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For The Charleston Tiger Fans that doesn’t know but would like to...

Started by YC, October 14, 2010, 02:45:05 pm

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YC



As most know the Tigers have qualified for the playoffs for 22 consecutive years. To the best of my knowledge this is the 2nd longest currently running streak in the state behind Newport who has qualified for 23 consecutive years. It all started in 1988 and until 1995 only two teams from each conference qualified. Starting in 1995 4 teams from each conference qualified.

Here are some interesting facts concerning that 22 year streak.
7 of those teams had 0 loss regular seasons.
10 of those teams had 1 loss regular seasons.
4 of those teams had 2 loss regular seasons.
1 of those teams had 3 loss regular seasons.
No team in this period had more than a 3 loss regular season.

I will attempt to post in consecutive order the schedules and scores including playoffs of these 22 years one year at a time. I will try to update this topic daily if possible.

I was witness to approximately 95% of these games and I have a pretty good memory. If any want to discuss a particular game that I remember I will discuss it with you to the best of my honest opinion.

If any one finds error in my post please call my attention to it.

1988
W Charleston 21-00 Hackett
W Charleston 35-07 Subiaco Academy
----Open
W Charleston 13-00 Mountainburg*
W Charleston 32-06 Greenland
W Charleston 21-07 Johnson County Westside*
W Charleston 37-11 Hartford*
W Charleston 27-20 Hackett*
W Charleston 27-00 Cedarville*
L Charleston 34-35 Lavaca*
Playoffs
W Charleston 36-11 Mayflower
L Charleston 00-06 O/T Mt. Ida
*Conference game

bleudog

Let me help you out there a little with that posting project YC.

Just click a year at the top of the page in this link:

CLICK HERE

They did stop updating after 2008, but I understand Rich Sanders was involved in the submission of the data that is there.


CHSTigersFan

Looks good YC, I am looking forward to reading the posts!!! Especially since your memory is better than mine, and looking at all of these games bring back some great memories!

YC

Quote from: bleudog on October 14, 2010, 05:37:05 pm
Let me help you out there a little with that posting project YC.

Just click a year at the top of the page in this link:

CLICK HERE

They did stop updating after 2008, but I understand Rich Sanders was involved in the submission of the data that is there.

Thank you bleudog, I have looked at that site in the past and still occasionally look at it for a quick reference. However, I have another source that is not accessible by internet but I believe to be more accurate.

BTW, I really miss the friendly batter we had with you guys back when we were in the same classification. You guys outnumbers us badly back when I first got on this board about seven years ago (different account and user name). The board definitely had a southern fired flavor back then but we northerners have narrowed the gap some over the years ;D   

punisher

What a great idea.  I'm not quite old enough to remember the 88 Lavaca game fully, but I have heard that was a game where there were a lot of questionable calls at the end.  I realize it would be a tremendous undertaking, but maybe mention a couple of names of some of the key players on the teams to help with the timeline. 

YC

Quote from: punisher on October 14, 2010, 09:41:06 pm
What a great idea.  I'm not quite old enough to remember the 88 Lavaca game fully, but I have heard that was a game where there were a lot of questionable calls at the end.  I realize it would be a tremendous undertaking, but maybe mention a couple of names of some of the key players on the teams to help with the timeline.

The 88 team was a very good team. The head coach was Mike Adams (now head coach at Farmington after a head coaching stint at Fayetteville). Assistants were Jeff Stubblefield (now Chs Superintendent), Shane Story (his first year of coaching and would later become head coach and is now Chs principal), and Sammie Brown (long time teacher and coach at chs).

The team had 30 players –a large squad for class A ball at that time. Jeff Dillard was chosen as the conference outstanding back and Coach Adams chosen outstanding coach. Steve Haney came up 20 yards short of 1000 passing yards as a soph QB. Cody Sosebee and D.J. Vaughn who would later become RCA rodeo stars were on that team. Many of those players still reside in the Charleston community today. And oh yea, one of the team managers was Chris "Snake" Williams and he was just a kid at that time.

Both the Tigers and Hackett had an open date for the first playing date of the season and played the opening game as a non-conference game—they would later play the regular conference game. The Tigers and Lavaca were co-Champs but Lavaca was rewarded the No. 1 playoff spot because of the head to head game. The Tigers went into the playoffs as a No. 2 seed.

The Lavaca/Charleston game was indeed a controversial game. The Tigers received several personal foul penalties but the real controversial part came with approximately a minute left. With Charleston leading 34-28 Lavaca completed a long pass (about 50 yards) for a touchdown. The Tiger fans were cheering and you say; why were the Tiger fans cheering a Lavaca touchdown? Well, on the play there was an obvious illegal pick on the defensive back assigned to cover the receiver allowing the receiver to make the catch uncontested. An official threw a flag and the Charleston fans knew the play was coming back. What happened next was where the controversy came in. The lead official ran to the flag and picking it up went to talk to the official that threw it. After a lengthy conversation between the two the lead official waved off the flag and handed it back to the official that threw it. That play was talked about around Charleston for years.

The playoff game with Mt. Ida was played in a monsoon. Most of the field was covered with water. At one point Mt Ida had a fumble about mid-field. The ball was closer to the middle of the field than it was the sideline but after almost every Tiger player on the field had been on it at one time—it keep squirting (or floating) out from under them—but it finely when out of bounds on the south sideline with Mt. Ida having last possession. There were many below the waist blocking fouls called on both teams because the players couldn't keep there feet and keep falling into the man they were trying to block. Neither team was able to score in regulation but Mt. Ida scored on their first O/T possession and then held Charleston to win the game. 

YC

1989
W Charleston 16-14 Danville
L Charleston 00-27 Booneville
W Charleston 36-00 Mountainburg*
L Charleston 21-32 Mansfield
W Charleston 34-00 Johnson County Westside*
W Charleston 33-06 Hartford*
W Charleston 41-13 Hackett*
W Charleston 34-06 Cedarville*
W Charleston 49-07 Lavaca*
----Open
Playoffs
----Bye
W Charleston 24-22 Augusta
L Charleston 24-41 Hermitage
*Conference game

The Tigers lost to Booneville who was AA the state runner-up and to Mansfield who was also a very good AA team but dominated the conference.

The game that really stands out in my mind was the playoff game with Augusta. Augusta came to Charleston ranked No. 2 in the state behind top ranked Barton. Barton was in their long winning streak and had won three straight state championships. Augusta had an outstanding team and many of the knowledgeable football people around the state were giving them an excellent chance of ending that Barton streak and winning the Championship.

Charleston had led the entire game and with about three minutes left had a decision to make. They faced a 3rd down just inside midfield in Augusta territory. Do we just run a play and if the first down is not obtained punt the ball and depend on the defense to win the game or try a pass play to pick it up and try to then run out the clock. After some discussion on the sideline the decision was made to throw a short swing pass that had been successful on other occasions. It was a timing pattern and I don't know if the QB threw the ball too soon or the receiver didn't turn soon enough but the ball bounced off the receivers shoulder pads right into the hands of the defender. The defender returned it to about the Tiger two were they then punched it into the endzone to take the lead.

After receiving the kickoff with about two minutes left the Tigers preceded to march about seventy five yards in a minute and some change to win the game. Junior QB Steve Haney hit junior receiver Brad Barnes with about a twenty five yard pass in the endzone for the winning touchdown. Brad was covered like a blanket and when the pass was thrown I gave it no chance to be completed. Brad somehow, someway, went up with the defenders and came down with a highlight reel catch.

The Arkansas Gazette was the premier newspaper for Arkansas high school sports (that was before the merger with the Democrat and it went down hill from there) and had given no respect (I'm really not sure we deserved any at that point) to the Tigers. That was the Tigers signature game to say they had arrived and could compete with the better teams in the state. However, Barton showed us we still had a ways to go the very next year.   

punisher


YC


1990

W Charleston 21-06 Danville
L Charleston 06-26 Booneville
W Charleston 22-00 Mountainburg*
W Charleston 35-12 Mansfield
W Charleston 40-22 Johnson County Westside*
W Charleston 55-00 Hartford*
W Charleston 22-07 Hackett*
W Charleston 48-00 Cedarville*
W Charleston 13-08 Lavaca*
*Conference game
Playoffs
----Bye
W Charleston 35-00 Sparkman
L Charleston 00-46 Barton

1990 was a year filled with joy, sadness, and adjustments.
All three classes (Srs. Jrs. & Sophs.) were extremely talented. Both Steve Haney (Sr. QB) and backup QB Brad Ray (Soph) went down in the preseason with injuries. Haney tried to play with his knee injury but it was obvious he was not the same Steve Haney. He finally had to give it up and a very good Johnson County Westside team was staring us right in the face. Kevin Binz (Jr, WR/QB) had played some QB in Jr high and was inserted at QB. Kevin had a great game against Westside and handled the option to perfection. The Tigers never missed a beat and turned a game that had some of us worried into an easy victory. I don't remember at what point but later Brad Ray was able to take over the QB duties—it may have been the next game, I just don't remember.

I knew Sparkman was going to win their conference and Charleston was going to get the winner of the round one playoff game between them and Forman. They played a pretty good Mt. Ida team on the final Thursday night of the regular season. I saw that game and came away very impressed with their team—they just took Mt. Ida to the woodshed. They were undefeated and highly ranked and I knew we would have to have a good game if we had any hope of winning. We did have a good game and I was shocked at how easily the Tigers handled them. Haney played in this game and played well.

I though we were really good but I got a dose of reality the next week and saw just how far we still had to go when Barton came into Charleston and just hammered us.

Tragedy struck the Tiger community the afternoon of homecoming night when Coach Adam's wife was killed in an automobile accident.   

YC

1991
W Charleston 25-20 Booneville
W Charleston 42-12 Subiaco Academy
W Charleston 46-00 Mansfield
W Charleston 42-08 Hackett*
W Charleston 40-00 Ola*
W Charleston 46-14 Johnson County Westside*
W Charleston 48-06 Hartford*
W Charleston 27-00 Danville*#
W Charleston 56-00 Lavaca*
*Conference game
# Called at half due to lighting
Playoffs
W Charleston 20-06 Pulaski Academy
W Charleston 43-00 Crawfordsville
L Charleston 20-24 Rison

The 1991 team was arguably the best team in Tiger history at that time and for several years there after. Some older Tiger fans around Charleston argue the 1964 team was just as good and perhaps better. Those people will tell you the 64 team played a much, much, tougher schedule. I've gone back and looked at that schedule and they certainly have a legitimate argument.

The 91 team had three members that went on to become head coaches. Doug Loughridge (OL/DL)—current Tiger coach—, Stephen Wood (WR/DB)—former Tiger coach—, and Brad Ray(QB/DB)—head coach at Cedarville at one time. After a five point win in the opening game over Booneville the rest of the regular season schedule were complete blowouts that the 1st team in most of those games did not see the field in the 2nd half except for special teams. In some of those games the 1st team came out before half.

Unlike today, back then only two teams from each conference went to the playoffs so every team you played were good teams. One of the highlights was the complete shut down of Donte Womack a great running back from Pulaski Academy who later went on to be a major player in SMU's three game winning streak over the Razorbacks.

For many years I thought the game with Rison was the best highschool football game I'd ever witnessed. Rison had won the state championship the year before and were favored to repeat. It was a great game that could have gone either way. There were three great teams in the state that were in a class by themselves (Rison, Charleston, and Carlisle) and then there was the rest. Rison defeated Charleston in a great game in the semi's while Carlisle manhandled Barton in the other semi game. Rison then defeated Carlisle in the championship game to repeat as state Champions.

Doug Loughridge and Eric Wilkins (TE/DE) were selected to play in the All-Star game.

That was the first year of many to follow in later years that the Tigers played in the semi finals.

MYTIGERS#1

YC, I have really enjoyed reading these posts.  Looking forward to reading more!! ;D

punisher

That was a very talented team.  I know that Coach Loughridge played for Tech, Wood started for 4 years at UCA, and I believe Brad Ray started for 3 or 4 years at OBU or Henderson? Do you know if Coach Loughridge and Eric Wilkins were the first ever Arkansas All-star representatives from Charleston?  I know this sounds like sour grapes, but wasn't there also a call or two that didn't go Charleston's way that went a long way to deciding the Rison game?  Thanks again for the read.  This is the first history lesson I've ever enjoyed. 

YC

Quote from: punisher on October 20, 2010, 08:39:44 am
That was a very talented team.  I know that Coach Loughridge played for Tech, Wood started for 4 years at UCA, and I believe Brad Ray started for 3 or 4 years at OBU or Henderson? Do you know if Coach Loughridge and Eric Wilkins were the first ever Arkansas All-star representatives from Charleston?  I know this sounds like sour grapes, but wasn't there also a call or two that didn't go Charleston's way that went a long way to deciding the Rison game?  Thanks again for the read.  This is the first history lesson I've ever enjoyed.

No, they were not the first. To my knowledge the first was a gentleman named George Morgan who was an all-state center and linebacker on the 1957 team. I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Morgan a few years back at the Charleston Schools all class reunion they hold every June. Mr. Morgan was a wealth of information on the teams of the 50's. I can't be absolutely certain but I believe he told me he lived in Houston at the time and was an attorney or CPA—I just can't remember for sure.

To stay in the time frame of this thread Jeff Dillard was selected in 88 and Doug Robinson (OL/LB) in 90. None were selected in 89.

As far as the controversial plays in the Rison/Charleston game, I guess they could be called controversial if a person wanted to. One happened on the opposite side line and was hard to see. Rison had two very good and fast backs. We had done a good job of keeping them from getting outside all night. They were backed up deep in their own territory and things were looking good for us. One of those backs then broke one around end and appeared to be gone. Steve Wood had a slight angle caught him somewhere around the Tiger 35—the Rison back was extremely fast and Steve would have never caught him without the angle. It appeared to me that Steve reached over the top of the shoulder pads and grabbed the front of the pads and pulled the kid over backward. I'm not absolutely sure about this but I think today that is considered a horse collar tackle and is illegal. In those days it was not. The Rison coach began giving the facemask sign and the official following the play threw the flag. Steve may have gotten some portion of the facemask at one point but I don't know for sure—I guess only he knows and I never asked him. After the penalty Rison went on and scored.

One may have been a bad call. The Tigers were driving and were in good position. It was a pass play down the north sideline toward the east end zone. The defender was on the right side and just a half step ahead of Steve. Brad who was usually right on target with that throw was just a little off. The ball was a shade high and a little to the right. In order to make the catch Steve had to adjust just a little to the right and in doing so bumped the defender who was looking at Steve and probably never saw the ball. When the flag went down many—including myself—thought the flag was for defensive interference. I turned to a friend standing next to me and stated "that's a bad call neither kid was going to catch that ball. It should have been a no-call". When offensive pass interference was called I couldn't believe it. In those days—and may be today, I don't know—it was a 15 yard penalty and loss of down. It killed the drive.

The two back-to-back fumbles by a Rison ball carrier late in the game was not controversial at all. I had a good view of both and the ball carrier was clearly down before the Tigers ripped the ball out of his hands.

As fans we tend to look at the bad things that happen to our team and forget about the bad things that happen to the other. Rison certainly had their bad breaks as well. With less than a minute left in the first half Rison was inside our five. We hadn't stopped their fullback for less than three yards all night. There was no way in my mind we were going to stop them from scoring. They then received a holding penalty and were force to kick a field goal on the last play of the half. They lost four points right there. At one point in the game they had us backed up on our own goal line with fourth down staring us in the face. We then had a terrible punt that the Rison kid tried to field somewhere near the twenty five or thirty, He fumbled the ball and we covered to retain possession. Had the kid not fumbled their chances of scoring was very good.

It was a great game with hard hitting on both sides. The game could have gone either way but Rison won the game and in my opinion rightfully so.

Coach Venny Slocombe

YC, keep these coming. I look forward to reading them everyday... :)

punisher

By no means was I trying to discredit Rison's accomplishment.  The images of the fumble that was going to be returned for a touchdown if the ref hadn't blown it dead, and the phantom interference call which you spoke of, get bulit up into a conspiracy theory over the years by the townsfolk. Thank you for clarifying.

YC

1992

L Charleston 32-42 Booneville
W Charleston 19-00 Subiaco Academy
W Charleston 34-00 Mansfield
W Charleston 32-14 Hackett*
W Charleston 52-16 Ola*
W Charleston 35-14 Johnson County Westside*
W Charleston 35-14 Hartford*
W Charleston 33-06 Danville*
W Charleston 27-26 O/T Lavaca*
* Conference game
Playoffs
L Charleston 08-21 Harding Academy

Things were looking a little dim for the 92 Tigers with only three full time and two part time starters returning. However, all the returnees were outstanding players. Derek Law (OG/LB) had earned a starting position as a soph on the 91 team and had been one of the better players. Brad Ray (QB) and Steve Wood (WR) had been a deadly passing combination the previous year. There was some cause for a certain amount of optimism. I myself felt good about their chances of having an outstanding season because this group that would be the starters was talented and just had the misfortune of being behind a large and extremely talented [91 sr.] class. It was one of those group of kids that you just knew when that got their chance to shine they would. The Sportsmanship (mercy) rule was not in effect at that time and they had gotten a lot of experience the previous year. They had had about as many plays from scrimmage as the starters during the 91 regular season. Also class A was down state wide with no team or teams standing out over the others. A Championship season was not out of the question.

Gloom and doom set in on the Tiger faithful when it was learned that Brad Ray had decided to forgo his Sr year at Charleston and transfer to F.S. Southside. Shane Hobbs (Jr.) inherited the QB job. Shane did a good job and would later take his place in Tiger history with other very good Tiger quarterbacks, but was replacing a QB who was among the best in the state regardless of classification—A few years later when Brad was starting at Ouachita a Charleston coach told me he was shocked that a major college had not picked him up because there was no doubt he was major college material. Steve Wood went on to set school and conference receiving records at UCA.

I will believe until the Lord calls me home that if Brad had stayed at Charleston they would have won their first state championship that year instead of having to wait another thirteen years in order to achieve that goal.

Steve Wood was selected to play in the All-Star game.     

It was the first year of three in a row of losing in the first round of the playoffs.

bjp

Quote from: YakimaCanutt on October 20, 2010, 01:34:51 pm
Quote from: punisher on October 20, 2010, 08:39:44 am

As far as the controversial plays in the Rison/Charleston game, I guess they could be called controversial if a person wanted to. One happened on the opposite side line and was hard to see. Rison had two very good and fast backs. We had done a good job of keeping them from getting outside all night. They were backed up deep in their own territory and things were looking good for us. One of those backs then broke one around end and appeared to be gone. Steve Wood had a slight angle caught him somewhere around the Tiger 35—the Rison back was extremely fast and Steve would have never caught him without the angle. It appeared to me that Steve reached over the top of the shoulder pads and grabbed the front of the pads and pulled the kid over backward. I’m not absolutely sure about this but I think today that is considered a horse collar tackle and is illegal. In those days it was not. The Rison coach began giving the facemask sign and the official following the play threw the flag. Steve may have gotten some portion of the facemask at one point but I don’t know for sure—I guess only he knows and I never asked him. After the penalty Rison went on and scored.

One may have been a bad call. The Tigers were driving and were in good position. It was a pass play down the north sideline toward the east end zone. The defender was on the right side and just a half step ahead of Steve. Brad who was usually right on target with that throw was just a little off. The ball was a shade high and a little to the right. In order to make the catch Steve had to adjust just a little to the right and in doing so bumped the defender who was looking at Steve and probably never saw the ball. When the flag went down many—including myself—thought the flag was for defensive interference. I turned to a friend standing next to me and stated “that’s a bad call neither kid was going to catch that ball. It should have been a no-call”. When offensive pass interference was called I couldn’t believe it. In those days—and may be today, I don’t know—it was a 15 yard penalty and loss of down. It killed the drive.

The two back-to-back fumbles by a Rison ball carrier late in the game was not controversial at all. I had a good view of both and the ball carrier was clearly down before the Tigers ripped the ball out of his hands.

As fans we tend to look at the bad things that happen to our team and forget about the bad things that happen to the other. Rison certainly had their bad breaks as well. With less than a minute left in the first half Rison was inside our five. We hadn’t stopped their fullback for less than three yards all night. There was no way in my mind we were going to stop them from scoring. They then received a holding penalty and were force to kick a field goal on the last play of the half. They lost four points right there. At one point in the game they had us backed up on our own goal line with fourth down staring us in the face. We then had a terrible punt that the Rison kid tried to field somewhere near the twenty five or thirty, He fumbled the ball and we covered to retain possession. Had the kid not fumbled their chances of scoring was very good.

It was a great game with hard hitting on both sides. The game could have gone either way but Rison won the game and in my opinion rightfully so.


Great posts.  You have a great memory.  I played in the game and don't remember it that well.  I remember the rain.  I remember we ran the opening kickoff back.  I thought for a brief second that the game was going to be another blow-out for us.  It was only a brief second though.  When you guys fielded the ensuing kickoff and proceeded to drive the length of the field with your first posession I knew we were in for a battle.  The 1991 Charleston Team was great.  I think that you could have very easily been the state champs that year.  While it is hard to predict the outcome of two teams playing a common opponent, I think that that Charleston team would have beaten Carlisle had they went on.


YC


I'd forgotten about the rain. I don't thank it rained during the game but it come a toad strangler and strong winds before the game started.

The year before Barton had come in and scored on the first offensive play of the game and then proceeded to take us to the woodshed. When you guys returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown I said to myself,,, oh no not again. We knew you people were good. Since you had ended Barton's long winning streak in the previous years Championship game we knew we had to play our best to even stay in the game.

I accused Mike Threl of being the slightly impaired--well perhaps a little more than slightly-- guy that buried his car by tried to drive up behind the east endzone goal post but he denied it.

You played an outstanding game that night. I was impressed with the way you lead your team.

captain

That game and season was very special. For one, we were able to beat Booneville at Booneville. The rest of the regular season went by very quick. Most of our games were determined in the first quarter and we were out by the 3rd quarter. The J.C. Westside game was a 3 quarter game and the Lavaca game was decided by half.We were tested against Pulaski Academy but were able to handle them. Crawfordsville had some talented players but were not much of a challenge as we beat them 43-0. We all knew when Rison came to town that we would be in for a game. Not one player on our team got flustered when Rison returned the opening kickoff back for a td. We knew we could compete, we thought we could win, and in my opinion, we should have. I think we made several mistakes that led to our defeat. However, Rison was able to capitalize on our miscues. I think YC had it right when he stated that Rison, Charleston, and Carlise were in a class by themsleves that year. What that game represented was Charlestons arrival as a State Powerhouse that has remained for almost 20 years. I am proud to say that I was part of that. The players on that team have all gone on to be successful adults, which IMO, is why they all were so good at football. All of the players I can remember where all hard nosed and committed to something greater than themselves. I do not remember people missing practice, or going half speed, ever.  We had a great group of players, coaches, and fan support, everything you need to have a successful football team. I think back about that game and wish several plays would have gone differently...but they never do....we still finish the game 24-20, 12-1. And, I still think, what a season.
- B Ray

YC

1993

L Charleston 00-21 Booneville
W Charleston 29-15 Mansfield*
W Charleston 27-06 Johnson County Westside*
W Charleston 27-07 Prairie Grove
L Charleston 30-38 Danville*
W Charleston 49-12 Hackett*
W Charleston 34-00 Hartford*
W Charleston 18-14 Lavaca*
W Charleston 35-06 Ola*
W Charleston 41-14 Hector*
*Conference game
Playoffs
L Charleston 06-29 Mineral Springs

I have very few details of the games played in 93 and 94. I was away from the Charleston community for those two years—before someone ask the answer is no; I was not in trouble with the law.. lol. I did try to get back and see as many games as possible and did make some of them. A good friend did call me on Saturday mornings and give me some accounts of the Friday night games I was unable to attend. I missed more games in those two years than I did the other twenty put together.

For the first time since 1988 when they shared a title with Lavaca they did not win the conference outright and ended up sharing the title. The loss to Danville in week 5 forced a tri-championship with Danville and Hackett. That loss to Danville ended a 26 conference game winning streak—there would be two longer ones to come later.

Charleston went into the playoffs as the No.2 seed and Danville as the No.1. Only two teams could go and Hackett was left out.

No game that I saw really stood out from that season.

Derek Law (OL/LB) was selected to play in the All-Star game.

YC

1994
L Charleston 07-20 Booneville
W Charleston 35-06 Mansfield*
W Charleston 45-22 Johnson County Westside*
W Charleston 29-08 Prairie Grove
W Charleston 17-00 Danville*
W Charleston 13-00 Hackett*
W Charleston 48-24 Hartford*
L Charleston 07-10 Lavaca*
W Charleston 44-20 Ola*
W Charleston 28-06 Hector*
*Conference game
Playoffs
L Charleston 13-24 Mineral Springs

The week 8 loss to Lavaca cost the Tigers an outright conference championship. The Tigers shared the title with Danville but went to the playoffs as the No1. seed because of their head-to-head win.

One game that I saw stands out in my mind. I am not going to name the team because fan bases change over the years and it would not be fair to their fans today. Travis Prescott had a reputation of being one of the better backs in the state and many wanted to see him play. The first few series of the game Charleston was playing flat and Travis was getting very little yardage. A small portion of the opposing team fans started heckling him, saying things like "best back in the conference" and then laughing, and hollering at him "overrated" and things of that nature. Now these were not kids but grown men and they were loud enough it was being heard on the Tiger sideline. Well they aught not should have done that because the team got angry and Travis went off on them. The game turned into a complete rout.

Travis Prescott set the all time Tiger career rushing record with 3,957 yards. That record stood until broken by Ryan McDonald this year but he still holds 2nd spot.
   
Travis Prescott was selected to play in the All-Star game.

YC

1995
L Charleston 14-36 Booneville
W Charleston 21-14 Mansfield*
W Charleston 55-00 Johnson County Westside*
W Charleston 15-02 Prairie Grove
L Charleston 20-22 Danville*
L Charleston 15-35 Hackett*
W Charleston 21-08 Hartford*
W Charleston 34-20 Lavaca*
W Charleston 48-22 Ola*
W Charleston 28-00 Hector*
*Conference game
Playoffs
W Charleston 22-00 Mountainburg
L Charleston 15-44 Carlisle

The 95 season was a trying season for the Tigers. It was a season of some key injuries and some hard luck. There were some talented sophs on the team and several of them filled key positions. They ended up with the worse regular season record of that twenty two year period but they were not the weakest team of that period.

The 1995 season was the first season that four teams from each conference were allowed to go to the playoffs. It was a good thing for Charleston that changes occurred at that point otherwise they would have missed the playoffs. Hackett won the conference outright with Danville and Charleston tying for 2nd. Danville won the head-to-head game getting the 2nd seed and putting Charleston as the 3rd seed.

No Tiger was selected for the All-Star game that year.

YC

1996
L Charleston 00-28 Booneville
W Charleston 42-12 Hector*
W Charleston 26-06 Danville*
W Charleston 35-07 Magazine*
W Charleston 10-06 Mansfield*
W Charleston 20-00 Hartford*
W Charleston 23-20 Hackett*
W Charleston 20-14 Greenland
W Charleston 19-13 O/T Ola*
L Charleston 14-22 Lavaca*
*Conference game
Playoffs
W Charleston 31-08 Elkins
L Charleston 10-18 Murfreesboro

The 96 Tiger team was an improvement over the 95 team but like the 95 team injuries to key players took their toll and particularly in the later part of the season. An unexpected loss to Lavaca to end the regular season was a bitter pill to swallow and denied them of any part of a conference championship forcing the Tigers to go into the playoffs as a No. 2 seed.

By the time they meet an undefeated and highly ranked Murfreesboro team injuries had changed the make-up of the team. With the starting quarterback [Lance Ketter] out with a broken arm sustained earlier in the season Brian Haynes (WR) who had had some quarterback experience earlier in his career was the starter. The only problem was Brian had not recovered from a knee injury sustained earlier in the season and probably was no more than sixty percent. Brian was unable to finish the game and it ended with a starting D-Back [Ryan Hewitt] playing quarterback.

Murfreesboro had a running back that if not the best in the state was among the best. I can't remember his name but he was called "preacher". The story was he was called preacher because he was an ordained minister—true or not I don't know. The Tigers completely shut him down the 1st half—he had several long gains in the 2nd—and got out early to a 10-0 lead on a touchdown pass and a [Heath Rainwater] field goal. The Tigers held the lead though out the 1st half and most of the 3rd quarter before Murfreesboro took control and won the game. Murfreesboro won their next two games in blowout fashion and went to the championship game where they lost to an undefeated [Bauxite] team (14-6).       

Matt Neissl (OL/DL) was selected to play in the All-Star game.

outlaw39

Quote from: YakimaCanutt on October 25, 2010, 10:28:58 pm
Murfreesboro had a running back that if not the best in the state was among the best. I can't remember his name......


If memory serves me right, you are talking about Al Green. He was a beast.

YC

Quote from: outlaw39 on October 25, 2010, 10:39:15 pm
Quote from: YakimaCanutt on October 25, 2010, 10:28:58 pm
Murfreesboro had a running back that if not the best in the state was among the best. I can't remember his name......


If memory serves me right, you are talking about Al Green. He was a beast.

Yep, that's him...is it true...uh....well... never mind, I'll send you a pm.

YC

1997
L Charleston 19-43 Booneville
W Charleston 41-00 Hector*
W Charleston 52-08 Danville*
W Charleston 50-13 Magazine*
W Charleston 35-07 Mansfield*
W Charleston 18-00 Hartford*
W Charleston 35-17 Hackett*
T Charleston 24-24 Greenland
W Charleston 41-06 Ola*
W Charleston 44-00 Lavaca*
*Conference game
Playoffs
W Charleston 18-13 Mountainburg
W Charleston 39-14 East Poinsett County
L Charleston 14-20 Sparkman

The 97 team was and always will be one of my favorite Tiger teams. Although they didn't have the record that some had had or would have they were an extremely talented team. It was hard to set down for fear of having your view block and you would miss something. They had two kids [Heath Kleck and Mark Barton] that were a threat to take it to the house every time they touched the ball. Kleck moved into 2nd place behind Travis Prescott of the 94 team for the all time Tiger career rushing record. Barton was a small kid and somewhat frail but he played big. He played injured his entire three year career and missed a lot of games completely. He had great speed and almost unbelievably moves. If the kid could have stayed healthy there is no telling what kind of numbers he would have put up.
   
The Booneville game was better than score would indicate. The Tigers played them tough with a chance to win until late in the 3rd quarter. The Booneville superior numbers, size, and strength took over and the smaller Tiger team just wore out.

The two games that stand out were the tie with Greenland and the playoff game with Sparkman. I could probably write three pages on each one of those games but will try to keep it short.

The Greenland game was one of the better games I've ever seen. Both teams went after it like it was a life or death struggle and the game was extremely physical. With Charleston leading 24-17 late in the game—seems like there was about two minutes left—Greenland scored. What happened next surprised me. There had been several write-ups in the papers the week preceding the game— back then the papers covered small school football much more than they do today. The Greenland coach had stated to a reporter what it would mean for his program if he were able to get a win over Charleston. I therefore figured he would go for two and the win but they lined up for the kick. A Tiger jumped off sides before the ball was snapped and the Tigers were penalized half the distance. I just knew he would then go for the two at that point but lined up and kicked the extra point to tie the game.

The Tigers then drove almost the length of the field and were probably in Heath Rainwater's range. Heath was an excellent kicker and had kicked a field goal earlier in the game but this one would be longer. There was enough time left to run one more play so the decision was made to throw a safe pass in order to get closer. You guessed it, it was intercepted and that was the ballgame.

The Sparkman game was just a disaster from start to finish. It had rained all week and including the day of the game. The field would have been horrible in good weather so you can imagine what kind of condition it was in after all that rain. The players were almost ankle deep in mud. A 90 yard interception return for a touchdown, two of the most horrible calls I've ever seen even until this day—if I described them you wouldn't believe it and say I was lying—and a punt return that was going to be a touchdown when one of our own people gets confused and comes off the sideline and for all practical purposes makes the tackle. Add all those things up and it just wasn't meant to be. It was just one of those games that happen sometime where the better team doesn't win. The pain of that loss was somewhat lessened the very next week when Shiloh went in there and hung 63 on them and we did not have to suffer that embarrassment.

Grayson Smith (OL/DL) and Mark Barton (WR/OB/DB) was selected to play in the All-Star game.

YC

1998
W Charleston 33-06 Lavaca
L Charleston 26-34 Hector*
W Charleston 27-00 Danville*
W Charleston 46-00 Magazine*
W Charleston 20-12 Mansfield*
L Charleston 00-10 Hartford*
W Charleston 51-12 Hackett*
W Charleston 50-22 Elkins
W Charleston 40-07 Ola*
W Charleston 52-06 Johnson County Westside*
Playoffs
W Charleston 28-12 Magnet Cove
W Charleston 41-00 Marked Tree
W Charleston 14-06 Clarendon
L Charleston 13-26 Shiloh Christian

1998 saw political correctness raise its ugly head and invade Arkansas Highschool Football when administrators of the Class B schools complained that being class B made their schools appear to be inferior. Class B was abolished and all class B schools became class A. Therefore our old class A became AA.

Lavaca moved up another classification to AAA. There was no way that game was going to be dropped but it would have to be played as a non-conference game thus it was moved to open game of the season.

There were several returning starters including Brook Simpkins who had quarterbacked the previous team as a soph, Mathew Peak a tall kid with great speed at split end, defensive back Adam Schmalz, lineman Bruce Fulmer and Eric Pendergrass. With talented soph V.J. Ackers taking over the fullback duties and speedy senior tailback Aaron Burt the team look pretty solid. After an impressive opening win against Lavaca things were looking good but when they lost their open conference game to Hector some of the faithful were wondering what went wrong—as it turned out Hector was a pretty good team. A midseason loss to Hartford had some of the faithful heading for the Arkansas River Bridge. After that loss the Tigers seemed to become more focused and finished out the regular season in convincing fashion.

The tigers finished the conference season tied for 2nd with Hartford but like 95 entered the playoffs as the 3rd seed—the only two seasons the tigers would go with less than a two seed. Being a three seed the Tigers drew a very good Magnet Cove team in the first round of the playoffs. Next was Marked Tree where soph fullback V.J. Ackers had a great game running the ball and Marked Tree had no answer for him. Next come Clarendon who had defeated Hartford the previous week (34-0). Clarendon had Cedric Houston who went on to play for Tennessee and Scott Davenport who went on to played for the Razorbacks. The team that would be a thorn in the flesh for the Tigers for the next several years came next. Actually the Tigers played very well against Shiloh and were in the game until the very end. Shiloh went on to defeat Hector in the championship game (49-14) the next week.

This was the second time the Tigers played in the semi's.   

Mathew Peak (SE/DB) was selected to play in the All-Star game.

Coach Venny Slocombe

Quote from: YakimaCanutt on October 28, 2010, 12:36:54 am
1998
W Charleston 33-06 Lavaca
L Charleston 26-34 Hector*
W Charleston 27-00 Danville*
W Charleston 46-00 Magazine*
W Charleston 20-12 Mansfield*
L Charleston 00-10 Hartford*
W Charleston 51-12 Hackett*
W Charleston 50-22 Elkins
W Charleston 40-07 Ola*
W Charleston 52-06 Johnson County Westside*
Playoffs
W Charleston 28-12 Magnet Cove
W Charleston 41-00 Marked Tree
W Charleston 14-06 Clarendon
L Charleston 13-26 Shiloh Christian

1998 saw political correctness raise its ugly head and invade Arkansas Highschool Football when administrators of the Class B schools complained that being class B made their schools appear to be inferior. Class B was abolished and all class B schools became class A. Therefore our old class A became AA.

Lavaca moved up another classification to AAA. There was no way that game was going to be dropped but it would have to be played as a non-conference game thus it was moved to open game of the season.

There were several returning starters including Brook Simpkins who had quarterbacked the previous team as a soph, Mathew Peak a tall kid with great speed at split end, defensive back Adam Schmalz, lineman Bruce Fulmer and Eric Pendergrass. With talented soph V.J. Ackers taking over the fullback duties and speedy senior tailback Aaron Burt the team look pretty solid. After an impressive opening win against Lavaca things were looking good but when they lost their open conference game to Hector some of the faithful were wondering what went wrong—as it turned out Hector was a pretty good team. A midseason loss to Hartford had some of the faithful heading for the Arkansas River Bridge. After that loss the Tigers seemed to become more focused and finished out the regular season in convincing fashion.

The tigers finished the conference season tied for 2nd with Hartford but like 95 entered the playoffs as the 3rd seed—the only two seasons the tigers would go with less than a two seed. Being a three seed the Tigers drew a very good Magnet Cove team in the first round of the playoffs. Next was Marked Tree where soph fullback V.J. Ackers had a great game running the ball and Marked Tree had no answer for him. Next come Clarendon who had defeated Hartford the previous week (34-0). Clarendon had Cedric Houston who went on to play for Tennessee and Scott Davenport who went on to played for the Razorbacks. The team that would be a thorn in the flesh for the Tigers for the next several years came next. Actually the Tigers played very well against Shiloh and were in the game until the very end. Shiloh went on to defeat Hector in the championship game (49-14) the next week.

This was the second time the Tigers played in the semi’s.   

Mathew Peak (SE/DB) was selected to play in the All-Star game.

YC, two of those games really stand out to me because I was in attendence.
First the Mansfield game...it was raining that night and the field was terrible. Mansfield jumped out to a 12-0 lead and then lost 20-12 as you stated. Back then one of the local news stations were doing the old Friday Night Flights and when they came to Charleston they landed where your field house is now. Also the stands were reversed and your home side now was the vistitors side. We were standing on the visitors side on the east end near the open field (at that time) and the helicopter had landed there early in the 3rd quarter. When they left the copter went up and hooked very slightly an electric power line crossing between two poles. We all thought Oh crap, but the pilot kept cool and and lowered a bit backed off and they were off to their next game. Could have been a disaster because no telling how much power that would have knocked out. I can still see that image vividly.

The Shiloh playoff game...when we first heard that the Gus Bus was headed to Chucktown we could not wait for Friday night. Shiloh was Shiloh and Chucktown was playing arguably their best football of the season. If I remember correctly on this part the Tigers were either ahead or tied at the half (I believe ahead) and were giving Shiloh all they wanted. Shiloh got the ball to start the half and three straight penalties, a defensive offsides, a facemask personal foul and then an unsportsmanlike conduct put Shiloh deep in Chucktown territory. The defensive offsides was a joke. I was walking the sidelines and was right on the line and nobody from the Tigers were offsides, but when Shiloh went to pass the Qb was sacked and the flag then came out. The flag did not come out until the play was almost over and then it was announced offsides by Chucktown. Then on the very next play the Qb for Shiloh was scrambling and was taken down for a sack and the flags flew again. I couldn't see this one as it happened near the sidelines on the Chucktown sideline but they called a facemask and negated another good play by the Chucktown defense and Storey was going off. He was still yelling when the  Charleston sideline got the third straight penalty and unsportsmanlike conduct call. That put Shiloh deep in Charleston territory and of course they scored. That drive seemed to deflate Charleston and Shiloh went on to win. Great game, but I sure wished Charleston would have won because I disliked Shiloh back then as bad as I do now.

YC

Quote from: Coach Venny Slocombe on October 28, 2010, 08:44:15 am
Quote from: YakimaCanutt on October 28, 2010, 12:36:54 am
1998
W Charleston 33-06 Lavaca
L Charleston 26-34 Hector*
W Charleston 27-00 Danville*
W Charleston 46-00 Magazine*
W Charleston 20-12 Mansfield*
L Charleston 00-10 Hartford*
W Charleston 51-12 Hackett*
W Charleston 50-22 Elkins
W Charleston 40-07 Ola*
W Charleston 52-06 Johnson County Westside*
Playoffs
W Charleston 28-12 Magnet Cove
W Charleston 41-00 Marked Tree
W Charleston 14-06 Clarendon
L Charleston 13-26 Shiloh Christian

1998 saw political correctness raise its ugly head and invade Arkansas Highschool Football when administrators of the Class B schools complained that being class B made their schools appear to be inferior. Class B was abolished and all class B schools became class A. Therefore our old class A became AA.

Lavaca moved up another classification to AAA. There was no way that game was going to be dropped but it would have to be played as a non-conference game thus it was moved to open game of the season.

There were several returning starters including Brook Simpkins who had quarterbacked the previous team as a soph, Mathew Peak a tall kid with great speed at split end, defensive back Adam Schmalz, lineman Bruce Fulmer and Eric Pendergrass. With talented soph V.J. Ackers taking over the fullback duties and speedy senior tailback Aaron Burt the team look pretty solid. After an impressive opening win against Lavaca things were looking good but when they lost their open conference game to Hector some of the faithful were wondering what went wrong—as it turned out Hector was a pretty good team. A midseason loss to Hartford had some of the faithful heading for the Arkansas River Bridge. After that loss the Tigers seemed to become more focused and finished out the regular season in convincing fashion.

The tigers finished the conference season tied for 2nd with Hartford but like 95 entered the playoffs as the 3rd seed—the only two seasons the tigers would go with less than a two seed. Being a three seed the Tigers drew a very good Magnet Cove team in the first round of the playoffs. Next was Marked Tree where soph fullback V.J. Ackers had a great game running the ball and Marked Tree had no answer for him. Next come Clarendon who had defeated Hartford the previous week (34-0). Clarendon had Cedric Houston who went on to play for Tennessee and Scott Davenport who went on to played for the Razorbacks. The team that would be a thorn in the flesh for the Tigers for the next several years came next. Actually the Tigers played very well against Shiloh and were in the game until the very end. Shiloh went on to defeat Hector in the championship game (49-14) the next week.

This was the second time the Tigers played in the semi's.   

Mathew Peak (SE/DB) was selected to play in the All-Star game.

YC, two of those games really stand out to me because I was in attendence.
First the Mansfield game...it was raining that night and the field was terrible. Mansfield jumped out to a 12-0 lead and then lost 20-12 as you stated. Back then one of the local news stations were doing the old Friday Night Flights and when they came to Charleston they landed where your field house is now. Also the stands were reversed and your home side now was the vistitors side. We were standing on the visitors side on the east end near the open field (at that time) and the helicopter had landed there early in the 3rd quarter. When they left the copter went up and hooked very slightly an electric power line crossing between two poles. We all thought Oh crap, but the pilot kept cool and and lowered a bit backed off and they were off to their next game. Could have been a disaster because no telling how much power that would have knocked out. I can still see that image vividly.

The Shiloh playoff game...when we first heard that the Gus Bus was headed to Chucktown we could not wait for Friday night. Shiloh was Shiloh and Chucktown was playing arguably their best football of the season. If I remember correctly on this part the Tigers were either ahead or tied at the half (I believe ahead) and were giving Shiloh all they wanted. Shiloh got the ball to start the half and three straight penalties, a defensive offsides, a facemask personal foul and then an unsportsmanlike conduct put Shiloh deep in Chucktown territory. The defensive offsides was a joke. I was walking the sidelines and was right on the line and nobody from the Tigers were offsides, but when Shiloh went to pass the Qb was sacked and the flag then came out. The flag did not come out until the play was almost over and then it was announced offsides by Chucktown. Then on the very next play the Qb for Shiloh was scrambling and was taken down for a sack and the flags flew again. I couldn't see this one as it happened near the sidelines on the Chucktown sideline but they called a facemask and negated another good play by the Chucktown defense and Storey was going off. He was still yelling when the  Charleston sideline got the third straight penalty and unsportsmanlike conduct call. That put Shiloh deep in Charleston territory and of course they scored. That drive seemed to deflate Charleston and Shiloh went on to win. Great game, but I sure wished Charleston would have won because I disliked Shiloh back then as bad as I do now.

I remember that Coach. It was scary. The pilot did a great job and avoided a potential serious situation.

Those were the days my friend we thought they would never end—but they did.

Those TV personalities were so nice. As soon as the props quit turning the elementary school kids would swarm said personalities. They would walk into the stadium playing and cutting up with the kids and the kids just adored them. When the 10:00 news came on we tuned into their station.

Back in those days we could depend on a couple write-ups a week on our various conference teams and game write-ups on Saturday morning. A modest but fair profit was acceptable in those days and when the profit line decreased they improved the product in order to bring the profit level back up. Today company's want to make hideous hidden profits and when those profits are not meet jobs are eliminated and the product is reduced. It has just turns into an endless cycle that in turn is domed for failure. I used to spend forty five minutes to an hour each day reading the sports page and now I glance at it for about a minute and then use it to rap garbage.

Well I'll get off my soap box and quit preaching gloom, doom, and destruction and hope I have not ruined this thread by opening up a huge can of worms.


ViewFromAbove

YC, that 1998 season ending loss to USC was tough, but not near as tough as the one you will be talking about very soon!!!  The 2000 9-6 loss by the Tigers to the University Of Shiloh Christian on a last second Field Goal that HIT THE CROSSBAR & then fell through to win it for the Saints & Gus Malzhan was by far my toughest loss as a Tiger Fan.  If you remember, Chase Rainwater had just missed our own field goal attempt and we left too much time on the clock (Malzahn told me this summer he still didn't know why Storey didn't run the clock all the way down so we would either win it or tie). This gave USC time to move the ball in position for the winning field goal. Not to mention that Brandon Holley got a Personal Foul penalty after our miss, which gave them a free 15 yards to start their drive.  They would later give us our final loss in the semi-finals at Charleston 28-40.  We lead at halftime in both of these games as well.  I still will argue that the 2000 team was the best Tiger Football team ever!!  But that topic is for another thread!!  That semi-final game is still the biggest crowd I have ever witnessed at Alumni Field for a football game.  We were the only 2 teams still playing in the entire western Arkansas area that night. People were sitting in the stands at 3:00 in the afternoon for a 7:30 kickoff!!  Those were the good ole days!!!

YC

Quote from: ViewFromAbove on October 28, 2010, 01:02:40 pm
YC, that 1998 season ending loss to USC was tough, but not near as tough as the one you will be talking about very soon!!!  The 2000 9-6 loss by the Tigers to the University Of Shiloh Christian on a last second Field Goal that HIT THE CROSSBAR & then fell through to win it for the Saints & Gus Malzhan was by far my toughest loss as a Tiger Fan.  If you remember, Chase Rainwater had just missed our own field goal attempt and we left too much time on the clock (Malzahn told me this summer he still didn't know why Storey didn't run the clock all the way down so we would either win it or tie). This gave USC time to move the ball in position for the winning field goal. Not to mention that Brandon Holley got a Personal Foul penalty after our miss, which gave them a free 15 yards to start their drive.  They would later give us our final loss in the semi-finals at Charleston 28-40.  We lead at halftime in both of these games as well.  I still will argue that the 2000 team was the best Tiger Football team ever!!  But that topic is for another thread!!  That semi-final game is still the biggest crowd I have ever witnessed at Alumni Field for a football game.  We were the only 2 teams still playing in the entire western Arkansas area that night. People were sitting in the stands at 3:00 in the afternoon for a 7:30 kickoff!!  Those were the good ole days!!!

Yes it's coming – probably Saturday. I really appreciate your input because it was my intent for more of that to happen in this thread. Charleston in years past had close to twenty people that posted on this board. For whatever reason those numbers have dwindled greatly. It was my intention to draw said posters back out and start posting again and to get the ones who now post get more involved.

I need all the help I can get because it's just too much for my little brain to remember all the events and make sure I get them correctly.

ViewFromAbove

So far so good!! My FIRST HAND knowledge dates back to 1980.  I will be more than happy to share any information or stats that I have whenever you need them!!  I always enjoy your take on the Tiger football program and agree with you most of the time.  It is nice to know that someone else out there is as crazy about all this stuff as I am.   Keep Up The Great Work!! 

CHSTigersFan

Quote from: Coach Venny Slocombe on October 28, 2010, 08:44:15 am
Quote from: YakimaCanutt on October 28, 2010, 12:36:54 am
1998
W Charleston 33-06 Lavaca
L Charleston 26-34 Hector*
W Charleston 27-00 Danville*
W Charleston 46-00 Magazine*
W Charleston 20-12 Mansfield*
L Charleston 00-10 Hartford*
W Charleston 51-12 Hackett*
W Charleston 50-22 Elkins
W Charleston 40-07 Ola*
W Charleston 52-06 Johnson County Westside*
Playoffs
W Charleston 28-12 Magnet Cove
W Charleston 41-00 Marked Tree
W Charleston 14-06 Clarendon
L Charleston 13-26 Shiloh Christian

1998 saw political correctness raise its ugly head and invade Arkansas Highschool Football when administrators of the Class B schools complained that being class B made their schools appear to be inferior. Class B was abolished and all class B schools became class A. Therefore our old class A became AA.

Lavaca moved up another classification to AAA. There was no way that game was going to be dropped but it would have to be played as a non-conference game thus it was moved to open game of the season.

There were several returning starters including Brook Simpkins who had quarterbacked the previous team as a soph, Mathew Peak a tall kid with great speed at split end, defensive back Adam Schmalz, lineman Bruce Fulmer and Eric Pendergrass. With talented soph V.J. Ackers taking over the fullback duties and speedy senior tailback Aaron Burt the team look pretty solid. After an impressive opening win against Lavaca things were looking good but when they lost their open conference game to Hector some of the faithful were wondering what went wrong—as it turned out Hector was a pretty good team. A midseason loss to Hartford had some of the faithful heading for the Arkansas River Bridge. After that loss the Tigers seemed to become more focused and finished out the regular season in convincing fashion.

The tigers finished the conference season tied for 2nd with Hartford but like 95 entered the playoffs as the 3rd seed—the only two seasons the tigers would go with less than a two seed. Being a three seed the Tigers drew a very good Magnet Cove team in the first round of the playoffs. Next was Marked Tree where soph fullback V.J. Ackers had a great game running the ball and Marked Tree had no answer for him. Next come Clarendon who had defeated Hartford the previous week (34-0). Clarendon had Cedric Houston who went on to play for Tennessee and Scott Davenport who went on to played for the Razorbacks. The team that would be a thorn in the flesh for the Tigers for the next several years came next. Actually the Tigers played very well against Shiloh and were in the game until the very end. Shiloh went on to defeat Hector in the championship game (49-14) the next week.

This was the second time the Tigers played in the semi’s.   

Mathew Peak (SE/DB) was selected to play in the All-Star game.

YC, two of those games really stand out to me because I was in attendence.
First the Mansfield game...it was raining that night and the field was terrible. Mansfield jumped out to a 12-0 lead and then lost 20-12 as you stated. Back then one of the local news stations were doing the old Friday Night Flights and when they came to Charleston they landed where your field house is now. Also the stands were reversed and your home side now was the vistitors side. We were standing on the visitors side on the east end near the open field (at that time) and the helicopter had landed there early in the 3rd quarter. When they left the copter went up and hooked very slightly an electric power line crossing between two poles. We all thought Oh crap, but the pilot kept cool and and lowered a bit backed off and they were off to their next game. Could have been a disaster because no telling how much power that would have knocked out. I can still see that image vividly.

The Shiloh playoff game...when we first heard that the Gus Bus was headed to Chucktown we could not wait for Friday night. Shiloh was Shiloh and Chucktown was playing arguably their best football of the season. If I remember correctly on this part the Tigers were either ahead or tied at the half (I believe ahead) and were giving Shiloh all they wanted. Shiloh got the ball to start the half and three straight penalties, a defensive offsides, a facemask personal foul and then an unsportsmanlike conduct put Shiloh deep in Chucktown territory. The defensive offsides was a joke. I was walking the sidelines and was right on the line and nobody from the Tigers were offsides, but when Shiloh went to pass the Qb was sacked and the flag then came out. The flag did not come out until the play was almost over and then it was announced offsides by Chucktown. Then on the very next play the Qb for Shiloh was scrambling and was taken down for a sack and the flags flew again. I couldn't see this one as it happened near the sidelines on the Chucktown sideline but they called a facemask and negated another good play by the Chucktown defense and Storey was going off. He was still yelling when the  Charleston sideline got the third straight penalty and unsportsmanlike conduct call. That put Shiloh deep in Charleston territory and of course they scored. That drive seemed to deflate Charleston and Shiloh went on to win. Great game, but I sure wished Charleston would have won because I disliked Shiloh back then as bad as I do now.
I remember the helicopter almost hitting the powerline and the tree that used to stand over that way.  And the Shiloh game, well that's the beginning of the reasons why I hate Shiloh to this day.......

JD1

Coach, 1998 Shiloh game was at Shiloh. Gus didn't come to Charleston till later.

ViewFromAbove

1998 game was at Shiloh.  First game in 2000 was at Shiloh and the Semi-Final Playoff game was at Alumni Field in Charleston.

Coach Venny Slocombe

Quote from: JD1 on October 28, 2010, 05:00:05 pm
Coach, 1998 Shiloh game was at Shiloh. Gus didn't come to Charleston till later.
Your right, I got my years mixed up...it was 2000...man I am getting old...lol

YC

1999
W Charleston 34-06 Lavaca
L Charleston 09-10 Hector*
W Charleston 40-06 Danville*
W Charleston 47-09 Magazine*
W Charleston 14-00 Mansfield*
W Charleston 31-00 Hartford*
W Charleston 28-00 Hackett*
W Charleston 45-30 Elkins
W Charleston 48-06 Ola*
W Charleston 40-08 Johnson County Westside*
*Conference game
Playoffs
W Charleston 42-06 Elkins
L Charleston 21-56 Shiloh Christian

!999 looked promising with two year starting quarterback Brook Simpkins, fullback V.J. Ackers, WR Evan McGuyer, TE/DE Phillip Parker all returning.

V.J. Ackers blew out a knee in the opening game with Lavaca – I could be wrong but I can't remember him playing the remainder of the season. Coach Story who had become head coach when Mike Adams left after the 91 season was quoted after the game saying if he had any way of knowing he would lose Ackers he would have forfeited. However, there was some good news. First it was a convincing win. Second Jeff Long had a great game and established himself as the feature back and would go on to have a great career as a Tiger.

For the second year the Tigers lost their opening conference game to Hector. This time the faithful didn't wonder what went wrong – they knew what went wrong. Unknown at the time that would be the last conference game the Tigers would lose until game four of the 2005 season (48 games).

Shiloh Christian was in the process of building a powerhouse under head coach Gus Malzahn. They had played in two straight championship games losing to Barton in 97 and defeating Hector in 98 and were favored to win the title again. The Tigers played them tough and was in the game the first half but it turned ugly in the second. Shiloh did go on to win the state championship.

Nick Carbonia was selected to play in the All-Star game.

The decade of the 90's had been far better than any decade in Tiger history winning an average of 9.3 games per year but the best was yet to come.

mhstiger00

Good stuff Yakima, I was a senior at Mansfield that year. Wasn't there some controversy over a Field Goal at the Charleston - Hector game that year? I know they had a good kicker that went on to play at Harding I think, but it seems like maybe a field goal was called good that really wasn't. I wasn't at the game but I remember that was a game we were paying attention to as a team because we knew that if we were going to get a home playoff game we would have to beat one of those teams. (Which we didn't, 14-0 to charleston,  14-8 to Hector)

CHSTigersFan

I remember that field goal, the refs looked at each other and called it good, but I swear it was wide right. It was the first time I had ever seen the cops escort the referees out of the stadium. It was crazy!!

mhstiger00

Yeah, Hector was notorious for "getting the calls" during that time frame. Not to take away from their teams in the late 90's because they were very good. But we had some mysterious calls that cancelled big plays when we played there. It seems like when I was in junior high i went to a Sr high game at Hector as a water boy  and the police either had to escort out the refs or maybe they escorted out some of the fans because of the refs, either way, yeah it was always crazy when we went to Hector.

YC



I've decided to break my silence I've maintained all these years.

Whether or not the field goal was good I had a bad angle and could not tell. Two of my friends claim they had left the game thinking it was over but then came back when Hector scored their late TD and were standing behind the goal post. I know for sure one was there because I saw him and when the field goal was called good he liked to come unglued. That man is usually a mild-mannered person and I had never in my life seen him throw the fit he did. He told me later the ball was at least a foot right.

What bothered me even more than the field goal itself were the things that happened leading up to it. I can't remember the exact number but the Tigers received something like 60 yards of penalties in the 4th quarter. At what point in the game penalties occur is more important than the penalty itself. If a first down is pick up on third down and a penalty occurs in will most likely kill the drive.

I myself had started to the car and when Hector scored the TD I stopped and was standing against the fence on the west end about the twenty yard line. There was an elderly gentleman that I'd never seen before in my life standing there and I walk up beside him. After Hector scored to pull within two—I can't remember for sure but is seem there was about three minutes left in the game—I turned to the guy and stated we were about to see an onside kick. His reply to me was, Nope...I said, do you think that coach is going to kick to Charleston with that little time and his answer was, Yep... I said, all Charleston has to do is pick up a first down and no more than two and the game is over. His reply was, He knows what he's doing and that ain't going to happen. The guy then walked off and I've never seen him since.

He was right...Charleston did pick up a 1st down on a third and about 3 or 4 but you guessed it,,,holding against Charleston. It happened right in front of me and the flag never came out until it was obvious the Tigers had picked up the first down. The Tigers didn't help themselves by getting the punt blocked but the defense did a good job by throwing the quarterback for a huge loss on 4th and long....But you guessed it...Personal foul against Charleston. The ball then went back to the line of scrimmage and 15 yards was marched off. That penalty put them with in their very good field goal kickers range.

Make no mistake about it; Hector had a very good team in both 98 and 99. They won the conference in 98 fair and square. They repeated in 99 but in my opinion they had help and to me that championship will always be tainted.

YC

 2000
W Charleston 42-13 Paris
W Charleston 42-06 Hackett*
W Charleston 36-00 Hector*
W Charleston 55-06 Lavaca*
W Charleston 37-07 Ola*
W Charleston 44-21 Magazine*
W Charleston 43-06 Hartford*
W Charleston 60-21 Danville*
L Charleston 06-09 Shiloh Christian
W Charleston 44-08 Johnson County Westside*
*Conference game
Playoffs
W Charleston 49-06 Elkins
W Charleston 28-14 Junction City
W Charleston 48-07 Magnet Cove
L Charleston 28-40 Shiloh Christian

The prospects for 2000 had the fans excited. On paper this appeared to be an outstanding team and they did not disappoint.

The Tigers would need a quarterback to replace three year starter Brook Simpkins and they had one [Chase Rainwater (Sr.)] who had been playing other positions earlier and waiting for his chance. Chase was a big kid that looked more like a lineman than a quarterback but had a strong arm and was extremely accurate. With his brother Caleb (Jr,) and cousin Darren Hice (Jr.) he had capable receivers. Outstanding lineman Brandon Holley (Sr.) headed up a very good line. Donald Meador (Sr.) was the first of the three Meador brothers that would contribute greatly to the Tiger teams. With V.J. Ackers – also the first of three brothers to play for the Tigers – at fullback and Jeff Long at tailback the backfield looked to be in good hands.

When the 2000 schedule was released some of the faithful thought coach Story had lost his mind. Setting at game number nine was a non-conference game with Shiloh. There were a couple rumors going around as to why Coach Story scheduled that home and home series but I have no ideal if one or both were true or neither so I won't mention either. Lavaca returned to AA and would be scheduled as a conference game and Paris was scheduled for opening game.

When game nine rolled around the Tigers were undefeated and untested. They had run roughshod over the previous eight opponents and the only blemish on Shiloh's record was a 7-7 tie with Springdale High. With the game tied 6-6 Shiloh attempted a long field goal on the final play of the game that hit the cross bar and fell over for the win. View From Above made an excellent post on this game earlier in this thread (post # 29). If you have not read it I suggest you do.



In the playoff game with Junction City Jeff Long set a school record with a 103 –or 104, or105, or106, or 107, depending on who you believe – yard interception return. When Jeff made the interception in the endzone the coaches on the sideline were screaming at the top of their lungs...GET DOWN!!!GET DOWN!!!GET DOWN!!! but Jeff came out at full speed. By the time he reached the 10 there was nothing but brown grass, moonlight, and 90 yards between him and the goal and with his speed it was obvious no one was going to catch him and the screams changed to...GO!!! GO!!!GO!!!

The playoff game with Shiloh was not just a football game but an event. The largest crowd I'd ever seen at Charleston was in 91 when Rison came to town. In that game the stands were packed and people lining the field. The officials had to call timeout several times to move people away from the endzone. The crowd was considerably larger for the game with Shiloh. Even thought it was a bitter cold night the fans lined the sidelines and endzones five and six deep. The Tigers led at half but were unable to hold on for the win.

V.J  Ackers moved into third place for the all time Tiger career rushing record.

Lineman Brandon Holley received an appointment to play at the United States Military Academy at West Point.   

Brandon Holley, Chase Rainwater, and V.J. Ackers were selected to play in the All-Star game.

2010Tigerhaz-been


YC

2001
W Charleston 34-08 Paris
W Charleston 42-00 Hackett*
W Charleston 34-00 Hector*
W Charleston 42-00 Lavaca*
W Charleston 52-06 Ola*
W Charleston 37-00 Hartford*
W Charleston 14-07 Danville*
L Charleston 20-41 Shiloh Christian
W Charleston 42-06 Johnson County Westside*
*Conference game
Playoffs
W Charleston 41-12 Elkins
L Charleston 27-32 Junction City

With so many talented players graduating off the 2000 team some of the faithful thought the 2001 team could have some trouble maintaining the status quo. However, they never missed a beat and used one of the better defensive teams during this time frame to have another good season.
I am drawing a blank on who was in the backfield but am almost certain the quarterback job went to Dustin "Doc" Crowley (Jr.) – now assistant coach at Booneville. Chris Smith was an outstanding lineman who went on to play small college football – now head coach at a small college in Texas but I can't remember the name of the school. Doc was a good passer and had Caleb Rainwater and Darren Hice as very good receivers.

The starting defense either gave up 48 or 56 points during the regular season – I can't remember for sure if Paris scored on the starter or the reserves – and 41 of those points were scored by Shiloh.

The playoff game with Junction City was a good game that Junction led throughout. Charleston scored late to get close but it was too little to late.

Josh Verkamp was selected to play in the all-star game.

edghog


ViewFromAbove

YC,  Brandon Holley never made it to West Point and ended up playing a couple of years at Missouri State (S.W. Missouri State Back Then).  Chris Smith Was An All-Conference Lineman At Bacone College (NAIA).  He Coached At Blinn College For 2 Years & They Won The National Championship Last Season.  On Last Year's National Championship Team, Smith Was The Position Coach For A QB I'm Sure You Have Heard - Cam Newton, Who Of Course Is Now At Auburn & Should Win The Heisman Trophy!!!  Coach Smith Is Now At Kilgore College In Texas, Serving As Their Offensive Coordinator!!

YC


Thanks for the info VFA,
I did not know that Brandon did not go on to West Point.

I am almost sure someone told me Chris had taken a head coaching job. Either he was wrong or I misunderstood him.

YC

2002
W Charleston 48-00 Paris
W Charleston 40-00 Decatur*
W Charleston 41-00 Cedarville*
W Charleston 34-07 Lavaca*
W Charleston 56-07 Johnson County Westside*
W Charleston 51-06 Hackett*
W Charleston 28-14 Elkins*
W Charleston 47-14 Hartford*
W  Charleston 02-00 (Forfeit) Mountainburg*
W Charleston 21-06 Pea Ridge*
*Conference game
Playoffs
W Charleston 47-14 Little Rock Christian
W Charleston 33-13 Bauxite
L Charleston 21-28 Harding Academy

For the third time the Tigers fielded a team in 2002 that was as good as any in the state, but being as good as any in the state does not guarantee a state championship and again the Tigers would fall short of their goal.

With a good core of experience returning from the previous year's team and with the influx of arguably the strongest group of sophs during this time frame most of the faithful was looking forward to another strong season. Several of these sophs had the talent to make the step from Jr. high to Sr. high and start, and some did. With super sophs Blake Bates and Drew Hill joining returning senior quarterback Doc Crowley and with several other talented backs the backfield looked to be excellent. The line was strong on both sides of the ball. Again the Tigers had an outstanding defensive team that the starters actually gave up less points that the previous years defense.

The final playoff game was a game that in my opinion the Tigers should have won. After building a good lead in the first half they got away from their offensive game plan by going conservative and playing not to lose instead of playing to win. It didn't work. Harding went on to win the championship. A 12-1 season was a great season but yet again the goal of a state championship escaped the Tigers.   

Doc Crowley was selected to play in the all-star game.

For those who think you can judge how good a team will be by the way they played in Jr. high, I think this was the team that when the seniors were freshman and the juniors were 8th graders they won about three games and just got hammered in several.   

HorseFeathers

Quote from: mhstiger00 on October 29, 2010, 12:26:52 pm
Yeah, Hector was notorious for "getting the calls" during that time frame. Not to take away from their teams in the late 90's because they were very good. But we had some mysterious calls that cancelled big plays when we played there. It seems like when I was in junior high i went to a Sr high game at Hector as a water boy  and the police either had to escort out the refs or maybe they escorted out some of the fans because of the refs, either way, yeah it was always crazy when we went to Hector.

Most fans from Hector would tell you that Charleston is a bunch of sore losers(not trying to provoke a fight here), because most remember you guys turning the lights out so shortly after the game that the team was still on the field...at least that's the story in Hector...now I agree that most people not from Hector say that Nance did indeed miss the field goal that won that game in 99 at our place.

Quote from: YakimaCanutt on November 02, 2010, 08:52:08 am
2002
W Charleston 48-00 Paris
W Charleston 40-00 Decatur*
W Charleston 41-00 Cedarville*
W Charleston 34-07 Lavaca*
W Charleston 56-07 Johnson County Westside*
W Charleston 51-06 Hackett*
W Charleston 28-14 Elkins*
W Charleston 47-14 Hartford*
W  Charleston 02-00 (Forfeit) Mountainburg*
W Charleston 21-06 Pea Ridge*
*Conference game
Playoffs
W Charleston 47-14 Little Rock Christian
W Charleston 33-13 Bauxite
L Charleston 21-28 Harding Academy

For the third time the Tigers fielded a team in 2002 that was as good as any in the state, but being as good as any in the state does not guarantee a state championship and again the Tigers would fall short of their goal.

With a good core of experience returning from the previous year's team and with the influx of arguably the strongest group of sophs during this time frame most of the faithful was looking forward to another strong season. Several of these sophs had the talent to make the step from Jr. high to Sr. high and start, and some did. With super sophs Blake Bates and Drew Hill joining returning senior quarterback Doc Crowley and with several other talented backs the backfield looked to be excellent. The line was strong on both sides of the ball. Again the Tigers had an outstanding defensive team that the starters actually gave up less points that the previous years defense.

The final playoff game was a game that in my opinion the Tigers should have won. After building a good lead in the first half they got away from their offensive game plan by going conservative and playing not to lose instead of playing to win. It didn't work. Harding went on to win the championship. A 12-1 season was a great season but yet again the goal of a state championship escaped the Tigers.   

Doc Crowley was selected to play in the all-star game.

For those who think you can judge how good a team will be by the way they played in Jr. high, I think this was the team that when the seniors were freshman and the juniors were 8th graders they won about three games and just got hammered in several.   


didn't H.A win state that year, 26-24 over Danville?

ViewFromAbove


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