BUFORDGAWOLVES Posted May 8, 2018 Report Share Posted May 8, 2018 CCredandgold (2413) 136 months 57 minutes ago Reply Quote Well it must of been the milk cartons! Thanks for asking about my school's history in football. People in their late 40's and mid 50's can appreciate what a football town Athens was back in the early 80's with the success of both UGA and Clarke Central, all in part to two great coaches, Vince Dooley and Billy Henderson. Clarke Central's success started with a state championship victory in 1977, over a Valdosta team led by QB Buck Belue. Coach Henderson had built a football juggernaut in just six seasons after the merger of Athens High School (whites) and Burney-Harris High School (blacks) which formed Clarke Central in 1970. Coach Henderson not only built a stellar football program, but he united a community that was going through major changes. Clarke Central would strike gold again two years later in 1979 with another state championship win over Tift County. This win pretty much put Clarke Central on the Georgia High School Football landscape. Nothing but state championship appearances would be expected from here on out. Clarke would make the playoffs the next 5 years straight, with (3) Region Championships, and would reach the state finals again in 1984, but lose to Valdosta 14-7. Then came 1985, probably the best team ever at Clarke Central, a team that would field (33) eventual scholarship winners, (3) NFL stars in Willie Green - WR, Chuck Smith - DE, and John Kasay - K, and their now current head coach David Perno who played fullback. The tight end was Derek Dooley...and the list goes on and on. Clarke would go 15-0 that season and defeat Warner Robins 21-7. The Gladiators would reach the state championship again the following season in 1986, but bow out to Valdosta 28-0. Clarke would reach the state championship game two more times during Coach Henderson's tenure, in 1989 & 1992 but lose both games to you guessed it, Valdosta. Coach Henderson would coach until the 1995 season. During his 23 years as head coach, Coach Henderson won 3 State Championships, 12 Region Championships and make 18 state playoff appearances. After Coach Henderson's departure in 1996, Athens had started to change in many ways. More kids were electing to play at other schools like nearby Oconee County, Athens Christian and Athens Academy. When Coach Henderson retired, Clarke was still very competitive, but you could see some slipping happening. Now as the 2000's approached, even more school options became available for Athens kids. Players started heading for Prince Avenue Christian, North Oconee, Jefferson...all to get a chance to play. Clarke went from dressing out between 90-100 kids to barely dressing out 50. Coach Leroy Ryals brought back some energy from 2007-2012, reaching the state championship in 2009, losing to Sandy Creek in The Dome 29-15. Ryals would leave, but not before getting the numbers back up and getting the enthusiasm back. Clarke stayed competitive and then turned to David Perno. Perno took over in 2016, and brought back some of the stuff he learned playing for Coach Henderson. Not so much the X's and the O's...but the desire, the passion, and the will to do what it takes to win. Clarke has reached the playoffs in both of Coach Perno's first two seasons, and appear to be trending upward. Still GREAT to be a GLADIATOR! RIP Coach Henderson...or as most everyone that new him would just call him, BILLY! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMaximumHornetSting Posted May 8, 2018 Report Share Posted May 8, 2018 I'm kinda lost 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BUFORDGAWOLVES Posted May 8, 2018 Author Report Share Posted May 8, 2018 50 minutes ago, TheMaximumHornetSting said: I'm kinda lost I know, hahahaha... A while back you posted, whatever happen to Clarke Central and what was the 85 team like... Maybe it was @Columbiafan, I dunno. So I took upon myself to track down a dude who could tell us. If it doesn't ring a bell or jog your memory, I'm sorry. It's the off season and took a while to get a response. The thread was a month ago. Regards, BufordGaWolves 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wosinc Posted May 9, 2018 Report Share Posted May 9, 2018 21 hours ago, TheMaximumHornetSting said: I'm kinda lost They beat Tift County in 1979. That’s all you need to know. 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BUFORDGAWOLVES Posted May 9, 2018 Author Report Share Posted May 9, 2018 Looking back, I think the question was posed by @Columbiafan, on a tournament thread. Forgot who ColumbiaFan put Clarke Central 85 against. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Columbiafan Posted May 9, 2018 Report Share Posted May 9, 2018 2 hours ago, BUFORDGAWOLVES said: Looking back, I think the question was posed by @Columbiafan, on a tournament threat. Forgot who ColumbiaFan put Clarke Central 85 against. I had them against 85 West Rome Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BUFORDGAWOLVES Posted May 9, 2018 Author Report Share Posted May 9, 2018 3 hours ago, Columbiafan said: I had them against 85 West Rome Thanks, and how’d that come out? West Rome gave up shit ton of points in playoffs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Columbiafan Posted May 9, 2018 Report Share Posted May 9, 2018 10 minutes ago, BUFORDGAWOLVES said: Thanks, and how’d that come out? West Rome have up shit ton of points in playoffs. Clarke Central ended up winning Most GA guys gave Clarke Central a edge because they faced better teams Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BUFORDGAWOLVES Posted May 9, 2018 Author Report Share Posted May 9, 2018 Just now, Columbiafan said: Clarke Central ended up winning Most GA guys gave Clarke Central a edge because they faced better teams Yep. Makes sense. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BUFORDGAWOLVES Posted May 9, 2018 Author Report Share Posted May 9, 2018 1 minute ago, Columbiafan said: Clarke Central ended up winning Most GA guys gave Clarke Central a edge because they faced better teams Some old timers consider West Rome to be better than last seasons Rome. I don’t see it. That team was a juggernaut. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Columbiafan Posted May 9, 2018 Report Share Posted May 9, 2018 1 minute ago, BUFORDGAWOLVES said: Some old timers consider West Rome to be better than last seasons Rome. I don’t see it. That team was a juggernaut. It's tough to compare teams from different eras That's why i set a cutoff for 85 to present because despite some good teams playing before then i felt it would be impossible for a team further back to have any chance of winning the tournament against current teams that 1) are fresher in people's minds and 2) run schemes that were never used back then Comparing a team from 1985 to one from 2017 is a tough task that can easily fall apart and become more of a popularity contest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BUFORDGAWOLVES Posted May 9, 2018 Author Report Share Posted May 9, 2018 2 minutes ago, Columbiafan said: It's tough to compare teams from different eras That's why i set a cutoff for 85 to present because despite some good teams playing before then i felt it would be impossible for a team further back to have any chance of winning the tournament against current teams that 1) are fresher in people's minds and 2) run schemes that were never used back then Comparing a team from 1985 to one from 2017 is a tough task that can easily fall apart and become more of a popularity contest Copy, very good point. I’ve alluded to that before in another thread but you put it in better words. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMaximumHornetSting Posted May 9, 2018 Report Share Posted May 9, 2018 6 hours ago, Wosinc said: They beat Tift County in 1979. That’s all you need to know. Don't you dare speak Ill of the T 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wosinc Posted May 9, 2018 Report Share Posted May 9, 2018 4 hours ago, TheMaximumHornetSting said: Don't you dare speak Ill of the T They don’t need me to speak ill of them; they’re taking care of business on their own. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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