the “Senior Class History” in the Jackrabbit Annual, 1956-1957, had almost the same information at the beginning. “In 1953-1954, the Senior class of 1956-1957, made up of students from Trip (probably should have been “Tripp”) and Forney, united together under the leadership of Miss Leta Barkley..... we ended a prosperous Freshman year.”** And, finally for today, let’s take a look at the 1958-1959 school year and the 1959 JACKRABBIT ANNUAL (yearbook).....and another depiction of the Rabbit mascot. I was in 2nd Grade and knew nearly every class member the first day of class–only a few “move-ins,” and I learned their names quickly….and I remember I really liked sitting by Vickie Walker and Janet Wortham and Marsha Eudy, but I did not dare tell anyone, because I would have been teased unmercifully about “LIKING” those girls!

The Jackrabbits were District “Co-Champions” that season (7-2-1), and Coach Rogers had an assistant Coach Phillips, who much later helped me get a start when I was first coaching. 50 boys began the season, but only 31 endured! The football “tri-captains” were Ronnie Vineyard, Charles Futrell, and Loyd Duckworth–and I remember that Leslie Stark (Rod’s brother) and Dennis McCuistion (saw him at the bank) and Don Montgomery (saw him at Marvin Feagin’s station) and Dickie Fisher (grocery deliverer) all knew me enough to say “hi” at town! Loyd Duckworth was the leading scorer that season, followed closely by John Boles, a neighbor of ours!

Please return next week and follow some later FOOTBALL memories through the eyes of someone who was part of it!