'79 Semifinals: Belfry 14 Highlands 8

[Birdsfan]

To be honest...he had the refs and HHS coach begging him to go onto the field first. It was really a circus in our locker room. The head ref and the HHS coach were completed baffled as to why BHS would not come out first.. Roddy clearly stated his position from the start. The whole scenario played into his plan....

It may not have been "illegal" but it certainly went against what one would consider good sportsmanship. Normally, when you defy an order from the refs you get penalized. I'm surprised there were none given.

[Watusi]

There were no orders given by the refs and BOTH teams were guilty of delay. It was a chess match. HHS waited because they wanted to use their intimidation methods and make their dramatic entrance while Belfry was on the field to awe them. And Belfry waited because they knew better and wanted to avoid the intimidation. Coach Roddy was not going on the field until HHS did, and if he got a 5 yd delay of game penalty, that was fine with him.

 

The thing is, if any penalties were issued, they would have had to penalized both teams.

[EKUAlum05]

It may not have been "illegal" but it certainly went against what one would consider good sportsmanship. Normally, when you defy an order from the refs you get penalized. I'm surprised there were none given.

 

Considering the new rule states the home team has to come out first, then it appears that not only did he do nothing illegal, it was in fact Highlands who wasn't playing fair?:sssh:

 

You said that it didn't work because Highlands came out more fired up than ever? Well that Belfry team must have had some defense because tear away jerseys has no affect on the most fired up Highlands team of all-time scoring 6 points.

[THUNDERBIRDS]

Give me the details on this game Tradition. I was playing in college and couldn't get to the game. Was Wilbur Highlands coach or had Jack arrived on the scene? Who were the Highlands players and what went wrong (something had to have gone wrong; as we never get beat by a better team ).

 

Coach Hermann was still the coach. He coached all the way up to 1983. His last game was a loss to eventual State Champ Conner. This loss ended a 30 game plus win streak. As far as went wrong with the game I have no clue. The rule that change the way home and away teams enter the field is a classic. Intimadation starts when people walk into the most storied football field in the Commonwealth imo. Last week when Hamilton High was walking into the stadium a player walking through was counting with his finger the state championships on the arch. It was priceless when the kid said 17, Are you kidding me!!!!!

Edited July 23, 2008 by BoomGoesTheCannon
Rule 13

[THUNDERBIRDS]

Not to threadjack here and this is probably for another thread but does anybody remember the 1989 battle between the Birds and Pirates. Another classic game!!!!! Does anybody remember how HHS scored in overtime.

[Birdsfan]

You said that it didn't work because Highlands came out more fired up than ever? Well that Belfry team must have had some defense because tear away jerseys has no affect on the most fired up Highlands team of all-time scoring 6 points.

All they had was the trick jerseys.

 

Most fired-up of all time? Those are your words only.

[Birdsfan]

HHS waited because they wanted to use their intimidation methods and make their dramatic entrance while Belfry was on the field to awe them.

I'm sure that's what Belfry believed in their own minds.

[75center]

We did learn a lot that night. We learned to be resourceful, use every advantage within the rules to achieve your goals. We learned to take other peoples perceived strengths and turn them into ours. We learned to work hard and to never allow a newspaper article or a loud cannon to keep you on the bus.

 

KEEP IN MIND, we lost the finals 33-0 to Franklin Simpson...our only loss of the season.

But you know, we had already won our state championship the week before.

 

And that right there makes me wonder about how good a coach he was although I do admire what he did against HHS.

[Watusi]

And that right there makes me wonder about how good a coach he was although I do admire what he did against HHS.

 

Belfry lost their starting tailback against HHS, and then in the championship game, they lost their fullback and other tailback too fairly early in the game.

 

That FS team had Kerry Baird and Joker Phillips in the backfield and they were the class of 3A that season. Very sound football team.

[Watusi]

I'm sure that's what Belfry believed in their own minds.

 

It was motivational and psychological move by Coach Roddy.

 

Up until that point, the only dealings Belfry had had with the Birds was in the 60's when HHS had played at Belfry twice during the playoffs.

 

Highlands had rolled into a poor mountain coal mining community in chartered buses looking and performing like world beaters. Heck, compared to the Pirates they WERE world beaters, but it left an impression. Some of the old timers have recounted how the HHS team arrived on those Greyhounds already dressed. They had dressed in Pikeville, I guess. And they had brought their own water, apparently because they knew how bad our water was. Everyone on Pond Creek used well water at the time, including the school. It was full of sulphur and iron and it probably would have made anyone not used to it a little queasy.

 

So both time HHS came to Belfry they got off the busses, kicked our butts for a half, got back on the busses for halftime, kicked our butts for another half and then headed home.

 

These kids had no doubt heard all the stories from their moms and dads about how good HHS was and how they were the class of the Commonwealth and Coach Roddy didn't want them to be in awe.

 

So he spent a week telling the team how we were not going to be intimidated. We were not going to be in awe, we were going to war and we were going to win.

 

It was a David vs Goliath kind of matchup.

 

The locker room thing, was a part of that.

 

And right before Belfry went on the field, He told the team about how HHS dressed in Pikeville (trying to make them believe that HHS thought they were too good to dress in Belfry.) Then he told how they brought their own water (again, giving the impression they thought they were too good for Belfry's water).

 

And then, he had the managers bring out several water coolers filled with good ole Belfry well water that he had instructed them to load on the busses before we left. He said we were going to drink our own water too. :lol: It may sound corny now, but it was inspiring and it made those kids go crazy.

[Birdsfan]

We did learn a lot that night. We learned to be resourceful, use every advantage within the rules to achieve your goals.

I don't consider exploiting a rule that the KHSAA had neglected to address, as being "resourceful." It simply violates the spirit of good sportsmanship. It's not something that would be expected from a team in NKY.

 

But you know, we had already won our state championship the week before.

That's the standard mantra when teams come up here.

[Chenoweth]

I am impressed by how sharp everyone's memories of the game still is and how emotional the game still is to many.

 

Honestly I can't remember games I played last week with the detail some of you remember this game.

[EKUAlum05]

All they had was the trick jerseys.

 

Most fired-up of all time? Those are your words only.

 

So Highlands had no offense then? 6 points.....

 

They are my words of sarcasm after you previously mention how it was a horrible strategy because it made Highlands even more pumped up. If Highlands was all pumped up I'd assume they'd score more than 6 points on their homefield in the State Semi's? Since it was a horrible strategy are you saying that had Belfry came out at the normal time they would have actually beat Highlands by more?

 

I still want to know why it was so so Unsportsmanlike in your opinion for Belfry to hold up in the lockerroom when Highlands refused to comeout themsleves?

 

Was it gamesmanship? Yes....

 

Had Highlands taken the field at the their normal time and Belfry continued to wait and prolong kickoff would it be poor sportsmanship? Definately....

 

Yet, Highlands was just as guilty of drawing a line in the sand and being stubborn.

[Watusi]

I am impressed by how sharp everyone's memories of the game still is and how emotional the game still is to many.

 

Honestly I can't remember games I played last week with the detail some of you remember this game.

 

Make no mistake about it, it was the biggest win in Belfry's football history, and remained so until they finally won their first state championship in 2003.

 

The Highlands tradition is second to none and they were the standard by which everyone else was measured at the time. Beating a team like that, which Belfry's coaches and fans had a ton of respect for, was something to remember.

 

It was kind of like the movie Hoosiers.

[Birdsfan]

If Highlands was all pumped up I'd assume they'd score more than 6 points on their homefield in the State Semi's? Since it was a horrible strategy are you saying that had Belfry came out at the normal time they would have actually beat Highlands by more?

No, I'm saying that if they had worn the same equipment as every other team in the state, they would not have won that game. Simple as that.