Team achievements:
Season Record 14-2
Class 9-C District Champions
Regional Champions
Eastern Oklahoma Area Champions
Class C State Runner-Up
The 1957 Alex State Runner-Up team was honored in a ceremony held on the Alex, Oklahoma, football field on October 7, 2011. The following team bio was announced by emcee Teresa Moore during the ceremony:
Only one football team in Alex School’s history served to set what shall be forever known as the Longhorn Standard, that level of achievement against which all other football teams to this very day are judged. During the 1957 season, Alex Longhorn Football topped all others when Alex played Thomas for the Class C 11-man State Championship and came away the State Championship runner-up.
Coached by the legendary BM McElroy after whom the Alex field house is now named, the vaunted 1957 Alex team boasted 16 returning seniors on a squad of approximately 38 players. Back then, football districts were laid out geographically, not strictly by school size, and the Longhorns’ competitors included every football school in Grady County, including Chickasha. Much like today, in 1957, Alex was certainly the smallest dog in the fight.
Led by the Chatter-Ettes pep club sponsored by Frances Baker and Christine Peters, football fever gripped the entire town of Alex in the Fall of 1957. When school was dismissed before games on Fridays, pep rallies were spontaneous with Alex residents honking their car horns as they lined Main Street from top to bottom while players and students “dragged Main” with their own horns blaring. Alex pep club members were the first girls ever allowed to wear jeans at Alex because they decorated the goal posts before games. Our own Frank Hess was the announcer for the Longhorns’ home football games , and all the town’s merchants went together to purchase warm, rainproof jackets for the team, which would go on play their final game on a chill December 6, 1957. The town of Alex was deserted before playoff games with most businesses closing their doors. When Alex became only the second football team in Grady County to vie for the State Championship, the team was escorted out of town and through Chickasha by the Chickasha Police and the Grady County Sheriff’s Department. El Reno was chosen as the neutral site of the 1957 State Championship game and the El Reno police assumed escort of the team halfway out of Chickasha.
The 1958 Alex yearbook includes this information about the 1957 state championship run, a personal Season to Remember for an entire generation:
“This was our year. Well, almost.” Pernell, Elmore City, Blanchard, Cyril, Minco, Rush Springs and Lincoln of Chickasha all fell decisively before the stampeding Longhorns. Then, there was the crucial game against the Tuttle Tigers to decide the conference championship. Both teams were undefeated in conference play and after 48 minutes of “rockem-sockem,” Alex was the new champion of District 9-C. After unexpectedly losing the final regular season game to a “rugged” Maysville team, Alex went on to defeat Yale, 13-6, in Bi-District play. Thanksgiving Day 1957 saw Alex paired with powerful Medford, who the Longhorns “mangled” 26-6 to become Regional Champions. A hard battle with Beggs that ended with Alex on top 15-12 saw the Longhorns crowned Area Champions of Eastern Oklahoma. “But all good things must end.” Deep in the fall, on a neutral field in El Reno, Alex fell to the Thomas Terriers in the State Championship game. “Still, we were proud to be the second best in all the State of Oklahoma. Our biggest hand to the fine boys who represented Alex High during the glorious season of ’57.”
Shown in the photo above - Holding the banner: Lois Hughes Foster and Sue Manning Moore. From left to right: Henry Ketchum, Gene Stephens, Bobby Word, Richard Johnson, Charles Aldridge, Pete Brand, Wilson Smith, Larry Foster, Robert Williams, Jerry Ross Goyne, Wayne Moore, Tommy Harris, Don Lyons and Harold Spencer. See the Players tab for information about all ceremony participants.
Cheerleaders
Four cheerleaders led support for the 1957 Longhorns. These included:
Lois Hughes Foster, Sophomore in 1958, of Alex, OK. Lois was the Grady County Court Clerk at the time of the ceremony. Lois attended the recognition ceremony on October 7, 2011 and held the Runner-Up banner along with Sue Manning Moore, a 1958 Alex graduate, of Alex, OK.
Beth Geyer Pugh, Senior 1958, of Norman, OK, was unable to attend
Gayle Drummond, Senior 1958, of Tulsa, OK, was unable to attend
Wilma Wolfe Sullivan, , Junior 1958, of Windsboro, Louisiana, was unable to attend
Players
- 1958 Sophomores - Graduating Class of 1960
Unable to attend the ceremony:
Donald Lowe, #44; James Ketchum, #84; Lindel Pettigrew, #36;
Noel Dean Phillips, #47
Deceased: Jerry Wilkins, #35
Attending
Henry Ketchum, #22
Gene Stephens, #25
Bobby Word, #40
- 1958 Juniors - Graduating Class of 1959
Unable to attend the ceremony: John Rodgers, #37, of Chickasha, OK;
Roy Peters, #51, of Tulsa, OK;
Freddie Simmons, #52; Jerry Spears, #62, of Rowlett, TX; Grady White, #82, of Bunker, MO;
Deceased: Dale Mitchusson, #46;
Don Tobey, #45
Attending
Charles Aldridge, #72
Pete Brand, #34
Larry Foster, #15 - Foster was the quarterback of the 1957 State Championship Runner-Up team
1958 Seniors
Quotes:
Being a part of the 1957 football team was a great honor and a wonderful memory. Our success was due first to Coach McElroy, a very special man who let us play as we did on the practice field: Just line up and hit ‘em hard. Second, we were very good football players because we were all great friends off the field and we played all our high school years together. We also had great support from the Junior Class and it all combined for one magical year. Wilson Smith, All District Halfback
After we lost the State Championship game 34-0 to Thomas, Coach Mac [Coach BM McElroy] looked us over in the locker room and said...Boys, if we could play 'em again, we would beat 'em...Never one to talk back to Mac, I couldn't help but say...Coach, if we played that team another 10 times, we couldn't beat 'em... Wayne Moore, All District Fullback
Unable to attend the ceremony: #74, James McClellan, Tackle;
#48, Roger Schneider, End
Deceased:
#75, Don Bagwell, Tackle;
#62, Ronnie Cole, Guard;
#65, Lloyd Gibbs, Guard;
#41, Jerry Williams, Halfback. Jerry was represented during the ceremony by his brother, Robert Williams of Alex.
#60, Jerry Wolfe, Guard
The 1957 Alex Longhorns had more players recognized for outstanding achievement during the 1957 season than any other team in the history of Alex Football. Seven of the nine members of the 1957 Alex All-District team, all graduates of the Class of 1958, attended the ceremony:
Unable to attend: #12, Mike McElroy of Rush Springs, Quarterback, All-District Back; #70, Clois Reppond of Alex, All-District Tackle
Attending
#80, Jerry Ross Goyne, Amarillo, Texas, All-District End
#39, Tommy Harris, Wilson, OK, All-District Guard
#81, Richard Johnson of Alex; Richard played Tackle and End in 1957 and was named an All-District Tackle
#50, Don Lyons, now of Chino Valley, Arizona, All-District Center
#33, Wayne Moore of Alex, Fullback, All-District Back
#16, Wilson Smith, Austin, Texas. Halfback, All-District Back
#64, Harold Spencer, Altus, OK, All-District Guard
Click a photo to display a 5x7 copy ready for printing. Right-click the larger photo and click "save-as" to download.
From left to right: Henry Ketchum, Gene Stephens, Bobby Word, Lois Foster, Richard Johnson, Pete Brand, Charles Aldridge, Wilson Smith, Larry Foster, Robert Williams, Sue Moore, Jerry Ross Goyne, Wayne Moore, Tommy Harris, Don Lyons and Harold Spencer.
The 2011 Alex Football season was chosen as a time to look back at the history of Alex High School Football and remember our many successes while cherishing the great memories Longhorn Football teams, cheerleaders and fans made at Alex throughout the years.
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