1982: Two Bolts of Lightning

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Nevertheless, the overall prospects didn't look all that good for the Rockets going into the showdown at Blossom. The one thing the Rockets had going for them was perhaps not having a long history with Churchill, and the fact that they had thus far managed to match up much better with Churchill in those three previous games than they perhaps ever did on paper. Actually beating Churchill, however, was another matter. Such feats were basically difficult and rare at that point in San Antonio football history. Furthermore, Judson had never even led against Churchill in its three previous meetings.

That, however, changed very quickly following the kick-off, as Chris Pryor took off on the first play and went 70-yards for paydirt (Gary Delaune's countdown to the end-zone on that play was so fast it sounded more like a radio broadcast of an auction). Churchill had a turnover on their first series, but Judson failed to capitalize. On the punt, however, Churchill fumbled again and Judson thereafter missed a chip-shot FG attempt. The first half ended 7-0. At that point, the offensive output for both teams was about even at ~70 yards. Churchill had about 6 First Downs, and Judson had only one: The 70-yard TD play. Everyone that knew anything about anything knew that it would be a major task for Judson to complete the game (successfully). All anyone had to do was think of Churchill's game with Jay a few week earlier.

Nothing that immediately followed did anything to really refute those suspicions. For starters, the wire service polls, which had Churchill ranked in the top 10 going into the meeting with Judson, still had the Chargers ranked the next week, with no such ranking for the Rockets. More irritating than Judson not being ranked was the fact that Churchill was still in the rankings, because, if a team goes down, and unless the team beating them was previously ranked as well, usually the loser drops out. Then again, maybe the pollsters still knew something that Rocket supporters couldn't accept, especially given the on-off offensive performances that continued following the win. This included a 22-0 win over Roosevelt in which the score at Halftime remained at only 7-0 against a team that, in John Ferrara's first year at Roosevelt, was rebuilding and struggling to finish at .500.

Semifinals
Bell 21 Carter 13
West Brook 27 Judson 12

Final
West Brook 21 Bell 10

Given the new, expanded format for the Playoffs, the 1^st Round almost felt like just another Friday night slate of games. At Northside Stadium, Churchill easily and somewhat surprisingly goose-egged, by a 28-0 count, a Holmes team that was still to be reckoned with in spite of having lost, to graduation, the likes of Jimmie Hawkins and Rene Maldonado. Meanwhile, East Central and Highlands (took 2^nd place to Fox Tech on basis of a fierce defensive battle that ended in a 0-0 deadlock) "borrowed" Judson’s stadium for a game that gave East Central a 14-6 verdict. The following evening at Northside Stadium, Judson and Clark met for the first time. Clark was in the playoffs for the first time, after having entered on the statistical strength of a 21-21 deadlock with Jay that occurred as a result of a Clark recovery of a Jay fumble in the Endzone. Going into the game, the Rockets had only one previous postseason victory, which came in 1978 over Jay. It was also their first visit to Northside Stadium since Frank Arnold and his then Huskies beat the Rockets in 1977. With this kind of historical backdrop and in spite of being heavily favored in at least this 1^st Round, I at least was feeling somewhat apprehensive going in. I came down from TAMU to see the game, given that the Aggies at that same hour would be in the process of being thoroughly humiliated by Arkansas up at Little Rock’s War Memorial Stadium. The Rockets looked fairly good in the initial scoring drive, but then ended up allowing the pumas to score in a manner not at all unlike what happened, in the Endzone, to Jay. Judson led at the Half, 7-6. The Rockets came out in the 2^nd Half, and looked as if they would completely pull away, only to see the Cougars climb back into the game on the strength of a good kickoff return, followed a few plays later by the classic "trick" end-around play. Then, Judson had a high snap on a punt that the Rockets were able to get in time in order to take a Safety rather than have Clark recover for a TD [which for sure would have set up a potentially-perilous conclusion (for Judson, at least)]. The Rockets held on for a 28-16 win. Needless to say, I was once again left wondering how they ever managed to beat Churchill and then Madison for the district title. Based on what I saw, at least, I was not overly optimistic about the Rockets’ long-term prospects. And, unless the Rockets made it to the Finals, this was to be the last time I would see them this season.

While Fox Tech was losing to Edinburg by a 17-7 count, Churchill, having gone up I-35 to UT, beat an undefeated Austin Reagan squad 20-0. The Chargers definitely seemed to have cranked things up a notch following the loss to Judson. The following afternoon, the Rockets took their turn at the 40-acres, in their first-ever visit to artificial turf. The Rockets definitely must have liked the experience because they gained a total of 480 yards for the game. This, in spite an inauspicious beginning that saw them starting from the 11-yard line after recovering from a fumble on the opening kickoff. Not to worry. J.J. Lewis took off on an 83-yard dash, on the next play. The Rockets scored shortly thereafter for a 6-0 lead, using the same trick play that Clark burned Judson with the previous week, and then scored again to make it 12-0 just before the Half. LBJ then came out and quickly after Halftime and made it 12-7, but Judson then completely took control and clinched a 34-14 win. Ironically, at the same time Judson was doing all this I was on the 3rd deck of Kyle field, watching the Aggies pin an identical 34-14 score on TCU, in what would be F.A. Dry's final game as Frogs coach, who was to be replaced shortly by Jim Wacker, Defensive Coordinator Rutledge's TLC and North Dakota State coach and mentor.

In the 3^rd Round, Churchill went down to Buccaneer Stadium in Corpus Christi and, in a slow drizzle, came back from a 7-0 1^st Half deficit and won 21-7. The following evening and with only about 18 hours for the field to dry out and recover somewhat under clear skies and slightly lower humidity, it was then the Rockets’ turn to visit what was left of the Buccaneer Stadium grass for a meeting with Edinburg. Chris Pryor got a long run from scrimmage to give Judson a 6-0 2^nd- Quarter lead that held up until late in the 4^th period, when the Rockets intercepted a pass that set up a short scoring drive that gave the final verdict. With the win, Judson thus earned their second appointment with the Chargers.

The rematch game, for the "City Championship"/State Quarterfinals, was set for 2:00 PM on December 4, 1982, at Alamo Stadium. The game, attracting an almost unprecedented amount of interest area-wide, sold out days in advance, and KMOL Channel 4 announced it would provide live coverage, making it the first time a High School game would be on live television in San Antonio since the heralded Lee-Brack game of 1963.

Being at a critical point in the semester (I had "Finals" of another kind coming up shortly), I would have to settle for progress reports from KTSA (then still a pop-rock station), given that coverage of most of the playoffs that season was on KBUC FM (which couldn't be heard more than 30 miles or so outside of San Antonio).

On game day, 21914 people showed up. Midway through the 1st Quarter, Churchill fumbled a punt, and Judson chipped in a FG a few plays later. Churchill would score with only 4 seconds before halftime. That was a spectacular play in and of itself, given that the QB, about to get sacked and also backed up about ten yards from the line of scrimmage with time running out, managed to get the pass off in time, which was then caught by a receiver who seemingly stepped in from nowhere to snatch it in the endzone, given that the intended receiver was well covered by Judson defenders. (Anyone who says that low-scoring defensive games are boring because there's no offensive activity to speak of, hasn't seen or heard of this game). Churchill thus led at the Half, 7-3 (the first time all season that Judson trailed at ANY point in a game).

Neither team picked up a 1st down in the 3rd Quarter. Judson, at one point, looked to be in precarious shape, when a punt rolled dead at the Rocket one-yard line. Judson managed to move out to the 9-yard line before punting. The kick, however, went 60 yards before it rolled, dead, and got Judson out of a big hole. (Ricky Balderas' kicking foot did wonders for Judson that season and the season before).

Finally, with about 9 minutes left, Churchill started what looked like one of its patented ball-control killer scoring drives. The Chargers moved down to the 35-yard line of Judson. They fumbled on the next play, and the Rockets recovered. The first play, like 90% of them, went nowhere fast. It was getting inside the 6-minute mark. Up to that point the Rockets had one pass for an interception, and another one that went for zero yards. So, it was probably only fitting that the play that changed the face of San Antonio area football be something like a 63-yard pass play to JJ Lewis on second down. Thus, the Rockets took the lead at 10-7, with 5:55 to go. Churchill went back to work, and moved the ball to the Judson 40 before fumbling again with 4:40 left. The Rockets then picked up a 1st down (one of only 4 they got that afternoon) on the next possession, and punted with 1:08 to go. Churchill had to start from its own ten-yard line. The QB, on the 1st play, almost got dragged down in the endzone. He stepped out to the one-yard line just in time. On 2nd down, the ball was tipped and almost intercepted (it probably would have been returned for a score if it had been caught). 3rd down was a pass to the sideline to stop the clock. The 4th down pass only made it to the 17 yard line, so Judson ran out the last 15 seconds.

Just like in the first game, a look at the statistics would suggest that Churchill had won, and somewhat convincingly. What is weird, though, is this crucial turnover statistic in both games for the Chargers: They fumbled the ball 8 times, and lost it 4 times. It's almost as if they enjoyed doing it so much in the first game, they thought they'd go and do it again for old time's sake. In the rematch, Churchill had 10 first downs and Judson had 4. Churchill had ~200 yards for the game, about 60 yards coming through the air. Judson had 63 yards rushing, and 63 yards passing,. The 63 yards passing, of course, were very important yards in a very important play. San Antonio football was never quite the same since that play. It was truly a defining moment in San Antonio-areahistory (not just High School sports, either---I'm talking about overall). What made the play so "electrifying" (the words used on KTSA, moments after the play, in their progress report I heard up in College Station) was the fact that, at that point Judson had been having a very difficult time moving the ball and, especially after getting very little on First Down after recovering the fumble, it just didn't look like it was in the cards for the Rockets. Then again, I guess the Red Sea didn't look like it was going to part, for the Moses of the Bible, until it actually parted, any more than it would "part" figuratively for the High School named for the Moses (Judson) of Bexar County.

The Rockets' opponent the next week would be an interesting story. Beaumont Westbrook was actually in its first season of play. They were actually a two-campus school, combining former Hebert (primarily Black), with Forest Park (almost all White). This was done as a result of a court order, and people were not particularly thrilled to see the amalgamation, the least of which being the end of the storied 4-A football history of Hebert. They started out 0-2, and at one point were 4-4. They "slipped" into the playoffs as the #2 team in the district (Jefferson being the #1 team, being undefeated, having beaten the Bruins 28-14, and having played Permian two years before that in the Finals). The Bruins had some close calls in the early rounds of the playoffs, including a tie in which they advanced on penetrations. By the time they met Judson, they were definitely not the same team that started the season (or, for that matter the same team which had entered the playoffs just a few short weeks earlier). By then all of the intangibles, necessary in winning had caught up with the talent they were always loaded with, and they were ready to go for the gold.

Westbrook took an early lead against Judson. Just when it appeared that Judson was going to have good field position (defense made it 4th down and 40 to go for a first), disaster of the weirdest kind struck. There was a high snap (which made things look even more promising for Judson) on the punt. The kicker was finally able to retrieve the ball before being stuffed by the Rockets, and he heaved the ball downfield to an apparently eligible receiver, who caught it and went the distance for the score. That classic play perhaps was a sterling example of how the Bruins' team play had by that point in the season caught up with their shear athletic talent, so that they by then could overcome even potentially disasterous mis-cues. Westbrook was thus up 13-0. This could have been the end for the Rockets, but they were not finished (not yet, anyway). On the next series, the Rockets partially blocked a punt, and the ball rolled dead at the 15 yd. line. Judson was able to score shortly thereafter, which made up for some of the damage that was just incurred. Westbrook led 13-6 (extra point blocked). On the very next series for the Bruins, they threw an interception that was returned 50 yards for a score. The Rockets went for two in order to take the lead, but the pass was incomplete. Westbrook still led 13-12, although the tone of the game had changed dramatically with only 2 minutes to go before halftime. The Bruins, who moved the ball quite nicely throughout the game, was still able to beat the clock before halftime, and led 20-12. Westbrook scored again late in the 3rd quarter, thus ending a valiant effort for Judson---this time. The Rockets were outsized by an average of about 20-30 pounds (at least) on both offensive and defensive lines. They gained only 90 yards for the game, compared to the Bruins' 380, and still they actually had more of a chance than many people would have given them--even as the game progressed through the first half. One team of destiny collided head-on with another, and had to wait a year.

Meanwhile, Westbrook beat Hurst Bell, 21-10, in the Finals the following week [Bell was also an interesting story. The night before Judson's rematch with Churchill, Bell and Euless-Trinity squared off in front of about 40000 people at Texas Stadium for a literal District rematch of a game played earlier in the season. In this case, the teams were also from the only two High Schools in the Hurst-Euless-Bedford ISD. They played to a 14-14 tie, decided by Bell on stats (First Downs or Penetrations)]

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