The Bill Froman led Leopards of 1963 was almost a 'mirror image' of the 1962 Leopards. During their 10 game regular season - the 1963 Leopards beat Comanche 38-6, Pauls Valley 27-8 and Purcell 27-0, before facing their first tough test in Marlow and winning 20-15. The first four victories were followed by six more, including wins over Bethany 33-0, Ardmore Douglass 12-7, Sulphur 42-0, Madill 33-0, Atoka 60-8, and Wynnewood 28-0, for a spotless 10-0 regular season record.
Half-way through the regular season the Leopards stood 5-0 and an article in the Daily Oklahoman read Lindsay Clubs Bethany, 33-0: Lindsay struck for two touchdowns in the last two minutes of the first quarter and went on to smash Bethany, 33-0, here Friday night.
Jim Burger fired two scoring passes of 40 yards each to Wayne Ardrey to start the No. 1 ranked top-class B team on the way to their fifth straight victory and their 19th game in succession without a defeat...
The Leopards beat Healdton, 33-0, in the first round of the playoffs, and then faced Marlow again in the state quarterfinals. The Daily Oklahoman's Ray Soldan recounted on December 1, 1963:
Lindsay, which won Class B crowns in 1955, 1958, and last season, cleared a major hurdle by continuing its mastery of Marlow, this time by a 20-14 spread.
Lindsay has gone 26 games without losing and is heavily favored to pick up the two additional victories it needs to become the first school to pocket four Class B championships. It already is the only three-time winner.
During its streak-- marred only by a 6-6 tie with Marlow in regular season play a year ago-- Lindsay has shaded Marlow three times-- 14-8, 20-15 and 20-14.
Lindsay snapped a 14-14 deadlock Friday on a 33-yard, third-quarter run by Danny Phillips, and protected the lead with a fumble recovery and pass interception in the final period...
The Leopards beat Weatherford, 25-0, in the state semi-finals, and were to face Grove the next week for the championship. Wally Wallis of the Oklahoman wrote on December 15, 1963 following the game:
Lindsay Routs Grove, 47-0, For 'B' Crown
TULSA-- Lindsay won its fourth Class B state football championship by thrashing Grove, 47-0, Friday night in 18-degree cold at Skelly Stadium.
Quarterback Jim Burgar led the Leopards in their smashing victory by passing for three touchdowns and running for a fourth as Lindsay rolled up a total offense of 519 yards, 309 of them through the air as Burgar completed 12 of 28 aerials.
Lindsay scored with the opening kickoff, marching 63 yards in nine plays and the game was never in doubt thereafter. Only once did the Ridgerunners get beyond midfield and that came late in the third chapter when they were trailing, 31-0.
The game was played on a gridiron covered with ice. A heavy roller was used in an unsuccessful attempt to provide footing for the players who skidded, slipped and fell more often than they retained their feet.
The Leopard defense led by linebacker Danny Noles and tackle Dave King, held Grove in check throughout.The Ridgerunners got only 55 yards in total offense, 35 of them on three successful passes... Grove got only two first downs in the game to 24 for the winners.
Burgar hit halfback Gary Goodwin for ten yards for the first touchdown and hooked up pass plays of 56 and 62 to end Wayne Ardrey for counters No. 5 and No. 6 in the third quarter. The three touchdown passes gave him a total of 21 aerial scores for the season.
He capped the ten-play drive for the second touchdown with an eight-yard dash around left end. It was the 19th touchdown he had scored giving him a combined 40 air-infantry touchdowns for the season.
Fullback Mike King blasted through center for the Leopards' third touchdown and Goodwin slashed through the center on a draw play for 38 yards for the fourth touchdown.
Midway in the final chapter Lindsay's second team moved 64 yards in 12 plays for the final counter, halfback P.J. Newby scoring on a one-yard plunge.
The passing of Burgar and the receiving of the Leopards was fantastic in the conditions under which the game was played. The most spectacular play of the game was provided Lindsay with its fifth touchdown after a backfield motion penalty had nullified a 51 yard scamper into the endzone by Goodwin. Moved back to Lindsay's own 44 by the penalty, Burgar handed off to Goodwin who in turn passed back to Burgar in the right flat, Burgar retreated until Ardrey got behind the Grove defense and threw a strike...
An article by Ray Soldan of the Oklahoman recounted following the game:
... Lindsay ripped for 519 yards (210 on the ice and 309 through the air.
Senior quarterback Jim Burgar held down... a heroic spot for Lindsay. His feats included: ... The completion of three straight years of varsity quarterbacking in which his team won 36 games, lost one, tied one, took two state championships and still carries an unbroken string of 24 straight triumphs.
Jim Burgar was a starter at quarterback for the Leopards since his freshman year in 1960. He remains as the last four-year starter for Lindsay football. Charlie Heatly, an assistant coach for the Leopards during those years, told the following story about Burgar:
After four or five games into Jim Burgar's freshman year, Jim's dad visited the coaches about him getting tired of so many games. It seems he was getting worn out - having played so many games each week, as he played a JV game on Monday nights, a Jr. Hi game on Thursday nights, and the varsity game on Friday nights. In the opinion of Jim's father - three games each week was just wearing Jim down. The coaches agreed, so Jim Burgar began playing in only varsity games. Bill Froman and Charlie Heatly knew that Jr. Hi and JV seasons were almost over though, so Jim didn't miss too many games!
As a follow-up to the '63 Leopards - Dave King and Jim Burger were named all-state, with Burgar being named the state offensive player of the year in 1963. He was the second player named 'Jim' to be a 'state player of the year', the first was Jim Milhauser in 1958.
In the nine seasons from 1955 through 1963, the Leopards had won four state titles and had never lost a playoff game (16 wins). The 1964 season was soon to follow...
Wednesday, February 19, 2020
Monday, February 10, 2020
Lindsay Legends of the Fall 1962
As mentioned in the Leopard Legends of 1958, a good team could lose only one or two games during the regular season and not make the playoffs. The Leopards ended the 1955 season
14-0 state champions - and 14-0 state champions of 1958, but the 1956 Leopards ended their season
9-1, losing only to Del City - and the 1957 Leopards lost only to Ardmore Douglass and Madill, ending at 8-2.
Following the 1958 state champion Lindsay Leopards, they finished 6-3-1 in 1959 - losing to Chickasha, Ardmore Douglass, and Pauls Valley - and tied Anadarko 8-8. The 1960 Leopards ended the regular season 2 wins with 7 losses, but the 1961 Leopards won 9 games and lost only 1 game to Wynnewood - a district game, so did not make the playoffs - but seasons were once again on the rise. Lindsay's head coach from 1959 through 1964 was Bill Froman and was assisted by Charlie Heatly, a well known Leopardette basketball coach and future high school basketball hall-of-fame inductee.
Although the Leopards only won two games during the 1960 season, it marked the debut of a freshman quarterback by the name of Jimmy Burgar. He was the quarterback for the junior high football team on Thursdays, the JV team on Mondays, and the high school varsity on Friday nights, so played in three games each week. This schedule obviously took a toll on the young quarterback, so began playing in only one game a week about halfway through the season. He led the Leopards to only one loss during his sophomore year as mentioned above, and then began the 1962 season.
The Lindsay Leopards began 1962 by shutting out Comanche 25-0, Pauls Valley 17-0, and Purcell 41-0, before ending in a tie with Marlow 6-6. They continued to run the slate, ending the regular season with a 9-0-1 record (unbeaten), and then the playoffs began.
During the first round of the playoffs, the Leopards squeaked by the Wilson Eagles 14-12. Ray Soldan of the Daily Oklahoman wrote (before the second round began):
"The game which most observers feel is the key one in the class B title picture unfolds Friday night with Marlow visiting Lindsay. Each has won 10 games, most of them easily. They battled to a 6-6 tie in a head-on collision in October during a heavy rain.
Marlow swept past Hobart easily 66-0, in its first playoff test. Lindsay ran into a group of fiercely - resisting Wilson Eagles and escaped with a 14-12 verdict..."
Lindsay did play Marlow again, meeting in the state quarterfinals, and Soldan recounted on December 2, 1962:
"The big game in class B was Lindsay's 14-8 decision over Marlow before a jammed crowd of over 6,000 at Lindsay. The two teams played to a 6-6 stand-off during the regular season and wound up tied atop the class B ratings.
Marlow scored the first time it had the ball for an 8-0 lead. Lindsay pulled even in the second quarter, then won on a 47-yard drive which concluded on a one-yard plunge by Jerry Gill with 9:08 left in the game."
The class B state semi-finals pitted the Leopards against the Choctaw Yellowjackets, at Choctaw. Ron Nance of the Oklahoman wrote on December 8, 1962, after the game:
"... the Leopards moved into the finals of the Class B state playoffs with a narrow 10-6 victory over the host Yellowjackets.
The hard-fought victory was credited to the toe of Lindsay's John Fine.
Fine converted after the opening Lindsay touchdown in the initial period and turned around in the next stanza to boot a 19 yard field goal...
Bill Froman's Lindsay team will shoot for the state crown next week against Wyandotte.
The Leopards boomed ahead with 7:12 left in the first period when speedy halfback Mike Stewart turned right end, shook off two Choctaw tacklers and rambled into the end zone to complete a 24 yard scoring play.
After an exchange of punts Lindsay got rolling again, taking possession at the Choctaw 43. On a fourth down play, Fine's golden toe connected again for the field goal. Quarterback Jimmy Burgar held the ball on the 28 yard line.
Fine's outstanding performance on the ground was as beneficial to the Lindsay victory as his kicking. The 190 pound fullback gained 117 yards on 22 carries besides intercepting a Goodman pass midway through the third periods. Fine gained more than half of Lindsay's 233 yards rushing besides playing a stellar game of defense from his linebacker position."
The stage was now set for the Leopard battle against the Wyandotte Bears at Capitol Hill Stadium on December 15, 1962. The Daily Oklahoman reported:
"Lindsay's Leopards rule as they are predicted to grab off the school's third state Class B football championship Saturday night...
Wyandotte rolls into the finals against Lindsay with a 13-0 record, however, the opposition Wyandotte has met in eastern Oklahoma is not the caliber found in the central and western sections of the state.
Lindsay enters Saturday's title clash with a 12-0-1 record. The tie was a rain-splattered dead heat with Marlow. Lindsay then nudged Marlow 14-8, in the playoff quarterfinals."
On December 16, 1962 (after the game), Ray Soldan of the Daily Oklahoman reported:
"Leopards Nab 3rd State Title - Lindsay became the first school to win three state class B football championships by carving out a hard-earned 15-12 decision over Wyandotte before 3,000 Capitol Hill Stadium fans Saturday night.
Despite a glittering pre-game record of 13-0, Wyandotte was given little chance of staying close to Lindsay. But the scrapping Bears were in firm contention until a Lindsay touchdown and two-point conversion gave the Leopards a 15-6 lead with 14 minutes remaining...
Lindsay scored the first time it had possession, moving 52 yards in 10 plays after Danny Noles recovered a Wyandotte fumble. Junior quarterback Jim Burgar mixed his plays well, finally sending fullback John Fine blasting across from four yards out.
Burgar made the two longest runs of the drive, rolling out for 11 yards and dashing 12 yards on a run-pass option...
Lindsay used up a good portion of the third quarter driving 78 yards for its wrap up touchdown. The drive required 12 plays and would have taken many more except for runs of 27 and 11 yards by Jerry Gill and a 26 yard pass, Burgar to Gill...
Lindsay decided to gamble with a two-pointer at this stage and clicked on a pass from Burgar to end Wayne Ardrey, who made a scooping catch only inches off the ground. This put the game out of easy reach of the battling northeasterners.
Lindsay's always-reliable flyweight middle guard Cecil McCoy and tackles Gary Guinn and Roy Goldstron were key figures in the line battling...
The victory was a richly-deserved one for Lindsay coach Bill Froman, whose wife died just before the last regular season game after giving birth to a child. The Leopards presented Froman with a victory in that game, a district, showdown battle with Wynnewood, then protected Lindsay's record of never losing a playoff game (emphasis mine).
Lindsay has been in 12 playoff games, winning 11 and tying one. It won state titles in 1955 and 1958."
The Leopard dynasty that began in the late 1950's is evidently continuing into the 1960's. Next we'll profile the 1963 Leopards...
14-0 state champions - and 14-0 state champions of 1958, but the 1956 Leopards ended their season
9-1, losing only to Del City - and the 1957 Leopards lost only to Ardmore Douglass and Madill, ending at 8-2.
Following the 1958 state champion Lindsay Leopards, they finished 6-3-1 in 1959 - losing to Chickasha, Ardmore Douglass, and Pauls Valley - and tied Anadarko 8-8. The 1960 Leopards ended the regular season 2 wins with 7 losses, but the 1961 Leopards won 9 games and lost only 1 game to Wynnewood - a district game, so did not make the playoffs - but seasons were once again on the rise. Lindsay's head coach from 1959 through 1964 was Bill Froman and was assisted by Charlie Heatly, a well known Leopardette basketball coach and future high school basketball hall-of-fame inductee.
Although the Leopards only won two games during the 1960 season, it marked the debut of a freshman quarterback by the name of Jimmy Burgar. He was the quarterback for the junior high football team on Thursdays, the JV team on Mondays, and the high school varsity on Friday nights, so played in three games each week. This schedule obviously took a toll on the young quarterback, so began playing in only one game a week about halfway through the season. He led the Leopards to only one loss during his sophomore year as mentioned above, and then began the 1962 season.
The Lindsay Leopards began 1962 by shutting out Comanche 25-0, Pauls Valley 17-0, and Purcell 41-0, before ending in a tie with Marlow 6-6. They continued to run the slate, ending the regular season with a 9-0-1 record (unbeaten), and then the playoffs began.
During the first round of the playoffs, the Leopards squeaked by the Wilson Eagles 14-12. Ray Soldan of the Daily Oklahoman wrote (before the second round began):
"The game which most observers feel is the key one in the class B title picture unfolds Friday night with Marlow visiting Lindsay. Each has won 10 games, most of them easily. They battled to a 6-6 tie in a head-on collision in October during a heavy rain.
Marlow swept past Hobart easily 66-0, in its first playoff test. Lindsay ran into a group of fiercely - resisting Wilson Eagles and escaped with a 14-12 verdict..."
Lindsay did play Marlow again, meeting in the state quarterfinals, and Soldan recounted on December 2, 1962:
"The big game in class B was Lindsay's 14-8 decision over Marlow before a jammed crowd of over 6,000 at Lindsay. The two teams played to a 6-6 stand-off during the regular season and wound up tied atop the class B ratings.
Marlow scored the first time it had the ball for an 8-0 lead. Lindsay pulled even in the second quarter, then won on a 47-yard drive which concluded on a one-yard plunge by Jerry Gill with 9:08 left in the game."
The class B state semi-finals pitted the Leopards against the Choctaw Yellowjackets, at Choctaw. Ron Nance of the Oklahoman wrote on December 8, 1962, after the game:
"... the Leopards moved into the finals of the Class B state playoffs with a narrow 10-6 victory over the host Yellowjackets.
The hard-fought victory was credited to the toe of Lindsay's John Fine.
Fine converted after the opening Lindsay touchdown in the initial period and turned around in the next stanza to boot a 19 yard field goal...
Bill Froman's Lindsay team will shoot for the state crown next week against Wyandotte.
The Leopards boomed ahead with 7:12 left in the first period when speedy halfback Mike Stewart turned right end, shook off two Choctaw tacklers and rambled into the end zone to complete a 24 yard scoring play.
After an exchange of punts Lindsay got rolling again, taking possession at the Choctaw 43. On a fourth down play, Fine's golden toe connected again for the field goal. Quarterback Jimmy Burgar held the ball on the 28 yard line.
Fine's outstanding performance on the ground was as beneficial to the Lindsay victory as his kicking. The 190 pound fullback gained 117 yards on 22 carries besides intercepting a Goodman pass midway through the third periods. Fine gained more than half of Lindsay's 233 yards rushing besides playing a stellar game of defense from his linebacker position."
The stage was now set for the Leopard battle against the Wyandotte Bears at Capitol Hill Stadium on December 15, 1962. The Daily Oklahoman reported:
"Lindsay's Leopards rule as they are predicted to grab off the school's third state Class B football championship Saturday night...
Wyandotte rolls into the finals against Lindsay with a 13-0 record, however, the opposition Wyandotte has met in eastern Oklahoma is not the caliber found in the central and western sections of the state.
Lindsay enters Saturday's title clash with a 12-0-1 record. The tie was a rain-splattered dead heat with Marlow. Lindsay then nudged Marlow 14-8, in the playoff quarterfinals."
On December 16, 1962 (after the game), Ray Soldan of the Daily Oklahoman reported:
"Leopards Nab 3rd State Title - Lindsay became the first school to win three state class B football championships by carving out a hard-earned 15-12 decision over Wyandotte before 3,000 Capitol Hill Stadium fans Saturday night.
Despite a glittering pre-game record of 13-0, Wyandotte was given little chance of staying close to Lindsay. But the scrapping Bears were in firm contention until a Lindsay touchdown and two-point conversion gave the Leopards a 15-6 lead with 14 minutes remaining...
Lindsay scored the first time it had possession, moving 52 yards in 10 plays after Danny Noles recovered a Wyandotte fumble. Junior quarterback Jim Burgar mixed his plays well, finally sending fullback John Fine blasting across from four yards out.
Burgar made the two longest runs of the drive, rolling out for 11 yards and dashing 12 yards on a run-pass option...
Lindsay used up a good portion of the third quarter driving 78 yards for its wrap up touchdown. The drive required 12 plays and would have taken many more except for runs of 27 and 11 yards by Jerry Gill and a 26 yard pass, Burgar to Gill...
Lindsay decided to gamble with a two-pointer at this stage and clicked on a pass from Burgar to end Wayne Ardrey, who made a scooping catch only inches off the ground. This put the game out of easy reach of the battling northeasterners.
Lindsay's always-reliable flyweight middle guard Cecil McCoy and tackles Gary Guinn and Roy Goldstron were key figures in the line battling...
The victory was a richly-deserved one for Lindsay coach Bill Froman, whose wife died just before the last regular season game after giving birth to a child. The Leopards presented Froman with a victory in that game, a district, showdown battle with Wynnewood, then protected Lindsay's record of never losing a playoff game (emphasis mine).
Lindsay has been in 12 playoff games, winning 11 and tying one. It won state titles in 1955 and 1958."
The Leopard dynasty that began in the late 1950's is evidently continuing into the 1960's. Next we'll profile the 1963 Leopards...
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