# High School Football ~ Unsung heroes crucial to championship team.



## PamfromTx (Sep 29, 2021)

*Uvalde High School *(72-73) won State Championship and I will never forget the excitement of being part of this win.  It was in December 1972 and we were freezing cold in Austin, Texas.

Dec. 16, will mark the 49th anniversary of the Uvalde Coyotes capturing the only state football championship in the school’s history.

It was Dec. 16, 1972, on a crisp, cool evening at Memorial Stadium in Austin that the Coyotes outlasted Lewisville 33-28 to bring the title trophy back to Uvalde and etch their names in the history books.

Lewisville, somewhat of a Cinderella team, entered the contest with a 12-1 record with their only blemish being a 9-6 district loss to Gainesville.

Uvalde was unbeaten with a 14-0 mark and had just escaped two outstanding opponents in back-to-back games with the aid of special plays.

Championship teams are comprised of a host of talented individuals. Some of the most important individuals often do not receive the recognition they deserve, possibly due to the position they man, like an offensive or defensive lineman.

When you followed the 1972 Uvalde Coyotes all the way to the state football championship, you may have never heard or seen in print names such as, Mike Gallaway, Richard Torres, Billy Sansom, Gilbert Charles, Uvaldo Losoya, Clay Ammerman, Robert Lara, Ernest Lira or Deets Finley.

Coaches will tell you it all starts with the snap. Championship teams can’t get away with mediocrity at the all-important position in the center of the offensive line. Mike Gallaway (5-11, 165) played incognito in the shadows of three all-state linemen, Mike Bingham, Ronnie Rogers, and Randy Gerdes.

Never before or since has a Texas high school football team had three all-state performers that played side-by-side at guard, tackle and tight-end. Therefore Gallaway was obscured primarily because the sports writers didn’t have the courage to make it four in the same line, or even unanimous, across the front.

The rest of the Coyote offensive line consisted of Losoya (5-10, 155) or Lira (5-10, 162) at the guard position and Charles (5-10, 161) at tackle.

This was a team of unselfish individuals, all with one important goal in mind – a state title. Most of them had been together since the seventh grade.

Head coach Marvin Gustafson rode the laurels of a state championship season to Churchill High School in San Antonio and took top assistants Jerry Comalander, Jack Peterson, Mike Honeycutt and Jay Young with him.

Those 15 victories made Gustafson the winningest coach in Coyote history, a mark that still stands almost 49 years later.

​Fullback Mike Paradeux fights for yardage in the semi-final contest with Brenham as Randy Gerdes (88), Mike Bingham (66) and, at the bottom of the pile, center Mike Gallaway help clear the path to a 27-21 victory and a berth in the title game.


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## oldiebutgoody (Sep 29, 2021)

Outstanding post.

Over the years I've said that high school sports are the greatest form of entertainment anywhere. It's my absolute favorite. Back in the 1970s my alma mater Jefferson of Brooklyn, NY won the City Championship three times under legendary coach Moe Finklestein - great coach, great role model for youths everywhere. So great to look back on times like those!

Just one more thing ~ high school sports teams should grant FREE ADMISSION to all Seniors 60+.


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## Alligatorob (Sep 29, 2021)

Great story, High School football is great!


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## Pepper (Sep 29, 2021)

Jefferson High? @oldiebutgoody.  East NY, rough neighborhood.


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## oldiebutgoody (Sep 29, 2021)

Pepper said:


> Jefferson High? @oldiebutgoody.  East NY, rough neighborhood.




So true.  But filled with lots of great people and a LONG history of athletic greatness which goes back to the 1800s.


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