Yep, lots of college talent on that team.
Believe it or not, I think Leon Douglas played defensive end on that team as well. I know Gargis pretty well.
They were playing Cullman for the state championship in 1973. On the way to the final game their bus broke down.
There were no cell phones, so the team pushed the bus until they found a pay phone. Thank goodness for modern technology huh.
They got to the stadium just before kickoff and the ref's didn't delay the game.
So, as Gargis tells it, they were down 6-0 at the half, but rather than going into the locker room to make adjustments, they simply went behind the "Field House", as it was called back then, and did their pre-game warm ups.
Colbert County, or "Leighton" came out in the second half and scored either 38 or 45 unanswered points. I'm thinking 38.
But they beat Cullman either 38-6 or 45-6 to win the State Championship.
One of the best high school teams in Bama high school history.
My school, Walker County, also played Cullman that year. We lost 23-18, or close to that, and they were a really good football team. They always were.
The year before Cullman, with Quarterback Ed Oaks beat us 59-28 on our home field and it was the only game I can remember looking at the clock and thinking, "Go clock go". They killed us.
Regardless, the Colbert County team that Thad was a part of was him at one wide receiver, Ozzie at the other, and Gargis at Quarterback. That's hard to beat in college much less in high school.
Thad and I are the same age.
I hate to hear the news. Roll Tide to Thad and God Bless.
sip