THE COLOR BLUE Port Allen High Schools Last District Championship in Football was 40 years ago, but many people have forgotten the tragic event that lead to that teams success They trailed 12-6 early in the fourth quarter, but with 33 seconds remaining in the last regular season game of the Port Allen High School 1974 football season, the score was tied 12-12 against the home team, Shady Grove, with at least a tie for the district championship on the line. If the Pelicans could hold on for the tie, they would share the district title. That’s when fate and the Pelicans’ defense intervened. Port Allen’s swarming defense, which helped the team win all but one game all season, a close 6-7 opener against Woodlawn, sacked the opposing quarterback for a safety and then held on to win 14-12. Defensive lineman Bruce Bass recorded the improbable, yet timely sack to lift Port Allen to the outright district title. It was the first district title since 1953 for the Pels. That was the triumph the team and the Port Allen community felt 40 years ago this fall, but many have forgotten the tragic event of the previous year that helped mold that team into winners on and off the field. The story begins fiver years earlier when the Vietnam War was exploding abroad and school desegregation was an even greater powder keg issue in Louisiana. In 1969, there were angry picket lines outside the previously all white Port Allen High School when schools opened that fall. Racial tension was at an all time high for the City of Port Allen as many white students left the public system to avoid the hassle. Many black students were equally unhappy with the change in their educational environment. In his award-winning book Race and Democracy: The Civil Rights Struggle in Louisiana, 1915-1972, author Adam Faircloth recalled that period with these words: “Wholesale desegregation, moreover, came at an enormous cost to blacks. Maintaining a dual school system had been economically wasteful; a unitary system required fewer teachers and fewer buildings. White school boards, especially in rural areas, addressed the problems of surplus capacity by closing black schools, demoting black principals, and firing black teachers. To add to the disillusionment, the much-touted educational advantages of desegregation proved elusive. When black children were at last placed in integrated classrooms, they found themselves struggling to keep up. Alarming numbers failed, dropped out, or were classified ‘educable mentally retarded’ and assigned to special classes. Large numbers were suspended for infractions of discipline. Small wonder that many blacks regarded school integration as a Pyhrric victory.” Interviewed for this article, Erwinville native Jeff LeDuff recalled that he didnt understand why he couldnt go to the previously all-black Cohn High School which had been closed to make way for integration. He said he remembered crying on the Port Allen High school grounds and being comforted with a hug from Beverly Triche, a white school teacher who would eventually become the system’s superintendent. LeDuff, who was named Baton Rouge Chief of Police in February 2005, said, “Thats the first time in my life that I realized a white person cared about me.” In addition to the classrooms, high school sports teams also became integrated for the first time in West Baton Rouge history. In 1971 a young coach named Curtis Varnado started the first-ever football program at the all-white Central Private High School in Baker. For the purpose of this article, Varnado recounted the events of his coaching prowess of the early 70’s at a recent lunch with his wife, Idalie, former Port Allen High and LSU football player Terry Hobbins and 78 Port Allen High graduate, Dean Hotard. After two years at Central Private, Varnado accepted the job as head football coach at Port Allen in 1973. Pelican teams posted 8-2 and 6-4 records in 1970 and 71, but the 72 team went 1-8-1 the year before Varnado assumed the reins with an already integrated roster. Though he got a late start on the job after being hired along with basketball coach James Wyatt by Principal Michael T. Misuraca, Varnado quickly called a team meeting with his squad and announced with his deep, stern, coach’s voice that he expected three things from his players: they must be good citizens, they must be good students and they must be team players. Varnado also told his prospective players, “There will be no black. There will be no white. The only color we will have around here is the color blue.” He was, of course, referring to the teams uniform colors. The young coach then told his players that his office would be open from 4-7 p.m. every day if anybody wanted to meet with him. During his first week on the job nobody showed up for meetings. Then, he met with a few inquisitive white players that wanted to meet. Next, he met with a few curious black players lead by Hank Clark and Michael Braggs. Before long, there were black and white players in those private meetings. The stage had been set for a successful 1973 season. The official 1973 Port Allen High football season began after a promising 16-0 victory over Episcopal in the jamboree. The regular season opener was a hard fought 8-7 win over Woodlawn. Port Allen’s second game was a 6-0 win over Independence. This would be Independence’s only loss of the season and as they would go on to win the State Championship in their classification. After trailing 16-0 early in the third game against Ascension Catholic, Port Allen rallied late to win 22-16. The boys in blue were undefeated at 3-0, riding high and coming together as a football team as the Pelicans prepared for a game against the Jackson Chiefs on Friday, Sept. 28, 1973. Though four decades have passed, Varnado still choked back tears and his 72-year-old still strong coach’s voice went silent several times as he recalled the events of that date for this article. After composing himself, the now-retired coach recalled how he allowed “his boys” to go home after school with instructions to return on time for the bus ride to Jackson. At about 5 p.m. most of the players were on the Port Allen High school bus with assistant coach Joe Saia ready to drive them to their highly-anticipated game. Suddenly, Joseph Munson, a student at Port Allen High pulled up to the waiting bus and frantically informed the coaches that two of their players had been in a terrible car wreck on the Hwy 1 overpass near Toro Petroleum (now Placid Refinery) as they rushed to catch the soon departing bus. The two players, Anderson Pierce Jr. and Sherman Gray, were instantly killed when Pierce’s car drove underneath a sugar cane cart being pulled by a slow-moving tractor. Coach Varnado along with assistant coaches Jerry Lowe and Charles “Cat” Guthrie rushed to the scene, but were immediately waved off by a teary-eyed Dr. Guy Otwell. The top of the car had been sheared off and it was obvious that their were no survivors. The medical helicopter that hovered overhead would not be necessary. Gordon “Bubbie” Smith who was a tenth grade player on the team remembered that the coaches were “sobbing as a bus full of confused players waited for answers.” LeDuff was particularly shaken up by the deaths of the two Port Allen football players. “I was not on the team, but I was supposed to be in that car. I was late, so they left me. Anderson and I were like brothers. Ill never forget that day,” LeDuff recalled. Coaches and administrators quickly informed their Jackson High School counterparts of the deaths. Jackson told Port Allen that they had to play the game or forfeit. Jacksons head coach was Fred McKey who ironically would become the Port Allen High head football coach, then principal years later. The Port Allen staff made the decision to play the game even though the team had to leave behind Andersons brother, Darrell Pierce, who was a sophomore tight end and Shermans brothers, Terry Gray, a sophomore running back, and Jerry Gray, a freshman offensive tackle. As the team prepared to run out onto the field for the game, the Port Allen crowd left their seats and formed a human wall of what seemed like 1,000 people on each side of the surprised players from the goal post to the sideline. There was no Facebook post, no text messages and no cell phone coordination in 1973. This was a spontaneous emotional act of love, devotion and sympathy shown by an entire community dressed in blue. There were blacks and whites holding hands together, crying together, hugging each other and supporting each other. Coach Joe Saia said, “The boys played like zombies” that night as they struggled with grief and a depleted roster, losing to Jackson 38-14. The jerseys of the two accident victims hung on the PAHS stands as a makeshift memorial at the stadium during the solemn game according to Michael T. Misuraca. Varnado said, “Sherman was a good athlete and Anderson was like Johnny Rodgers, Nebraskas 1972 Heisman trophy winner, on the football field. He was special.” Beverly Collins, Shermans sister, remembers her younger brother as a “really good guy who just loved football.” She was a 19-year-old newlywed living on Georgia Avenue in Port Allen when her parents came to deliver the sad news. Mark Graffeo, a senior on the ‘73 team and the current West Baton Rouge Parish Clerk of Court said they missed the two players terribly and added that Pierce was a great basketball player too. Terry Hobbins, who recently retired from Port Alln after 34 years of teaching and coaching, was a junior linebacker on the team, who would be the ‘75 valedictorian and an LSU football player said, “The events after those deaths literally ended any racial tensions that existed at the school, on the team and in the city.” After a meeting with Hall’s Mortuary it was decided that the wake for both players would be held the following Thursday at the West Baton Rouge Community Center to accommodate the large crowds that were anticipated. There was only one color— blue. The color of the teammates jerseys who stood by the fallen players caskets in their uniforms like members of an honor guard as the entire school and the community showed their support for a pair of grief-stricken families. Misuraca, who had just been appointed principal less than two years prior to the deaths recalled that one of the toughest things he ever had to do as principal was speak at the services for the two student-athletes. He said it gives him chills to think about it more than 40 years later. Misuraca said, “They were good kids and their deaths helped to heal the racial wounds that many people felt after integration. It was a tense time.” The teammates acted as pal bearers as the two were laid to rest in separate graveyards just prior to the next game against Rosenwald. The team got back to business used 94 rushing yards from Shermans little brother, Terry to whip Rosenwald soundly 22-0. However, the team would only win one more game during that tumultuous and emotional season, finishing at 5-4-1 including a blowout loss in which Southern Lab called timeout with 8 seconds left so they could score one more TD against the losing Pelicans. The season was over, but Coach Varnado knew that defensive star Terry “Killer” Johnson who was “the greatest leader he had ever seen on a football field” and quarterback Donnie Brown along with a united team would give them a chance to win in 1974. Varnado would later coach at Brusly High School among other schools and said he never allowed “his boys” to leave campus after school before a game again for his 30 years in coaching. When talking about his 1974 team that won district, the coach said the secret to that teams success was “football doesnt build character, it exposes it”. The ‘74 team would play every game with Anderson Pierce, Jr. and Sherman Gray on their minds and in their hearts. The ‘74 team had seven All-District players including, Bruce Bass, wide receiver Darrell Pierce, offensive tackle Eddie Zolkiewicz, running back Terry Gray, defensive end Charles Lang and defensive back Chris Langlois. “Killer” Johnson was the district’s MVP on defense and Varnado was voted the coach of the year. Varnado said he still loves Hobbins like a son and, like most coaches, still blames himself for the first round playoff loss to Cathedral Carmel after finishing the regular season 9-1. But, now that he is happily retired and living in Walker with his wife of 47 years, he said he only had two regrets in his career. “I wish I wouldve stayed at Port Allen for my whole career and I wish we wouldve scored 100 points in 1974 against Southern Lab instead of only beating them 46-16.” Perhaps if Varnado had it to do over again his closet would have clothes that only have one color: the color blue.
Posted on: Wed, 01 Oct 2014 16:51:18 +0000
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