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Editor’s Notes Thomasville will play for a state title tonight on Birmingham’s Legion Field against Guntersville. I won’t be able to be there but I will be listening to them over WJDB Radio. I hope Paul Bradford and Daryl Drinkard can remain calm enough to deliver a coherent commentary on the game. They do get excited about their Tiger football! This trip to the state championship game got me to reminiscing about the Tigers’ only other state title, in 1988, against West Limestone High School for the Class 3A title. I was there for that famous win and it is an occasion I will always remember. Eighteen years ago the championship games were played at the individual schools and the Tigers had to travel over 300 miles to Salem, Ala., just a few miles short of the Tennessee line. Joe Lindsey was a road trip buddy at the time and went with me to the game. He was a pardons and paroles probation officer then but has since retired. I always liked to tell folks I carried my own probation officer with me, just in case I needed one. Sometimes back then I did need one. Sometimes I still do! Salem is just a spot in the road and we got there early. Limestone County was dry then (and may be now, I don’t know) so we rode around a bit and stopped in this little, er, ah, social club just across the state line in Tennessee to chat with the locals—purely out of a sense of investigative journalism, you understand. When they found out we were from South Alabama and there for the big game, some of the good ol’ boys immediately wanted to bet. “How many points will you give me,” asked one. I told him about three touchdowns should be enough and that Thomasville would win handily even with that allowance. We didn’t bet but after the game I wanted to go back and rub it in a bit but Joe told me we couldn’t do that, given the nearruckus that erupted after the game. I don’t know how cold it was that night but I think my memories of frost on that low-lying field are correct. I do remember Kirby Foster being there in his customary short pants. Kirby never got cold back then but he went and got on the bus at halftime to try and warm up, that’s how cold it was. Coach Bill McNair’s squad whipped West Limestone all over the field, just as they had whipped most of their opponents all season long (the Tigers ended with a 14-1 record that year, their only loss was to Jackson). They won the title game 44-6. Thomasville was understandably happy with the win, some fans perhaps too much so as some rushed the field and promptly toppled a goal post. The Salem fans were already ill at taking such a whipping and a minor brawl broke out. The Thomasville players and referees were pebbled with rocks from the Wildcat stands and a few tires on Thomasville vehicles were slashed. All of that was regrettable then but does make for a great story 18 years later. Outstanding players in the 1988 title game included Eric Burroughs and Tyrone Davis, who each had 200 yards rushing against West Limestone. The offense held the Wildcats to just 34 rushing yards. Offensive linemen included Craig Hodge, Tony Woods, “Boomer” Bates, Greg Hulsey, DeWayne Johnson, Tim White, Jamar Austin and Derrick Gwin. I hope Thursday’s game will be as great as the 1988 one was—minus the goal post toppling, of course. In addition to the Tigers (who play at 7 p.m. Thursday), two other area teams are playing for state titles in Birmingham too. Leroy will play Woodland in Class 2A at 3 p.m. Thursday in a rematch from 2004 when they defeated them to win a state championship. Sweet Water will play Cedar Bluff at 11 a.m. Saturday for the Class 1A title. I’m pulling for all three teams to bring state championship trophies back to south Alabama! Go Tigers! Go Bears! Go Bulldogs!
Jim Cox is editor and publisher of The Democrat.
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