Note: This story originally ran in the Journal-Constitution Sept. 9, 2006.
Washington --- It doesn't matter how long you've coached or whether you've won 299 games or not, you can still get booed.
The booing for Luther Welsh came with 1:35 left in the third quarter with his Thomson team trailing 10-7 to Washington-Wilkes. It was fourth down; his team was driving in Washington-Wilkes territory, and Welsh decided to punt.
"You gotta go for the first down, " one fan behind Thomson's bench screamed. "We had the momentum going our way."
Thomson punted, however, and the boos came. Welsh, you see, has been coaching longer than most of the fans at Tiger Stadium have been alive. He started in 1955 and continued Friday night.
One play after the punt, his defense recovered a fumble. Thomson scored on the next play. It was the Bulldogs' first lead of the game, and they rolled to a 40-16 victory to give Welsh the 300th victory of his career.
"Well it feels good, " said Welsh, who got a standing ovation when the announcement of his milestone was made. "The most important record is to be 2-0 this time of year. The kids did it all; they're the ones out there playing."
Despite the signs cheering on victory 300, despite the announcement over the Tiger Stadium loudspeaker, despite the constant conversations from those watching the games about the milestone, Welsh wasn't worried about 300.
It's a milestone, a fine one really. He is one of eight Georgia high school coaches who have achieved it.
But there are other numbers that are much more important to Luther Welsh, numbers like 150. Friday's victory was Welsh's 150th as coach of Thomson. The significance? His defensive coordinator, John Barnett, has been his defensive coordinator for all 150 of those victories. That number to Welsh means the loyalty of a longtime assistant coach.
"That's amazing to me, " said Anne Welsh, Luther's wife and the woman fans call the First Lady of Thomson Football.
Or how about three? Not three hundred. Three. That's how many state championships Welsh has won while coaching the Bulldogs. The first came in 1984, Welsh's first year as head coach in Thomson. And he got the second one a year later. His third came in 2002.
It's no wonder the folks in Thomson didn't forgive him when he left to coach Camden County in 1991. They didn't forgive him, that is, until he returned for his second tour in 1999.
"We forgave him for leaving as soon as he came back, " joked Ralph Starling, who played at Thomson in 1963-65. "But it's not all about football games; it's where the players are 10 years later. They all come back to see him."
The important number for Socknee Cummings isn't 300. It's nine. That's the jersey number of her son, LaBrandon Hudson, a senior whose touchdown gave Thomson its first lead of the game on Friday night.
She wasn't worried that a 74-year-old coach would be instructing her son. There wasn't an ounce of concern that an old-school coach might not be able to relate to her teenager.
In fact it was the opposite. She was glad he returned to coach at Thomson in time to coach her son. The coach who provided structure and implemented a work ethic in kids spanning five decades was still connecting with hers.
"He's very inspirational, " Cummings said. "He's like a father figure to these kids."
A father figure who keeps on winning.
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