1974 Murphy Football Team Set the Trend For Future Seasons

By Brandon Stephens

(Murphy) – – We had joy, we had fun, we had seasons in the sun.  But the Hills that we climbed were just seasons out of time.  Terry Jacks in 1974 had the lyrics for the tone of the State 2-A Champion Murphy Bulldogs.  It is a Golden season for the Bulldogs to go 14-and-0 and capture the first East versus West state football championship in Murphy’s history.  The 1970 team also earned a western regional title after a 12-and-1 finish to its season.  It could be credited as the first team to win a state title.  However, the North Carolina High School Athletic Association changed its rules for a state game in 1972 to have a title game between the western and eastern regional winners.  The first team in Murphy’s history to claim such a title was in 1974.

There are no championship rings or other memorabilia to celebrate the 1974 season like there is today.  A team photograph and trophy rest in the Murphy High trophy case.  Every once in a while you may catch a glimpse of some of the team members wearing a letterman jacket from that era. 

The 1974 Murphy Bulldogs are a team not expected to win a state championship.  There was no real indicator going into the season that pointed to the makings of an exceptional season on the horizon.  The decade leading into 1974 began the building blocks to the state title.  The 1964 team ended 4-and-6.  Besides the 1971 season producing a 3-and-6 season, Murphy had winning seasons.  The powers in the Smoky Mountain Conference were Robbinsville led by Coach Robert (Bob) Colvin and Sylva-Webster (Now Smoky Mountain High) coached by Charles (Babe) Howell.  

The Murphy Bulldogs suited up 34 players and three coaches.  Depth was not an asset for the Bulldogs.  There is depth in heart and spirit according to 1974 Head Football Coach Terry Postell.  “We went into the season with a goal to make the playoffs.  During practice and the regular season you got a real good feeling you are going to get a real good team.  It all clicked into place for us in 1974,” Postell said in a recent visit to his Marble (NC) home.

Murphy is a force difficult to stop in 1974.  The ‘74 Bulldogs defense seldom let light through the line as the opponents averaged 14 points on Murphy.  Starting the playoffs, Polk Central was the toughest opponent scoring 25 points and giving the Bulldogs its biggest playoff challenge in a 30-to-25 meeting.  

Sylva-Webster is the most challenging team during this era.  Murphy clipped the Golden Eagles’ wings in a 22-to-13 win, which boosted confidence for the remainder of the regular season. “You know you got your best (game) when you played against Babe Howell’s teams.  I finally beat him!” Coach Postell stated.

Fans most often mention the fast footwork of Senior running back Willie Brown.  Brown is known as one of the best running backs in western North Carolina as he ran for 2,079 in 10 games.  Swain County fans have never forgotten the night he rushed for 457 yards, a state record, and worked the scoreboard lights posting touchdowns.  Murphy bested the Maroon Devils 62-to-8.  62 points remains the highest number of points scored on Swain County in the more than 80 meetings between the Maroon Devils and Bulldogs, dating back to1960.  

Then, Assistant Coach Wayne Watson recalls Brown was not in the greatest health.  He injured his ankle prior to the Swain County game.  He aggravated the injury in the Polk Central game and missed the second round game against Alleghany.  During the state title game, Brown suffered a head injury and was knocked out and had to return to the locker room.  Brown was later recruited by Appalachian State.

Civil rights and race remained an issue through the 1970’s.  Brown and Dwight Bennett were the only black players on the team.  Coach Postell recalls there were posters and jeers to Brown being at the game.  During a long sprint to the end zone, Brown beat all players to a point.  He had enough time to stop; look at the fans; scan the jeering fans with the ball; and back into the end zone.The jeers appeared to stop.

Murphy rolled through the 1974 season posting an average of 40 points on its opponents.  Murphy’s offensive attack is led by Brown, Senior quarterback Chris McConnell, Senior running back Dwight Bennett, Senior tight end Kenny (Yank) Hall, and Junior running back Johnny Queen.  Postell says you have to have a good player that helps coach, in addition to his assistants.  “Johnny Queen is that player.  He (Queen) played both sides of the ball and is a coach on the field.  My goodness on defense he would just take over and help get things done.  With good skilled players and someone like him, it was getting easier to coach the Bulldogs,” Postell said about Queen.  Johnny Queen was the next man up during the ailing Willie Brown during the state title game.  Queen didn’t miss a beat running the veer that had been successful for the Bulldogs.

“We had good practices; good game plans; and determination.  Otherwise we had three basic rules to follow.  You didn’t want to break them,” Postell noted.  The rules were simple.

1. No drinking or smoking.  “We didn’t mind dipping or chewing, because I did,” Postell says.  In those days drinking and smoking was easier as North Carolina didn’t change the age of buying alcohol or cigarettes at a younger age until 1986.
2. Be at home every night by 10 PM.  “We would call your house and check on you to make sure you’re in,” says Postell.
3. Don’t miss practice and give it your all.  

Coach Terry Postell coached the Bulldogs for 13 seasons and eventually resigned in 1979 to take the head coaching position at Andrews, his alma mater.  Postell is no stranger to winning.  In 1958, he was a junior when the Wildcats won a regional state title.  Assistant coaches were Bob Hendrix and Wayne Watson.  Hendrix later became the principal at Murphy and the stadium is now named after him.  Wayne Watson played for the Bulldogs in the 1960s before attending Western Carolina and returned to coach the junior varsity team.  Watson is the father of current Murphy Head Coach Joseph Watson.

The 1974 Murphy Football Team (Player Perspective)

What is so amazing about the 1974 Murphy Bulldog football team?  Thirty-four players from that team and dozens of fans probably have many different memories of the season or a particular game.  Kenny “Yank” Hall took time to recall and opine about the season and tell us what made the season so special.

Yank was born in Mount Vernon, Washington and returned to Murphy in 1971 to attend high school.  He gained the name Yank because growing up in Washington people thought he talked funny.  When he moved to Murphy people thought he talked funny and was a Yankee.  The name Yank stuck and is not related to a powerful hit he made on a Robersonville player in the state title game.  We will talk about that later.

The journey to the 2-A State Title gained influence and tradition set by the 1970 Western Regional State Championship team at Murphy.  “I am sure it was one of the reasons we played well.  That team (1970 Bulldogs) really had a winning attitude.  We had that same attitude to build a winning atmosphere and play tough,” Hall states.

There is unity with the team.  Like many winning teams, the 1974 Bulldogs are like family through the season.  It was a special class of seniors and an overall skilled, tough, and loving family of players.  

“We did everything in addition to play football together.  There is a real bond between us.  It wasn’t just us players either.  It was the cheerleaders, the band, the fans, the administration, and the town that supported and boosted us,” Yank adds.

Player size doesn’t matter.  The size of the Bulldog’s heart is what made an impact on the field. The football team in 1974 is not the biggest bunch of players you would ever see in western North Carolina.  The biggest player was about 225.  Yank says some players, like Willie Brown, were quick as a cat.  The most impressive part of the team is its toughness.  There was very little substitution as Coach Postell played the 11 best players, and they played both sides of the ball.  Besides being tough, the 1974 Bulldogs are in peak physical condition.

Realizing The Bulldogs Are Special

There is a rough start to the decade.  Even though Murphy earned a Western Regional State Title in 1970, the next few years are lean.  3-and-6 (1971), 7-and-3 (1972), and 9-and-1 (1973) go the following seasons.  In those days not all schools made the playoffs. Then came an undefeated season in 1974.  

Dominance by the Bulldogs is established in the early games of the season with Andrews and Cherokee.  The third game with Sylva-Webster was a near terrifying game that resulted in a 22-to-13 win for Murphy.  

“When we beat Sylva (-Webster), we knew we might be onto something.  In fact we knew we were going to be OK,” Yank recalls.  

New found confidence after the win over Sylva-Webster, pushed Murphy through the regular season like a hot knife through butter.  The Bulldogs didn’t score less than 42 points and never allowed an opponent to score more than 22 points.  

The Swain County game is the eureka point for most players, coaches and fans to know the Murphy Bulldogs are more than a good football team.  Willie Brown played through the Swain County game with an injured ankle while setting a state rushing record.  It was at that point the Bulldogs knew it could really compete in the playoffs.

1974 Playoffs

Grim beginning for the Murphy Bulldogs is set with a close 30-to-25 win over Polk Central.  Coach Postell replaced the injured Willie Brown with Junior Running Back Johnny Queen.  Murphy had no problem getting past Alleghany, in a long road trip to Sparta, with a 42-to-22 win.  

They are bigger, faster, stronger, and better than you!  That is the thought about South Stanley.  The Bulldogs are getting worried this is where the season will end.  A great coach can draw up the X’s and O’s and place the Jimmys and Joes.  An exceptional set of coaches like Postell, Hendrix, and Watson can motivate.  The week leading into the South Stanley game, more reassurance is needed from the coaches than scheming.  

“Coach Hendrix would stop practice from time to time and just talk with us. One day he told us ‘Boys, they (South Stanley) are bigger, faster, and stronger than you.  They (South Stanley) are better in every way.  You’re going to go over there and whip their hind-end,’” Yank shares.  That’s exactly what Murphy did in a close 21-to-14 win.

The state game is here, in Murphy.  Robersonville, which has changed names over years of consolidation and school reorganization.  Willie Brown is back and the attack is on for the 2-A State Title.  Coach Wayne Watson recalls the game was in its early moments when Brown is knocked out and has to be taken up the Hill to the locker room.  The game is described as being one of the most physical and attacking games played in the region.  

Fifty years later a Murphy fan may believe Kenny “Yank” Hall was given that nickname after knocking the two front teeth out of a Robersonville player.  Now you might think the nickname was from his amatuer dental work during the title game.  Oron Coleson had been known as the superstar for Robersonville that couldn’t be stopped.  Yank met up with him on the 30 yard-line (Robersonville side) with a hit that could be heard through the stadium.    Yank’s face-guard went up under Coleson’s gear and knocked his teeth out.  This hit may have sealed up the game as Murphy took the title 32-to-22.  

The missing teeth episode followed Yank to college.  Yank and Coleson attended Western Carolina University together as teammates to play football.  Coleson approached Yank and told him that was the hardest hitting game he had ever played and that he got his teeth knocked out.  Yank didn’t explain it was he that laid the hit on Coleson.

Changes to Football

Innovations in game schemes; improvements to equipment; technology advances; and the number of players going out for football are areas of major change over the last 50 years.  Thermal underwear, tube socks, an old t-shirt, tape with no pre-wrap, and band aids are the players’ best friends to supplement their equipment in the mid-70s.  Communicating is either face-to-face or over an old party-line telephone.  Game film came on an 8mm spool that had to be sent off for photo processing, which could take a few days.  Scouting reports may take a moment as a coach, like Wayne Watson or Jim Combs, would go scout the next opponent and write a report.  With Wayne Watson on the road on Friday night, that left Coach Postell and Bob Hendrix on the sideline to call the game.  

“I think the biggest change in football during this time is the way they play the game,” Yank says.  The Murphy Bulldogs didn’t have the luxury to substitute very often, if they made player changes at all.  

“The technique of defense has really changed.  They make shifts and changes to the line and adjust to get around a block,” Yank notes.  The Bulldogs would set their defense, usually in a 60 set or sometimes in a Shade-50 and not change the entire game.  Today, a team will shift its position from man-to-man to zone; change the number of men on the front line or the linebackers; and the pass coverage to defend against anticipated rush or pass plays.  

“Passing is the other thing.  They (teams today) pass more in a game than we did all season,” Yank also noted.  The Bulldogs appeared to run the veer down the opponent’s throat with very little to almost zero passing.  “We didn’t pass that much.  Maybe it’s because we didn’t have good receivers,” he adds.

1974 Take Away

   

There has always been a little trepidation about moving from 1-A to 2-A among teams in western North Carolina.  The Murphy Bulldogs of 1974 didn’t seem to have that in mind.  It is just a number on a placard or a reminder of the student body size of a school.  For the 1974 Murphy Bulldog football team it meant they had to be Dawg-Gone Tough.  Kenny “Yank” Hall explains how special the 1974 team is and to remember the true (East and West) State Championship is a 2-A title, something that hasn’t been done any other time in Murphy’s History.

We had joy, we had fun, we had seasons in the sun.  But the Hills that we climbed were just seasons out of time.  There has been tremendous joy and fun and seasons in the sun, sometimes in the frigid cold of winter.  The “Hill” the Murphy Bulldogs climb today is very real next to the steps leading to the stadium.  The hills are also real each non-conference, SMC, and playoff portion of the season.  Some strength and toughness probably comes from the Golden team from 50 years ago.

The ripples from the work done by the 1974 Murphy Football team and their work ethic to finish the drill is still being felt.  You may not remember every player and every play of that season.  They set the tone and in their own way, raised the bar for future teams.  

The 1974 Season

Murphy scored 554 points in the 1974 season and allowed 190 points through the 14 games it played.  Football playoffs seemed to be a little more exclusive as the conference champions most likely made the postseason lineup.  16 teams across the state competed and the fourth game was the championship game.  Prior to 1972 the Western Regional State Title game was played in Asheville.  Starting in 1972 the title game was played at one of the competing schools’ locations, alternating from the eastern regional winner one year to the western regional winner the next.  Murphy hosted the title game against Robersonville.   

Andrews 6 Murphy 40

Cherokee 0 Murphy 33

Sylva-Webster 13 Murphy 22

West Fannin 0 Murphy 22

Franklin 19 Murphy 55

Hayesville 12 Murphy 48

Robbinsville 14 Murphy 42

Tellico Plains 22 Murphy 49

Rosman 14 Murphy 56

Swain 8 Murphy 62

Polk Central 25 Murphy 30 (First Round of Playoffs)

Alleghany 22 Murphy 42 (Second Round of Playoffs)

South Stanley 14 Murphy 21 (Third Round of Playoffs)

Robersonville 21 Murphy 21 (2-A Championship Game) 

1974 Murphy Bulldog 2-A State Championship Team

Chris McConnell – Senior Quarterback

Noland Smith – Senior Center

Phil Dickey – Senior Guard

Willie Brown – Senior Running Back

Kenny Hall – Senior Tight End

Dwight Bennett – Senior Running Back

Joey Palmer – Senior Split End

Tim Myers – Senior Tackle

Kenneth Hyatt – Senior Tackle

David Murphy – Junior Running Back

Carl Stiles – Junior Tackle

Bill Owen – Junior Guard

Johnny Queen – Junior Running Back

Marty Douglas – Junior Quarterback

Dan Hughes – Sophomore Tackle

Lee Lackey – Junior Wing Back

Bryan Clayton – Sophomore Running Back

Carl Auvil – Sophomore Running Back

Jeff Plemmons – Junior Center

Lee Ferguson – Freshman Center

Butch Dockery – Junior Wing Back

Danny Gee – Sophomore Center

Bill Gomes – Sophomore Split End

Gary Westmoreland – Freshman Tight End

Steve Brooks – Sophomore Split End

Allen Blakemore – Sophomore Center

Jimmy Farmer – Sophomore Guard

Bruce Hogsed – Sophomore Tackle

Larry Kernea – Sophomore Tackle

Wayne Nix – Junior Split End

Toney Dickey – Sophomore Tackle

David Hubbard – Sophomore Guard

Tim Beavers – Freshman Tackle

Jerry Farner – Freshman Quarterback

Terry Postell – Head Coach

Bob Hendrix – Assistant Coach/Line Coach

Wayne Watson – Assistant Coach/Defensive Backs and Receivers

Daryl Barrett – Sophomore Manager

Charlie Rogers – Senior Manager

Tim Davis – Sophomore Manager

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(Credits – Interview with Coach Terry Postell 12-9-2024; Interview with Kenny Hall 12-13-2024; Interview with Wayne Watson 6-24-2024 and 12-13-2024; Statistical information from “Stories from the Sidelines – N.C. High School Football Tales from Murphy to Marion” Copyright 2013; 1974 Murphy Football Team Photo – Cherokee Scout – Copyright December 12, 1974; Lyrics to “Seasons in the Sun” – Terry Jacks Copyright 1974; Compilation of Seasonal Data with help from Dustin Stalcup, Murphy, NC)