Halifax County High School - Haliscope Yearbook (South Boston, VA)

Page 21 text:

While keeping his hands warm during a cold conference, quarterback O. C. Hailey listens to instructions from head coach Coleman Starnes during the E. C. Glass game. On picture-taking day just before the season’s opener, even the coaches line up for a picture. They are Ron Ramsey, Coleman Starnes, Bill Vanney. As the Highland Springs game slowly rambles on, quarterback Hailey winces as halfback Clyde Testerman is stopped at the line of scrimmage. Varsity Football 17

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Young team racks up 5-5 season ' After those first wins, I thought we might be contenders. ' Only seven seniors on a 44-man squad meant a lot of young inexperienced players had to carry the ball for the Blue Comet football squad. At times they performed well; sometimes, though, they stubbed their toes. The Comets started practice in mid- August and the two-week training camp at Camp Pickett was tougher than ever before. The stubborn gridders had some¬ thing to prove to the public. Actually, the public did not give the Comets much hope for they called the ’72 season a “rebuilding year.” But the team wanted a winning season and they worked hard to get it. Practices were long and tough and some players could not take the punishment and quit, but the ones that stuck it out molded into a hard-nosed team. The first game found the Comets in Roxboro facing the always-tough Person County in the season’s opener. Hard pre¬ season practices paid off as they psyched- up Comets tore Person County, 22-8. With victory stars in their eyes and in optimistic sight of a winning season, the Comets roared over Parkview, 28-0. ft Varsity Football 1972 Season’s Record: 5-5 HCSH 22 Person County 8 HCSH 28 Parkview 0 HCSH 0 E.C. Glass 25 HCSH 28 Highland Springs 7 HCSH 6 Cave Spring 12 HCSH 20 Amherst 12 HCSH 59 Bluestone 0 HCSH 22 Martinsville 23 HCSH 8 George Washington 27 HCSH 6 Armstrong 21 Plowing toward the goal line in the early going of the Martinsville game, All Regional Russell Puckett (82) carries two defenders with him for a short gain. 16 Varsity Football

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But darkness fell on the Comets as the soon-to-be Western District champions E. C. Glass trounced the Comets 25-0 in their third game. All was not lost as the determined gridders started to climb out of the slump by swamping the un¬ beaten, unscored upon, Highland Spring Springers, 28-7. This big win sent the Comets and their fans on an enthusiastic binge. Then the psyched-Up Comets became psyched-out as they fell to Cave Springs in a rainy, muddy Homecoming game. The unexpected, 12-6 defeat dimmed the public hope for a winning season. Determined more than ever to prove themselves, the Big Blue hit the road and dominated Amherst 20-12. The Amherst victory boosted the team’s spirits and there was no competition as the Big Blue completely swamped Bluestone 59-0. Everything sparkled now for the Big Blue as they ventured to Martinsville to face the Bulldogs. The Comets lost a heart- breaker in the final seconds, 23-22. This loss seemed to take the starch out of the Comets and they played lack¬ luster ball for the rest of the season, losing to arch-rival GW and a new¬ comer on the schedule, Armstrong. Big win sends fans on binge ' After we beat Highland Springs, I thought we were well on our way. ' Varsity football squad: (Front row) Wayne Clayborne, Avon Traynham, Ronald Clayborne, Eddie Hughes, Robert Ferguson, Clarence Lee, William Carrington, Stafford Curtis, Bill Harris (Second row) Rafael Alegre, David Smith, Heath Poole, O.C. Hailey, Dwight Smith, Joe Clark, Harold Green, Ted Jones, Wi lfred Stanfield (Third row) John Brandon, manager, Dale Tooley, Bob Fleig, Jerry Saunders, Clyde Testerman, Rex Puryear, Mickey Puryear. Paul Torian, Clinton Davis (Fourth row) Ricky Jones, manager, Randy Adkins, Woody Bane, Don Thaxton, Les Powell, Robert Bouldin, Herman Thaxton, Earl Royster, Earl Wilkins (Fifth row) Chico Gee, manager, Russell Puckett, James Brame, Perry Faulkner, Cecil Talley, Billy Burton, Jeff Wallace, Irving Duncan, Tommy Ross (back row) Ron Ramsey, assistant coach, Coleman Starnes, head coach, Bill Vanney, assistant coach. Summer fat melts away when the coaches run gridders in hot preseason practices. 18 Varsity Football