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Story Archives: Vidalia did have football before Faircloth


Vidalia did have football before Faircloth
by Joey Martin - posted Thursday, October 9th, 2008 @ 8:02 amE-mail Story E-mail Story | Print Story Print Story 
It may seem odd to a lot of people, but Vidalia High played football before Dee Faircloth arrived.

Walter Stampley started football at Vidalia High in 1952 and coached the team until he became principal at Vidalia High in 1958 Dan Chase coached for seven years, including 1957 with Stampley, before Fred Foster came in as coach in 1964.

Chase played football at Northwestern with Ferriday's James "Red" McNew in the 1950s. He was brought to Vidalia by former Ferriday head football coach Hugh Bateman because Bateman was looking for a math teacher. Chase had never coached before, but compiled a 44-16-2 record at Vidalia.

Chase coached the 1962 Vidalia team which shut out Ferriday 13-0 at Melz Field, the first time in about 20 years the Bulldogs were held scoreless on their home field.

Don Alonzo coached Vidalia from 1966 until Faircloth took over in 1969.

Here's a look at my pre-Faircloth All-Vidalia team. Players can only be named on one side of the ball.

At quarterback is Billy Calvert, who went on to coach at Delhi and currently works for the Louisiana High School Athletic Association.

Honorable mentions are Mike Morgan, Butch Wiggins and Jamie Jackson.

Jimmy Hibbs, the first Vidalia High player to ever rush for 1,000 yards (1,044 in 1966) is at tailback along with Bill McDonough and Alvin "Moose" Frazier.

Both players were part of the 1966 team which lost to Buras 17-13 in the Class A state championship game.

As a freshman, Frazier rushed for 171 yards in Vidalia's 26-6 win over Ferriday.

Honorable mentions are Bill McDonough, Luther Andrews, Larry Johanssen, Arnell Tipton, Robert Forester, George Franklin and Mike New.

Tipton scored the first-ever Vidalia touchdown and was a major player in bringing Dixie Youth Baseball to Vidalia. He has a sportsmanship award named after him that is presented at the end of each Dixie Youth season.

The offensive line consists of Jimmy Aarons, Jerry Richardson, Buddy Spillers, Tommy Lanius, David Yates and David Delaney.

Honorable mentions are Pat Greer, Wally Wallace, Cliff Feduccia, Ronnie Hebert, Randy Rice, Bobby Patten, Larry Boles, Malcolm Barlow, Alford Beach and Eddie Wisner.

The ends are Maurice Greer, Charles Clifford and Butch Poteet.

Greer caught the game winning pass from Stringer covering about 50 yards with less than two minutes remaining in a 13-7 victory over Ferriday in 1961.

Honorable mentions are Bill Doyle, Allan Grabert, Dicke Robards, Alvie Dawsey, Billy Jackson, Eddie and Bobby Housley and Allen Grabel, who scored the first Vidalia touchdown.

The defensive line consists of Andy Housley, Ray Smith, Bobby Patten and Mike Greer. Honorable mentions are Virgil Jackson, Homer Hewitt and Rodney Hebert.

Linebackers are Mark Lewis, David Rachal, Sonny Franklin and Wilbur Nations.

Honorable mentions are James Clifford and Jim Lowery.

Defensive backs are Billy Wiggins, who had five interceptions in one game, Jim Stringer, Lowell Cranford, Jessie Wilson and Raymond Morgan.

Jimmy Fredericks and Vernon Smith are honorable mention.

The kicker is Danny Ford, while Billy Jackson is the punter.
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