Stratford High School - Mnemosyne Yearbook (Houston, TX)

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. ss . , i s by .. g t ., . .. my And never gave up Ccontinued from page 113 and the Spartans recovered, but the officials ruled that the man was already down. Coach Cripps later recalled that this play broke our spirit by ending our winning streak. Next on the schedule was the Lamar Consolidated game and the Spartans shut out the Mustangs 12-0. Senior Kent Hudson scored on a six yard run midway through the second quarter and Junior Quarterback Jeff Fonden finished the scoring with a one yard run in the last quarter. The defense was led by Senior Bill Mather, linebacker, and Senior Greg Johnson, cornerback, who made a key fumble recovery at 1 12 football the Spartan one yard line. yardline. Niles scored on a one The Varsity began district yard run to make the score 27-0 play against Alief Elsik and at the half. In the third quarter, soundly beat the punchless Sherman Wilcots, junior, Rams 41-0. After a poor Elsik returned a punt 63 yards to set punt, the Spartans drove 21 up Tim Weber's second yards for the first touchdown, touchdown, a 22 yard run. Niles going over from the two Scoring was ended with an 88 yardline. Later in the first yard drive in the fourth quarter. quarter, Senior Jose Garriga Kent Hudson, senior, eluded recovered a fumble that led to a tacklers to go the final 27 yards. score by Tim Weber, junior In the fifth week of the halfback, from the six yardline. season, the Spartans took on Also, Junior fullback James Spring Woods who jumped to a Niles recorded his second 9-O lead before the half. touchdown with a 44 yard run. Spartan defense played a tough In the second quarter, a 91 yard game and held the Tigers drive began when Senior Bill scoreless in the second half, Fuentes made a fumble but the Tiger defense stopped recovery on the Spartan nine Spartan drives at the Spring Woods nine yardline to keep the final score 9-0. Against Memorial, the Spartan defense also played a good game, holding the playol bound Mustangs to only 12 points, but those 12 points wer enough and the final score wa Mustangs 12 - Spartans 0. Alief Hastings was next in a game controlled by passing. Quarterback Jeff Fonden and company completed six passe for 178 yards. After the Bears leaped ahead 13-0, David Stone, senior, intercepted a pass at the Bear 42 yardline. This was quickly turned into score as Kent Hudson crashea over from the two yardline. In

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They kept on trying Varsity football finished up he season with a 3-7 overall 'ecord and 1-6 in district play, iespite being picked by sports rvriters to repeat as state zhamps. We felt we had a good team and we still do. Our kids never quit. We couldn't wait to get started, to defend the state shampionship. We've always said that it didn't matter what rou did the year before, that each year is a new year and you 'each as high as you can aossibly reach. Coach Oscar Sripps said in summation. Starting their '79 campaign Nith a convincing 27-7 win over Dort Neches Groves, which Coach Crlpps referred to as tone of the best games ever played by a Stratford team. In this season opener Junior Fullback James Niles rushed for 115 yards and a touchdown, and Junior Halfback Kyle Crow scored on a 24 yard run in the first half. Jr. Quarterback Jeff Fondon threw two touchdown passes: one to Senior Tight End Bill Earthman and another to Junior Split End Scott Rawlins, Vith a look of determination on his ace Jeff Fonden C151 gains substan- ial yardage against the Lamar Mus- angs, who were defeated 12-0. il- as well as a two point described the game, They got at halftime. A scoreless third conversion to Eathman to wrap so far ahead of us and then our period was followed by another up the twentieth consecutive offense rallied. The defense got Bulldog touchdown. victory for the Spartan team. the game back together and Kyle Crow, junior halfback, The following game against played a good second half. led a furious fourth quarter LaPorte was considered one of Basically it was their game the comeback scoring on runs of the toughest with LaPorte first half, and our game the SiX and two yards, and running ranked 111 in Greater Houston second half. in 2 point conversions after by The Chronicle while The Bulldogs jumped ahead each, Cutting the LaPorte lead Stratford was chosen for the 20-0 before Senior Kent to 26-23 with 5:02 remaining. top position by the Post. Hudson pushed through from On the ensuing kickoff, the Junior fullback Barry Bittner the two yard line to make if 20-7 LaPorte return man fumbled Ccontinued on page 1123 fl football 1

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While Junior Kyle Crow 5271, kicks a successful extra point, Senior Kent Hudson 5441, blocks his opponent during the Port Neches game. Against Northbrook, Butch Demeir 55 71, prepares to make a tackle. .Q f .45 5,0114 Throwing a block against the indians Senior Kent Hudson 5441, clears the way during the Port Neches game. ihlq the second half, Scott Rawlings, junior split end, completed a halfback pass to Bill Earthman, and caught a 52 yard halfback pass from Kyle Crow. Jeff Fonden also hit Earthman with a 61 yard pass, however, the Spartans fell 20-6. Against Spring Branch, despite 144 yards passing, the Spartans fell to a five touchdown performance by an all-district back Mike Luck and lost 56-0. ln the first half against the Raiders, Northbrook led 7-0, but in the third period Spartans drove 53 yards before Kent Hudson took a pitch and scored on fourth down. The defense, led by Senior Butch Diemer, held the Raiders, yet they scored with 43 seconds left in the game to squeeze by the Spartans 14-7. Defense was the ruling force in the Westchester game which wrapped up the season. The Wildcats scored twice in the first half, but the Spartan defense held them scoreless in the second half. The resulting final was Wildcats 14 - Spartans 0. Senior Bill Earthman summed up the season by saying, lt was pretty disappointing. We had some good times and we had some bad times. We sorta lost our spirit, but we learned a lot from it. Plunging toward the Port Neches goal, Junior Halfback James Niles gains yardage against the Indians. Junior Quarterback Jett Fonden 5 751, runs with the ball during the Port Neches game, ending in a 27-7 vic- tory tor the Spartans. X With arms extended high the refer- ees signal a touchdown by Senior Kent Hudson 5441 in the Lamar game. Following an injury to Junior Sher- man VWlcots 591, trainer Charlie Henry helps him off the field. ull .