1972
Late Registration

Medina Valley
September 8, 1972: Converse
The Rockets began the first year of their new Class 3A Rocket Program with some familiar feline friends from Castroville. The sassy Panthers, unfortunately, were rather rude visitors in administering a good old fashioned case of ‘cat scratch fever.’ The cats jumped on the Rockets with fourteen (14) points in the 1st Half while seeing to it that the Rockets maintained possession of their goose-egg. One (1) thing, however, that the Rockets did not maintain possession of very well was the ball: They lost four (4) fumbles and experienced one (1) INT. The 110 yards in penalties also were not very helpful, and all told it enabled the cats to score twenty (20) more points while allowing the Rockets only eight (8), which came in the 4th Quarter when Gerald Lockey collaborated with Jeff Hooks for a 38-yard pass play and the score, followed by a 2-point play.

Poth
September 15, 1972: Poth
The Rockets Pirated a total of five (5) Poth fumbles and cashed in on three (3) of them for TD’s. But first, Philip Kellman snatched a Judson pass and returned it 47 yards to put the Pirates in front at 6-0 in the opening period. The Rockets took the lead in the 2nd Quarter by mounting a 45-yard drive that culminated in Eddie Guerrero’s 7-yard run for the score. The PAT was good and the Rockets led 7-6 going into the break. After the Halftime festivities the turnover fest for the Rockets got underway. The Rockets recovered the first fumble on the Poth 12-yard line. Two (2) plays later Greg Andreoli punched in from the 5-yard line. A little later a Pirate fumble at the Poth 7-yard line facilitated Paul Hambrick’s 4th-Down run and, still later, a fumble at the Poth 34-yard line led to Hambrick’s 1-yard run for the score. The Rockets outgained the Pirates 200 yards to 135 yards, moving the chains 13 times to the Pirates’ six (6). Overall, however, it was an ugly game, given that the Rockets bobbled their snaps six (6) times and lost three (3) of those. They also experienced two (2) INT’s. Poth likewise experienced two (2) INT’s, and lost five (5) of their seven (7) bobbles.

Randolph
September 22, 1972: Ro-Hawk Stadium, RAFB
4029 witnesses converged on Ro-Hawk Stadium to view the latest edition of this rivalry. The Ro-Hawks got on the board first on their second possession when QB Joey DiQuinzio pitched out to Jim Bocquin, who launched it to Mark Chauret for the score. Krebsbach thereafter carried it in for two (2) points and the Ro-Hawks were up 8-0. Approximately 90 seconds later the Rockets had their answer to this when Eddie Guerrero got away for a 51-yard dash. His carry for two (2) points, however, was stopped short and the Randolph lead remained. The Ro-Hawks’ next possession failed to produce, and it appeared that their next one (1) thereafter had as well. when it came time to "punt." Facing 4th-and-10, the snap went to DiQuinzio instead and "DQ" took off for the score with 288 seconds remaining in the Half. The Rockets did a pretty good job of ball control, but the Ro-Hawks made the best of the opportunity that did come their way. On the 2nd play of the final period, Krebsbach took off down the left sideline for 47 yards and the score. Later in the 4th Quarter the Guerrero punched in from a yard out for the Rockets’ final score of the day.

Devine
September 29, 1972: Converse
The Warhorses pounded 20 points on the Rockets starting in the 2nd Quarter. The Rockets’ only answer to any of this was a 3-yard run by Paul Hambrick in the penultimate period.

Lockhart
October 6, 1972: Lockhart
The Rockets got on the board for their first score with 4:52 left in the 1st Half with a 19-yard Paul Hambrick run that capped off a 58-yard drive. In the 3rd Quarter, Steve Marbach got a 95-yard kickoff return and Gerald Lockey collaborated with Gary Brown for a 2-point aerial play. All told, however, it was insufficient in overcoming the 29 points that the Lions mauled the Rockets with.

Clemens
October 13, 1972: Schertz
The Rockets’ District opener in 14-3A came with a familiar opponent, namely, the Clemens Buffaloes. The Rockets and Buffs traded scores before the Buffs did the Rockets one (1) better to pull away. Paul Hambrick put the Rockets in front early with a 1-yard dive, but Whitney Tanner got a similar 1-yarder for the Buffs. John Sweeney gave the Buffs their first lead of the day with the PAT. In the 2nd period the Rockets regained the lead on a 31-yard pass from Gerald Lockey to Jeff Hooks, but once more the PAT activity was nil for the Rockets. The Buffs thereafter answered with a 62-yard pass play from QB Harry Mock to Johnny Gonzales. Sweeney nailed the PAT and the Buffs took a 14-12 lead into the locker room.

The Rockets came out of the break and regained the lead once more, this time with an 11-yard Lockey-to-Hooks hookup. Once more the Rockets had no PAT to show for the effort, but they took the 18-14 advantage into the final period. Once more, however, Mock hit Gonzales with a scoring aerial, this time for four (4) yards. A little later Louis Flores hauled in a pass from 9-yards out to increase the advantage to 26-18, and that’s how this one ended.

East Central
October 20, 1972: Converse
In the opening period Allen Wallace nailed Paul Hambrick in the endzone for a Safety to put EC in front 2-0. The Hornets took the concomitant Free Kick and drove 60 yards, with Jack Chance capping the thing off with a 5-yard run for the score. Ruben Segura was good on the PAT, and this score held up through Halftime. In the final stanza Mark Camp got loose for a 25-yard pickup and the score to finish off a 5-play, 65-yard drive. Once more the PAT was good and the Rockets had a goose-egg to show for this one, in spite of outplaying the Hornets in many respects.

Gonzales
November 3, 1972: Gonzales
The Rockets got in front of the Apaches with a 47-yard dash by Greg Andreoli, Andreoli thereafter collaborated with Jeff Hooks for a 29-yard scoring aerial, and Jerry Yasuhara drilled a 1-pointer to stake out a 13-0 lead. The Apaches, however, knotted things at 13 with a 62-yard pass from David Hajovsky to Garland Blundell, a Blundell PAT, and thereafter a 1-yard run by Greg Bludau. The Rockets, however, got the final word in this one. Andreoli took to the air once more, completing an aerial to Mike Glenn for 15 yards and then keeping for a 15-yard run when no one was open through the air. In all this enabled Judson to finally get liftoff and complete the first test of its Class 3A Rocket Program.

New Braunfels Canyon
November 10, 1972: Converse
The Cougars at first appeared that they would in this omega game of the season be as rude to their hosts as the felines the Rockets had to start the alpha game. Indeed, the cats drew first blood with a 28-yard scoring pass from Mike Paterson to David Davidson in the alpha period of this omega game. The Rockets nevertheless continued where they left off the previous week and got on the board in the beta period, with Andreoli collaborating with Jeff Hooks for a 22-yard scoring aerial. Andreoli passed to Mike Glenn for two (2) points and the lead, which stood up through the Half. The Rockets then came out in the 3rd Quarter and got two (2) TD on short runs by Scott Tibbetts and Eddy Guerrero, and Guerrero wrapped up the 3rd-period scoring with a 27-yard dash. Two (2) of the three (3) 3rd-Quarter TD’s saw successful 2-point plays: One (1) coming on a Guerrero run and one (1) coming via the patented Andreoli-Hooks connection. The omega score came in the omega period of the omega game for the 1972 Rockets on a 16-yard pass from Gerald Lockey to Jeff Hooks. The Rockets’ late-season registration of two (2) wins---particularly in District play---gave great hope that Judson’s Class 3A Rocket Program could make a statement for however long (or short) it would last.

The Rockets for the most part had held their own in arguably the toughest 3A District in the State. As it turned out, 14-3A East Zone Champion Cuero’s only loss of the year would be a 14-0 decision at the hands of the 14-3A West Zone winner Uvalde, who was coached by the duo of Marvin Gustafson and an assistant by the name of Jerry Comalander. The Coyotes would go on from there to win the 3A Championship in an epic battle with the Lewisville Farmers.

The other Rocket Program in Bexar County----that of the Kennedy Rockets----were having a stellar season and for their effort earned a Bi-District pairing with the defending Class 4A Champion Lee Volunteers (who would advance to the Semi-finals where their quest for a back-to-back would fall one (1) point shy against Baytown Sterling). It is worth noting that those particular Rockets were coached by Gary Malesky, the younger brother of one-time Judson Rocket coach Bob Malesky.

The 1972 Class 3A Playoffs
NOTE: Given in RED is Uvalde, which advanced out of District 14-3A by virtue of a 14-0 Zone playoff victory over Cuero

Semifinals
Lewisville 34 Burkburnett 0
Uvalde 27 Brenham 21
Final
Uvalde 33 Lewisville 28