MUSEUM MATTERS

One would think that after 57 years the memories would have faded. But the moments and the thrills still live in the guys that played under friday night lights in 1964. Sometimes in life all the right things come together so something extraordinary happens. It happen in 1964 for the Dublin Lions football team.

This football team was hungry. They loved the game and didn’t mind the hard work. They also had a leader who was part coach and part tyrant. Head Coach Johnny Gregg had been working them hard. There was no time for horseplay and the numbers on the scoreboard showed it. They won not by a little, but by a lot.

The last play of the game with Moody said it all with only 4 seconds on the clock Jody Thiebaud intercepted a Moody pass and crossed the goal line making the final score 66-0.

The Lions second season game was won by the perseverance of the Lions as they put 18 points on the scoreboard with a 18-6 ball game. Johnny Holtzinger stopped many rushes of the Ranger Bulldogs backfield.

The bright spot in the game with De Leon was a come from behind touchdown drive by Roger Freeman. De Leon played very well but Lions Squeezed by them with a 20-12 win. Dublin trounced the Eastland Mavericks next in a 49-6 friday night game.

In the next game Dublin took on Stephenville in a capacity crowd at Tarleton State College Stadium. Dublin took the Erath County title in a 21-12 victory.

It was one of those games that people still talk about over 50 years later.

Dublin then ran over the Santa Anna Mountaineers in a 50-0 match.

The Lions then defeated the Granbury Pirates in a 22-6 contest.

Dublin crushed Comanche 65-6.

Dublin defeated Cisco 46-0.

Lions slaughtered the Hamilton Bulldogs 54-0.

This brings us to one of the most remarkable games in Dublin football history.

It was rather cold on the night of the Dublin Bi-District game against the Fredericksburg Hillbillies. Dublin hadn’t won a Bi-district game since the game against Hamilton in 1935. The game started with the kickoff to the Hillbillies. Fredericksburg ran 3 power plays and ended up five yards beyond the line of scrimmage. The Lions, after receiving the punt from the Hillbillies, ended up on their fourth try at the Fredericksburg eleven. The battle continued through the first quarter. Dublin started warming up to the the situation in the second quarter of the game. Dublin moved the ball 65 yards across the Hillbillies goal line. A two point converstion pass from Turney to Freeman made the score 8-0. After the score, the Hillbillies started a passing attack that took the ball all the way to the Dublin 1 yard line where they lost possession of the ball. The Hillbillies finally got their touchdown but failed to get their 2 point conversion that left the score at 8-6.

In the third quarter the Lions moved the ball everywhere on the field except across the Hillbillie goal line. It wasn’t until the fourth quarter that Dublin started to score again. Turney intercepted a passing miscue on the 30 yard line and ran it to the 17. Freeman grabbed a Hillbillie aerial and took it to the goal line making the score 28-6 for the night. The long battle was brought to an end when Eli Bell stole the last Fredericksburg pass in his own end zone.

The years have passed but the memories have not faded. At the June 2021 Dublin Reunion many of the players from that special night came together.

With the smiles and handshakes, their friendships picked up where they left off. Could they have done better? I don’t think so. Something remarkable happened that night that connected spirits and made lifelong friendships.

The Champion Dublin Lions’ Roster included:

Lions’ Roster included:

Gail Swindle, Larry Fletcher, Larry Looney, Eli Bell, Gary House, Phil Fletcher, Kenneth Jurney, Jody Thiebaud, Don Weems, Ben Palmerton, Danny Daniels, Bill Alexnder, Johnny Holtzinger, Jackie James, Ricky Thiebaud, Larry Gibson,John Turney, Roger Freeman, Richard Harbin, Jim Hamrick, Richard Stevens, Rodney Armstrong, Randy Fletcher, Steve Maikell, Randy Simmons, Dueaine Simmons, George Speer, Gary Greenway.