1980:
New Kids On the Block---Shooting for the "Moon"

NOTE: Click HERE to view the season record

One rap against Judson, of course, has been its enrollment size. But, in the very beginning in 4A/5A, it wasn't so. In fact, until about 1978-79, it was somewhat smaller than average. Enrollment size in and of itself, therefore, does not explain why Judson had such a quick and thereafter sustained turn-around from 1976 to 1977. It was only fair, nevertheless, that Judson be moved into a more competitive district starting in 1980. Also joining Judson in its new district was Madison, which had just finished its first two years of varsity competition at the 3-A level. Madison, having been assigned to Judson’s former place in the East Zone of District 13-3A, was coming off a sterling 10-2 season (at one point that season, Madison "borrowed" Judson’s "School Stadium" to tack on a very severe, Judson-like demolition of Southside).. Having beaten the West Zone champion the previous week, Madison finished its tenure as a 3-A school with a 23-0 Bi-district loss to eventual 3-A Runner-up Bay City, concurrently with Judson’s 28-0 debacle with Jay.

Judson started its first season under Frank Arnold with a win over East Central and a severe blowout over Burbank. Thus far, Judson began the season as it had the previous three. And, as in the previous two seasons, Judson was slated, in Week Three, for a major match-up with a formidable opponent. This time, however, it would be with Churchill, of all teams, and also the first game of what would be a murderous 8-game district schedule. These still being the days when only one team from each district would enter the playoffs, it was quite possible that Judson’s quest for a playoff spot would end just as it was beginning. To compound Judson’s predicament even further, Highlands, highly regarded in preseason evaluations, knocked off Churchill, 16-13, at Blossom the same Saturday evening that Judson was demolishing Burbank at Alamo Stadium. Another twist to this saga was that Frank Arnold’s son Jeff was the Churchill place-kicker and QB backup to future Baylor Bear and Houston Oiler Cody Carlson. In Judson’s favor, perhaps, was that Churchill would be making its first visit to Converse and a "School Stadium" recently expanded to about 8500 capacity. Although TAMU was slated to play Penn State at Kyle Field the following evening, I went ahead and came on down to see the game before hurrying back to see Penn State avenge the 27-14 loss the Aggies pinned on them at State College, PA, the year before.

Late in the First Quarter, Churchill stepped in front of an option pitch-out from Judson QB Phillip Thompson, and took it in for a 6-0 lead. Midway through the next Quarter, Churchill extended its lead to 13-0. Midway through the Third Quarter, it appeared that Churchill’s lead would go to 20-0, before the play was nullified. Then, Judson recovered one of several fumbles, committed by Churchill, this one at the 20 yard line. In fairly short order, Judson had First and Goal at the 5-yard line, but could not get in. Finally, with only about two minutes left, Judson recovered another Churchill fumble and went 80 yards for a score, the final play covering 47yards. The two-point try was unsuccessful, as was the on-side kick, so Churchill ran out the clock. Judson gained only 107 yards and 5 First downs, Churchill gained nearly 300 yards and 14 First Downs. Churchill also led in turnovers, 6 to 4, as well as penalties. Someone may contend that the score was kept low by Churchill’s turnovers. Then again, with a Defense directed by D.W. Rutledge, who’s to say that Judson didn’t cause many of those turnovers??

So, Judson and Churchill parted ways, and the question still remained: Could Judson win in this District, especially against teams that had beaten them into the next millenium back in 1974 and 1975?? Judson indeed was able to win the following Thursday at Blossom, beating MacArthur (Frank Arnold’s previous team) 14-0. Then, back in Converse against Seguin, the Rockets would find out whether or not they could match up against a team that had beaten them quite severely, 45-7 and 49-0, respectively, in 1974 and 1975. Seguin grabbed a 2-0 lead in the First Half, caused when the QB slipped down in the Endzone. Thus it remained entering the Fourth Quarter. With about nine minutes to go, Judson intercepted a pass at the 50, returned it to the 28 yard line and, following a late hit penalty, had the ball at the 13. Sophomore J.J. Lewis then went in for the score, and the play for two points was successful. Then, with less than 3 minutes remaining, Judson snatched a fumble at the 23 yard line, and, on the next play, J.J. Lewis took it in from there. The PAT was no good. Immediately after the kickoff, Judson’s Keith Marbach hit the QB just as he was about to throw, jarring the ball loose, which was snatched by Russell Bednarz and returned 37 yards for the score. Following the PAT, the final score was 21-2. Suddenly, Judson was at 4-1, 2-1 in district, and looking not too bad, all things considered (the offense, still struggling, gained only 99 yards for the game, to the Mats’ 143). Next up: A Thursday meeting with the Madison Mavericks, who were struggling somewhat but not all that far off Judson’s pace, especially given that this was Madison’s first year in 5A as well as their first year in a tough district.

Judson took a 6-0 lead in the First Quarter, and thus the score remained until less than 5 minutes left in the game, when Madison scored, and took the lead with the PAT. Suddenly in a somewhat unaccustomed position and, combined with an off-spec overall performance to begin with, the Rockets quickly knew they’d been had in this meeting of the two new kids on the block.

Judson returned to Converse the following week, and beat San Marcos 20-0, avenging the 45-0 and 62-13 murders that were committed in the mid '70's. Judson then faced Roosevelt, which at this point was still undefeated in district play. Judson, reeling somewhat offensively throughout the season, was really no match at this point, and methodically went down 21-0, giving Judson a third loss in district, as well as a "payback" goose egg for the one Judson gave to Roosevelt the year before.

Next, Judson faced its first-ever meeting with the Lee Volunteers in a Halloween match-up in Converse. Although Lee was by this time only an echo of its illustrious past, they still carried a mystique that commanded a certain measure of respect. Judson, nevertheless, was building its own culture of winning (and also losing) with pride, and was not at all "spooked" at the opportunity to meet their new district opponent. Trailing 14-6 beginning the Third Quarter, Lee went to work and led 26-14 as time was winding down, although Judson managed to close the gap to 26-21 by game’s end. In spite of the Rockets "losing with honor" (if there is such a thing), it was nevertheless very disconcerting to all of a sudden be 5-4 overall, and 3-4 in district, at least in view of recent overall experiences. This was only the third (and final) game I would see that season. On the other hand, further down the way in Schertz, the Clemens Buffaloes, neither spooked nor "buffaloed" by TR that Halloween evening, rose up and knocked the ‘Riders off their high horse(s), winning their first game of the season, 16-7. On the other hand, the Rockets would be visiting the scene of the crime following an open week and a national Election in which the voters would swap Jimmy for Ronnie, in an apparent electoral version of the Twisted Sister lyric "we’re not gonna take it anymore," what with "The Hostage Crisis" entering "Day 365," and an assortment of other festering issues.

Clemens took a 6-0 lead before Judson came back and then held on for a 12-6 win. Judson thus clinched a winning season at 6-4 and, with the exception of the 21-0 whitewash delivered by TR, performed respectably. Somewhat disturbing, however, was the late-season swoon and the nail-biter with Clemens. What did (or would) it all mean long-term??? Madison, the other "new kid," finished at 4-6. Not bad, considering, but they, like Judson, expected much more.

Meanwhile, the Aggies were having their own problems and, coming off a 10-6 loss to Rice at Kyle Field, were beginning to wonder if it were even possible to beat TCU. For example, SMU, with Craig James, Eric Dickerson and Company, beat TAMU 27-0 at Texas Stadium, in spite of having nearly equal yardage, because SMU instead led in the blocked kick category, and TAMU thus clinched its first losing season since 1973.

Churchill, meanwhile, won the district "as scheduled," with a 9-1 record, and beat Sam Houston 21-7 in the 1^st Round in the rain at Alamo Stadium. The previous week, Sam Houston knocked off undefeated Highlands 9-7, permanetly clipping the Owls' wings for that season with a 9-1 record, what with the 32-team 5A playoff format that still existed. Meanwhile, Holmes concluded its first 10-0 season, this after beating Jay 24-22 with a last-second FG, thus locking Jay out with an 8-2 record. South San, also with an 8-2 record under a new Head Coach from Midland, was Judson’s successor in the Rockets’ former district, except for a major complication: An ineligible player that resulted in East Central (beaten earlier by the Bobcats, 20-9) instead entering a 1^st-Round match-up with the Huskies, which the Huskies won easily, 35-7 (one of those "dead on arrival" type deals, what with the short notice and all). TAMU, also seemingly DOA at this point, broke a 3-3 4^th-Quarter tie with TCU that same weekend, hanging on for a 13-10 win at a cold, drizzly Kyle Field and breaking a 5-game losing streak.

Although Churchill was the favorite entering the "City Championship" with Holmes that Thanksgiving Friday evening, there was a distinct sense that it was the Huskies' game to win if they played as well as it had been. But, everyone knew it wasn’t going to be easy. Sure enough, Churchill was leading 13-7 deep into the Fourth Quarter, before QB Rene Maldonado connected with the all-purpose Jimmie Hawkins for a 50-yard TD strike with about 2:30 left. Holmes held on for the win, and suddenly a second straight team from outside the Northeast ISD had won a "City Championship," the Northside ISD thus won its first, and what Wheatley had done the previous year looked less and less like the fluke that many people still feared, assumed, or hoped it was. The next day, the Aggies, almost as if taking their cue from the previous season’s script, as a result of what happened further down I-35, repeated the previous year’s scenario by surprising the ‘Horns for a second year in a row, albeit this time in Austin, for one of the few times that they had been "permitted" to do so at the "40-acres," and on e of the few times in which TAMU had done so with a losing record and UT with a winning record.

Holmes beat the Alice Coyotes 23-14 at UT the following Friday, then succumbed 34-7 to Port Arthur Jefferson’s offensive juggernaut in the Semi-Finals, who, the following week, got "Mojoed" in the Second Half at Texas Stadium after grabbing a 19-7 halftime lead, only to lose it all and fail the Final, 28-19.

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