Players from Central’s championship team share memories

The Central High School building itself is younger than some of the clothes on a few members of the small group of alumni.

“I don’t see any holes with some rats coming out of it,” cracked one former Central football player. “There was a little some of that.”

The fellows talked of an old building and some legendary teachers. The memories brought both cringes and laughs.

No winning tradition came from the accomplishment that brought them together in the new school on their old school grounds. In fact, in this year of celebration, Central recently completed its second straight 0-10 season.

But for a few minutes, those on hand for a pair of basketball games were taken back to a year when the Big Orange were the big dogs in the state of Georgia.

A weekend of celebration to commemorate Central’s 1975 state football championship began Friday with the mounting of a picture of the team in the school’s fairly new field house.

It continued with a tribute to the group read between the Central vs. Washington County girls and boys basketball games Friday night, although the former players on hand were never identified over the public address system.

It was a short and light ceremony with no city or school district proclamations or representation, and the crowd no doubt had trouble imagining a state championship after two winless seasons.

But Jerry Anderson, David Belote, David Cape, Roger Jackson, Mike Jolly, Ray Patterson and Clement Troutman hung on every word for a little more than two minutes.

“Fifty years ago, a group of young men stepped onto the field with heart, pride, discipline and a belief that they could achieve something extraordinary and they did. They became and remained the only football team in Bibb County to never win the state championship,” a Central administrator read at the event.

“To the members of the 1975 state championship championship team, we thank you. We appreciate the dedication, the sacrifice, and the relentless work ethic that you put into that season. You didn’t just win games, you set a standard. You wrote your names into forever history. You showed this community what excellence looks like and you showed generations of athletes where it truly means to be a Charger.

“Thank you for inspiring us and thank you for showing us what it means to be a Charger. Let’s help these guys celebrate the 50th anniversary of the only state championship in Bibb County.”

And then the older generation joined the younger generation in the school’s modern-day pride chant: “Whooo’s house? C’s house.”

With that, the group headed to the lobby where the trophy from 1975 sat on a table with a big inflated “50” and some orange and white balloons.

Some pictures followed, and some stories.

There were requisite raves of the humble Jolly, a prime candidate for any Mount Rushmore of Bibb County public school high school football players. He went from a ready-to-quit ninth-grader to a varsity-caliber player in his freshman season, and a two-way star from then on.

The gang laughed about some of the treatment of coaches, who were held to different standards of physicality when it came to getting a point across.

Jackson remembered one time when he basically protested not having the same equipment as his teammates, and he said he wasn’t going to practice.

“They go out there and tell the coaches, and they’re, ‘Where’s Rog at?’” Jackson said.  “‘He ain’t coming to practice. I find something and I put it on and I’m coming out of the tunnel, and (the assistant) said, ‘you better put your (expletive) helmet on, I’m fixin’ to knock your damn head off.’”

And Jackson re-enacts the swing.

“Bam!,” Jackson said. “My helmet rolled down the (tunnel) and (teammates) said, ‘He knocked his head off!”

The laughter indicated memories of pain that was understood and still felt kind of good five decades later.

The group will be joined by nearly two dozen other members of the team Saturday night at a celebration hosted by the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame, open to the public with a $30 donation.

Of the estimated 39 who dressed for that championship game, Jackson figured around 27 or 28 will be on hand at the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame, a fitting location to celebrate a legendary Central Georgia team.

And one that did in 1975 what it was favored to do a year earlier.

“We went 6-3-1,” Jolly said. We were picked to win it all.

We thought the best team was going to take the state easily, but we lost a close controversial game.”

The Chargers were undefeated when they headed to Richmond Academy. They came home with nearly 150 yards in penalties and a 13-10 loss in the second Region 4-AAA game in 1974.

“Called back two touchdowns,” Cape said. “We muffed a punt, which you can’t advance a muffed punt. The guy scooped it up and ran from the 8-yard line.”

And scored.

“They wouldn’t have scored from the 8,” Cape said.

Added Jackson: “Coach said, ‘I told y’all we would have to beat 16 (11 ARC players and the officials).’ We had to beat 16.”

A tie with Merritt Island out of Florida followed, then wins of 44-0 and 48-0 over Southwest and Northeast. Laney edged Central 21-20, and Northside ended the Chargers season on a 15-6 loss.

The memories of 1974 stuck around when 1975 showed up.

“All those guys were big, but it didn’t happen on the field for us,” Jolly said after listing some of the 1974 stars like Mack Guest, David Taylor and Al Lewis, among the nine seniors. 

But it did in 1975, starting with a 21-6 win over Griffin. Four games later, Richmond Academy visited Macon.

“37 to nothing,” Cape said. “We scored with two minutes left. (David) Murphy (goes) out there and grabbed it and went for two. And he got it.”

The postgame was frisky.

“After the game. I ain’t gonna tell you what Coach said,” Cape laughed. “The (Richmond coach) was shaking hands and fussing at him. Coach wouldn’t let go. He wanted to tell him what he wanted to tell him.”

More cruising followed: 48-o over Southwest, 36-8 over Northeast, and 20-6 over Laney before Northside and head coach Conrad Nix again had the answers in a 27-14 win. The Eagles didn’t have the answers 12 days later in a state playoff rematch, won 21-19 by the Chargers.

Indeed, 21 was the lucky number, with a 21-6 win over Wayne County and then 21-14 in the state finale over Douglass.

Ironically, Douglass celebrated its only visit to the state championship last week — a visit that came in that game against Central.

Jackson spearheaded the reunion, and those Chargers in the lobby wondered where a few of their teammates were. Eight are deceased, as are most of the coaches, except for Tommy Seward, Roy McWilliams and Mike Luzier.

The attendance of McWilliams and the accompanying tales would be worth the price of admission. There’s a slight chance the memory of one assistant mooning players from another truck on a ride back from practice may be retold.

Life may test memories a bit, but they’ll be plentiful when so many gather together.

“It’s good,” Jolly said, “to be remembered.”

And easy, when part of an unforgettable team.