The Team the Titans Remember: The 1971 Andrew Lewis High School Football Team: The Final Link to a Lasting Legacy

By Mark A. O'Connell

In 2000, Walt Disney Pictures released the film Remember the Titans which stirred the hearts of many but falsely depicted the Titans of T.C. Williams playing their arch-rival, George C. Marshall, in a nail-biter of a championship football game decided on the last play in a place called Roanoke Stadium. Wrong! The Titans played a small and scrappy bunch of players from Salem known as the Wolverines of Andrew Lewis High in the historic Victory Stadium of Roanoke. Salem native Mark A. O’Connell sets the record straight for all time in this book which tells the true story of the championship game and also links the 1971 Andrew Lewis High “Wolverines” to a lasting-legacy which had begun in 1962 under legendary head Coach Eddie Joyce. Now you can read the true—and unaltered—story. *** Now this from Coach Foster: Andrew Lewis, a small southwest Virginia school located in Salem and nicknamed the Wolverines, played—and won—against some of the largest schools in Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina and Tennessee. Today, these schools would be classified in Virginia as 6A, the largest of all six classifications. During the 1971 season, Andrew Lewis played 7 schools that had student enrollments over 2,000 while Lewis’s enrollment was only 975 students. Lewis was 12-1 that year, its only loss to T.C. Williams (Remember the Titans Game) which had an enrollment of 5,000 students. Between 1962 and 1971, Andrew Lewis won 2 state championships (‘62,’64) and was runner-up 3 times (‘66,’67 and ‘71) as a member of the largest classification in Virginia. Over that span of time—considered as “the best years of Coach Joyce”—the Wolverines compiled a record of 88 wins, 15 losses and 2 ties—Dale Foster.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Page Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Oct 31, 2017
• ISBN: 9781640274617

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The Team the

Titans Remember

The 1971 Andrew Lewis High School Football Team: The Final Link to a Lasting Legacy

Mark A. O’Connell

with a foreword by Carey Casey

Copyright © 2017 Mark A. O’Connell

All rights reserved

First Edition

PAGE PUBLISHING, INC.

New York, NY

First originally published by Page Publishing, Inc. 2017

ISBN 978-1-64027-460-0 (Paperback)

ISBN 978-1-64027-459-4 (Hard Cover)

ISBN 978-1-64027-461-7 (Digital)

Printed in the United States of America

Foreword

Carey Casey

As a boy growing up in Salem, Virginia, I was like most boys in the area: we all wanted to go to Andrew Lewis High and play football for Coach Eddie Joyce. We all knew he was a winner, a great coach, and a legend, and he had great respect around town. In fact, at one time, he was the school’s head football coach, athletic director, and assistant principal and also mayor of the city.

That’s what I thought until a few days during my sophomore year when, I must say, I lost my mind. I was gaining a little bit of recognition for my talent, and I started thinking more highly of myself than I should have. I was becoming a pretty good player. But evidently, Coach Joyce didn’t view my talent in quite the same way, so I wasn’t playing as much as I thought I should.

It didn’t help that some of my friends at the time, also African American, had my ear and were fueling my pride. They tried to paint the situation as something much more than it was. When they heard me complaining about not having more of a significant role on the team, they told me, You don’t have to play for that racist coach, Carey.

I will never forget how I took that same attitude home that evening and told my dad that I didn’t need to put up with being treated like I was and that I was quitting the team. As usual, my father didn’t get too excited or let my puffed-up attitude ruffle his feathers. He just sat there in his chair and told me, in a firm but soft-spoken voice, Well, son, that would be a big mistake. Coach Joyce is the winningest coach in the state. He will win with or without you. The truth is, son, you need the team more than the team needs you. In fact, one of my dad’s favorite sayings was, If you are going to lead the orchestra, you have to turn your back to the crowd. Son, you have to listen to the right voices.

My pop humbled and enlightened me, as he so often did. He knew that Coach Joyce had strong knowledge and discernment as a leader. He knew what he was doing in order to produce consistent winning teams. I’m so glad I kept playing for the Wolverines. During those next few years, I became a much better player and a better person, and most of that was due to Coach Joyce building an atmosphere of teamwork and excellence. Sometimes he tested or even put a healthy fear in us as players, but it was all about helping us grow individually and as a team.

Today I am definitely proud to have had this connection to a great coach, football program, and high school. I am humbled to be asked to try and capture on the printed page what I and many other players—as well as coaches, managers, parents, and community members—know and feel.

As you can probably tell already, I believe much of the credit for the good things that happened with the Wolverines goes to Coach Joyce. He was innovative and creative in the way he disciplined his teams and prepared us mentally, physically, and even spiritually. He knew how to take raw talent (and sometimes very little talent) and create winners. In fact, his son, Eddie Jr., was one of the greatest high school quarterbacks to ever play the game. As you read this book, you will understand that what he did with our team, other programs throughout the Roanoke Valley, and the state of Virginia was a model for others to emulate. I know I speak for more people than myself when I say he made a huge difference for us—not only on the scoreboard but also in our lives for many years to come.

I can still remember standing on the field, waiting to return a punt or a kickoff. Despite all the other noise in the stands, Coach’s voice stood out. He’d say, Run one back for us, Carey. And because of the respect he’d earned in my life, his words gave me great confidence. I would do everything in my power to play my position and help the team win.

I believe two of the traditions that Coach Joyce established became pivotal in my life. First, I fondly remember Dad’s Night each year, when fathers—or sometimes uncles, grandfathers, or other father figures—were announced and they would run out onto the field with their player. One year my brother Corwin and I were both playing, so my pop had both of our numbers (76 and 31) pinned to his shirt as he ran out with us. That was a nice tradition for our family, and it clearly showed me that Coach was about investing in young men beyond the Xs and Os of football.

The second tradition that sticks out for me was when Coach would take the entire team to a church service each Friday before home games. It was a different church and denomination each time, and if I remember correctly, we had to be there or else we couldn’t play in the game that week. I think that, by exposing us to wisdom from all those different pastors, Coach was helping us broaden our horizons and gain respect for people who think differently than we do. I needed that for sure when I was asked to be an English-speaking chaplain for the 1988 Olympic games in Seoul, South Korea. Those two experiences influenced me greatly. I am sure my Wolverine teammates could also share their memories of how Coach Joyce created this atmosphere of excellence.

Through all those interactions, football in Salem was used as a unifying factor to help bring people and families together—even people of different races and economic situations. Coach Joyce created a culture where we really grew to love and depend on each other. It was realized and witnessed forty-five years later, when many of us returned for the Remember the Wolverines reunion at the first game of the season of Salem High School in the late summer of 2016, to renew those relationships and reminisce about old times. We will also forever be grateful for our wonderful assistant coaches, such as Dale Foster, who was the catalyst in bringing the reunion to fruition, along with Deke Summers, Mike Stevens, Danny Wheeling, and Bill Winter.

It was so exciting as our team, the Wolverines, and the TC Williams Titans, along with Coach Herman Boone and some of his great players, Julius Campbell and others, reunited.

Coach Joyce and Wolverine football influenced many in some fantastic ways, and I know that is also true for thousands more in the Roanoke Valley and the whole state of Virginia. I know many of you reading this have memories that you cherish related to this. It may have been love at first sight football program. In this book, written by my friend Mark O’Connell, you’ll be fascinated to relive some of those stories about Coach, our heroes on the teams through the years, and other regular people who have made this place so special.

To the memory of Coach Eddie Joyce and to everyone who still remembers the sound of the cleats

Acknowledgments

A project of this undertaking required the assistance of numerous people, without whom it would not have been possible to complete. Interviewing players from the teams that spanned from 1960 to 1971 enabled the recreation of the past. As for the many game stories that spanned that length of time, it would not have been possible to have recreated the history without the reliance upon the many sportswriters of that time. I extend special thanks to every one of them. Their stories are, I believe, appropriately referenced, cited, and credited.

The journey through time was an incredible adventure. I cannot possibly count the number of people who were willing to help, nor calculate what an education I received from the interviews with the former players and coaches and from extensive research. I must extend special thanks to my daughter, Bekah O’Connell, who became the research specialist in this project about four months into the process. Her diligence and devotion to duty freed me to conduct interviews and concentrate on the writing itself.

Some of the people who assisted in making this project a success may not have played on the Andrew Lewis football teams but are alumni of the school and have had an ongoing interest in the success of Salem’s sports programs. And then there are those who, by virtue of their employment or friendship, have relationships with some of the players and a secondary knowledge of the team’s and school’s history. Further, in an effort to maintain objective journalism, I sought the perspective and input from some of the players who played for T. C. Williams High School and the coach of the ’71 Titans, Herman Boone.

The journey officially began in January of 2016.

Gary Walthall, Andrew Lewis High School class of 1968, is the current vice president of the Salem/Roanoke Valley Baseball Hall of Fame. He paved the way for me to call Charlie Hammersley, the current president of the organization and former three-sport star at Andrew Lewis. Both Walthall and Hammersley were members of the school’s 1968 state champion basketball team.

Charlie Hammersley, true to Mr. Walthall’s report, was my key initial contact in this project. After a very informative interview, he recommended that I next meet with Dale Foster and then with Billy Miles. Charlie made himself available throughout this process to assist in the completion of this book.

Dorothy Housman, who is employed by Dr. Grant G Sprinkle, assisted in getting me in contact with Dr. Sprinkle. She persevered and did so always with kindness.

Cathy Montgomery, the bookkeeper at Andrew Lewis Middle School, assisted in my efforts to locate yearbooks for their review and use. Like Ms. Housman, she is the consummate professional.

Mrs. Sherry McGuire, the librarian at Andrew Lewis Middle School, encouraged me to come to the school and help myself to the yearbooks.

Tony Wirt graduated from Salem High School in 1979 and is the custodian of all of the yearbooks from Andrew Lewis High School and eagerly offered his assistance for this project. The ones that proved most helpful to completing chapter 2 of this book, When the Magicians Held Sway, were the yearbooks from 1950 to 1960.

Grant G Sprinkle helped coordinate meetings with members of the 1971 football team, who included Gary Graham, Carl Pugh, David Heath, Duane Wheeling, and Dick Tate.

Ms. Patty Moran is a secretary in the principal’s office at T. C. Williams High School. She assisted in getting me in contact with members of the ’71 Original Titans Foundation. I met with some of their members at the school. Ms. Moran granted me permission to take pictures of some of the paintings on the wall that depicted the school in its original and current forms.

Mrs. Joni Joyce Bussey, daughter of the late Coach Joyce, and her husband, Michael Bussey, met with me in Richmond for an interview and provided very useful and personal information about her father and his background.

Eddie Dean, the former head football coach at Madison County High School and, like Coach Joyce, a legend among coaches in the Virginia High School League, retired from coaching after the 2004 season, after thirty-eight seasons that began in 1967. Coach Dean met with me and provided some firsthand knowledge about Coach Joyce, his son Eddie, the All-Star games, and much more.

Steve Cromer, Andrew Lewis class of 1965 and a member of both the 1962 and 1964 state championship teams, provided some much-needed information about both the ’62 and ’64 teams. He is a retired financial planner and lives with his wife in Salem.

Dale Foster, a man revered by so many former players, opened his home to me for personal interviews and provided a treasure of articles and memorabilia that were hugely instrumental in the research for this project. He was extremely gracious and helpful. Of special consideration is the fact that he reviewed this manuscript before it was submitted to the publishing company. In doing so, he served as a fact-checker. His contributions in paving the way for the forty-fifth reunion of the ’71 team have already been mentioned.

David Shelor, Andrew Lewis class of 1968, arranged a meeting at the Penguin Club in Salem, where he and Billy Miles, class of 1966, participated in a lengthy interview. David provided a personal box of memorabilia for assisting in the completion of this project. Miles has a wealth of playing and coaching experience, and he shared his memories and thoughts with a no-holds-barred approach.

The meeting with the ’71 Original Titans Foundation yielded much information about the ’71 Titan team, and Mike Lynch even provided a CD that contained a number of sports articles about the ’71 team.

Mr. Jonathan Fain, the coordinator of George Washington-Danville Middle and High School Athletics, offered his assistance in trying to determine the names of the coaches at the school prior to 1964. He soon referred me to Mr. Jay Dorman, a 1966 graduate of GW–Danville and teacher at the school. Mr. Dorman provided some very useful and pertinent information about the GW–Danville teams in 1964 and 1965, and he identified its coaches prior to 1964. He also provided some very helpful information about the coach who turned around the football program, Alger Pugh. Mr. Dorman coached at GW–Danville for five years and has been an instructor of US History Advanced Placement for forty-four years.

Greg Van Nostrand, a professional and freelance photographer, made a day trip to Lynchburg, Roanoke, and Salem for picture day.

In Lynchburg, Ms. Ashley Stephenson provided Greg with a picture or two, and at E. C. Glass High School, we were warmly greeted by the secretarial staff and referred to Mrs. Wendie L. Sullivan, the executive assistant/school board clerk, who graciously welcomed us and showed us two literary sources that she allowed Greg to photograph.

In Roanoke, several individuals we met helped us pinpoint the exact location of the spot for the old Victory Stadium. Emilee Hoff at the Jefferson Center, which was previously Jefferson Senior High School in Roanoke, put me in touch with one of the volunteers with the Jefferson Center Memorabilia Room, Kathy Patten, who was both prompt and professional and was an alumnus of Jefferson Senior High. She went the extra effort as well.

Dave Ghamandi, the librarian for Reference Services at the University of Virginia, informed me that the Alderman Library on campus has the Roanoke papers available for the time period in question. Special thanks to the entire staff at the Alderman Library.

Ms. Lou Hendricks, the reference information specialist at the Danville Public Library, provided some much-needed articles about the GW versus Andrew Lewis football games.

Ms. Anna Cory, an employee at the Salem Museum, assisted on several occasions and promptly provided requested articles published a long time ago in the Salem Times-Register.

Ms. Benita Van Cleave, the senior librarian at the Salem Library, eagerly assisted me with the location of several game stories for the 1963 season published by the Salem Times-Register that are on microfilm. She went the extra steps to make sure I had what I needed.

Ms. Kathy Sue Hudson, Andrew Lewis class of 1975, provided the yearbooks for the years 1972, 1973, 1974, and 1975 for my review. She is self-employed and the owner of a business, Custom Originals in Stained Glass, located in Salem.

Ms. Sally Hicks, an alumnus of William Fleming High, provided some history about the school’s football team and some of its most prominent players. She is employed by Member One Federal Credit Union in Roanoke.

Reid McClure, Andrew Lewis class of ’70 and one of two cocaptains on the ’69 Lewis football team, attended the forty-fifth reunion of the ’71 team and took numerous pictures and provided those on a thumb drive to use for this book.

Special thanks to the following:

To my uncle, Galen Munsey, who took me to see Andrew Lewis football games way back when.

To my mother, Jan Munsey O’Connell, who believed this project was the perfect one for me and made a number of contacts with the media to promote the Wolverines.

To my son, Ethan O’Connell, who assisted with some of the technical aspects of this project.

To my wife, Diana, who believed in the beginning that this project was ordained and mine to complete.

An only regret that my uncle—the late Leo Buck Wright Jr. —is no longer with us to share in the joy of remembering

the Wolverines.

Author’s Note

In September of 2000, Walt Disney Pictures released the film Remember the Titans, which starred Denzel Washington, who played the role of Coach Herman Boone, an African American who was hired as the head football coach at T. C. Williams High School in Alexandria, Virginia, the year that T. C. Williams became the combination of the three public high schools and at the inception of integration. Coach Boone and his assistants had the difficult task of trying to bring white and black players into harmony. History reflects they were a success. That year, 1971, the Titans of T. C. Williams won Virginia’s Group AAA state championship.

But what many people do not know is that the story line is not entirely true.

The film falsely depicts T. C. Williams facing its archrival, George C. Marshall, in the 1971 state championship game instead of the true team the Titans faced—the Wolverines of Andrew Lewis High of Salem, Virginia. Further, it falsely depicts a closely fought game with the Titans rallying in the last few seconds—on the last play with a little trickery no less—to win the game and the championship. Less significantly, the film depicts the game as played in Roanoke Stadium rather than in Victory Stadium of Roanoke.

As a lifelong sports fan and history buff, inevitably, I had to see the movie. I was familiar with T. C. Williams High School and its championship season of 1971. But I was much more familiar with the team that it played. In the end, I was disappointed that there had been no mention of Andrew Lewis.

I could only imagine how former Andrew Lewis players and their parents and coaches felt about the omission. Whenever the topic of the movie came up, I attempted to set the record straight.

This book does just that.

Nevertheless, I am mindful that the revised narrative had more entertainment value than matching the big against the small in a lopsided championship game. But these are the facts: supersized T. C. Williams did not overcome its archrival in the title game; it faced a small and scrappy bunch of football players from Salem known as the Wolverines. I know; I was one of eighteen thousand people in attendance to witness it.

To us history buffs, truth matters. In this instance, it was personal. I grew up in Salem and attended many of Andrew Lewis’s football games. Many of my family members graduated from Andrew Lewis.

One of my paternal uncles, the late Leo Buck Wright Jr., who died in September of 2012, had been a football star at Andrew Lewis in the 1950s and had gone on to play football in Europe while serving in the United States Air Force.

A maternal uncle, Galen Munsey, graduated from Andrew Lewis in 1961 and took me to watch the Wolverines play.

When I began this project, my primary objective was to set the record straight about Virginia’s Group AAA state championship game of 1971. I recognized early on the importance of putting forth my absolute best effort—the kind that was asked of so many players in Salem so long ago by a man who they came to think of as a legend. Anything less would simply not do.

Soon into this project, I recognized that this book should not be limited to setting the record straight. It is this author’s contention, which was unanimously supported by the former players when the topic came up, that the ’71 Wolverines were an extension of, and a final segment to, a legacy that traced its roots to 1962, when the team won its first state championship under head coach Eddie Joyce, who took over the program in 1960.

It would be a huge understatement to say that things were much different then, including the field of sports journalism. Even for the game stories, writers had more leeway in style. They used words like little, diminutive, and big to describe the size of players. One popular and talented writer occasionally referred to Coach Joyce as freckled. Whether a writer alluded to a player’s size or a coach’s complexion, no offense was intended, and apparently, none was taken.

I conducted numerous personal interviews with former players and coaches. The information obtained from those provided an understanding of the nuances of the team and anecdotal information not otherwise known to the public.

As one former Andrew Lewis player and coach said, You [meaning anyone] could spend a lifetime talking about the nuances of Andrew Lewis football.

He is absolutely correct, but I didn’t have a lifetime. To get the story out there, I needed an ending point. I think I found it.

It is my sincere hope that this book will make anyone who has ever been associated with the Andrew Lewis High School football program proud of its rich tradition and bring some well-deserved recognition to its former players and coaches that has long been overdue.

Prologue

When Andrew Lewis High School’s football team played at home, the players and coaches went through a number of pregame rituals; the most memorable to those who saw them was the one known as the walkover. They walked from the school to the stadium, which spanned about three blocks. The players had just received their inspirational pregame speech from their beloved coach then exited the school and marched to the stadium.

During this rite of passage on Friday nights, it wasn’t just the sight of these players that their fans have remembered to this day; it was the sound their metal cleats made as they marched on the concrete or asphalt. The players stayed silent in their march. Once they made their way to the stadium, they headed to the locker room. When they exited at game time, the fans were on their feet, the band played, and the cheerleaders led the signature cheer, the Salem Fight Song.¹ They also led this cheer whenever the team scored.

The home games were played at Municipal Stadium, which also served as the home to a minor-league baseball team, which meant that part of the playing field was dirt and part was grass. The stadium hardly seemed equipped to seat so many who were in attendance. That’s why a number of fans watched from outside the end zones or on the sides of the playing field.

The glory days had begun in 1962, the year the team won its first state championship under Coach Joyce. From then on, the team was consistently in the hunt for another state title, and in 1971, the team was back in the state championship game for the last time.

It was a sunny and unseasonably mild Saturday afternoon on December 4, 1971, at Roanoke’s Victory Stadium.

Despite the big event and the gorgeous sunny day, junior running back Grant G Sprinkle felt a little superstitious about it all. Accustomed to playing games on Friday nights, this one was to be played on a Saturday afternoon. That was our first afternoon game, he recalled. I was a little superstitious about playing an afternoon game. I remember that the sun was bright, and the stadium was packed.

Teammate Carl Pugh, a sophomore tackle on the ’71 team and member of the class of ’74, recalled a beautiful blue sky.

And David Paxton, a senior and the team’s monster man on defense, recalled that inclement weather during the practice week required the use of snow plows to clear the field, a tarp had covered it, and the team had been fortunate enough to practice indoors at Virginia Tech. Yet by Saturday, everyone could be thankful for the warm temperature and sunny skies.

But despite the nice weather and any superstition Sprinkle or anyone else felt, the Wolverines had bigger worries. They marveled at the size of T. C. Williams’s players.

And they marveled too soon.

Unbeknown to them, they had been watching T. C. Williams’s wide receivers and running backs warm up and were shocked when they saw the linemen come out onto the field. Oh my lord, said Pugh. They had as many seniors as we had players.

Pugh was referring to the Titans, who, with one exception, had demolished the competition throughout the season and were under first-year head coach Herman Boone. He and his staff had at their disposal the cream of the crop of Alexandria’s football players. Before this season began, two high schools (Hammond and George Washington–Alexandria) became intermediate schools, which left T. C. Williams as the only public high school in Alexandria. T. C. Williams was now the name of the combination of three high schools. In a word, Williams was massive, and the roster itself was indicative of the team’s strength, which listed seventy-three players.²

As they spread out along their sidelines on this pleasant day, they must have looked imposing to their foes across the way.

Yet Andrew Lewis’s players had entered this game and, every game, confident of victory. In fact, the coaches had instilled in them, and their teammates before them, an expectation to win.

The film Remember the Titans reminds us that we love a hero, and in an ideal world, the hero wins. But here in the real world, our heroes don’t always win. In fact, on December 4, 1971, Salem’s heroes lost. Yet then and even now, the loss did not detract from the team’s legacy. Instead, when history is viewed as a whole, the 1971 team and its loss in the championship game are actually the ending parts of a legacy that traces its roots back nine years before this historic season and game were ever played.

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¹ The Salem Fight Song, according to a number of players who played at Andrew Lewis and from a PDF (portable document format) found online marked salemfightsong.pdf, had these popular lyrics: I’m Salem born and Salem bred and when I die I’ll be Salem dead so Rah Rah for Salem, Salem, Rah Rah for Salem, Salem, Rah Rah for Salem, Rah Rah Rah.

² This information was taken from the official program prepared by the Virginia High School League for the 1971 play-offs for all three groups (AAA, AA, and A) and covered the play-off rounds of both November 26–27 and December 3–4. It sold for twenty-five cents. This same program showed that thirty-eight players were on Andrew Lewis’s roster.

1

Into the Valley of Elah³

Eddie Joyce Sr. had been the head football coach at Andrew Lewis since 1960. Two years later, the team claimed its first state championship. It added a second in 1964 and finished as a runner-up twice before returning to the state championship game again in 1971.

This 1971, Andrew Lewis football team had an impressive regular season, which included wins over longtime nemesis Jefferson Senior of Roanoke and also Lane High School of Charlottesville, the 1963 state champion, and William Fleming, which, in 1970, handed Lewis its worst defeat (28–0) under Coach Joyce since 1961 (a 33–0 loss to E. C. Glass).

In the postseason, the team trailed bitter rival E. C. Glass but rallied in the last few minutes to win the region and to advance to the state semifinal game against perennial contender Douglas Freeman High School of Richmond. The Wolverines beat back the Rebels 26–20 to punch their ticket to the title game against T. C. Williams.⁴

The Wolverines, as they had done in 1962, 1964, 1966, and 1967, proved they belonged. It is little wonder that the school’s nickname was Wolverines.

According to the National Geographic website, The wolverine is a powerful animal that resembles a small bear but is actually the largest member of the weasel family… They are tenacious predators with a taste for meat. Wolverines easily dispatch smaller prey… but may even attack animals many times their size… Their average lifespan is 7–12 years and they weigh 24–40 pounds. They are small compared to a man 6'2.

The years 1962 through 1971 represent the best years of Coach Joyce.⁵ The Wolverines had won more than their share of games against opponents much larger in size.

But on this fateful day of December 4, 1971, even a naturally ferocious animal willing to attack a much larger one may have paused and wondered—idiomatically—if it had bitten off more than it could chew. These Wolverines, like their teammates before them, had plenty of teeth, but on this day, their prey must have looked like a tall man, maybe 6'2", toting a double-barrel shotgun.

In boxing parlance, by the tale of the tape, this one looked like a huge mismatch.

These Wolverines had just entered the designated arena to take on opponents aptly named the Titans.

But long before the big (T. C. Williams) and the small (Andrew Lewis) clashed in Victory Stadium, much had transpired in the way of history. Like many stories, the one about Andrew Lewis’s football team has humble origins.

The school was named in honor of Andrew Lewis, who, according to the website www.mountvernon.org, was born in Ireland and, along with his family, immigrated to North America in 1733 and settled in Augusta County. He soon began his military service with the local militia and was captured in Fort Duquesne in 1758 and served a year in captivity. After his release, he continued to serve in the military and participated in Lord Dunmore’s War and later in the Revolutionary War. Before this latter war began, he was appointed brigadier general in the Continental Army. His greatest triumph in this role was in driving the defiant royal governor Lord Dunmore out of Virginia in July 1776. Lewis died in September 1781.

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³ The Valley of Elah refers to the area where the Israelites were encamped when David fought Goliath.

⁴ According to Wikipedia, T. C. Williams High School was named in honor of Thomas Chambliss Williams, the former superintendent of Alexandria city public schools.

⁵ The words the best years of Coach Joyce were taken from a three-page document provided by former Andrew Lewis assistant coach Dale Foster. The document lists the vast highlights of that period and the list of qualities that made Coach Joyce a unique coach for that time.

2

When the Magicians Held Sway

By 1971, Andrew Lewis had established itself as a perennial state title contender in Virginia high school football, which supports the premise of this book: the 1971 Andrew Lewis football team, which finished as a state runner-up that year, was an extension of, and the final segment to, a legacy that had begun in 1962. The lack of any reference to this team in the film Remember the Titans, which told the story of the 1971 T. C. Williams Titans championship season, helped inspire this work.

Long before Lewis’s legacy began, the years were not always kind to Lewis. In fact, Andrew Lewis’s football team experienced a number of average—and sometimes even lean—years. The team to beat locally was always Jefferson Senior High School of Roanoke. Its Magicians had won a number of state football championships and had dominated the rivalry between Jefferson Senior and Andrew Lewis.

According to an article published in the Roanoke World-News on October 21, 1959—and as part of the preview of the Jefferson Senior versus Andrew Lewis football game scheduled for later during that same week—an unidentified writer provided some statistics, which showed just how dominant Jefferson had been in the rivalry with Andrew Lewis. By 1959, Jefferson held a commanding 33–4–4 record in the series. Lewis had last won in 1940 (15–7) and finished 7–2 on the year.

Among the four ties between the two teams, the most recent had come in 1958, just one year following Jefferson Senior’s most recent—and what would turn out to be its last—state championship.

In an article that appeared in the October 19, 1960, edition of the Roanoke World-News, and which served as a preview for the upcoming clash between the two teams, it also reflected upon the history of this series and the game of 1920 in particular.

For history and sports buffs alike, particularly anyone ever associated with the football programs at both Andrew Lewis and Jefferson Senior, this article was one for the ages.

It all came under the headline Lewis Principal, Hunk Hurt, Almost Hero of ’20 Jeff Tilt.

Sensational, hair-raising, nerve-wracking play kept the spectators on edge.

This game was played in Salem on October 16, 1920, which was out of the ordinary. Most of the games between these two teams were played in Roanoke.

Jefferson defeated Andrew Lewis 7–0 only because Paul Ebert returned an interception for the game’s only touchdown.

The player in the best position to win it for Lewis was Alfred D. (Hunk) Hurt, who, in 1960, was the principal at Andrew Lewis.

Here is an excerpt from that article:

Several plays before Ebert intercepted the winning pass in the ’20 clash, Hurt blasted through the middle of the Jefferson line, bowled over several defenders and outran the secondary for a sensational 50-yard play. But the run never went into the books. It was called back when both teams were ruled offsides.

It would have been Andrew Lewis’s first win over Jefferson since 1916.

By 1960, Jefferson held a lopsided advantage in the series with Lewis with thirty-four wins, four defeats, and four ties.

Lewis reportedly won in 1916 by the score of 9–7; in 1933, 20–6; in 1937, 6–2; and in 1940, 15–7. The ties were in 1929 (6–6), 1932 (0–0), 1946 (0–0), and 1958 (13–13).

But the history of the rivalry is not limited to just the number of wins, losses, and ties.

Before there was Jefferson, there was Roanoke High ; and before there was Andrew Lewis High, there was Salem High.

According to www.books.google.com, Roanoke High School came into existence in 1910 and was located across from the present-day municipal building in downtown Roanoke. Roanoke High School closed with the opening of Jefferson Senior in the 1920s.

Part of a frontal view of Jefferson Senior High School.

The Virginia High School League’s website lists the champions from the earliest to the most recent. The records shown go back as far as 1920. In both 1920 and 1921, Jefferson Senior was a runner-up to Portsmouth’s Woodrow Wilson High. After that, Jefferson Senior won three consecutive championships from 1922 through 1924, with all three victories over Woodrow Wilson. Next, Jefferson Senior was a runner-up in 1926 and then claimed its next championship in 1928. Twenty-nine years later, in 1957, Jefferson Senior won its last state title.

As for the students in Salem, according to www.sefeandaa.org, which is the website for the Salem Educational Foundation and Alumni Association (SEFAA), the history of Salem was compiled by the late Dr. Walter Hunt, who had been the second president of SEFAA.⁶

Here is what Dr. Hunt reported:

Salem High School first came into existence in 1895. From then through 1912, the school was located on Academy Street. Beginning in 1912, the school was located on Broad Street. This remained true until 1933 when Andrew Lewis High School came into existence. Andrew Lewis was in operation from 1933 through 1977 when the present-day Salem High School came into existence and Andrew Lewis High School became a middle school.

Andrew Lewis Middle School.

The present-day site of the practice field used by the Andrew Lewis football team.

Dr. Hunt further reported that Salem High School won a state football championship in 1917 under Coach Guy H. Pinky Spruhan, who also led the basketball team to three state titles.

According to Dr. Hunt’s report, in 1930, due to overcrowding, Salem implored the school board to build another school. They were initially rebuffed, but fate was on the side of the Salemites even during calamity. On January 19, 1933, fire destroyed Salem High School, which necessitated the construction of a new school.

Dr. Hunt did not mention, and it is possible that he simply did not know, who suggested that the name of Andrew Lewis be used to name the school. Regardless, the school board approved the name of Andrew Lewis. Dr. Hunt wrote, General Andrew Lewis established Richfield Plantation in Salem and died in 1781 after a distinguished career as a surveyor, Indian Fighter, and Patriot in the American Revolution.

Given the history provided by Dr. Hunt and the aforementioned article, which appeared in the Roanoke World-News in 1959, one can safely deduce that the rivalry between Jefferson Senior and Andrew Lewis—based on the number of games played going into 1959 (41) and the likelihood that the two teams would have met once each season—the first game of the rivalry would have been played in 1918, when it was Roanoke versus Salem rather than Jefferson Senior versus Andrew Lewis.

Based on the information provided by the VHSL website, it is obvious that Jefferson Senior was a state football power during the 1920s. But after that, the Magicians did not claim another title until 1957. One of the explanations for any drop-off is the fact that a second school was established in Roanoke: William Fleming.

According to Wikipedia, William Fleming was established in 1933. But that year, only 152 students began the school year in a newly constructed building on a 7.5 acre tract which is the present site of Breckenridge Middle School in Roanoke… In 1949, William Fleming became part of the Roanoke City School System through the annexation of part of Roanoke County by the city. William Fleming was moved to its present location in 1961 near Hershberger Road.

From the same source, it stated, The name William Fleming is derived from a Scottish immigrant who was a prominent physician and statesman in Virginia… After he relocated to Norfolk, he hurriedly began to involve himself in the war effort as an active physician, serving alongside the regiment of colonel and future president George Washington against the French and Indians. Then he was promoted to the rank of colonel and upheld his position while fighting in Lord Dunmore’s War until he was injured, ultimately ending his service in the military. His significance in relation to the school came about after his military service. He continued to help nurse the ailing and was an active participant in the matters concerning both Roanoke City and Virginia. Then he served in the General Assembly as the senator of Virginia and also as the governor for an abrupt period. Along with the school, a national historical marker on the Monterey Golf Course, which denoted the former location where Colonel Fleming’s plantation stood, was dedicated to his contribution.

Given the history of the man known as William Fleming, the school, which was named in his honor, adopted a fitting mascot: the Colonels.

At least as far back as 1949, the Colonels tapped into the Roanoke talent pool of football players, which had some impact on the strength of Jefferson’s teams but not enough to translate into state football championships for Fleming. From the time of its establishment to the present day, the Colonels have yet to win a state championship in football; however, and as it will be seen, the Colonels had their share of good teams and, along with Jefferson Senior, quickly became a rival of Andrew Lewis.

How did the Colonels fair against the Magicians in their rivalry?

According to an article published in the Roanoke World-News on September 29, 1961, which previewed the local games, including the matchup between these two teams, the unidentified writer reported that beating Jefferson is something the Colonels have managed only once in 19 previous meetings. The win (27–20) came in 1958. Fleming did gain ties with the Jeffs in 1945 and in 1956.

Doing the math, if the teams had met nineteen times going into the 1961 game, then they began their rivalry in 1942.

The talent pool that Jefferson Senior and William Fleming shared was further reduced when Patrick Henry High School was constructed and opened its doors to approximately 1,200 students in 1961.

Considering the record books, the Magicians were truly the team to beat in the Roanoke Valley from the 1920s and through the 1950s. A separate book could be written about their success. For the purpose of this one, let us examine two topics: (1) why, in summary fashion, Jefferson was so good in football, and (2) how the Andrew Lewis teams fared against Jefferson during the 1950s, the last decade during which the Magicians dominated the local competition.

Beginning with topic number one, the short answer is Rudy Rohrdanz.

The answer came when I posed the question to Coach Foster.

The website www.dbhs.k12.com has a complete list of the coaches who have coached at Dobyns-Bennett High School in Kingsport, Tennessee. Included on the list is Rudy Rohrdanz, who coached there for two seasons, 1939 and 1940. During the former, the team compiled a record of 8–1–2 and, during the latter, a record of 10–1.

According to records contained at the University of Virginia Library, Rohrdanz left the school following that latter season and took the job as the head football coach at Jefferson beginning during the 1941 season. He led the Magicians for seventeen seasons until he accepted an offer from City High School of Chattanooga to become the athletic director and head football coach.

When he resigned at Jefferson, his teams had compiled a record of 118–38–5 (same source). That’s a winning percentage of 69 percent.

Sam Webb, who coached under Rohrdanz in 1957 when Jefferson won its last state championship, indicated Rohrdanz had played at the University of Alabama and had been influenced by Georgia Tech head football Coach Bobby Dodd, who ran the option. Rohrdanz had a great offensive mind.

In 1957, some of Jefferson’s key players included quarterback Jay Blackwood, running backs Tracy Callis and Jimmy Taylor, and center Carlton Waskey, who Webb said went on to play at Georgia Tech.

Why did Rohrdanz leave Jefferson?

The situation at Jefferson became uncomfortable for him, said Webb. School officials wanted him out and someone else in. He was hard to get to know. He was aloof, even to the press who didn’t like him.

With or without Rohrdanz, Jefferson was at the top of the local football food chain. Andrew Lewis had a number of lean years.

In the recent past relative to the coming of Eddie Joyce, Guy Pinky Spruhan was the head coach of both the football and basketball programs for a number of years. He last coached the football team

during the 1950 season. That year, the Wolverines went 1–8. (Apparently, teams played a nine-game schedule then.) Of the eight losses, they included setbacks to Jefferson (35–0), to Hampton (35–0), to E. C. Glass (34–0), to William Fleming (6–0), and to Lane (12–0). Their win came against Emory and Henry B (source: Andrew Lewis yearbooks).

The previous season, in 1949, the Wolverines fared a little better. They went 3–5–1, but the game against Jefferson was not kind. The Magicians beat the Wolverines by the same score, 35–0. The Lewis wins came against Fries, Lane, and George Washington of Danville (source: same).

Enter next Hal Johnston Sr., who debuted as the head coach of Andrew Lewis’s football team for the 1951 season. He was also named athletic director.

Johnston served as the head coach for nine seasons, from 1951 through 1959. His career totals included forty-five wins, forty-one losses, and three ties.

The teams that the Wolverines played predominantly included Jefferson, Glass, Fleming, George Washington–Danville (hereinafter referred to as GW), and Lane.

During the Johnston years, Lewis went 0–8–1 against Jefferson (with a tie in 1958), 3–6 against Glass (with wins in 1954, 1955 and 1957), 1–8 against Fleming (with the lone win in 1953), 6–3 against GW, and 4–1 against Lane. Hampton and Lewis met once during those years with the Crabbers getting the win.

Here are the season records during the Johnston years with a few notables about each, especially the final season, about which a number of news clippings were made available to this author.

1951: 3–6

Lewis had wins over Blacksburg (29–0), GW (14–6), and William Byrd (22–0). The team lost to Lane, 13–0, and the yearbook included this mention: Lane was led by an unstoppable back named Tommy Theodose (remember that name). Jefferson defeated Lewis 14–0 behind the running of Paul Rotenberry. Hampton gave Lewis its most lopsided loss, 27–0, and Glass toppled Lewis 40–14.

1952: 4–6

Lewis had wins over Blacksburg (19–13), William Byrd (21–6), Lane (13–7), and Appomattox (21–7). The team lost to Jefferson (score not provided), again to Glass (38–13), and to Fleming (34–7).

1953: 7–3

This was Johnston’s best season, and the yearbook included this mention: For the first time in 12 years Andrew Lewis High School has been able to hold its head high in the football circles of the State.

The three losses were to Thomas Jefferson of Richmond (13–0), Jefferson (but by only a margin of one point, 14–13), and to one other team not named. Lewis beat Fleming (12–6), Lane (9–0), and both Blacksburg and GW by the same score of 13–12.

1954: 4–5–1

Donald Oakes played tackle on this team and was a member of the graduating class of 1956 (remember that name.) But the biggest notable, teamwise, was beating Glass. The Wolverines edged the Hilltoppers 7–6.

1955: 7–3

The student body was so proud of Coach Johnston and his efforts that the yearbook was dedicated to him. This team had players named Kenny Norton (not the boxer) and Carl Emory Sonny Tarpley. For the second straight year, Lewis beat Glass, and this time 14–12. It played competitively against Jefferson but lost 20–13. It thrashed Lane (35–0) and also bested Fleming (20–13).

Coach Hal Johnston

1956: 5–5

A couple of newcomers appeared on Lewis’s schedule this season. Cradock beat Lewis 39–18, but Lewis defeated Fork Union Military Academy’s B team 27–7. Glass was back in the driver’s seat with a 27–0 win over Lewis, and Jefferson won handily 26–7.

1957: 7–3

Lewis turned the tables on Glass and won 14–13. It also played Pulaski for the first time and won 13–12. Halifax was an easy victim, 35–0, and Blacksburg and GW both fell by the same score, 7–0, but Cradock and Fleming both beat Lewis by that score. Jefferson was Jefferson; the Magicians swept the Wolverines 26–0.

1958: 4–4–2

It went in the record books as a tie, but to Andrew Lewis High School, the 13–13 tie with Jefferson was considered a win. The yearbook included these words: These are the Wolverines who broke the jinx for Andrew Lewis and held the Jefferson team to a 13–13 tie for the first time since 1946. The downside was that Glass was tough; the Hilltoppers shut out the Wolverines 19–0.

1959: 4–6

Eddie Joyce joined Johnston’s staff this season, which also was the beginning of the annual Sandlot Benefit Game. This inaugural game was played in Salem between GW and Lewis, who won 7–0. The team lost a rare game to William Byrd (13–6) and was hammered by Jefferson (43–6), Glass (54–0), Fleming (34–0), and even Halifax (31–6).

The yearbook includes a photograph of Bill Bullet Dudley of the University of Virginia and Charlie Choo-Choo Justice of the University of North Carolina. The two collegiate stars were special guests at the Sandlot Benefit Game and were shown demonstrating the proper techniques of placekicking, with Dudley kicking and Justice holding.

Going into this, his last season, Coach Johnston decided to switch the offensive set from a straight T to a wing T.

In the October 2, 1959, edition of the Roanoke World-News, the headline read It Looks Like a Long Year for the Wolverines following the previous night’s loss to William Byrd, 13–6. Lewis was 3–2 at this point. Against William Fleming, Coach Johnston said he had juggled his Wolverine lineup in an attempt to get more punch, blocking and better timing into the attack.

Bob McLelland, in the October 7, 1959, edition of the Roanoke World-News, previewed the Lewis-Jefferson game and quoted Coach Johnston as saying, We are ready to throw everything we have at them. They have one of the best teams I have ever seen at Jefferson.

In the October 21 edition of the same newspaper, Johnston said, It would be foolish to think we could play them man-to-man. The only thing left for us is to gamble.

But gambling did not pay off. In 1959, Jefferson jolted Lewis 43–6 to make the series 34–4–4.

The following week, Lewis lost to Halifax 31–6 and, over the course of two games, had given up 74 points and only scored 12.

This season, Jefferson finished 7–1–1, and Lewis still had to play both Glass and Fleming.

In the November 7 edition, the headline read Glass Runs up Score on Lewis.

Glass won 54–0.

Garland Cox, Glass’ senior fullback, counted four touchdowns and two extra points to run his season point total to 124. Henry Sackett ran for one score and passed for another. Glass scored a total of eight touchdowns in this one.

After the win, Glass was 8–1, and Lewis was 4–5 with the season finale against William Fleming.

The All-Group I Team of 1959 included tackle Dave Carter and guard Reggie Berry for Glass and center Bob Gregory of Jefferson. Cox made the second team as a back, and so did Jefferson’s Charlie Gregory. The Honorable Mention List included Glass’s Don Giles (end), Jefferson’s Roy Nelson (tackle), and Lacy Edwards (back).

For Coach Johnston, he likely knew the ’59 season would be his last at Lewis. He had already been thinking ahead with the best interests of his family in mind.

In the article of March 27, 1960, a headline read Hal Johnston Shifting to Northside High.

The story reported that Johnston had requested the move based on the best interests of his family. He was quoted as saying, I have two children who soon will enter Andrew Lewis and I want them to have the opportunity of attending a school with which I have no connection.

His daughter, Linda Jean, was about to enter the eighth grade, and his son, Hal Jr., was right behind her. The article described Hal Jr. as a star athlete and Hal Sr. as saying, I certainly don’t want to put the pressure on my boy by coaching him.

During an interview with Hal Johnston Jr., and before this author had come upon the aforementioned article, the question was put to him as to why he thought his father had decided to leave Andrew Lewis and take the job at the newly opened Northside High School in Roanoke County.

His answer is indicative of the familial ties.

He left Andrew Lewis so he wouldn’t have to coach me. He wanted us [his children] to have a normal life.

The consensus among former players is that Coach Johnston was well liked and well respected.

John Givens, a key player for several years and a member of the class of ’68, said this:

When it came to Andrew Lewis football, Hal’s dad laid the groundwork. He and my parents were good friends. He was a man who instilled respect and you wanted to work hard for him. He was low key and he wouldn’t get mad unless you did something really wrong. Everybody wanted to play their butt off for him. He was an All-American (quarterback) at the University of Miami and everybody looked up to him not just for that reason but because of his demeanor and the way he presented himself.

According to Steve Cromer, Andrew Lewis class of 1965 and a member of both the ’62 and ’64 state championship teams, he was emphatic when he described Coach Johnston : He was a really great guy. He was an outstanding man. He was a tremendous athlete; he held several records at the University of Miami.

Returning to the article of March 27, 1960, the unidentified author reported that Coach Johnston was "a graduate of the University of Miami where he was a star tailback and set the school’s record by passing for 750 yards and 10 touchdowns. He also made the All-Florida his senior year in 1946.

Johnston was also a freshman and varsity football star at the University of Southern California before entering the Navy and leading Little Creek to the Naval championship. He then entered Miami. He coached at Virginia Episcopal School in Lynchburg before coming to Lewis.

The article quoted him as also saying, I am very pleased at the opportunity to go to Northside. It will be a challenge to build an athletic program there. I hate to leave Lewis but I am looking forward to my work at Northside.

The article mistakenly reported that Coach Johnston had played tailback at Miami rather than as quarterback, which is how Givens remembered the story. Regardless of the position he played, he was a star, but more importantly, he was a man of character.

His son provided some additional biographical information about his father and the family.

He grew up in California. He went to the University of Southern California for a year. The war came, the big one. He was stationed at Little Creek and met my mother, and they married. His final two years in college, he played at Miami, and then they moved to Lynchburg. He was a coach at Virginia Episcopal School. My mother was from the Lynchburg area. He got the job here thanks to the Wileys, Jim Wiley. That’s how he ended up here in ’51.

And the younger Johnston recalled vividly just what the football program at Andrew Lewis was like when his father took over.

Andrew Lewis was just an average team, he said. We were a small school, and it was starting to build up as Salem versus the big guys. In 1957, they beat Glass, 14–13. That may have been the start of Salem being proud. They may have beaten Jefferson once. Schools like Northside, Cave Spring, and Glenvar hadn’t been built, and Dad had to take some of the kids home after practice. It was more basic football back then, straight T [offense], standard football. You passed on third and fifteen maybe, and then you punted. It was just basic football.

But when Hal Jr. reflected back on his father and what he remembered the most about him, he said, His greatest attribute was that he was a great role model. He didn’t talk about the great things he had done.

And so it was that the man who had been a star athlete in college, a veteran of World War II, a loyal family man, a solid coach, and an excellent role model made a career change in 1960.

With his departure, a vacancy existed for the head coaching job in football.

The vacancy was only momentary.

The same article reported this change:

The football duties at Lewis have been handed to Eddie Joyce who coached the ‘Wolverines’ to the Roanoke City-County basketball championship this season. Announcement of the two changes was made today by Dr. Herman Horn, head of Roanoke City Schools. Dr. Horn would not make any comment on the head basketball positions at the two schools.

One thing is for certain about the man who would replace Coach Joyce as the basketball coach at Andrew Lewis: he would inherit a team on the rise thanks to Coach Joyce.

In an article published on March 9, 1960, in the Roanoke World-News, Jefferson took consolation honors by edging Andrew Lewis, 55–50 (in the Western District Tournament). Lewis previously had beaten the Jeffs twice this season. The win gave the Magicians an 11–11 record. Lewis finished at 12–11, its first winning season in more than ten years.

With a final reference to the article of March 27, 1960, it reported Coach Joyce as indicating that "he loved all sports but that he considered football his favorite… [He] coached at Danville’s George Washington High for two years before coming to Lewis.

‘I definitely regard this as a step forward for me,’ he said. ‘I am pleased that the position was offered and I hope I can do a good job. Everyone here [Lewis] and in Salem have been very friendly and cooperative. I am looking forward to many more enjoyable—and I hope winning—seasons.’

His wishes would come true.

The winds of change had already begun to blow.

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⁶ According to www.virginia­-24e-lions.org, Dr. Walter Akers Hunt was born on December 15, 1929, in Franklin County, Virginia. He earned a doctorate in educational administration from Virginia Tech. He served the community in a number of capacities, including as principal at Andrew Lewis High School from 1964 through 1970, president of the Salem Educational Foundation and Alumni Association, and superintendent of Salem schools until he retired in 1989. He died on May 25, 2007, at the age of seventy-eight.

3

Laying the Building Blocks for Future Success

Before constructing a home, the foundation must be poured and the building blocks put in place to support the home’s structural success. Likewise, a solid foundation and a number of building blocks need to be in place to support a successful sports program.

Even if a team has a great coach, much more is required to make the team successful. Does it have a good feeder program? Is the community supportive and actively involved? Do the kids who walk the hallways in school have a true interest in coming out and being a part of it? Does the