For the Love of the Game
For the first time since 1964, the Glynn Academy Red Terror football team played for the 5-A Georgia state championship. The entire town was buzzing with excitement in anticipation of a win in the Dome in Atlanta. The last time a local team made it to the Dome was in 1999 when the Brunswick High Pirates played for the state championship and lost. Cheering for “the High” was hard, but I was pulling for them much like many Pirate fans pulled for the Terrors this year in the playoffs.
I have always said that I would rather be 1-9 and beat Brunswick High than 9-1 and lose to Brunswick High. Unfortunately, my sophomore year at Glynn Academy we did both. We went 1-9 AND lost to Brunswick High. While I have many fond memories of playing, that ‘77 team was special! The 1977 team never gave up. Unfortunately, we were never in the games either.
At one stretch during the season, we were the “homecoming opponent” for some Savannah team three weeks in a row! For those of you who don’t know, most coaches try to plan on playing a “patsy” team for their homecoming game, because they want to have a big win for the crowd. I believe we were 0-5 and headed up I-95 to play Benedictine Military School in Savannah for their homecoming. The coaches always had the QBs sit right behind them in the front of the bus so they could talk game plans. I was sitting with my buddy Andy Been, the starting QB, and as he sat there in discussion with the coaches, I turned around to take a look at the guys riding behind us. What I saw made me laugh out loud. The coach gave me a stern look and I turned back to the front of the bus. The head coach’s custom on these away game trips was to stand up, turn around and address the team about how tonight we would WIN!
Slowly, Coach Pruitt rose from his seat and turned back to speak to the 0-5 1977 Red Terror football team. As he looked up, he saw 57 guys sitting on the school bus, wearing paper hats made from the local newspaper, laughing and throwing things at each other. He just shook his head, turned around and sat back down. I can’t be sure, but I thought I heard him say, “This is gonna be a long season.” He was right!
Go Terrors!!!
(For the record, Glynn Academy fell to Allatoona 10-6 in the state championship game, but we're still mighty proud of the Red Terror team!)
