The Lindsay Leopards began the 1971 season in usual fashion by beating Purcell, 21-6. As a matter of fact, the Leopards had lost to Purcell only twice during the 1960's, a 22-0 loss in 1960 and a 19-0 loss in 1969. The Purcell Dragons had become somewhat of a "punching bag" for Lindsay, and it would be several more years before the Dragons would end Lindsay's dominance.
The Leopards then tied Yukon in the season's second game and beat Crooked Oak, 44-0, in the third game. Lindsay beat Marlow, 14-6, for their first District 2A-3 win in 1971, thrashed Dunjee, 59-12, beat Comanche, 14-0, before losing to El Reno, 26-0, in the season's seventh game. Lindsay then beat Western Heights, 39-0, setting the stage in the showdown with the Pauls Valley Panthers, the last District 2A-3 game. This game was for "all the marbles" as to whether the Leopards or the Panthers would go on to the Class 2A playoffs. An article in the Daily Oklahoman leading up to the game recounted on November 2, 1971:
A LOT'S AT STAKE IN NO. 1 PREP GAME
Pauls Valley to Host Lindsay
The question of who's got the best team in District 2A-3 and possibly even in Class 2A will be answered Friday night when Lindsay travels to Pauls Valley for the No. 1 high school football game of the week. Pauls Valley is currently the No. 1 ranked team in Class 2A, owning a 7-0-1 record, while Lindsay, the defending 2A-3 champion and the 1970 2A state runner-up, is rated third with a showing of 6-1-1 thus far this season. Both clubs stand 4-0 in the district standings so the winner of the Pauls Valley-Lindsay clash will be making a trip to the state play-offs.
Post-season play is nothing new to the Leopards, who have made the playoffs the last four years and eight out of the last nine. Lindsay has four state championships to its credit since 1955.
Pauls Valley, on the other hand, has never been in the playoffs despite having some of the state's outstanding teams. The Panthers have always had the misfortune of being in a district with another great team. For the last four years, that team has been Lindsay. (So, Purcell and Marlow weren't the only teams being dominated by Lindsay at this time.)
In the same Daily Oklahoman article, Lynn Garnand reported in a harbinger of things to come: Watonga will be after its eighth straight trip to the playoffs when it invades Kingfisher. The Eagles can win the 2A-1 crown outright while Kingfisher can still earn a tie...
So Lindsay played Pauls Valley on December 6, 1971, and on December 8, 1971, Lynn Garnand of The Daily Oklahoman reported:
Lindsay's Through Playing Second Fiddle, It's No. 1
The Lindsay Leopards, after playing second fiddle to Pauls Valley most of the season, take over the No. 1 post in class 2A in The Daily Oklahoman's weekly football ratings following a 17-14 victory over the previously top-ranked Panthers. The move upward by Lindsay in 2A is the only change among its No. 1 teams...
The No. 1 position is nothing new to coach Joe Tunnel's Leopards. They held down the top spot all season in 1970 and have been in the Top Ten all of this year. The win over Pauls Valley earned Lindsay the District 2A-3 championship and gives the Leopards their fifth straight ticket to the state playoffs, where they made the finals a year ago.
The loss was a bitter one for Pauls Valley, which was the pre-season pick in 2A. The Panthers had carved out a 7-0-1 record against some tough opponents before running into the Lindsay powerhouse...
The Class 2A rankings after the Lindsay win were: 1-Lindsay, 2-Seminole, 3-Sallisaw, 4-Pauls Valley, 5-Atoka, 6-Watonga, 7-Jenks, 8-Elk City, 9-Stigler, 10-Wagoner
The Leopards went on to crush Wynnewood, 35-0, in the season's tenth game, which was a non-district opponent - and a warm-up for the state playoffs. Lindsay was to face Seminole in the first playoff game and it would be a showdown of the state's two top-ranked teams. The Lindsay Leopards, ranked No. 1, played the Seminole Chieftains, ranked second, on November 18,1971. On November 20, Lynn Garnand of The Daily Oklahoman reported:
Lindsay Breezes, 18-0
LINDSAY -- Lindsay, throwing away its ground attack for a passing game, went to the airways to destroy Seminole, 18-0, and earned the Leopards a berth in the Class-2A semifinals Friday night at Burford Field. The Leopards came to the game ranked No. 1 in Class-2A and Seminole No. 2, but after the first six minutes it was clear that Lindsay would dominate the contest.
The triumph was a mile-stone not only in Lindsay's historic football background but it was a big one for the Leopards coach Joe Tunnell, who recorded his 100th career win. Lindsay, never know in the past for its passing game, set up both of its touchdowns on aerials and wound up completing six of 12, all in the first half.
Scott Rose, the Leopards' hard running tailback, did the best he could against against a vastly- heftier Seminole line (anyone remember Chez Evans, Seminole's 300+ pound tackle?) and scored both of Lindsay's touchdowns while picking up 51 yards on 13 carries.
Lindsay, the 1970 Class 2A state runnerup, will now take a 9-1-1 record into the semifinals while Seminole closes out its finest season in several years at 8-2-1.
Lindsay, its lighter but quicker line opening just enough holes to allow the Leopard backs through, moved 51 yards to a touchdown the second time it had the ball. The scoring march required nine plays, the big gainer a 20 yard pass from quarterback Tony Cruse to tight end Steve Ford.
Ford made a fantastic, leaping catch at the sidelines and fell out of bounds at the two. Rose went over on the next play and Bobby Bruner kicked the extra point with 4:33 remaining in the first quarter. Lindsay made it 10-0 almost 12 minutes later when Kyle Lackey booted a 20-yard field goal. The Leopards had driven from their own 45 to the Seminole seven but were thrown back on two successive plays to force Lindsay to try for the three-pointer.
The victors were not to be denied on their next series, however, moving 52 yards in seven plays with Rose pushing across from the one. Most of the yardage came through the air on passes of 19 and 9 yards to Cliff Krcha, and a 13-yarder to Ronnie Clements. The latter toss carried to the one to set up Rose's second score. On the conversion, Lindsay lined up for the kick but Cruse saw the right side open and ran it in for two points and an 18-0 lead. That was all the scoring as Lindsay settled down to a defensive game in the second half.
The Leopards held Seminole to 21 yards total offense in the first half, preventing the Chieftains from making a first down until midway in the third quarter. Lackey, a linebacker, proved he was not only a kicker but also an outstanding defensive player as he led Lindsay in tackles. He got lots of help from Ronnie Clements, Brent Clements, Bruce Condit and Mark Newey.
Seminole, which could only make it to the Leopard 47 in the first half, finally got its offense going in the second half, but still only made one serious scoring threat. That carried to the Lindsay 13 late in the game but the Leopards stiffened to preserve the shutout.
The Lindsay Leopards had posted six shutouts of the 11 total games played through the state quarterfinals. Their defense was considered extraordinary with several returning starters from the 1970 team, and a few additonal players who were hungry for a championship. Those defensive stalwarts included not only Kyle Lackey, Doug Baker, Brent Clements and Scott Rose profiled in the 1970 Legends, but Steve Allen, Ronnie Clements, Bruce Condit, Rick Billingsley, Tony Wilson and Mark Newey.
While I don't stay in regular contact with many of these former Leopards, I know that Ronnie Clements went on to play football at East Central University in Ada; Bruce Condit signed with Abilene Christian University in Abilene, Texas, but due to an injury, played only one year. Bruce transferred to Central State University where he graduated, before teaching "speech" at OSU as a graduate student, where I had his class as a freshman; Mark Newey went on to graduate from Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences College of Osteopathic Medicine and became a Doctor of Osteopathic Manipulative Therapy and family medicine in Healdton, Oklahoma. Mark also has a ranch south of Lindsay on Rush Creek and is my hay supplier.
After beating Seminole, the Leopards were to meet the Watonga Eagles in the state semi-finals in late November of 1971. The Leopards were ranked No. 1 in Class 2A, and Watonga was eighth ranked going into the game. Lindsay had just beaten the No. 2 ranked team, Seminole, in the state quarterfinals, so were expected to beat Watonga the next week. Watonga's record was 8-2-1 going into the game, while Lindsay's was 10-0-1.
I was a freshman Leopard at the time, and was thrilled to find out that we would would be allowed to travel with the real Leopards to the game on Friday night. There was eight or nine of us that would travel by bus and be allowed to stand on the sidelines and cheer the Leopards on. I expected the Leopards would "take care of business" on Friday night, and we'd all re-live the game on the bus ride home.
Not much was written in newspapers following the semi-final game with Watonga, so what follows is my own memory of that 1971 clash:
In my mind, there were not many teams that could stand up to the Leopards. We had some of the best players in the state and maybe the most intense linebackers in Kyle Lackey, Doug Baker, Rick Billingsley (my neighbor to the south who gave me rides home from practice on some days) and company.
I, along with my freshman teammates, paced the sidelines in our street clothes as the game kicked off . As predicted, the clash with Watonga began as a defensive battle from the beginning, and stayed that way throughout. I began to get nervous along about halftime as the score was still knotted at 0-0. Our Leopards had not yet broken the scoring ice as they did a week earlier against Seminole, but I thought we soon would.
Watonga's wishbone offense (modeled after the OU Sooners' powerful wishbone) had scored over 300 points up to that game, but seemed to be stymied by the always powerful Leopard defense. Neither team could muster much offense, however, so the game remained deadlocked during the second half. The Leopards continued to fight throughout the heated battle as the clock continued to wind down.
An explanation of how a tie is broken when deciding the winner of a playoff game is now in order, as it appeared the game would end exactly as it had started - tied 0-0. As many Leopard fans may recall, the 1955 Class B state semi-finals which pitted Lindsay against Newkirk ended in a 20-20 tie. (The text of the game may be read here.) Until 1975, a playoff game which ended in a tie was decided first on the number of penetrations each team had. A "penetration" was when a team crossed its opponent's 20-yard line. If penetrations were tied at the end of the game, the number of first downs each team got was used as the tie-breaker. If the number of first downs were tied, total yardage for each team was used as the tie-breaker.
As Wayne Estes barreled across the 20-yard line during the waning moments of that 1955 semi-final game, it gave the Leopards a 3-2 advantage in penetrations and a trip to the 1955 Class B state title game. Now we return to the 1971 Class 2A semi-final game with Watonga:
During the waning moments of that Lindsay/Watonga game, the score was still knotted, 0-0, but Watonga led in penetrations, 3-2. I can't really remember if Lindsay was still driving for a score, or if Watonga had the ball as time expired, but I do remember how depressed I felt following the game. It was an awfully long bus ride home afterwards. I know it had to be even more depressing for the players and coaches who left everything "on the field".
The Lindsay Leopards were continuing to dominate the competition into the 1970's, however, and more good things would soon happen for Lindsay. Next we'll profile the 1972 Leopard Legends of the Fall (my sophomore year)...
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