Thomas Jefferson High School - Yellow Jacket Yearbook (Port Arthur, TX)

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C0-All-State and CHRIS BRAY Center and Linebacker A11-District Defensive Linebacker 1962 All-District Offensive Center 1963 All-State Center-1963 First Team

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1963 The 1963 football season found the Yellow Jackets starting slow and finishing with a rush. Before the season even began, the Jackets were put under pressure by high state and national rankings. The Jackets slugged past their first two foes, Bellaire and Baytown, in a methodical fashion fluctuating between brilliance and mediocrity. Pasadena and Orange came- from behind to take one-point victories on successive Fridays, and the Jackets faced the bleak possibility of losing two more games to powerful teams before district rolled around. They had a challenge to face, and face it they did as Ray and La Grange fell before a new team spirit. Each man on the field displayed a determination to erase any doubts as to the quality of the team. The Jackets, with power and finesse, ripped through a four-game district schedule to take the first 11-AAAA title in three years for Port Arthur. They found themselves underdogs to a familiar Pasadena team in bi-district, the Eagles hit the turf at Jacket Stadium with a touted offense and a tough defense. The Jackets played as they never have before, they completely dominated the game until the clock showed eight minutes left in the last quarter. Lady Luck looked the other way and stunned fans stared at the scoreboard's final 22-21 margin for Pasadena. The Jackets had lost the game but won a place in every TJ-ites heart for the courage they displayed. Not many teams can say they came with- in a thin three points of being undefeated for a season. THE 1963 PORT ARTHUR YELLOW JACKETS FIRST ROW: Claude Pardue, Terry Rozelle, David Watts, Norman Reeves, Errol Guidry, Norman Moreau, Tommy Daniels, Buddy Ball, Chris Bray, Charles Wilson, Mike Trahan, Tommy Hicks, and Jesse DeLee. SECOND ROW: Gen Methvin, Frank Messina, Jerry Malin, Skippy Sudduth, David Bonham, Steve Wells, Richard Taft, George Woodworth, Bill Scale, Eugene Pace, Dwayne Catalina, Jackie Bemard, Steve Britt, and Bill Powell. THIRD ROW: Edgar Eaton, Mike Hilliard, Wayne Nance, Ronald Chaddrick, Wayne Colichia, Chris Phillips, Byron Caston, Gary Woodard, .lim Lawson, Tommy Tucker, Roy Flores, John Hammond, Bobby Jackson, and Kent Wickware. Not pictured are Walter Sorgee, Dale Bernauer and Billy Scott. I .f 'If 5 . I f -fe- vt-fix 'xii 89 1

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