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Post by OlympFan on Aug 2, 2008 15:06:14 GMT -6
 Special to The MonitorCharlie Williams, the No. 1 coach in The Monitor's 100 Greatest series, compiled a 188-57-12 coaching record during his 24-year career and led PSJA to state title appearances in 1962 and 63. The 100 Greatest - No. 1 Coach: Charlie Williams
Two title game appearances places Williams at the topAugust 2, 2008 - 3:25PM By Todd Mavreles | The MonitorThe measure of a great coach isn't always necessarily found in the win/loss column. Charlie Williams is proof of that. Williams' record over the years certainly backs up his ranking as the No. 1 coach in The Monitor's voting: two state championship game appearances with PSJA in 1962 and '63, 12 district titles and a 188-57-12 record during a 24-year coaching career cement his standing as arguably the Rio Grande Valley's best to roam the sidelines. But Williams' way of convincing his players they could aspire to achieve beyond even their highest of aspirations was his special quality. "He used a lot of psychology on kids," said Poppy Rodriguez, a halfback on the '62 PSJA squad. "He would tell you things, you'd stop and think about it, and he was right. You'd start playing better than your usual." Joe Garza is a perfect example of how Williams' coaching touch often turned to gold. Garza was a sophomore kicker on a '63 PSJA team hoping to eclipse the previous year's edition of the Bears, which advanced to the state title game. Garza's role had been to kick extra points and serve as a backup tailback, but in the state semifinals against La Marque, Williams had a bigger role in mind for his sophomore. Earlier during the defensive struggle Garza missed an extra point, and as such the Bears were trailing 7-6 with less than 30 seconds remaining in the game. Facing a fourth-and-long inside the 30, PSJA needed a field goal to win and advance. Despite the previous miss, Williams, in only his second year as a head coach, didn't hesitate to put the fate of the Bears' season on Garza's foot. The underclassman kicker rewarded his coach's faith in him as his fluttering kick had just enough distance to hit the crossbar before bouncing over to give PSJA a 9-7 victory and a second consecutive berth in the Class 3A state title game. "It hit the (crossbar), and it bounced over," Garza said. "Coming back I was not sure if he was going to select me, but he selected me and I went in there and made it. "I think that his strength was the fact that you believed in what he told you. You wanted to go out there and do the best you could because of the way he treated you." Williams compiled a 97-35-5 record in two stints at PSJA and also coached at Alice, Harlingen and McAllen High. But it was his early work with the Bears that showed Williams' true coaching excellence and ability to convince his players there were no limits to what they could achieve. Williams, 77, resides in Longview and is suffering from Alzheimer's. But with a little help from his wife, Joy, he can still remember the bonds formed from his days coaching in the tri-cities. "If anything, I just treated them like I wanted to be treated when I was a player," Williams said. "My best asset was I let every kid know, regardless of how big they were, they had a chance to play, and being a team was an absolute must in order to get anywhere. And I had excellent assistant coaches. Nobody does it by (himself), I guarantee you that. "We were almost like family. We were all so close. Our years at PSJA were the best years we ever had because we had such a close relationship." Todd Mavreles is the Deputy Sports Editor for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4451. THE SERIES With the 100th season of high school football in the Rio Grande Valley upon us, The Monitor will take a look at the top 25 coaches, top 25 teams and top 50 players of all time. THE COACHES 1: CHARLIE WILLIAMS 2: Alex Leal 3: Earl Scott 4: Richard Flores 5: Tommy Roberts 6: Bob Martin 7: Robert Vela 8: Sonny Detmer 9: Lum Wright 10: Jesse Longhoffer 11: Tony Villarreal 12: J.W. Helms 13: George Vest 14: Rusty Dowling 15: Joe Hamrick 16: David Lee 17: Brooks Conover 18: Bruce Bush 19: Carl Spoonemore 20: Joe Solis (tie) Tom Chavez 22: E.C. Lerma 23: Chuck Moser 24: Cris Cavazos 25: Jim Hite www.rgvsports.com/articles/williams_2426___article.html/garza_psja.html |
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OlympFan
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Post by OlympFan on Aug 2, 2008 21:49:18 GMT -6
The 100 Greatest: How They VotedAugust 2, 2008 - 3:36PM By The MonitorTOP 25 VALLEY COACHESEditor's Note: 12 voters ranked their top 25 coaches of all time, with the top coach receiving 25 points. First-place votes are in parenthesis. 1, Charlie Williams 279 (5) 2, Alex Leal 271 (3) 3, Earl Scott 262 (3) 4, Richard Flores 241 (1) 5, Tommy Roberts 234 6, Bob Martin 209 7, Robert Vela 195 8, Sonny Detmer 168 9, Lum Wright 158 10, Jesse Longhoffer 154 11, Tony Villarreal 143 12, J.W. Helms 127 13, George Vest 122 14, Rusty Dowling 109 15, Joe Hamrick 105 16, David Lee 101 17, Brooks Conover 92 18, Bruce Bush 80 19, Carl Spoonemore 74 20, Joe Solis 68 (tie) Tom Chavez 68 22, E.C. Lerma 65 23, Chuck Moser 62 24, Cris Cavazos 58 25, Jim Hite 56 26, Leonel Casas 47 27, Fred Akers 43 28, Mario Peña 35 29, Monty Stumbaugh 34 30, Bucky Rodriguez 33 (tie) Scott Ford 33 32, Orlando Garcia 30 (tie) Wayne Wilsher 30 34, David Evans 24 35, Herman Schmalzreid 20 36, Paul McMurty 18 37, Dutch Rektorik 16 38, John Lerma 10 39, Fred Sanchez 9 40, Gil Garza 8 41, Tony Harris 3 HOW THEY VOTEDEditor's Note: One voter wished to remain anonymous. Wade Baker, The Monitor1, Alex Leal 2, Earl Scott 3, Charlie Williams 4, Richard Flores 5, Bob Martin 6, Chuck Moser 7, Tommy Roberts 8, David Lee 9, Lum Wright 10, Brooks Conover 11, Bruce Bush 12, Rusty Dowling 13, Joe Hamrick 14, Robert Vela 15, George Vest 16, Jesse Longhoffer 17, Fred Akers 18, Tony Villarreal 19, J.W. Helms 20, Carl Spoonemore 21, Sonny Detmer 22, Wayne Wilsher 23, Tom Chavez 24, Bucky Rodriguez 25, Dutch Rektorik Dave Brown, longtime NewsChannel 5 sports director1, Charlie Williams 2, Earl Scott 3, Bob Martin 4, Richard Flores 5, Alex Leal 6, Sonny Detmer 7, Tommy Roberts 8, Bruce Bush 9, Tony Villarreal 10, David Lee 11, Jesse Longhoffer 12, Tom Chavez 13, Rusty Dowling 14, Robert Vela 15, Scott Ford 16, J.W. Helms 17, Jim Hite 18, Gil Garza 19, Orlando Garcia 20, Monty Stumbaugh 21, Joe Hamrick 22, Brooks Conover 23, Tony Harris 24, Wayne Wilsher 25, Joe Solis Oscar Gonzalez, The Monitor1, Earl Scott 2, Charlie Williams 3, Alex Leal 4, Bob Martin 5, David Lee 6, Rusty Dowling 7, Tommy Roberts 8, Bruce Bush 9, Lum Wright 10, George Vest 11, Jesse Longhoffer 12, Joe Hamrick 13, J.W. Helms 14, Richard Flores 15, Carl Spoonemore 16, Fred Akers 17, Tony Villarreal 18, Wayne Wilsher 19, Robert Vela 20, Sonny Detmer 21, Dave Evans 22, Cris Cavazos 23, Leonel Casas 24, Bucky Rodriguez 25, E.C. Lerma Roy Hess, longtime Valley sportswriter1, Alex Leal 2, Richard Flores 3, Earl Scott 4, E.C. Lerma 5, Charlie Williams 6, Bob Martin 7, George Vest 8, Tommy Roberts 9, Tony Villarreal 10, Lum Wright 11, J.W. Helms 12, Jesse Longhoffer 13, Robert Vela 14, Mario Peña 15, Carl Spoonemore 16, Joe Solis 17, Monty Stumbaugh 18, Tom Chavez 19, David Lee 20, Rusty Dowling 21, Sonny Detmer 22, Scott Fore 23, Earl Scott 24, Chuck Moser 25, Joe Hamrick Manuel Hinojosa, Valley sports historian1, Alex Leal 2, Charlie Williams 3, Robert Vela 4, Richard Flores 5, Tony Villarreal 6, Jim Hite 7, Jesse Longhoffer 8, Earl Scott 9, Joe Solis 10, Fred Akers 12, Tommy Roberts 12, J.W. Helms 13, Tom Chavez 14, Leonel Casas 15, Joe Hamrick 16, John Lerma 17, Orlando Garcia 18, E.C. Lerma 19, Sonny Detmer 20, Lum Wright 21, Bob Martin 22, Bruce Bush 23, Carl Spoonemore 24, David Lee 25, Brooks Conover Todd Mavreles, The Monitor1, Charlie Williams 2, Richard Flores 3, Sonny Detmer 4, Jesse Longhoffer 5, Tommy Roberts 6, George Vest 7, Alex Leal 8, Carl Spoonemore 9, Cris Cavazos 10, Earl Scott 11, E.C. Lerma 12, J.W. Helms 13, Rusty Dowling 14, Tom Chavez 15, Bob Martin 16, Joe Hamrick 17, Leonel Casas 18, Tony Villarreal 19, Wayne Wilsher 20, Scott Ford 21, Robert Vela 22, Brooks Conover 23, David Lee 24, Joe Solis 25, Chuck Moser Jason McDaniel, former Valley sportswriter1, Earl Scott 2, Bob Martin 3, Alex Leal 4, Robert Vela 5, Charlie Williams 6, Rusty Dowling 7, Tommy Roberts 8, Carl Spoonemore 9, Brooks Conover 10, David Lee 11, Lum Wright 12, George Vest 13, Joe Hamrick 14, Richard Flores 15, Tony Villarreal 16, Joe Solis 17, Sonny Detmer 18, Cris Cavazos 19, Jim Hite 20, J.W. Helms 21, Tom Chavez 22, Bucky Rodriguez 23, Dave Evans 24, Herman Schmalzreid 25, Jesse Longhoffer Michael Pullen, longtime Valley sportswriter1, Richard Flores 2, Robert Vela 3, Tommy Roberts 4, Alex Leal 5, Earl Scott 6, Lum Wright 7, Tony Villarreal 8, Charlie Williams 9, George Vest 10, Dave Evans 11, Jesse Longhoffer 12, Sonny Detmer 13, Joe Solis 14, J.W. Helms 15, David Lee 16, Orlando Garcia 17, Fred Sanchez 18, Joe Hamrick 19, Leonel Casas 20, Mario Peña 21, Rusty Dowling 22, Bruce Bush 23, Jim Hite 24, Tom Chavez 25, Monty Stumbaugh Peter Rasmussen, The Monitor1, Charlie Williams 2, Alex Leal 3, Earl Scott 4, Bob Martin 5, Robert Vela 6, Sonny Detmer 7, Richard Flores 8, Lum Wright 9, Tommy Roberts 10, Joe Solis 11, Chuck Moser 12, Tony Villarreal 13, Bucky Rodriguez 14, Cris Cavazos 15, Jesse Longhoffer 16, Monty Stumbaugh 17, George Vest 18, Jim Hite 19, David Lee 20, J.W. Helms 21, Fred Akers 22, Bruce Bush 23, Mario Peña 24, Scott Ford 25, E.C. Lerma Pikey Rodriguez, longtime Valley sportswriter1, Earl Scott 2, Bob Martin 3, Charlie Williams 4, Alex Leal 5, Richard Flores 6, Sonny Detmer 7, Tommy Roberts 8, Rusty Dowling 9, Bruce Bush 10, Chuck Moser 11, George Vest 12, Herman Schmalzreid 13, J.W. Helms 14, Robert Vela 15, Lum Wright 16, Paul McMurty 17, Wayne Wilsher 18, Brooks Conover 19, Carl Spoonemore 20, Dutch Rektorik 21, E.C. Lerma 22, Joe Hamrick 23, Tony Villarreal 24, Jesse Longhoffer 25, Fred Akers Greg Selber, longtime Valley sportswriter/UTPA professor1, Charlie Williams 2, Richard Flores 3, Tommy Roberts 4, Alex Leal 5, Sonny Detmer 6, Robert Vela 7, Jesse Longhoffer 8, Bob Martin 9, Earl Scott 10, Joe Hamrick 11, Lum Wright 12, J.W. Helms 13, E.C. Lerma 14, Bucky Rodriguez 15, Tony Villarreal 16, Jim Hite 17, Chuck Moser 18, Paul McCurty 19, Brooks Conover 20, Joe Solis 21, Tom Chavez 22, Orlando Garcia 23, Scott Fore 24, Mario Peña 25, Cris Cavazos www.rgvsports.com/articles/top_2427___article.html/coaches_first.html
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OlympFan
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Post by OlympFan on Aug 3, 2008 17:08:01 GMT -6
 Photo special to The Monitor.The 1955 Weslaco Panthers finished 10-0 overall and 6-0 in District 32-2A for the fourth consecutive season. 100 Greatest - No. 7 Team: 1955 Weslaco PanthersAugust 3, 2008 - 5:44PM By Peter Rasmussen / The MonitorThe 1,500 fans who traveled to see the 1955 Weslaco football team compete in the state semifinals was nothing compared to the thousands that attended Bobby Lackey Stadium last season to watch the 2007 squad take on San Antonio Madison in the regional quarterfinals. But that many people willing to take the long trek north to watch one of the Rio Grande Valley's best teams take on Hillsboro was a big deal. A blurb in the now-defunct weekly Weslaco News read, "With practically every town in the Valley represented by dozens and hundreds of fans going to watch their sister city of Weslaco play this semifinal for the State Championship, the Valley will be more than well represented and the Panthers will again have their stands packed with supporters." Charter buses hauled the team, pep squad and fans, who had to pay $2 for the ride: 450 miles to Waco. At the time, Weslaco had one of the best seasons deep South Texas had even seen, and the Panthers had Valleyites clamoring to see them compete. "We were a tough team," Panthers center Jerry Hill said. "We didn't have a lot of guys on the team, but we were all tough." That season the Panthers finished 13-1, outscoring their opponents 398-146. Weslaco also boasted one of the most well-known names in Valley football history in Bobby Lackey, who was a 1955 all-state quarterback. Lackey led a host of Panthers players on the all-District 32-AA first team. First-teamers included halfback H.B. Weatherford, Hill, guard John Norris, tackle Charles Anderson and spilt end Huelan Bracken. The 1955 team is only one in a handful of Valley teams that have advanced that deep in the playoffs and was voted the seventh-best Valley team of all time. "We had a lot of senior leadership," said Lackey, who went on to have a stellar career at Texas. "No one worried that the other guy wasn't doing their job. I think before the season we felt like we might go far." Hill agreed the team was poised for a stellar1955 season. "We had a pretty good team our junior year," Hill said. "We won district in 1954, and we lost to Freer in bi-district. I remember that Freer had a real good halfback. We had a lot of the same guys from the season come back." During their playoff run, the Panthers knocked off Sinton 27-14 in bi-district, beat Floresville 41-14 in the regional round and defeated Nederland 26-7 in the quarterfinals before falling to Hillsboro 20-7 in the semis. The Panthers led 7-0 at halftime, but Hillsboro roared back for 20 answered points during the second half. The final stats, however, fell in Weslaco's favor. According to the Weslaco News, "The purple and white boys had 18 first downs to their 12, 221 yards rushing to their 209 and 75 yards passing to their 4." Two Panthers turnovers during the second half led to 13 points for Hillsboro. "I think we were a better team than Hillsboro," Lackey said. "One of our main coaches, Jim Martin, our line coach, he didn't even come to the game because he was in the hospital. He had some kind of food poisoning, I think. I'm not really sure what it was but that really hurt us. "I also think some of the guys on the team found out that one of our ex-teammates in junior high was killed. He and his family were coming up to the game and were killed in a car wreck. That certainly didn't help anything." Hill said he was somewhat surprised they reached the semis. "We had no business beating Nederland in the quarterfinals," Hill said. "They were a lot better than us. I guess we had heart. Winning that game showed just how tough we were." Peter Rasmussen covers sports for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4448. THE SERIES With the 100th season of high school football in the Rio Grande Valley upon us, The Monitor will take a look at the top 25 coaches, top 25 teams and top 50 players of all time. THE TEAMS 1: TBA AUGUST 2: TBA AUGUST 9 3: TBA AUGUST 8 4: TBA AUGUST 7 5: TBA AUGUST 6 6: TBA AUGUST 5 7: WESLACO HIGH 1955 8: San Benito 1961 9: Edcouch-Elsa 1997 10: Donna 1935 11: Mercedes 1957 12: Port Isabel 1994 13: McAllen High 1952 14: Edinburg High 1999 15: Mission High 1987 16: Edinburg High 1953 17: Harlingen High 1989 18: Harlingen High 1994 19: Los Fresnos 2006 20: Edcouch-Elsa 2005 21: Port Isabel 1990 22: Port Isabel 2003 23: McAllen High 1975 24: Sharyland 1961 25: San Benito 2004 www.rgvsports.com/articles/team_2430___article.html/panthers_weslaco.html |
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