Bishop David High School - Crosier Yearbook (Louisville, KY)

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Joy of victory and agony of defeat After being down 10-0 at the half. Joel Milliner (68), Dave Lally (20), and Opie Han-eld (10) show the ex- citement in the air as the Falcons scored the go-ahead touchdown in the 3rd quarter against Southern, With their first playoff victory behind them, the Falcons went on to the regional championship. This game featured the last two teams to go unbeaten in Jefferson County, Both teams had been upset in the season ' s final game and had eeked out narrow, overtime wins in the first round of the playoffs, BD put themselves into a hole eariy. Southern took the kickoff and marched to the BD 21, A 3rd down roughing the passer penalty gave Southern a 1st down at the Falcon 10. Three plays netted only 1 yard, so Gene Hagan came in to boot a 25-yd, field goal and give the Trojans a 3-0 lead. BD then took control and appeared to be headed for a touchdown. But as Mike Harreld threw a pass from the Southern 45, Gene Hagan stepped in front of it and raced 65 yards, untouched, to the end zone. Hagan ' s extra point gave the Trojans a big 10-0 lead with 1:11 left in the first quarter. In the 2nd quarter, BD drove to the Southern 5, before penalties moved them back to the 25. A 4th down field goal at- tempt was off target and the Falcons went into the locker room still 10 points down. It was time for the famed black and white defense to rise to the occasion and pull another one out of the fire. The fans were still confident of victory with the Comeback Kids on the field. BD kicked off to Southern and wedgebuster, Peary Wilson, took out several Trojan defenders on the play, with a flying body block. In the ensuing pile-up, Gene Hagan coughed up the ball and Jeff Dalton jumped on it at the 33. The Falcons took the ball to the 1-yard line in 6 running plays, but a 5-yd. penalty ended the threat as a 4th down pass was batted away. Deep in their own territory. Southern punted only to their 39-yd. line. Harreld threw a 19-yd. pass to Joe Milliner, and on the next play, Milliner ran it across from 3 yards out to cut the lead to 10-7. The ensu- ' Ml- Looking for running room behind Joe Milliner (28), quarterback, Opie Harreld moves upfield as Southern ' s Gene Hagan (32) and No. 50 track him down. For the second straight week BD had to come from behind to win, this time over the Southern Tro- jans 20- 10. ing kickoff was a repeat of the first one with BD coming up with the ball at the Southern 16. On third down Harreld fired a pass to Joe Milliner. The Pass was high and Milliner was only able to deflect it. But there was secondary receiver, David Burks, standing behind him. Burks caught the ball at the 5 and stood there for a few seconds wondering if the play was legal. He decided to cross the goal line just in case. The tipped pass was perfectly legal in high school football and the Falcons were in control of the game, 13-10. In the 4th quarter. Southern made one last serious effort for victory. With a num- ber of spectacular plays, they drove to the BD 12. There, a missed handoff and the Falcons ' third fumble recovery of the half, at the 15-yd. line, ended the threat. BD got its last score when Southern ' s desperation pass of 4th down failed at their own 27. From there, Harreld took the ball in on three straight quarterback keepers, cross- ing the goal line with only 34 seconds left in the game. McGrath ' s conversion gave BD a 20-10 victory over the Trojans and 46 Varsity Football

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Doing his touchdown dance, Dave Burks is con- gratulated by Chris Corder. Nash ' s pass tied the Fair- dale game with 48 seconds left and sent it into over- time. Fairdale ' s, Jeff Speedy and the Falcons ' Dave Smith (23), Greg Alvey (44), and Gary Ryan (51), converge on this fumble in the second overtime. Dave Smith recovered and the Falcons won 13-7. Helping the referee signal touchdown, Jerry Meyer stands with the ball after catching Opie Harreld ' s pass for the winning touchdown. Joe Milliner (28) watches the action. The Falcons won their first playoff game the hard way, a double-overtime, 13-7 victory over Fairdale. 113 of those. A fumble, two pass intercep- tions, and penalties stopped Falcon marches and sent the game into the locker room at halftime, deadlocked with neither team scoring. The trend continued in the 3rd quarter and the game appeared headed for over- time when both teams missed field goals. But with 1:08 remaining in the game, Fair- dale ' s quarterback, Jeff Speedy, spotted Jeff Carter all alone on the BD 35 and hit him with a pass. Carter ran untouched to the end zone for a 53-yd. pass play and a 7-0 lead. Falcon followers were rudely awakened to the fact that their team was about to be put out of the playoffs. However, one was left wondering which team had scored when he turned to the BD bleachers to see the crowd rising to cheer their team on. There was no time for panic on the part of the BD bench as they drew up a play while the teams were kick- ing off. The kick was returned to the 44 and a face mask violation moved the ball to the Fairdale 38. With only 48 seconds showing on the clock, the Falcons wasted no time. Opie Harreld pitched to Denny Nash, Jr. coming around on the reverse to the right side. Nash ran to the line of scrimmage, halted and fired a long bomb past the Fairdale defenders into the arms of David Burks who sped into the end zone. With the Falcon fans going bananas, Kavin McGrath kicked the key extra point to send the game into overtime. BDhad first possession at the Fairdale 10 but lost 11 yards in three tries and the 27-yd. field goal was to the right. All Fair- dale needed was a field goal for the victory. With a third and six. Speedy rolled right and headed for the end zone. He was finally stopped at the two, but from the dif- ficult angle, on the right side of the field, Fairdale missed the field goal, giving BD new life. BD drew first blood with Jerry Meyer making a super catch on a 6-yard pass by Harreld. The extra point was to the right, so all the Bulldogs needed was a touchdown and a conversion for the vic- tory. But on 3rd down, the ball popped loose and defensive back, Dave Smith, pounced on it to give the Falcons their first playoff victory, a 13-7 double overtime thriller over Fairdale. In this game they rightfully were tagged with the nickname of Cardiac Falcons . Varsity Football 45

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After his 76yd. touchdown run, Joe Milliner is con- gratulated by Opie Harreld. It moved the Falcons within 1 point of Trinity at 14-13. and caused blizzard-like conditions. It was nearly impossible to play football, yet the two teams lined up to give it their best shot. Trinity won the decisive coin toss and, by kicking off with the wind at their backs, were able to keep the Falcons deep in their own territory the entire first quarter. Trinity scored the first two times they had the ball and appeared ready to blow BD out, However, remembering the comebacks of the three previous weeks, the Falcons regrouped to try it again. In the 2nd quarter, Denny Nash, Jr, punted from his own 32, Trinity misplayed the kick and the Falcons ' Kavin McGrath recovered at the one. From there, Joe Milliner ran it over on second down and McGrath ' s conversion cut the lead to 14-7. The Falcons received the 2nd-half kickoff. On the third play, Opie Harreld was hit by several Trinity defenders, but as he was go- ing down, he turned and pitched the ball to Joe Milliner, who sped 76 yards for the touchdown, to cut the lead to 14-13, Gaining no yardage at all. Trinity ' s Greg McGuire is stopped cold by Dave Brcitmeyer (26) and Greg Alvey (44). Even losing this one, the Falcons were the only team to beat the Rocks during regular season, set up the crucial rematch with Trinity for the Jefferson County championship. The Falcons were only one step away from the elusive state championship game. The rematch between the state ' s top powers promised to be one of the top games of the year. Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate. Snow was fall- ing and 20-mile per hour winds dropped the wind-chill factor to below zero degrees. Dejected and heartbroken, senior end, Donnie Mingus, walks off the field through the blowing snow on that cold and windy night the Rocks upset the Falcons 21-13. Late in the 3rd quarter, a Falcon fumble at their own 36 set up Trinity ' s last score, John Quillin scored from four yards out to give the Shamrocks a 21-13 lead on the last play of the 3rd quarter. In the 4th quar- ter, BD made a gallant effort to come back, but there was little they could do in the fierce cold. Strong winds prevented the Falcons from using their big pass plays that had rescued them in earlier games. As the final seconds ticked off the clock, there was nothing BD could do to keep their best season yet, going. The final 21-13 score ended their season and allowed Trinity to go to the next game on their way to the State title. The 1977 season was the best ever for the Falcons, Highlights included snapping Trinity ' s 22-game winning streak. Coach Nash ' s 100th victory at Bishop David, the team ' s first playoff victory, and the most wins in a season in the School ' s history. Along the way, the team picked up nicknames of Cardiac Falcons, Comeback Kids, and the Never-Say-Die Falcons, as they displayed the Bishop David spirit on and off the field, Varsity Football 47