What was going on during this week
… in 1970
Lakeside High School in DeKalb County began their run of 13 consecutive wins to a Class AAA state championship with a 15-14 victory against Columbia at Adams Stadium. The team was coached by the legendary Wayman Creel, who at one time had the most victories of any high school coach in the state (312) and had come to Lakeside that year after being the coach at old Northside High for 19 years, winning a state title in 1957. Lakeside beat Richmond Academy 7-6 in the title game that season and the Vikings and Creel won another state championship two years later, going 14-0 and beating Central Macon 36-21 in the title game. Creel coached at Lakeside for 13 years before finishing his career with seven seasons at Westminster. His coaching record of 312-106-4 stands 11th all-time among Georgia high school football coaches. He died in 1990.
… in 1966
The Atlanta Falcons played their first game, hosting the Los Angeles Rams at Atlanta Stadium (later Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium). The Falcons lost, but it was a competitive game, losing 19-14 to the Rams who were led by quarterback Roman Gabriel and kicker Bruce Gossett, who kicked four field goals. Atlanta’s first-ever score came on a 56-yard pass from quarterback Randy Johnson to Gary Barnes and Johnson scored the team’s other touchdown on a 3-yard score. Johnson, who had played his college ball at Texas A&I (now Texas A&M-Kingsville), became a tragic story as he died in 2009 at the age of 65, found living in a dirty shed in the town of Brevard, N.C. His ex-wife Pennye Wheeler told AJC writer Steve Hummer, “He had been on a path of destruction for a long time. I never understood why because he had everything. He really had everything. I don’t know what happened.”
… in 1982
Georgia Southern played a football game for the first time since 1938 as coach Erk Russell led the Eagles to a 16-9 victory against Central Florida. Playing an NAIA schedule that 1982 season, Southern went 7-3-1 before moving to NCAA the following year and then winning a Division I-AA (now FCS) national title in 1985, the first of six titles for the school. Russell has had been a high school coach at Grady High (1952-57), winning a state title in ’53. He later went to Georgia, where he was the defensive coordinator for the 1980 national championship team. He was known for being highly motivational, head-butting his players and smoking victory cigars. When in 1978 Southern president Dale Lick decided that he wanted to bring football back, Russell always was his first choice to be the coach and then AJC humorist Lewis Grizzard said about the hiring, “When they landed Erk Russell, they got themselves a franchise.’’ Russell coached eight seasons in Statesboro, going 83-22-1 and winning three national championships. Russell retired soon after the last title and died in 2006.
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