Lindsay Leopard Football

   Congratulations! to the Lindsay Leopards for finishing the football season with eleven wins and only one loss. This 2016 edition of Leopard football ranks up there will all the storied teams of the past - the 1962, 1970, 1973, 1977, and 1980 Leopard football teams. My message to this 2016 football team is this: Your memories of this season will last a lifetime. You will always remember your teammates and always have visions of events that transpired during the season. You will share them with your kids and grandkids as you go through life.
   I've only mentioned a few of the Leopard teams held in high esteem, because those are the ones familiar to me, as I went through Lindsay High School from 1972 to 1975. As a matter of fact, the Daily Oklahoman named the Lindsay Leopards as the program with the highest percentage of wins of any team in class-2A, for the decade of the seventies. The great 1970 Leopard football team entered the state finals that year with 12 wins and no losses. They were ranked first in class-2A most of the season and had shut-out five opponents that year,as they had scored 422 points while allowing only 44 during the regular season. The 1970 team boasted of great players such as Danny Simonton, Gary Cooper, Terry Henry, Billy Gibson, Danny Cunningham, Bud McGuire, Johnny Branch, and all-staters Mike Terry and Mike Flesher. I really don't like bringing up the not so great memories, but I will anyway. That 1970 Leopard team faced Nowata in the title game in December at Central State University in Edmond. The Leopards were heavy favorites and were in fact leading Nowata 12 to 0 by the end of the first quarter. In my mind, it was going to be another lopsided win by the Leopards, as I looked on as an 8th grader at Lindsay Junior High. The Ironmen of Nowata fought back, however, finally winning 14 - 12. My "football heroes" had lost the last game, much like this year's 2016 Leopards.
   The 1973 Leopards were almost identical to the 1970 team, except they relied on a ground control offense, instead of a back-breaking defense. The '73 Leopards, in the words of the Daily Oklahoman, "ground out rushing yardage the way a packing plant grinds out sausage". Once again, they ended the regular season with 10 wins against 0 losses, and ranked number one in class-2A. Like the '70 team, the '73 team had great players such as Stan Everett, Damon Clagg (6'5", 250), David Shahan, Duke Webb, Jeff Ardrey, Rick Lawson (6'6", 315), Mike Davis, and all-stater Bobby Simonton. They entered the play-offs 10-0 for the regular season, but faced another 10-0 team, the Bristow Purple Pirates in the first playoff game. Back in the seventies, only the district champs made the playoffs, so many very good football teams met during the first round. The Leopards were top-ranked, just like in 1970, but fell 9-7, so ended their campaign with a 10 wins and 1 loss record.
   The 1977 Leopards were much like their '70 and '73 brothers. They relied on a stellar defense that only allowed 6 touchdowns all year and were 10-0 when the regular season ended. The '77 Leopards also had many great players such as Joe Keith Foster, Johnny Beckham, Terry Winn, Dean Edzards, and Scott Gentry. The '77 Leopards eventually lost to another undefeated team, the Atoka Wampus Cats, to end their season - once again- with only one loss.
   So, the 2016 Lindsay Leopards are just the latest of several Leopard football teams to end the year with a single loss. They can count themselves among the elite of a long and storied tradition of gridiron legends - the tradition that IS Lindsay Leopard football.