Dillon High School - Wildcat Yearbook (Dillon, SC)

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In early August, Paul Chapman got his third season under way as head coach of the Dillon Wildcats. Coach Chapman and staff-Faulkenberry, Daniels, Reeves, and Gunter-were deter- mined to make the '71-72 Wildcats a winning team that would exhibit pride in its school as well as itself. The coaches' intent was to instill the boys with a desire forthe game and get the players' best efforts. With this in mind, the first week of training got under way with vigor- ous exercises and drills. The fol- lowing week, the Wildcats jour- neyed to St. Andrews College in Laurinburg, N. C. for football camp. There the boys went through a strenuous six days of mental and physical practice. The team re- turned in good shape and had a much better understanding of foot- ball. A week before the first game, the Cats were invited to play in the annual football iamboree in Harts- ville. The Dillon team took on the auctioneers of Mullins for one quarter of play. Both teams were held scoreless, and the game ended as a tie. Lake View was the scene of the Wildcats first night out, and they showed the fans what they could do. Mickey Meekins, playing his first game as starting quarterback, completed ten passes, three of which were touchdowns. On the receiving end of two of Meekins' TD throws was the dazzling half- back Earl Goings. Fullback Willie

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A the Tough Gets Going

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ff, Crawford snagged the other scor- ing pass and Buddy Bethea's ex- cellent running attack wrapped it up with a TD in the fourth quarter. The defense led by big Bill Lighty allowed only one Gator score, and the Wildcats came out on top 27 to 6. For their first conference game, the Wildcats were bused to Dalzel in Sumter County to play Hillcrest. Earl Goings and Willie Crawford each scored a long pass thrown by Meekins. Defensively, George Russ intercepted a Hillcrest pass and went in for the tally, while lineback- er Tommy Wallace led the game in tackles. Dillon's first home game came against the much favored McClenaghan Yellow Jackets. lvleekins' arm once again proved to be the backbone of the offense with the completion of a long bomb to Sophomore Bubba Strickland who went in for the score. Earl Goings rushed for over two hundred yards and was hit with a Meekins' TD throw. Robert Locklear's defense held the strong offense of lVlcClen- aghan to limited yardage, and the entire team played one of its best games of the season. The contest ended with the Wildcats outplaying the Jackets 14 to 0. Dillon's next game was with Coach Chapman's old Alma Mater, Hartsville. The Wildcats were still riding high over their past victories, and their overconfidence cost them their first loss of the season. Earl Goings' running was just as terrific as always, but the rest of the of- fense just could not seem to get rolling. The Cats' defense played a good ball game with the exception of a few plays, but the Bed Foxes took a big advantage of these mis- takes. The final whistle sounded with Dillon getting dropped 10 to O by the Bed Foxes of Hartsville. Rained out the following Friday, a determined Dillon team traveled to Conway on Saturday night. The faithful fans, still enthused about the team, filled up the stands and gave the Wildcats the inspiration they needed. The game proved to be the most exciting with Goings leading the explosive offense with the only Dillon score. The entire Wildcat defense played a superb game and stopped the Tigers many 123