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Saturday
March 20, 2010 Since 1922 |
Crosby out to make Cougar history
By Dave Rogers
The Baytown Sun Published November 28, 2009 The last time Crosby appeared in a third-round game in the UIL state playoffs, Joan Collins was starring in “Esther and the King” at the Brunson, margarine was 28 cents a pound and Darrell Royal and Bear Bryant were preparing their teams for the second-ever Bluebonnet Bowl.
The 10-2 Cougars, who will play Pearland Dawson’s second-year varsity program in a Class 4A Division I regional game today at 2 p.m. at Deer Park’s Abshier Stadium, weren’t even the Cougars the only other time Crosby got this far in the playoffs.
That 1960 Crosby team was known as the Buffaloes – or Buffs for short. The school nickname change didn’t come until several years later, with school integration.
Not only did the 1960 Buffs win their third-round game played at El Campo, officially a Class A quarterfinal game, by a score of 30-14 over previously unbeaten George West, they advanced all the way to the 1960 Class A state championship game.
And they started the playoff run by winning a coin toss.
Crosby, which finished its 10-5 season with a 20-0 loss to Albany, had rebounded from a 3-4 start to tie Barbers Hill and Klein for the 26-A title, a tie that was undone by a simple coin flip.
Buff coach Bill Barrington was the lucky flipper.
Adding another angle to the story was the fact that Barrington had already announced his resignation as Crosby coach before the playoffs began.
The coach who came from Centerville in 1957 and endured a 1-8 rookie campaign at Crosby before the Buffs improved to 6-3-1 in 1958 and a 7-4 district championship in 1959, told the Baytown Sun he had accepted a fellowship in clinical psychology and was going to pursue a PhD. at the University of Houston.
Barrington’s team opened the 1960 season 3-0 with wins over Humble, East Chambers and Anahuac before losing to
archrival Dayton 16-6. Magnolia shut out the Buffs, who then dropped their district opener to Barbers Hill, 20-12.
The losing streak reached four games with a 6-0 loss to Waller in a non-district game and the Buffs were 3-4. Barrington undoubtedly practiced some psychology on his players, who regrouped and won their remaining district games against Klein, C.E. King and Tarkington.
After winning the coin flip to get into the playoffs, Crosby played its first two playoff games in Dayton, beating Sour Lake 20-6 and Waller, with the Buffs winning the rematch against the Bulldogs 28-3.
With George West, a town located halfway between San Antonio and Corpus Christi, in the rear-view mirror, the Buffs took on unbeaten White Oak in Liberty and won the state semifinal in a 14-6 upset.
Crosby was the underdog in all its playoff games that season and was outweighed in each tilt, but the Buffs didn’t stop until the clock ran out on them in the state championship game in Temple.
The Crosby starting lineup included ends John Dillard and Lee Franta, tackles Tommy Leissner and Doyle Johnston, guards Willie Janik and Willis Beene, center John White, quarterback Don Carter and running backs Robert Stevens, Larry Wiggens and Bennie Loper.
At 205 pounds, White was the only one weighing more than 170 pounds, according to the Baytown Sun.
“As far as physical ability goes,” Barrington said back then, “I guess the 1958 ballclub had the most. The 1959 club had more physical ability than this (1960) squad.
“But, you know, there is more to it than that in winning games. This is sort of an opportunist ball club. Whenever they get the breaks, they take advantage of them.”
The 2009 Crosby Cougars have been opportunistic – they’re plus-22 in turnover margin -- and the District 19-4A champs enter this game as an underdog to the 10-2 Eagles, runnersup from 24-4A.
Dawson is led by Utah commit Darian Lazard at quarterback (1,890 yards and 14 TDs passing, 974 yards and 13 TDs rushing) and University of Houston commit Xavier Brown at running back (691 yards, six TDs).
The Eagles own early season wins over both Goose Creek Memorial (40-26) and Baytown Sterling (52-14). They have playoff wins over Richmond Foster (24-14) and Houston Westbury (42-28).
“They’re very athletic and they can run,” current Crosby head coach Kevin Flanigan said of the Eagles. “But there’s not anybody in this point in the deal that’s not any good.”
The Baytown Sun Published November 28, 2009 The last time Crosby appeared in a third-round game in the UIL state playoffs, Joan Collins was starring in “Esther and the King” at the Brunson, margarine was 28 cents a pound and Darrell Royal and Bear Bryant were preparing their teams for the second-ever Bluebonnet Bowl.
The 10-2 Cougars, who will play Pearland Dawson’s second-year varsity program in a Class 4A Division I regional game today at 2 p.m. at Deer Park’s Abshier Stadium, weren’t even the Cougars the only other time Crosby got this far in the playoffs.
That 1960 Crosby team was known as the Buffaloes – or Buffs for short. The school nickname change didn’t come until several years later, with school integration.
Not only did the 1960 Buffs win their third-round game played at El Campo, officially a Class A quarterfinal game, by a score of 30-14 over previously unbeaten George West, they advanced all the way to the 1960 Class A state championship game.
And they started the playoff run by winning a coin toss.
Crosby, which finished its 10-5 season with a 20-0 loss to Albany, had rebounded from a 3-4 start to tie Barbers Hill and Klein for the 26-A title, a tie that was undone by a simple coin flip.
Buff coach Bill Barrington was the lucky flipper.
Adding another angle to the story was the fact that Barrington had already announced his resignation as Crosby coach before the playoffs began.
The coach who came from Centerville in 1957 and endured a 1-8 rookie campaign at Crosby before the Buffs improved to 6-3-1 in 1958 and a 7-4 district championship in 1959, told the Baytown Sun he had accepted a fellowship in clinical psychology and was going to pursue a PhD. at the University of Houston.
Barrington’s team opened the 1960 season 3-0 with wins over Humble, East Chambers and Anahuac before losing to
archrival Dayton 16-6. Magnolia shut out the Buffs, who then dropped their district opener to Barbers Hill, 20-12.
The losing streak reached four games with a 6-0 loss to Waller in a non-district game and the Buffs were 3-4. Barrington undoubtedly practiced some psychology on his players, who regrouped and won their remaining district games against Klein, C.E. King and Tarkington.
After winning the coin flip to get into the playoffs, Crosby played its first two playoff games in Dayton, beating Sour Lake 20-6 and Waller, with the Buffs winning the rematch against the Bulldogs 28-3.
With George West, a town located halfway between San Antonio and Corpus Christi, in the rear-view mirror, the Buffs took on unbeaten White Oak in Liberty and won the state semifinal in a 14-6 upset.
Crosby was the underdog in all its playoff games that season and was outweighed in each tilt, but the Buffs didn’t stop until the clock ran out on them in the state championship game in Temple.
The Crosby starting lineup included ends John Dillard and Lee Franta, tackles Tommy Leissner and Doyle Johnston, guards Willie Janik and Willis Beene, center John White, quarterback Don Carter and running backs Robert Stevens, Larry Wiggens and Bennie Loper.
At 205 pounds, White was the only one weighing more than 170 pounds, according to the Baytown Sun.
“As far as physical ability goes,” Barrington said back then, “I guess the 1958 ballclub had the most. The 1959 club had more physical ability than this (1960) squad.
“But, you know, there is more to it than that in winning games. This is sort of an opportunist ball club. Whenever they get the breaks, they take advantage of them.”
The 2009 Crosby Cougars have been opportunistic – they’re plus-22 in turnover margin -- and the District 19-4A champs enter this game as an underdog to the 10-2 Eagles, runnersup from 24-4A.
Dawson is led by Utah commit Darian Lazard at quarterback (1,890 yards and 14 TDs passing, 974 yards and 13 TDs rushing) and University of Houston commit Xavier Brown at running back (691 yards, six TDs).
The Eagles own early season wins over both Goose Creek Memorial (40-26) and Baytown Sterling (52-14). They have playoff wins over Richmond Foster (24-14) and Houston Westbury (42-28).
“They’re very athletic and they can run,” current Crosby head coach Kevin Flanigan said of the Eagles. “But there’s not anybody in this point in the deal that’s not any good.”