Tom Turvey, head coach of the Lindsay Leopards from 1951 through 1956 ended his tenure with 45 wins and only 15 losses and the 1955 class B state championship. Lawton Carey then took over for the 1957 season in which the Leopards finished 8 wins 2 losses. Back then, only the district champion qualified for the state playoffs, so Lindsay missed the playoffs. As a matter of fact, many great high school teams would lose only one game during the regular season, but miss the playoffs because that one loss was a district game. As a matter of fact, the class B playoffs in 1958 was missing the 9-1 Ardmore Douglass football team, which was arguably the best team in classes A, B, and C - because they lost to a better district B-5 team, the Lindsay Leopards.
Vern Robertson took over from Lawton Carey in 1958, when Carey became the high school principal. In Robertson's only season he posted a 14-0 record and a class B state title. The 1958 Leopards seemed to be even more dominant than they were in 1955 as they posted seven shut-outs during the 14 game season, and three consecutive shut-outs to end the run.
In a Daily Oklahoman article on September 28, 1958, Ray Soldan wrote - Ardmore Douglass was extremely impressive in winning its 15th straight game over the weekend, a 29-6 thumping of previously unscored on- Madill.
Vern Robertson, whose Lindsay club is given the best chance of halting Douglass' drive to a second consecutive state class B title, took in the contest and came away commenting: "I sure think Ardmore deserves its No. 1 rating."
Most striking to Robertson was the speed displayed by Douglass. "I've never seen such tremendous speed on a class B ballclub. Besides that, it appears they can do most anything they want to do..."
Doyle May, sports editor of the Daily Ardmoreite, says flatly "Douglass is better than last year. I say that because Raymond Watson, Robert Thurston and Charles Johnson have improved, making the team stronger defensively."
Soldan continued - Ardmore Douglass halfback Joe Walser has designs on the state 100 yard dash title this year. He was Utah state champion as a sophomore in 1956 and was ineligible at Ardmore last year. However, he got first-rate experience last spring, running against L.C. Johnson - the state class B champion - in practice. Walser whipped Johnson most of the time.
The Leopards faced this 'all-star' Douglass team, winner of 18 straight games, the 5th game into the season. To be very blunt - Lindsay dominated Ardmore Douglass 8-0. A bunch of 'farm boys' had totally stymied the 'best team' in the state. Many Leopard fans in attendance must now liken the '58 team to the movie 'Hoosiers' - a true story about the 1954 Milan, Indiana Huskers basketball team which defeated a much more talented 'city' team for the 1954 Indiana state championship.
The eighth game of the '58 season pitted the undefeated Leopards against the 5-2 McGuinness Irish. Jim Jones of the Daily Oklahoman wrote on October 26, 1958: Lindsay's power-laden Leopards, top-rated among the state's class B football teams, roared by the McGuinness Irish, 52-16, Friday night on the McGuinness field scoring almost at will until the second-teamers took over midway in the third quarter...
Five Lindsay players figured in the scoring. Leonard Keck and Harrison Durbin each made two touchdowns and Bill Stone scored once and ran all five conversions.
The Leopards wasted no time taking the lead, making touchdowns the first two times they got the ball. Stone ripped off tackle for 15 yards with the game less than three minutes old and ran the conversion for an 8-0 advantage. Bill Henry set up the score, intercepting a Marsh pass on the McGuinness 37 and returning it to the 26...
The giant-sized Lindsay line bottled up all attempts at running the middle. Jim Mihlhauser, H.O. Estes, David Bray, and Rick Simms repeatedly tossed Irish runners for losses. Center Bill York picked up the first touchdown of his high school career running an intercepted pass.
Larry Ledbetter scored Lindsay's lone second quarter touchdown on a sneak from the one to cap a 57 yard drive in four plays.Keck's 20-yard gainer and 14 and 10 yard gains by Ledbetter set up the touchdown.
Lindsay was now 7-0 and soon to be 10-0 as the playoffs were to begin. It is important to remember that Lindsay had just as many skilled athletes as any team they faced, including Ardmore Douglass. Lindsay's top athletes were mostly in the line, however, as Douglass's were in the backfield and receivers. The Leopards had two of top players in the state and arguably the nation in linemen H.O. Estes and Jim Mihlhauser. Both Estes and Mihlhauser were listed as 1958 all-state and went on to play for the University of Oklahoma, with Estes going on to the Minnesota Vikings. Jim Mihlhauser was also named Oklahoma defensive player of the year by the Daily Oklahoman, so the Leopards did have some very big guns in their arsenal.
In their first playoff game, the Leopards destroyed Fox 60-22, followed by a 14-0 win over Hobart and a 24-0 shutout over Moore. In the class B finals of 1958, Lindsay was to play a highly regarded Grove club.
Ray Soldan of The Oklahoman recalled the championship game on December 13, 1958:
Norman, Dec.12-- Lindsay left no room for doubting that it is Oklahoma's finest class B football team by smashing Grove 36-0, Friday afternoon at Owen field in the state title game staged before a chilled crowd of 2,000.
The Leopards dominated every phase of the game, scoring in every period, striking both the ground and in the air and muffling all Grove attempts at an offense.
Lindsay wound up with 18 first downs and 471 total yards. Grove managed only one first down-- that on a 4th quarter penalty-- and 47 net yards (emphasis mine).
Leonard Keck scored three of the Lindsay touchdowns, but once again the offensive load of the Leopards was well divided.
Junior fullback Bill Stone, the only underclassman in Lindsay's starting unit, was the top ground gainer, netting 108 yards in 14 carries. Keck churned an even 100 yards in 18 tries and halfback Harrison Durbin contributed 83 yards in 16 rushes.
Quarterback Larry Ledbetter handled the aerial portion of the Lindsay attack, completing six of eight tosses for 138 yards. He batted 5 for 5 after intermission, including touchdown pegs of 72 and 18 yards.
The overpowering Lindsay line stopped Grove ballcarriers for no gain or minus yards on 16 of the Ridgerunners' 35 running plays. All hands contributed to this smothering.
Guard Jim Mihlhauser, who was a defensive regular as a freshman on Lindsay's 1955 state championship team, was the ringleader of the defense from his linebacking position. Also starring were H.O. Estes, Bill York, Homer Rinehart, Don Bridwell, Bob Mashburn, Stone and Durbin...
(Imagine how many opposing running backs felt when they looked up and saw Hodie Estes, future Viking, and Jim Mihlhauser, future defensive player of the year - backing Estes up.)
The 1958 Lindsay Leopards may have been the most dominating football team that Lindsay ever fielded. They excelled in every phase of the game-- offense, defense, special teams, whatever, but with the Leopards storied past, one or two teams would soon challenge that assumption...
To be continued with the 1962 Leopards
Wednesday, January 29, 2020
Thursday, January 16, 2020
Leopard Legends of the Fall 1955-1980
Starting with this article, I am now a "retired" superintendent of schools, so no longer writing from the desk in Blanchard. I'll continue to write columns, however, from the tractor seat (my desk on the ranch).
Many Lindsay Leopard football fans consider the quarter of a century era, from 1955 to 1980, the zenith of Leopard football. During this 26 season time span - Lindsay football teams won 234 games, 4 state titles, 3 state runner-up trophies, and were ranked No. 1 in the state during a dozen regular seasons. Lindsay had a higher winning percentage (.813) than any other class 2A team in the state during the decade of the 1970's. All four State Championship teams (1955, 1958, 1962, and 1963) were in class B, when there were only three classifications (A, B, and C) of Oklahoma high school football and around 70 teams in each class. There are nine classifications of football today - 6AI, 6AII, 5A, 4A, 3A, 2A, A, B, and C, so many consider high school football to be less competitive than it was back during the 1950's, 1960's, and 1970's. For instance, there are only 16 teams in classes 6AI and 6AII today.
Besides the four state championship teams, the 1964 Leopards played for the class A state title, and ended with 11 wins and 2 losses. The 1970 Leopards played for the class 2A state championship with 13 wins and only 1 loss, that loss coming in the championship game 14 to 12, to Nowata. The 1973 Leopards ended the regular season undefeated (10-0) and ranked number one in class 2A. They lost to Bristow 9 - 7 in the state quarterfinals. The 1980 Lindsay Leopard football team ended with 10 wins and 3 losses, but made it all the way to the finals before losing, 33-22, to Sallisaw.
With the Corona Virus Pandemic in full swing, and most high school, college and professional sports seasons in jeopardy of being postponed or cancelled, I thought it might be interesting for readers of the Lindsay News and Leopard football fans to learn the history of Lindsay Leopard football from 1955 thru 1980, the legendary years.
We'll now take a closer look at many Leopard football teams over the next several months, which arguably are the greatest Leopard Legends of the Fall - and we'll will start with the undefeated (14-0) and 1955 State Champion Lindsay Leopards:
The 1955 Leopards started the season by shutting out their first three opponents (Maysville, Marlow, and Purcell), 43-0, 28-0, and 27-0, before finally having their first close game against Del City which they beat 20 to 14. The semifinals pitted the Leopards against Newkirk, which ended in a 20 to 20 tie, but the Leopards winning the 'penetration' tiebreaker - 4 to 3. In 1955, playoff games which ended in a tie score were decided on the number of times each team had crossed their opponent's 20 yard line. Bob Dellinger of the Daily Oklahoman recounted the game winning drive in the semi-finals:
"Lindsay, Dec. 2-- In a desperate race against the clock the Lindsay Leopards drove 56 yards for the penetration which gave them a berth in the class B state finals despite a 20-20 tie with Newkirk here Friday night...
Actually it was the ball stealing tactics of Lindsay's Gene Estes which turned the tide in the home club's favor. Twice the 210 pound junior grabbed the ball away from a Newkirk runner and both times Lindsay recovered." (Bulldog Henry, the inspirational leader of the Leopards, would recover a similar game-changing fumble the next week in the finals.)
With defeat on first downs (16-11) staring them in the face, the Leopards used 12 plays to punch from their own 24 to the Newkirk 15 for the deciding margin. Halfback Wayne Estes banged over the right side for 13 yards from the Tiger 28 to send the crowd of 3,000 into hysterical joy.
The 1955 Lindsay Leopards would play Picher the next week on December 9. The Daily Oklahoman headline on December 10 read Leopard Surge Nets 14-0 Win, and Ray Soldan of the DO wrote:
Stillwater, Dec. 9-- After being soundly outplayed for three quarters, Lindsay's Leopards exploded for two fourth period touchdowns to topple Picher, here, Friday afternoon, thus nailing down the first class B football championship in the school's history.
The tide turned in the opening minutes of the final session after the Leopards had taken over on their own 35 following a Picher punt, only the second one of the game by the Gorillas. The big play was a first down screen pass from quarterback Bill Garrett to Wayne Estes, a fleet halfback.
The sudden maneuver found the Leopards with a wall of blockers formed in front of Estes on the north sideline and Estes rambled 43 yards before being hauled down on the Picher 22. A plunge into the center of the line by fullback Bruce Bullock netted four yards, then Estes bolted through the Picher left side for the final 18, benefitting from a big hole opened by Mike Spradlin and Jim Crawford. Jerome Walton added the extra point on a running play...
Ray Soldan said it best about the Leopards in the championship game - ... the Leopards were defensive demons when their backs were to the wall - and I think a great defense epitomized the whole 1955 championship season. The Leopards were coached that year by Tom Turvey and Lawton Carey. Mr. Carey later became the high school principal where he led for many years.
Many Lindsay Leopard football fans consider the quarter of a century era, from 1955 to 1980, the zenith of Leopard football. During this 26 season time span - Lindsay football teams won 234 games, 4 state titles, 3 state runner-up trophies, and were ranked No. 1 in the state during a dozen regular seasons. Lindsay had a higher winning percentage (.813) than any other class 2A team in the state during the decade of the 1970's. All four State Championship teams (1955, 1958, 1962, and 1963) were in class B, when there were only three classifications (A, B, and C) of Oklahoma high school football and around 70 teams in each class. There are nine classifications of football today - 6AI, 6AII, 5A, 4A, 3A, 2A, A, B, and C, so many consider high school football to be less competitive than it was back during the 1950's, 1960's, and 1970's. For instance, there are only 16 teams in classes 6AI and 6AII today.
Besides the four state championship teams, the 1964 Leopards played for the class A state title, and ended with 11 wins and 2 losses. The 1970 Leopards played for the class 2A state championship with 13 wins and only 1 loss, that loss coming in the championship game 14 to 12, to Nowata. The 1973 Leopards ended the regular season undefeated (10-0) and ranked number one in class 2A. They lost to Bristow 9 - 7 in the state quarterfinals. The 1980 Lindsay Leopard football team ended with 10 wins and 3 losses, but made it all the way to the finals before losing, 33-22, to Sallisaw.
With the Corona Virus Pandemic in full swing, and most high school, college and professional sports seasons in jeopardy of being postponed or cancelled, I thought it might be interesting for readers of the Lindsay News and Leopard football fans to learn the history of Lindsay Leopard football from 1955 thru 1980, the legendary years.
We'll now take a closer look at many Leopard football teams over the next several months, which arguably are the greatest Leopard Legends of the Fall - and we'll will start with the undefeated (14-0) and 1955 State Champion Lindsay Leopards:
The 1955 Leopards started the season by shutting out their first three opponents (Maysville, Marlow, and Purcell), 43-0, 28-0, and 27-0, before finally having their first close game against Del City which they beat 20 to 14. The semifinals pitted the Leopards against Newkirk, which ended in a 20 to 20 tie, but the Leopards winning the 'penetration' tiebreaker - 4 to 3. In 1955, playoff games which ended in a tie score were decided on the number of times each team had crossed their opponent's 20 yard line. Bob Dellinger of the Daily Oklahoman recounted the game winning drive in the semi-finals:
"Lindsay, Dec. 2-- In a desperate race against the clock the Lindsay Leopards drove 56 yards for the penetration which gave them a berth in the class B state finals despite a 20-20 tie with Newkirk here Friday night...
Actually it was the ball stealing tactics of Lindsay's Gene Estes which turned the tide in the home club's favor. Twice the 210 pound junior grabbed the ball away from a Newkirk runner and both times Lindsay recovered." (Bulldog Henry, the inspirational leader of the Leopards, would recover a similar game-changing fumble the next week in the finals.)
With defeat on first downs (16-11) staring them in the face, the Leopards used 12 plays to punch from their own 24 to the Newkirk 15 for the deciding margin. Halfback Wayne Estes banged over the right side for 13 yards from the Tiger 28 to send the crowd of 3,000 into hysterical joy.
The 1955 Lindsay Leopards would play Picher the next week on December 9. The Daily Oklahoman headline on December 10 read Leopard Surge Nets 14-0 Win, and Ray Soldan of the DO wrote:
Stillwater, Dec. 9-- After being soundly outplayed for three quarters, Lindsay's Leopards exploded for two fourth period touchdowns to topple Picher, here, Friday afternoon, thus nailing down the first class B football championship in the school's history.
The tide turned in the opening minutes of the final session after the Leopards had taken over on their own 35 following a Picher punt, only the second one of the game by the Gorillas. The big play was a first down screen pass from quarterback Bill Garrett to Wayne Estes, a fleet halfback.
The sudden maneuver found the Leopards with a wall of blockers formed in front of Estes on the north sideline and Estes rambled 43 yards before being hauled down on the Picher 22. A plunge into the center of the line by fullback Bruce Bullock netted four yards, then Estes bolted through the Picher left side for the final 18, benefitting from a big hole opened by Mike Spradlin and Jim Crawford. Jerome Walton added the extra point on a running play...
Ray Soldan said it best about the Leopards in the championship game - ... the Leopards were defensive demons when their backs were to the wall - and I think a great defense epitomized the whole 1955 championship season. The Leopards were coached that year by Tom Turvey and Lawton Carey. Mr. Carey later became the high school principal where he led for many years.
Sunday, January 5, 2020
Does lying about lies constitute libel and slander?
The facts: On August 12, 2019, Rebecca Wilkinson (executive director of the Statewide Virtual School Board) received a REQUEST FROM SENATOR RON SHARP via email which entailed answering several questions concerning oversight of Epic operations. On August 15 Wilkinson sent the REQUEST to Lynn Stickney, program specialist for the OSVCSB.
Senator Sharp requested the answers to several questions from Wilkinson / Oklahoma Charter School Board. For example, Sharp asked Wilkinson: "Can a student enrolled in a virtual charter school which is sponsored by the OSVCB be counted in the enrollment and subsequent attendance of a charter school not sponsored by the Oklahoma Charter School Board?" Wilkinson's answer was "No, it would create an illegal dual enrollment situation in two public schools."
On September 9, 2019, Bill Hickman (Epic's retained attorney) issued a 'Cease and Desist Demand' of Senator Sharp in which he stated "Dr. Wilkinson, the executive director of the Statewide Virtual Charter School Board ("SVCSB"), has confirmed that she has not had any discussions with you regarding Epic." Evidently, Wilkinson believes that simply answering Senator Sharp's questions regarding Epic doesn't constitute a "discussion". Many Oklahoma taxpayers believe that it does. The Epic attorney labeled many of Sharp's statements as 'lies'. Senator Sharp's initial questions referred to Epic Virtual Charter School being sponsored by the SVCSB and Epic Blended Charter Schools being sponsored by Rose State College, so Wilkinson did in fact have discussions with Senator Sharp regarding Epic. It appears as if Epic Blended Charter School, sponsored by Rose State, counted student enrollment which had already been counted by Epic Virtual School, sponsored by the SVCSB.
Hickman then went on to write: "... Exhibit B is an email from Dr. Wilkinson stating that the "SVCSB" has made no determinations regarding Epic One-on-One Charter School's enrollment practices." Becky Wilkinson is technically telling the truth, as the SVCSB has not made an official determination, but Wilkinson did make that determination (as evidenced by her answers). She didn't specifically mention Epic Blended and Epic Virtual as the schools in question, but knew the senator was referring to Epic. The question now becomes: If Epic's dual enrollment practices are indeed illegal (as Becky first indicated), why hasn't the SVCSB made such determination?
Epic has claimed that Senator Sharp has lied about the above issues, but evidence indicates otherwise. The next question becomes: Does calling someone a liar when he or she states facts, constitute libel and slander?
Senator Sharp requested the answers to several questions from Wilkinson / Oklahoma Charter School Board. For example, Sharp asked Wilkinson: "Can a student enrolled in a virtual charter school which is sponsored by the OSVCB be counted in the enrollment and subsequent attendance of a charter school not sponsored by the Oklahoma Charter School Board?" Wilkinson's answer was "No, it would create an illegal dual enrollment situation in two public schools."
On September 9, 2019, Bill Hickman (Epic's retained attorney) issued a 'Cease and Desist Demand' of Senator Sharp in which he stated "Dr. Wilkinson, the executive director of the Statewide Virtual Charter School Board ("SVCSB"), has confirmed that she has not had any discussions with you regarding Epic." Evidently, Wilkinson believes that simply answering Senator Sharp's questions regarding Epic doesn't constitute a "discussion". Many Oklahoma taxpayers believe that it does. The Epic attorney labeled many of Sharp's statements as 'lies'. Senator Sharp's initial questions referred to Epic Virtual Charter School being sponsored by the SVCSB and Epic Blended Charter Schools being sponsored by Rose State College, so Wilkinson did in fact have discussions with Senator Sharp regarding Epic. It appears as if Epic Blended Charter School, sponsored by Rose State, counted student enrollment which had already been counted by Epic Virtual School, sponsored by the SVCSB.
Hickman then went on to write: "... Exhibit B is an email from Dr. Wilkinson stating that the "SVCSB" has made no determinations regarding Epic One-on-One Charter School's enrollment practices." Becky Wilkinson is technically telling the truth, as the SVCSB has not made an official determination, but Wilkinson did make that determination (as evidenced by her answers). She didn't specifically mention Epic Blended and Epic Virtual as the schools in question, but knew the senator was referring to Epic. The question now becomes: If Epic's dual enrollment practices are indeed illegal (as Becky first indicated), why hasn't the SVCSB made such determination?
Epic has claimed that Senator Sharp has lied about the above issues, but evidence indicates otherwise. The next question becomes: Does calling someone a liar when he or she states facts, constitute libel and slander?
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