Garden High School had more than its share of glory in the ’50’s on the basketball court, winning three State titles, and reaching the State playoffs two other years. Easy for me to see why thousands return each year on Garden Day. How could they ever forget such accomplishments!
They can’t! And then to hear about how the hundreds of fans that couldn’t attend the games, traveled to the Red Jacket Coal Company office to get telephone reports of the games.(Phone service was almost non-existent at that time.) Loved the story that David Miller told me about the championship game with Madison in March of 1950, which started off the decade of the 50’s with a bang for Garden. David said that his Dad, Sherman, became offended by one Madison fan, and that finally, his dad told the fan that he knew Garden was going to win and that he would bet him $10. Put up or shut up type deal. Garden was trailing by five points at the time with only thirty seconds to go in the game.
“I’ll take that bet,” said the man, and as luck would have it, for the Dragons anyway, Garden closed the gap to a one point deficit with just a few seconds remaining on the clock. The ball was inbounded to Leon ‘Shot’ McClanahan at half-court.
Shot threw up a prayer just before time ran out, and the prayer was answered, for the shot was right on for a most unlikely championship win! The shot heard around the state by Leon “Shotgun” McClanahan, often shortened to Shot.
Wow! You can’t make this stuff up! How ironic that a guy named Shot would make the winning shot!
As fans and players mobbed Shot, David recalls that the Madison fan reluctantly gave his Dad the ten bucks…
“And Dad took that $20 and gave it to Shot!” David said.
David was about seven years old at the time, and his younger brother Bill, who was the MVP for the Garden Green Dragon basketball team in 1963, was too young for the trip. most likely.
Here’s another bit of good fortune for Sherman Miller. On Thursday the 23rd of April in 1938, Sherman was working at Red Jacket Coal Company (This was the date of the Red Jacket mine explosion that killed 45 miners.) Sherman had jury duty that day, and when he got off jury duty, he stopped by the Red Jacket office to see if they wanted him to work that evening. They told him that they had enough men for the evening shift, and Sherman Miller went home, not realizing until that evening how very fortunate he was, but devastated by what happened. From his house, he heard the explosion and witnessed the black smoke pouring out the mine portal. In shock, he and many others rushed to the scene to see if they could help the rescue.
Shortly after this, Sherman Miller became the Postmaster at Oakwood, and went on to raise a fine family, while his wife Myrtle became an outstanding 3rd Grade teacher at Garden Elementary.
The 50’s truly were Golden Years for Garden on the hardcourt, but the Green Dragon football team of 1959 put the icing on the cake of a dominating decade with an undefeated season in football. Their feat could be equaled but never topped! Their glory may never fade!
Benny Coxton, Garden’s All-Everything, told super sportswriter Lloyd Combs, that the football game with Grundy in 1959 (which Garden won 7-0), was his fondest moment while playing at Garden. {Coalfield Dreams, P. 71 — If you don’t yet have this book, you are missing out, whether you lived at Garden, Grundy, or anywhere in Buchanan County.} —
(I played right tackle for the Golden Wave that rainy and muddy night. Remembering it was billed as a Big Showdown, and weather was not going to keep thousands from attending,…parking as far away up 460 to the Vansant bridge, and down the road to Magic-Mart. No fan from either school wanted to miss it. No one wanted a phone report that night!)
Garden certainly didn’t forget a 93-0 beat-down in September of ’43. Jack Riffe, who was an assistant coach on the ‘Dream Team of ’59, was playing for Grundy in ’43. He recalled that Grundy had tackles carrying the ball, but Grundy just kept scoring., and scoring… and scoring.
{Jack later became Mr. Everything at Garden High School for decades to follow, as A.D. , Head Coach, and teacher…even mowing the field.}
Lloyd Combs notes in his book that Garden stormed back from that ’43 shutout by defeating Grundy twice just two years later — noting that because of gas rationing due to WW2, teams often played their closest rivals twice. After those two payback wins, Garden only defeated Grundy three more times, but their ’59 showdown victory at the old Vansant Ballpark may have been the sweetest.
P. L. Williams was Garden’s Head Coach that year of ‘59, as he had been for several years. Coach Williams was actually Garden’s first basketball coach also, and was defeated 52-6 by Virgie, Kentucky in 1943. in Garden’s first game ever. You didn’t have to be around this witty man long to understand that he loved coaching, and I loved hearing him talk about past games, always with a laugh and a smile at the end. Coach Williams had his team well prepared for the Big Showdown, and they didn’t let him down….
My first encounter with Coach Williams occurred the previous year on the same field at a Grundy baseball game. (I had just run down a baseball in deep centerfield for the most unlikely of catches.)
As I walked off the field toward the Grundy dugout, Coach Williams said:
“Larry, I knew you were going to catch that ball…I just didn’t know when!”
(I laughed and we were instant friends, with interesting stories to share every time we met after that.)
Garden’s dynamic Halfback/Wingback, David Miller, who attended the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland two years later, after being nominated to attend by 9th District Congressman Pat Jennings, told me that the dream season was unforgettable, as was my four years at the Naval Academy.(Jack Smith, long time Food City CEO graduated from the Naval Academy a few years previous, and reportedly was the first Buchanan Countian to attend a service academy. Jack even married his wife Judy in the Naval Academy Chapel. (Steve Smith, Jack’s son, and present CEO of Food City, has a daughter who was also married in the Naval Academy Chapel last summer.)
David said that he found out about the Naval Academy when two coaches from the Naval Academy walked into Mr. Quillen’s office looking for Oakwood and Benny Coxton
(Coaches from as far away as California were also searching for Benny…And Oakwood!)
“Hallelujah! We have finally found Oakwood!” David recalled them saying.
“Benny decided not to attend the Naval Academy,” David continued, but I was happy to hear about an amazing opportunity. I was so fortunate to have the privilege to attend the next year after Benny decided not to attend. Seriously think that if Benny had taken the offer to the Naval Academy, that Roger Staubach might have been playing End,” David laughed. (Roger Staubach won the Heisman a few years later in 1963, and after a four year stint in the military, he joined the Dallas Cowboys in 1969, leading the Cowboys to five Super Bowls in his 11 year NFL career.) But we will never know that of course.
Roger was awesome, but so was Benny!
Terry Holland, who played on the Freshman basketball team at Davidson in 1960 with Benny, made the comment that Benny Coxton was the best athlete he had ever seen. That’s saying a lot since Terry Holland led the Davidson Wildcats to a national ranking a few years later while compiling a 60.1% shooting average from the field, also going on to coach several All-Americans during his sixteen year coaching tenure at UVA,…Remember Ralph Sampson? three time All-American at UVA? Terry Holland guided the Cavaliers to two Final Fours, and was selected ACC Coach of the year twice.
Benny must have been spectacular that freshman year, for he was chosen OUTSTANDING ATHLETE for the entire school as a Freshman.
Jack Riffe said once that Benny Coxton could throw a football 50 yards from his knees, and he was emphatic in saying that Benny was the greatest athlete he ever saw play!
(Knowing what I do now, I would venture to say that we would have likely had a lopsided Garden score if the Big Showdown of ’59 had been played on a dry field, but David did recall that we had the best defense they played against all year.
David Miller told me that the ’59 season really started with the last game of the ’58 season, when the Dragons defeated the Tazewell Bulldogs on Tazewell’s field 7-6.
“It gave us great confidence going into the ’59 season,” David said,…Tazewell dressed 70 players and we had 16.” Disappointing that Tazewell decided not to play us the following year. They were Group 1 and we were Group 3. We had nearly everyone back in ’59, and I think they were afraid to play us.”
David also told me that Jim McGlothlin was a senior Center on that ’58 team. A most important position, for absolutely nothing happens on a play until the Center snaps the ball! Of course, this is the same Jim McGlothlin who a decade or so later started United Coal Company, employing thousands in Buchanan County and surrounding areas. I remember attending a United picnic at the Breaks Park once when Jim handed out a multitude of prizes to United employees. (My Father-In-Law, Bill Kennedy, was an employee) The miners and their families filled up the Potter’s Knoll area as Jim McGlothlin himself gave away lots of nice prizes…Remembering that even a car was given away! Coal was King in the 70’s, and many years thereafter, and a rewarding picnic was held every year. For the 10th anniversary, Jim gave away ten brand new automobiles, and for the 20th anniversary, Jim gave away 20 new cars! No wonder men liked to work for United Coal Company. Spreading the wealth around!
Sophomore Harve Davis stepped up as Center for that amazing ’59 team to try to fill Jim McGlothlin’s shoes, doing an admirable job.
Looking at the rest of the ’59 Green Dragon Dream Team:
At Right Guard was James Vandyke, who later ran a successful fencing company at Oakwood: SECURITY FENCE COMPANY (Every fence and even the Backstop at the CCYC ballfields on top of Baldwin Mountain were installed by him.) James is deceased now, but such a great talker and player, making the All-County team, as did all eight of Garden’s seniors.)…
One interesting little story about James, as related to me by Bill Miller, who was the Team Manager as an 8th grader, had to do with Garden’s schedule: On the schedule was listed PENDING, for one particular Friday night. Bill said that James asked Coach Williams where Pending was, and Coach Williams told him:
“Why James, Pending is over near Glade, and I hear they are really tough. We’ll be lucky to beat them.” Bill said that James got a big laugh later in the week when he found out that Coach Williams was pulling his leg…
At the Left Guard position was Pete Lundy, a Junior, who was a Vietnam vet in later life and is now deceased also. His Dad was a coal miner, as were many of the fathers.
Bob Mullins, a senior, was at Left Tackle. His father was Striickler Mullins, who was Superintendent of Mines at Clinchfield Coal Company, becoming a hero when he drug one man to safety when a group of miners encountered ‘Black Damp’ in the Clinchfield mine at Duty. Five other miners died in that April 1978 disaster.
Bob, who like all of the seniors made All-County, also had a brother named J.W., who later starred for the Green Dragons as well, as did brothers Joe and Rae.
Don Street was a senior at Right Tackle. His Dad owned and drove a Taxi in the Garden/Grundy area. Thinking Don didn’t have to pay a fare when riding with his Dad. LOL
James Grizzle was a senior at Left End. James, who was on the receiving end of many of Quarterback Benny Coxton’s crisp passes, is now deceased.
Henry Scott was a senior at Right End, and he is the one that caught the winning touchdown pass from Benny Coxton, as the Green Dragons defeated the pre-season favorite, the Abingdon Mighty Midgets(Later changed to Falcons, which they proudly go by now.)
David Miller was a junior at Halfback/Wingback (Garden ran the Single Wing most of the time.). As I mentioned earlier, David attended the Naval Academy after his graduation from Garden High School. David related to me how extremely tough it was as a Plebe in his first year at the Academy, especially in the Dining Hall, which seated over 4,000 Midshipmen.
“We had to sit on the first six inches of our chair in the Dining Hall, while sitting ramrod straight, bringing our fork straight up without any curving motion at all. We were only granted 15 minutes to eat, and could not begin to eat until the Upperclassmen had eaten.
David met Pat, his wife of over 50 years now, after a first year cruise to Jacksonville, Florida. David and Pat now reside in Dallas, Texas, but he visits younger brother Bill in Bristol on occasion, and this is where I met him for a most enjoyable breakfast at Cracker Barrel, as we shared memories and stories from our playing days.
Tommy Joe Owens, a sophomore, was the Blocking Back. Tommy Joe’s Dad was president of District 28 of the UMWA (United Mine Workers of America). I played Pony League baseball with Tommy Joe, and David Miller as well. Tommy Joe was quite a character, and just a joy to be around. Bill told me that Tommy attended the Virginia All-Star game at Norfolk after the season, in support of Benny Coxton, who was chosen MVP. Bill told that Tommy was sitting on the West side because that was where his ticket said. Tommy was standing up and yelling for Benny when a guy behind him told him to sit down. Tommy told him he didn’t have to sit down, and that he better not tell him to again…Well, the man did, and as Bill told it, he hit the man with his fist, knocking him down the bleachers about four rows. Bill said that no one said another word after that and Tommy continued to cheer for Benny.
Troy Vance was a senior at Fullback. Troy lived with the Oliver Hess family, and according to Bill Miller, the manager, Troy was nicknamed ‘Jim Thorpe’ because he was so tough. Bill said he broke several ribs in ’59 and insisted on having H-Bandages pulled tight around them, not missing a single play. (Jim Thorpe was considered to be one of the toughest and greatest players to ever play the game.)
Troy scored the only touchdown to give Garden a 6-0 lead in the Big Showdown. Benny Coxton ran the extra point to make it 7-0. And, as it turned out this was the final score, even though we threatened twice in the 4th Quarter, being turned away both times.
The last time we threatened, our star halfback, Tom Holland, who’s dad was the Editor at the Virginia Mountaineer at the time, remembered that our kicker, Ritchie Wright, was warming up his leg on the sideline for what we hoped would be the tying kick. As it turned out, he never got to try it. Ritchie later became a stuntman in wild west shows, appearing in numerous westerns. Ritchie’s dad owned Wright’s Market, which was located just down the road from the field. Ritchie was practicing his quickdraw one week when he shot himself in the foot, but was still able to kick the following Friday night. Ritchie moved to Las Vegas, Nevada, and appeared in Wild West Shows there for several years.
Tom was struggling that Friday night, for just two weeks before 2-a-day practices started, Tom was working for Smiley Ratliff at the old Edith Faye Coal Dock, located just back of where The Virginia Mountaineer offices, and Town Center, are located today.
“I was shaving a board with a hatchet when the hatchet bounced off and cut my right ankle. Smiley told me it was just a scratch to get back to work. I didn’t hesitate. I tied a shirt around it to stop the bleeding and limped over to 460 to thumb down to Grundy Hospital, where Dr. Baxter placed 13 stitches on my scratch,” he laughed.
Louit Owens was a junior halfback and did have a big play in the Big Showdown. Louit was inserted into the game during Garden’s winning drive at halfback.
“I remember that the play that was called was Triple Cross Right,” Louit said, “And after the fake to Troy Vance, Benny handed me the ball, and I had a big gain for about 15-20 yards. I might have scored, but I remember that Doug Johnson tackled me. I think Troy Vance scored the touchdown a few plays later.”
Louit later attended Clinch Valley College, now UVA Wise, where he starred on the basketball team for them. I watched him play as Clinch Valley played ETSU’s Freshman team in 1963 while I was attending school there in Johnson City. Louit nailed several long-range shots in a loss to the Bucs. Later, beginning in 1969, I taught school with him for 25 years at Grundy Junior High, on the present day site of the Appalachian School of Law. Louit, whose nickname is ‘Buzz’, often defeated me in a game of H-O-R-S-E in the gym during lunch or planning period…Skunking me nearly every time! Buzz resides in Grundy now, living in the same house that legendary principal John Meade lived in back in the 60’s and 70’s, …..with extensive renovations of course.
Benny Coxton was the senior Quarterback/ Signal Caller when running the Single Wing.
Consider that Benny was All-County, All-State, All-Area, and All American after the dream season was completed in ’59, but his accolades continued. Benny was chosen MVP in three post-season All-Star games:
The Virginia All-Star game at Norfolk, The Virginia/West Virginia Game at Mitchell Stadium,…and the Virginia/Tennessee All-Star game played at the Stone Castle in Bristol…All Three! Wow! David Miller told me he attended the game at the Stone Castle, and that Benny had the Tennessee boys shaking their heads because they couldn’t stop him…
So sad that Benny was injured while playing Linebacker for Davidson in his first year on the Varsity. Benny pinched a nerve in his shoulder, which greatly hindered his throwing motion. He was still a threat as a running back, but his Golden Arm was no more. After college, Benny coached at J.I. Burton and Garden for a while, but then returned to North Carolina to resume his education, excelling as an outstanding educator & Superintendent of Schools.
Benny’s brother, Bill Coxton, played Quarterback on the Garden team that tied Grundy 7-7 in 1957. Bill later attended V.M.I. on a football scholarship. There must have been something growing in Garden’s gardens that was a Super Food for the Coxtons…. and the Dream Team….LOL… Really!
Garden’s Dream Team outscored their opponents 230-14, and was unscored on until the fourth game when Tommy Francisco scored a touchdown for Damascus on a trick play. Touchdown Tommy, as he was often referred to, still holds the touchdown record at Virginia Tech in one game with six touchdowns in one game. But in the Garden game, he pretended to leave the field. When the ball was snapped, he was wide open for a quick touchdown pass from their quarterback.
The last touchdown against Garden was scored in the last game of the season with the Abingdon Mighty Midgets., who were the preseason favorite to win the title in District 7. Abingdon, whose name was changed to Falcons a short time later, scored on Garden in a 13-7 defeat. Henry Scott caught the winning touchdown pass, right after a touchdown pass was thrown to David Miller, which was called back when someone was lined up offside.
“The Lebanon game was scheduled to be our Homecoming Game,” David Miller told me, but it was raining that Friday, and Coach Williams called Lebanon to get the game moved up to Saturday, but that they wouldn’t reschedule, which infuriated Coach Williams. In the locker room before the game, Coach Williams told us to put a beating on them for not cooperating with us. We were ahead 33-0 at halftime, before Coach Williams called off the dogs….uh Dragons… The final score was 49-0!”
Just a few notes about what some Grundy players remembered about that night. Our All-State Guard, Johnny Snead, remembered how tough the game was, but recalls how elusive Benny Coxton was, recalling that he was a really nice guy to talk with, and a nice Christian boy.
Bob Hagy told me during a recent phone call, that he had Benny Coxton for a loss in the Garden backfield once.
“I had him dead in my sights from my Linebacker position, but he wiggled free, and I was left lying in the mud watching him gain significant yardage.”…Mud was abundant that night, and just remembered that David Miller told me that he and several other players, got in the shower with their uniforms on to wash off the mud.
My Uncle, Karl Reedy, was in his first year as Grundy’s Head Coach, having replaced legendary coach Frank Spraker, who assumed the Athletic Director’s job, and coached our line, along with Brownie Cummins. Great coaches all!. Karl Reedy is scheduled to be inducted posthumously, into the Hiwassee College Athletic Hall of Fame next month. Uncle Karl was highly successful as a plater and coach there back in the 1930’s, and later starred at Emory and Henry as a player in 1935. Remembering my mother sharing an item from the RIPLEY’S BELIEVE IT OR NOT section of the Bluefield Sunday paper about Uncle Karl. The entry stated that Karl Reedy had once scored five touchdowns in one game, and was on the sideline in street clothes before the First Half ended.( I can’t remember if this was at Hiwassee or Emory.)
That ’59 season we were 4-6, but had a huge upset win at Gate City, and played everybody else tough. We actually had a chance to tie or defeat the powerful Roanoke Jefferson team at the Vansant Ballpark, but came up short again. Something happened after that game that I had never seen before or since. The Grundy fans stood and cheered our effort in the close loss. We felt like winners of sort as we walked off the field.
Coach Reedy’s record the next year was 6-4, following that up in ’62 and ’63 with an 8-2 record both years. My First Cousin, Karl Reedy Junior, was the QB all four years that my uncle coached at Grundy, doing a great job. Buddy was quick both on and off the field. After practice each day, Buddy would often shower and change clothes while most of us were still heading to the locker room.
After that ’59 season in my senior year, I don’t recall any recruiters walking into Mr. Meade’s office at Grundy looking for one of our players, to offer a football scholarship, but Johnny Snead could have played anywhere. (There were plenty of recruiters in years to follow.)…
But then one evening late in the school year, Coach Reedy, who was also my Typing teacher, called me to the office to tell me:
“Larry, I just got off the phone with a friend of mine who is coaching at Yale University. He will give you a scholarship to Yale on my recommendation. You do have a B average don’t you Larry?”
(This bit of news was shocking and totally unexpected. Just to think that my Uncle Karl thought I could play college football kind of blew me away. I was happy and sad at the same time.)
“No, Uncle Karl, I have a C+ average, for I just calculated my GPA,” I told him.
“Well, that is one of the requirements, but I’m certain you could walk on there, or anywhere, and make the team if you want to try,” Uncle Karl told me.
I was kind of flabbergasted that he had that much confidence in my abilities as a football player. It had been a fun year playing for him, and reflecting back, I remembered that I had played every single play of my senior year on offense, defense, and special teams, but I hadn’t hit the books to study the way I should have. The only subjects I liked were English and History. I had high marks in those subjects. Low marks in math classes had pulled my GPA down.
Walking back to class that evening, I decided I was not going to be disappointed about missing an opportunity to go to Yale. But to think, I could have been another Yale Larry! LOL….(Yale Lary, spelled with one r was a nine time Pro-Bowler while playing for the Detroit Lions in the NFL during that time period.)
Brownie Cummins took over the helm for Grundy in ’63, and the Golden Wave would have been State Champs, but for finding out at season’s end that one Grundy player was ineligible, so Grundy had to forfeit. Coach Cummins had several great years, and was convinced that L.C. Ferrell, who was a Sophomore on the ’59 Grundy team was the best back he ever coached, saying that L.C. could run like a Gazelle. Remembering that he had several long runs for us in ’59. L.C. joined the Marines right after high school for a four year term.
Bob Williams played Defensive End as a Freshman for our ’59 Wave team, and really starred on the gridiron at the Fullback position the next three years, and then attending Duke University on a football scholarship. When Bob returned home he became a highly respected judge in Buchanan County.
Scotty Lambert, a fellow Harman boy, played Right End on offense. Scotty played well in his first year as a Senior, but really came alive the next two years at Hiwassee Junior College in Madisonville, Tennessee, where we both attended. Scotty played Right End on back-to-back undefeated intramural football championship teams in ’61 and ’62, winning most every game by lopsided scores. Scotty made many spectacular catches from yours truly, for I played the quarterback position. I was a quarterback wannabe tackle I guess…LOL…
Scotty later became an outstanding math teacher at Garden High School. Most of his students spoke very highly of him.
Teddy Osborne, another Harman boy, whose father Ted was the Superintendent of Mines at Harman Mining Company, played Center most of the time on our team. Teddy also worked in mining as a coal operator and was a huge supporter of the Golden Wave, also having two outstanding sons who starred on the gridiron for Grundy. Brent and Pete.
All of Buchanan County was looking forward to THE BIG SHOWDOWN at the old Vansant Ballpark that Friday night, no matter that it was rainy and muddy. But it was the Green Dragons who showed up breathing fire, going on from there to do something that could only be equaled, but never surpassed…
An Undefeated Season!
It’s been said that old men still dream dreams, but relish memories of past glories. I feel certain that Garden players and Alumni have memories galore. The desire to come back to Oakwood once a year for GARDEN DAY is still going strong….. and is likely to continue for decades to come.
