| Sources |
- [S106] The Mountain Press.
Upland Chronicles: Bill Cox coached SCHS during memorable time
by GARY R. WADE
The undefeated 1933 SCHS Smoky Bears football squad. In front from left are Coach Bill Cox, Herbert McMahan, Jim Marshall, Carl Gilbert, Mayford Atchley (seated), Doyle Tarwater, Dee Trotter, Harry Watson (seated), John Henderson, Amos Marshall, John Fox and Coach Royce Loveday; back row, Mayford Haun, Jack Tarwater, Paul Atchley, C.P. Wilson, Jack Blalock, Paul Romines, Gus Ward, Wayland Norton and Willie Whaley.
Bill Cox as a University of Tennessee football player.
Only a year earlier, in 1932, he had worn an orange jersey for Robert Reese Neyland’s University of Tennessee Volunteers. His own promising athletic career had ended that year due to a broken right leg.
Now, brand new Sevier County HIgh School head coach Bill Cox Sr., who had spent his last four years as a fullback in The General’s famous single-wing offense, was a passenger in the cheapest chartered bus available and on his way to Erwin where his Smoky Bears football team would play its season opener.
Times were hard in 1933. The country was still in the Great Depression. Coach Cox had made arrangements for his team to play the season opener, he also had to bear the travel expense and food.
Samples from competing companies had provided 11 leather helmets (face masks were unheard of). Some other form of creative thinking garnered enough pads to outfit the team. Each of the 18 or so players had football pants and sweatshirts with a purple number.
Royce Loveday, who had starred as a 160-pound guard at Carson-Newman, was the assistant coach. During the weeks before the opening game, Coach Loveday had tutored the centers, guards, and tackles while the head coach had mentored the backs and ends. Together they taught their young men not only the basics of the single-wing offense and the wide tackle six defense, but also the conservative football philosophy the General employed during his early years at Tennessee.
By 1933 standards, Erwin was a big town. Word had filtered down from the mountains of Upper East Tennessee that Erwin High School had made enough players for three teams, all fully and snappily equipped, and that the school owned a real football field, with goal posts and bleachers for the spectators.
Caswell Pharaoh Wilson Jr., Amos Marshall and John Fox, all of whom resided within a one-block area between Cedar Street and Prince Street in Sevierville, were among the players riding on the bus that day. Sixty years later, C.P. (who passed away in 2003), John, and Amos reminisced about the long bus ride, the big game at Erwin, and the team meal on the way home.
The bus ride and the meal were special. It was the one and only time they enjoyed such luxuries during their entire high school careers. The game turned out to be just as special.
Sevier County High School was only in its 10th year of existence at the time. The game of football was a lot different then. John, a sophomore guard on the ’33 team, described the ball as “shaped like a pumpkin, a lot easier to kick than throw.”
Touchdowns were few and far between. There were few passing plays. Field goals and extra points were attempted in the drop-kick style (try to explain that to your children or grandchildren). Defense was the name of the game.
No one knew how good the 1933 team was. Coaches Cox and Loveday were in their first year at SCHS, and there had been no football at SCHS the year before because a 21-year-old non-student had participated in a 1931 game. (Ineligible players were not uncommon in those days; what was unusual was for a school to get caught).
Caswell, who was known as C.P., was a 125-pound senior and the starter at the critical tailback position. Because he was so small, he had opted against football in 1930 and 1931. This would be his first season on the gridiron.
Amos, a 115-pound sophomore, played a position called quarterback on that team; in the single wing, that position involved more blocking than anything else because the center usually called upon to make a deep snap directly to the tailback.
John Fox was one of the kickers on the 1933 team. While memories have faded, it is as likely as not that the Erwin game began with his kickoff.
When on offense, the Smoky Bears featured C.P. running the famous “Power 10,” Neyland’s sweep to the right with the pulling guard and quarterback responsible for a double team block on the end. Herbert McMahan, who later played at Wake Forest, provided strength at the fullback position, occasionally taking a direct snap from the center and running for daylight.
On rare occasions, C.P. would try a forward pass.
The wingback, Jack Blalock, was an especially tough blocker. He later played for the University of Florida before “Gator-Haters” were fashionable. The late Paul Atchley, the long-time Sevier County court clerk, played the difficult center position on offense. He was a standout on the defensive side of the ball and was good enough to start at East Tennessee State after graduating from high school.
All of the players played both offense and defense. Many were on the field for every play of every game.
Erwin, which did indeed field twice as many players as the Bears, scored first and led 6-0 when Coach Cox made an impassioned halftime plea for the Bears to rally their forces. John recalled that this head coach often evoked tears from his players during his inspirational addresses, and this was probably no exception.
It was clearly a defensive game and that was Coach Loveday’s strength. Tackle John L. Henderson. Who played later at VPI, stood strong among the SCHS defenders as did tackle Paul Romines and end Willie Whaley.
Field position was the key in the second half, and a mistake changed the course not only in this contest but also the season for the Smoky Bears. An Erwin safety misjudged an SCHS punt which had landed near the goal line. The referee may have been the only one on the field to notice that the ball was touched by the Erwin safety before it rolled across the goal line. When end Mayford Haun placed a single finger on the football before tossing it to the official, the signal was “touchdown, Smoky Bears.”
The game ended in a 6-6 tie, and forever after the game’s hero was known to his teammates as “one-finger Haun.” While Coach Cox and his underdog team had not been victorious, they had avoided almost certain defeat to the heavily-favored Erwin 11.
Other than a scoreless tie with a highly touted Loudon team, the SCHS squad was perfect for the remainder of the season, reeling off victories over chief rival Newport and the likes of Jefferson City, New Market, Walland, Maryville and Everett. In these days of playoffs, AAAAA competition and 15-game seasons, it is unlikely that the purple and white will ever experience another season without a single defeat.
Later, during World War II, Bill Cox won three state championships as the head coach of Knoxville High School. After a successful career as an educator, he prospered in the motel business in Gatlinburg.
Royce Loveday spent his entire career at SCHS as a coach and chemistry teacher. A short while back, John Fox decribed the men as “the greatest I’ve ever known.”
C.P. was an outstanding tailback at Carson-Newman, playing for the legendary Coach Frosty Holt, and earning letters in football (3), basketball (3), baseball (2), and tennis (1). He had a long and distinguished career in the dental profession and received many accolades for his service to the community.
Amos was a chemist and lab technician in Oak Ridge and served longer on the Board of Mayor and Aldermen than any other person. John and his late wife Ruby worked for years at Carson-Newman before returning to his beloved Sevierville.
I had the pleasure of serving with C.P. and Amos on the Board of Mayor and Aldermen. Ironically, John covered many of the Sevierville board meetings as a reporter for The Mountain Press and often contributed as much to policies of the city as the rest of us.
To paraphrase John, these good men are three of the greatest public servants I have ever known.
— Gary Wade of Sevierville is a justice of the Tennessee Supreme Court. This is part of the Upland Chronicles series, celebrating the heritage and past of Sevier County. If you have suggestions for future topics, would like to submit a column, or have comments, contact Carroll McMahan at 453-6411 or e-mail to cmcmahan@scoc.org; or Ron Rader at 604-9161 or e-mail to ron@ronraderproperties.com.
- [S74] Atchley Funeral Home Records, Volume IV, 1987-1999, Larry D. Fox, (Smoky Mountain Historical Society), 12 Oct 1992.
Cox, William Gilford (Bill) 84 widowed by Stella b. 3-30-08 Sey d. Oct 12, 1992 SMC res Savage Garden Rd Gatlinburg motel owner f. Sam Cox m. Anna McCrosky educa 12 + 4 SMMG Survivors: 1 son & dau-in-law Bill Cox Sam & Bonnie Cox 608 Skyline Dr Gatlinburg 1 dau & son-in-law Connie & Arne Walker 10 gc 6 ggc 1 sis Belle Buttram.
|
Search | Advanced Search
1908 - 1992 (84 years)
: Address
: Location
: City/Town
: County/Shire
: State/Province
: Country
: Not Set
= Link to Google Maps