1976
Independence Day

Clemens
September 3, 1976: Schertz
The third year of Judson's Class 4A Rocket Program had an ominous start before it even began when Mark Horton whom, if memory serves correctly, was slated to be the prime QB for the '76 effort, was diagnosed with bone cancer (he took the disease to the "15th Round," fighting on until the week of the Churchill game in 1980). Things from there went from sad to just plain bad. In front of the 8000 witnesses in Schertz, the Rockets' first of what would turn out to be ten (10) turnovers occurred on Judson's first punt attempt of the day when the ball was bobbled before the punter could even got the kick off. The Buffs recovered at the 5-yard line and scored three (3) plays later when QB Ray Corbett took it in. The Rockets followed this up with two (2) additional fumbles in the opening period, and the Buffs capitalized on both to build a 17-0 lead. Those two (2) as well were recovered in Rocket territory. The Rockets would go on to deliver three (3) additional fumbles in their end of the field in the 2nd Quarter, and the Buffs carved out a 24-0 lead for Halftime. The Rockets were nevertheless able to keep the Buffs out of the endzone in the penultimate period while simultaneously erasing the goose-egg. QB Ricky Hohensee hit Robert McKee for an 8-yard scoring strike, and Ronnie Holder nailed the PAT. That was it for the Rockets, however, and the Buffs closed out the scoring for the day with a 37-yard INT return.

In addition to the score-producing INT, the Rockets experienced three (3) others as part of Hohensee's 15-of-31 passing effort that picked up 141 yards. The Rockets netted only 21 yards on the ground and moved the chains only eight (8) times. The Buffs, on the other hand, didn't really set the world on fire offensively, either, as they got 13 First Downs and netted only 193 yards split almost evenly between air and ground. They experienced no INT's, although they did lose four (4) fumbles. Overall for the Buffs, who were coming off a 7-2-1 record in their final season in 3A, it was a good start for a season that would see them break even at 5-5 in the deadly 32-4A that included the Churchill Chargers, who were destined to make history in only 15 weeks. For the Rockets, on the other hand, it wasn't a good start and in fact was the most ignominious beginning since the launch pad disaster with the Cole Cougars in 1964. It was, to borrow the words of NASA PAO Steve Nesbitt during an ignominious "small r" rocket event in 1986, "obviously a major malfunction."

Burbank
September 11, 1976: Alamo Stadium
The real rocket program operated by NASA, tends to stay on the ground for some time to come following a 'major malfunction.' Such was the case for the Rocket Program operated out of Converse, Texas----at least for this Saturday night matchup at the Rockpile. RB's Eddie Berry and Robert McKee pretty much alternated all day in doing the ground work for the Rockets and lulling the Dogs to sleep in the process. The Dogs nevertheless lit the scoreboard up first. David Vela returned the opening kickoff to the rockets' 18-yard line, and shortly thereafter John Zertuche hit Richard Montoya for a 15-yard hookup for the score. The PAT was good and the Rockets trailed 7-0. The "grounded" Rockets then got to work, and in fairly short order they knotted the score at 7 with Berry's 18-yard dash and Ronnie Holder’s PAT. The Dogs nevertheless regained the lead on the final play of the opening period with a 6-yard run by Jaime Aleman. The PAT, however, was no good, leaving the count at 13-7. Early in the 2nd Quarter, the Rockets caught the napping Dogs by surprise with their first pass of the day---a 40-yard pass play in which Shelby Fike got out ahead of the Bulldog defender to haul in the pass and go to the races from there. This tied the game at 13, and this deadlock remained through the 1st Half. On the first play from scrimmage in the 2nd Half, however, the napping Dogs got burned once more, and in a similar fashion. QB Ricky Hohensee drew the Dogs into thinking run once more, and this allowed Fike---who once more got ahead of the Burbank defenders---to haul in the pass and take off for the goal for the 63-yard pass play. The PAT gave the Rockets a 20-13 lead that they would maintain the rest of the way to get the win [for the day, Hohensee completed only one (1) other pass of the eight (8) attempted in this game]. In many respects---and no matter how imperfectly or inadvertently---the 63-yard scoring pass prefigured another 63-yard pass play that the run-oriented Rockets would use at this same location to make some history in only six (6) years time.

Wheatley
September 17, 1976: Converse
The opening period was scoreless, but in the 2nd Quarter David Graham punched in from the 1-yard line, and Joe Venson nailed the PAT to give the Eagles a 7-0 advantage over the Rockets with 4:23 remaining in the Half. The Rockets thereafter failed to produce on their subsequent possession, but the Eagles fumbled the concomitant punt to put Judson in business at the Wheatley 25-yard line. On 4th-and-goal from the 6-yard line, however, Ronnie Holder's FG attempt was partially blocked and the Half ended with the score still at 7-0. The 3rd Quarter was scoreless. Numerous non-producing possessions later, the Rockets finally got things going and in the final period reached the Wheatley 2-yard line where the drive died with a fumble that Allie Searcy recovered for the Eagles. A little later, the Rockets did crack the endzone when Rocky Hohensee hit Joel Malone for a 13-yard aerial and the TD with 4:52 remaining. The Rockets elected to go for two (2), and it appeared that the play succeeded when Scott Huntsman hauled in the pass and took it in. A flag on the play, however, wiped the score out and moved the Rockets back five (5) yards, so Holder came in and knotted the score instead with the kick. The Rockets nevertheless weren't quite ready to call it a day. On their next possession they reached the Eagle 21-yard line, but once more a fumble killed the threat. The Rockets nevertheless managed to get possession still one (1) more time, reaching the Eagle 10-yard line. On 4th-and-4, however and with ten (10) seconds left, Ronnie Holder's 26-yard FG was no good, and the Rockets had their first tie since 1971 to show for the effort. Similar to the Rockets' two (2) previous meetings with Sam Houston, this game saw numerous flagrant and personal-foul penalties by the Eagles, with one (1) Eagle player being ejected in the heated final minutes of the final period.

Sam Houston
September 24, 1976: Converse
A 7-yard, near-ballistic Cherokee punt put the Rockets in business at the Sam Houston 31-yard line in the opening period. The Rockets converted on 3rd-Down and 4th-Down plays on the short drive, but it nevertheless also stalled out at the 3-yard line where Ronnie Holder came in to split the uprights and put the Rockets in front at 3-0 with 5:21 remaining in the 1st Quarter. Sam Houston, however, thereafter initiated a 16-play drive that ate up 6:35 and put The Tribe in front once Anthony Price punched in from a yard out. The PAT was good and the Cherokees led 6-3 after the PAT was wiped out by a penalty. Sam Houston extended the lead in capping off a 52-yard drive, this time the PAT was good and, with 172 seconds remaining in the Half, the Cherokees were up 13-3. The Cherokees had an opportunity to put the Rockets in an even deeper hole going into Halftime after Ricky Hohensee lost the ball before he could finish a pitchout. The SH fumble recovery put the Cherokees in business at the Rockets' 10-yard line, but the Rockets managed to push them back and the Rockets dodged the bullet when the FG attempt was dead on arrival due to a bad snap.

The 13-3 SH advantage stood up through the penultimate period. That's not to say the 3rd Quarter didn't have its fireworks. Larry Lockey snatched an INT for the Rockets at the Judson 30-yard line, but on the ensuing play Hohensee's pass was tipped by the intended Rocket receiver and also by a Cherokee before William Lankford hauled it in for Sam Houston. Four (4) plays later, however, Jerry Surber snatched the ball back for the Rockets at the Judson 19-yard line. The 1st Half had been relatively penalty-free, with Judson not being flagged at all, and The Tribe penalized only eight (8) yards. Things nevertheless escalated into a full-scale Flag Day as the 2nd Half progressed. The Rockets, in fact, were able to "engineer" a drive from the Judson 13-yard line to the SH 18 with a Pass Interference call for 19 yards, two (2) Late Hit calls for 15 yards apiece and finally a Face Mask call for 15. The Rockets, however, who would have offensive trouble all day, could only pick up two (2) yards down to the Cherokee 16-yard line, and the drive died. The Rockets' hopes pretty much died as the final period progressed, and The Tribe put the game away with two (2) additional TD's and PAT's. Judson could only manage 105 yards of total offense for the day split almost evenly between air and ground.

South San
October 1, 1976: Bobcat Stadium
The Rockets rectified their component of the double goose egg with 186 seconds remaining in the opening period with Ricky Hohensee’s 2-yard keeper and Ronnie Holder’s 1-point PAT. This was facilitated by the second of three (3) opening-period fumbles by the cats, which was recovered by Judson at the South San 20-yard line. That was it, however, for the Rockets. The cats got on the board in the 2nd period, and then came out of the break and scored two (2) TD’s, followed by one (1) TD in the final period. For the game the cats ground out 300 yards rushing in 66 plays, while the Rockets netted only 43 ground yards and 63 aerial yards. The finishing touch on this overall unpleasant visit came when some rogue elements of the welcome committee pelted the Band buses with rocks along SW Military Drive.

Martin
October 8 1976: Converse
The Rockets could manage only 63 yards on the ground and 93 through the air as the Tigers extended Judson’s string of scoreless Quarters to seven (7). Martin tacked on a FG in the opening period, and two (2) TD’s and PAT’s in the 2nd Quarter. This was more than sufficient to get the win, although the Tigers were shut out in the 2nd Half. The Tigers gave the Rockets their second case of ‘cat scratch fever’ in as many weeks with 212 yards on the ground and 101 through the air.

Harlandale
October 15, 1976: Harlandale Memorial Stadium
1976 began with South Texas on the tail end of some seasonable but bone-dry conditions. As things go in cycles, things cycled into an extremely wet period beginning in March and escalating in April. Numerous events were beset by untimely rains. This included the historic Bicentennial high-point on July 4, and in May rains also caused the final school-sponsored Senior Trip---this one (1) for the Class of ’76-----to get postponed from its original location at Garner State Park and re-located, after some scrambling, to Landa Park in Comal County a little later in the month. The first half of the football season, however, had come through unscathed thus far, albeit with a few near-misses.

On October 15, however, there would be no such luck. The Support Teams arrived at the game, but were kept on the buses as the rains, which had been steady most of the day, escalated as kickoff time approached. Meanwhile on the field, the Rockets recovered Harlandale’s fumble of the opening kickoff at midfield, and they went to work with it. Robert McKee did most of the ground work in getting Judson downfield, and he finished the job with a 6-yard run to put the Rockets ahead 6-0. The PAT, however, was batted down. Meanwhile, the Band and the other Support Team elements pulled out after being essentially rained out, but this at least allowed political junkies like me and several of my other Rocket Band members to get back in time to see most of the first-ever debate of Vice Presidential Candidates, live from the Alley Theater in Houston, featuring the venerable Fritz Mondale and the always witty Bob Dole. Meanwhile back at the deluge on Roosevelt Street, Harlandale knotted the score at six (6) for Halftime, and they got in front of the Rockets in the penultimate period to take a 13-6 lead into the final Quarter. They nursed this lead and bled the clock down, but with 65 seconds remaining they were backed up on their own 3-yard line. QB Elias Villegas attempted a modified lateral pass that apparently went incomplete. It was, apparently, actually a live ball that qualified as a fumble that Jerry Surber went after in the endzone and recovered for the Rockets for a TD. The Rockets elected to go for the "W" but the Indians cut Shelby Fike off at the 5-yard line on the 2-point play, and Judson had to settle for another "L" instead.

Nixon
October 22, 1976: Shirley Field, Laredo
After being informed of the reception many San Antonio area teams and their supporters would traditionally receive in Laredo, and coming on the heels of the projectile-laden traverse down Military Drive a few weeks earlier, the JISD elected to charter some heavy-duty tour buses for perhaps the first time ever for a football game and meet a Police escort outside Laredo for the ride into town. At this point in border town football history, odd things would indeed happen. A 1962 game between Martin and the visiting (now-former) Edgewood Red Raiders, for example, ended in a full-scale riot. A supremely limited number of non-Support Team witnesses chose to accompany the Rockets on this journey south, but at least those who didn’t would be able to listen to the proceedings on KWED-FM in Seguin. Normally KWED would broadcast the games for the Seguin Matadors, but the Mats wouldn’t be playing on this evening, and KWED chose to cover a team located further down FM 78, hence giving the less-than-stellar Rockets some radio exposure that they usually wouldn’t be getting. The Mighty Rocket Band and the other Support Teams pulled out of Converse at about 2 PM, and we proceeded to an I-35 rest stop about ten (10) miles north of Laredo, where we stopped to don our Rocket red marching suits and link up with our Police escort. We got into town OK, and let’s just say the Mustangs were very cordial, actually, and to a larger extent gave us a much better reception than the rather cold, indifferent one we received from the Tigers the following year.

The opening period was scoreless, and a larger part of the 2nd Quarter was also scoreless, but with 95 seconds remaining in the Half Mike Donovan drilled a 28-yard FG to put the Mustangs out front 3-0. Coming out of the break, however, Judson was ready to go to work and attempt a long-in-coming test firing of its Rocket thrusters. The Rockets snared an INT to put them in business deep in Nixon territory, and three (3) plays later Mike Hester took it in from ten (10) yards out to put Judson in front at 6-3 with 87 seconds gone in the 3rd Quarter. The PAT, however, was blocked. The next kick to be blocked, however, would come courtesy of the Rockets. The Mustangs’ ensuing time on Offense came to an end with a blocked punt that set Judson up for Robert McKee’s 3-yard run for the score. Ricky Hohensee thereafter collaborated with Shelby Fike for a 2-point aerial to give the Rockets a startling 14-3 advantage at the 7:30 mark of the 3rd period. The Rockets continued their assault on Defense, the Offense did its part to bleed the clock, and they were able to leave town with the "W"----their first-ever District win in 4A and in fact their first District victory since the 1972 season. A real treat for those who actually made the trip and participated in whatever capacity.

Meanwhile, back up in SAT, The undefeated Churchill Chargers and the likewise undefeated MacArthur Brahmas met to determine supremacy in District 32-4A. The Chargers emerged 27-7 victors in this meeting, it left the bulls with what would turn out to be a 9-1 record, and the ultimately 10-0 Chargers with a ticket to a history-making post-season.

McCollum
October 29, 1976: Converse
The jet-stream aided rains returned to the area and turned the field into a potential mud-bath. The rains ceased hours before kickoff and a high-pressure system had arrived to dry things out under clear skies, but conditions were nevertheless sloppy enough to deter both the Rocket Band and the Cowboy Band from marching on what was left of the field. Still, it was Homecoming and the Rockets were intent on seeing what they could do in halting McCollum’s march to the 29-4A throne room. The Cowboys nevertheless grabbed a 13-0 lead in the 1st Half by scoring once in each of the opening periods. The Rockets were able to narrow the gap with an 80-yard drive that Ricky Hohensee finished off with a 1-yard sneak. This was as close as the Rockets would get, however, although they denied the Cowboys any further forays into the endzone as well. The Cowboys advanced from there to the 1st Round of the Class 4A Playoffs, where they met up with the Holmes Huskies whom, coached by Frank Arnold, had become the first Northside ISD team to win District and advance to the playoffs.

East Central
November 12, 1976: Converse
Very cold, cloudy, blustery weather blew into the area earlier in the day, but at least this time there was no rain; hence, the Mighty Rocket Band had one (1) final chance to showcase for the Rocket Nation its UIL Marching Contest show featuring a classical music theme that included a movement by Brahms, "The Gates of Kiev," and Tchaikovsky’s "Sixth Symphony." In later decades numerous Bands would feature classical music in their shows. In 1976, however, this was still a relatively revolutionary concept at the High School level, but the Fine Arts component of Judson’s Class 4A Rocket Program was looking to advance the state of the art in music and entertainment. The Football component of the Rocket Program was also looking to close out its 3rd year in Class 4A by getting a 2nd win in District 29-4A against a team, the East Central Hornets, that was closing out its inaugural season in 4A. Suddenly, about an hour before kickoff, there was what appeared outside the Band Hall windows to be a bolt of lightning. We in the Rocket Band were in denial that that was what we thought we saw, even after hearing what seemed to be the concomitant thunder. About half an hour before kickoff, some small sheets of ice started coming down, by now it was abundantly clear that the Band would not be doing its 1976-style march-in to the tune of "Apollo Fanfare and March," and about 15 minutes before kickoff some truly cold rain started falling. The Band was about to get rained out again.

Make that frozen out. We stayed long enough for the School Song, National Anthem and the Fight Song to serenade the team’s arrival on the field, but thereafter it was every man to himself as most everyone in the stands---the Band and the rest of the Support Teams included---headed for cover for the most part as the rains continued and began to freeze on contact. Meanwhile on the field, the opening period ended with a double goose egg. In the 2nd Quarter, however, the Hornets turned the Rockets back at the EC 5-yard line and from there engineered a 14-play, 95-yard drive that Beaver Wallace capped off by crashing in from a yard out. Jimmy Wells drilled the PAT, and the Hornets were up 7-0. The Hornets extended the lead with a 30-yard FG by Wells with time running out in the 1st Half. To begin the 2nd Half, Shelby Fike returned the kickoff to the Hornet 35-yard line, but six (6) plays later the Hornets recovered a fumble. Later in the penultimate period, the Hornets stung the Rockets for another TD and PAT, and this is how it all ended----sort of.

Nine (9) days later on November 21 a new film by an unknown actor and screenwriter named Sylvester Stallone opened in theaters in CONUS. Back in Converse, Texas for the little-known Judson Rockets, help and hope was on the way, and a little inspiration thrown in for good measure would soon propel those Rockets. The "Judson Rocky’s" were about to fly.

The 1976 Class 4A Playoffs
NOTE: Given in RED is the team representing the District that Judson was in