1988:
Forever Young

NOTE: Click HERE to view the season record

It seemed like other commitments had repeatedly kept me from seeing very many Friday or Saturday regular-season games both in 1987 and the next season. Consequently, I wasn’t able to attend the first "post-Paschall" game, in this case Judson’s season opener with Jay in Converse. The Rockets, nevertheless carrying on without Mr. Paschall (or perhaps because of him, now that it was maybe easier for him to put in a few good words directly at the Heavenly Offices) won that game 28-0, in somewhat of a shocker, given the extreme youth of the team taking the field on September 2. The next week, in a game I did get to see at Northside, Judson and Clark met for the first time in the regular season. Clark was a heavy favorite to advance out of San Antonio, and thus was a heavy favorite over Judson. Playing true to form, Clark took a 7-0 lead, and Judson seemed kind of tentative, until just before Halftime, when they went in for the score. The Rockets missed the PAT, so they trailed 7-6 entering the 2^nd Half. Judson picked up where they left off in the 2^nd Half, and scored again to take a 12-7 lead into the 4^th Quarter. Just when it appeared the pumas were on the trestle to stay, they regrouped somewhat and, with about two minutes to go, regained the lead at 14-12 on a spectacular 57-yard yard pass play on 4^th and 13, and held on for the win. In spite of the loss, it was somewhat of a moral victory for the Rockets, a valuable learning experience for Judson’s group of Rocket Rookies, and definitely another proud "Rocket Pride" moment, given the situations at hand. Judson then continued along to a showdown three weeks later with Churchill at Blossom. If there was any year in which Churchill might have beaten Judson once more, it was this one. Or so, the conventional wisdom suggested. Instead, the Rockets returned a blocked punt early in the game, and scored 28 points by halftime, with two of the scores coming on runs of 60 and 47 yards by Sophomore Kyle Arnell. Judson held on in the 2^nd Half for a shocking 28-7 win.

Judson at one point recorded three consecutive shutouts, then finished with a (somewhat) surprisingly-easy 35-7 win over Madison, and the following week with a 21-7 sleeper over MacArthur.

Semifinals
Carter 14 Permian 9
Judson 16 Stratford 0

Final
Carter 31 Judson 14

Judson got to meet Jefferson for Bi-District in Converse. Judson won 47-0. Meanwhile, Seguin, which had gone 0-10 the year before while still in the same district with Judson, was 8-2 in a somewhat easier district in 1988, and they shocked undefeated Holmes 34-21 that same evening, while Sam Houston held on to beat Churchill 28-21. Sam Houston would lose 13-12 the following week to Corpus Christi Carroll, as would Seguin to Harlingen. Clark, meanwhile, sailed along, as did Judson (beat Alice 42-0 at Blossom by scoring 35 points in the 2^nd Half, most as a result of turnovers), thus setting up a rematch at Alamo Stadium. Judson grabbed a 9-0 lead off a safety and a TD, then Clark took a 10-9 lead at the intermission. Judson then slowed Clark down a little bit in the 3^rd Quarter, enough to grab a 17-10 lead with a TD and two-point play. Then, after Clark could answer with only 3 points, Judson killed much of the remaining time with a TD drive to come out on top. The game was much closer than the score or even the statistics indicated.

Corpus Christi Carroll was sailing along with a perfect 13-0 record, and looked just like the kind of offensive and defensive machine that Judson had come to be synonymous with. Indeed, their Coach, Jim Slaughter, had turned around the Tigers in a fashion and timeline that Judson was somewhat familiar with from 10 years earlier. In his first season at Carroll, in which they were the first team from Corpus Christi since 1959 to post a perfect regular-season record, they narrowly lost (15-10) to Willowridge in 1987 the week before Judson did. In 1988, they featured Tiandre Saunders with well over 1000 rushing yards for the season. With a larger part of Corpus Christi pulling for them, they generated enough interest to quickly sell out their side of Buccaneer Stadium. The Rockets, of course, could always count on a good crowd. By this time, and in spite of not being quite the Cinderella team that they were in the late ‘70’s and early ‘80’s, the Rockets had still managed to generate quite a bit of interest region-wide once again, given the manner in which their group of talented Sophomores had responded to some stiff challenges. Also, perhaps, was the fact that, with five years gone since the previous Championship for the San Antonio area, someone was just about due again, based on the intervals at which such things had been happening since the early 1960’s or so. Consequently, there was apparently just enough interest beyond the immediate Judson community in the San Antonio area to warrant a deal between KSAT and KIII in Corpus Christi to provide live pool camera shots for both cities, so all each station had to do then was provide the commentators. Thus, the Rockets once again found themselves on live local television for the third time in six years. And, once again, cloudless skies and good weather provided the perfect backdrop for some "Rocketball." As had been the case so far that season, the offense started very slowly, and let the defense create the breaks. Judson led 7-0 until just before Halftime, when they got into the Endzone again, primarily a result of continually improving field position with each possession and punt. Either way, up to that point, it was still anyone’s game, as the Tigers kept people holding their breath with their each snap of the ball. Judson tacked on another three points in the 3^rd Quarter, then, as Judson kept coming at them, the Tigers finally gave out in the 4^th, and Judson had a shocking 30-0 Quarterfinal victory. Given the three painfully close calls, in this same round, since the 1983 Championship, it felt truly strange to suddenly be back in the playoff "twilight zone" as one of only four remaining teams, having finally broken through in this manner. Later that evening in the ‘Dome, Stratford got past Willowridge (realigned into Region III) 10-7, and the Rockets thus had an appointment in the ‘Dome scheduled for the following Saturday afternoon.

Elsewhere, meanwhile, Dallas Carter got past Marshall (Texas) at Baylor with 4 seconds to spare, thus foiling any further notions that season of the D.W. Rutledge-led Rockets meeting the Mavericks, led by former Judson Offensive Coordinator Dennis Parker in the Finals.

Stratford, going into the game with Judson, had set some kind of record for consecutive playoff wins in the House of Pain, so named during the Jerry Glanville era in Houston. On this day, however, Judson gave a new meaning to that terminology. Still very tentative offensively but definitely Rocket-like defensively (8 shutouts for the season), Judson, led by Darnell Stephens, returned the opening kickoff 47 yards. From there the Rockets went on a six-minute drive to cover the remaining 40 yards or so to take a 6-0 lead, most of the plays seemingly no more than about 3-4 yards at most. This was enough to keep the Stratford offense iced for longer than desirable so that they didn’t get very far on their first series, as the Rockets were raring to give enhanced meaning to the ‘Dome’s other name. The game then settled down somewhat as the 2^nd Quarter progressed, with neither team with any real advantage. Finally, Judson managed to get close enough to make it 9-0 with time running down in the Half. Given that Stratford’s offense looked like it was always on the verge of springing loose, it didn’t feel much different than 6-0. Then, the defense took things one notch higher, and forced a short punt that gave the ball to the Rockets at the Judson 42. Two plays later, Judson had a 16-0 lead with the Half almost completely gone, with the score coming on a 25-yard Mike Jinks pass (only two of which were completed of the three Judson attempted that day). It felt real good to be in that position entering the break, but it still felt extremely tenuous.

Meanwhile, further to the west and closer to where a cold front was in the process of blowing out a somewhat balmy, damp overcast, but only after squeezing out the remaining moisture, Dallas Carter was busy beating Permian 14-9 in a downpour at UT, thus setting up a meeting with Judson at Texas Stadium on December 17. This, ironically, was the same date on which Judson beat Midland Lee there in 1983.

Once again, the team received a Converse Police and Fire escort to the airport for the flight to Dallas the day before the game. This time, the skies were clear, the temperatures just about right for a mid-December game. Carter was a decided favorite going in. Nevertheless, the Rockets didn’t let this deter them from the challenge. For the better part of the 1^st Quarter, Carter turned the ball over just enough times to keep Judson competitive. One huge difference, however, was that this time, Judson failed to convert significantly on any of the opportunities. Finally, Carter got in and, following the kickoff and a change in Quarters, Judson immediately on First Down threw an interception and, on the very next play, Carter scored again on a pass play. Suddenly, the Rockets found themselves precisely where a team with a Sophomore-laden offense would not want to be. Nevertheless, Judson rose to the challenge the best they knew how, as they managed to arrest, momentarily, at least, the rate of hemorrhaging. Finally, the "Kyle connection" started to move a little bit midway through the 2^nd Quarter, but, just as the Rockets approached midfield for the first time on their own merits, they turned the ball over, and Carter very quickly made it 21-0. Then, with time running down in the 1^st Half the scenario repeated itself, and Carter made it 24-0 entering intermission.

For Halftime, the Band, Galaxies and Starlites did a holiday theme very similar to their 1983 skit, and again, making it pretty clear that "all we want for Christmas is State." Sometimes, though, even Santa doesn’t bring you everything you’ve asked for. And, it’s not because he’s bringing you a chunk of coal for being "bad." Sometimes the deepest-felt wishes for Christmas, especially if you’ve been "good," are the wishes not granted---at least as initially envisioned. It looked more and more like this was going to have to be case here, as Judson came out of the dressing room, immediately turned the ball over at midfield again, and just as fast saw the deficit go to 31-0. Then, as the misery wore on, about 3 or 4 Carter supporters (non-students, near as I could tell) somehow managed to find their way to a blocked-off upper level of Texas Stadium, in order to let the Rockets down below know how sorry their team was (or something to that effect). Almost at the same time that security came and directed the hecklers back downstairs (which engendered a noticeable gesture of thanks from those in earshot of the verbal assault), Robert Reed stepped in front of a Robert Hall (had fever and flu, vomited en-route to game) pass, returning it 40 yards, and Judson suddenly had their first score of the day. Finally. Security may have helped shut those guys up, but this play finished the job. Interestingly, when I saw the tape of the live coverage of the game, this play, according to the commentators, apparently rattled the Cowboys because they somehow had come to think by this point in the game that we would continue to "cooperate" with and abide by the apparent verdict. Apparently, they didn’t know how "Rocket Pride" worked. That’s fine. Let someone make that mistake, and suffer the consequences, no matter how miniscule or brief. Nevertheless, Carter, following another turnover and by then with primarily their second team on the field, was knocking on the door again before Judson shut them off and went nearly the length of the field to make it 31-14 with 30 sec to go. In spite of the score, and the fact the game wasn’t nearly as close as the score (Judson’s stats were the most atrocious since at least the game with Westbrook in 1982), I would say that this was still a special "Rocket Pride" moment, given the fact that no one folded just because of a severe deficit (the 31 points being the most since at least 1976), and even as it became abundantly clear that there would be no "miracles" (not the obvious type, at least). Furthermore, the prevailing sense, as reflected by color commentator Drew Pearson during the live TV coverage, the prevailing sense that afternoon was "they’ll be back."

The Rockets would in their own way rise from the "dead," the next season and several times thereafter. But they rose, I feel, based on the foundation laid especially between 1984 and the 31-14 "loss" to Carter, which was laid all the more so on the foundation------based on more than simply winning------known as "Rocket Pride," which can keep someone "forever young" (also the name of the Rod Stewart song, popular at the time of the 1988 season). "Forever young" is how I tend to remember everyone and everything---Mr. Paschall included----involved in any way with the 1988 effort. To lose or forget those foundations is to suffer a loss of innocence. That would be unfortunate. Tragic, actually.