DE LEON HANDBOOK
1946 SORLEY, THE GAMBLERS, AND A DISTRICT CHAMPIONSHIP
1946 Bearcats
1946
District 9-A
District Champions
DHS OPP
0 @Ranger 14
37 @Albany 0
46 Waco State Home 6
13 @Stephenville 19
7 @EASTLAND 0
48 DUBLIN 0
27 HAMILTON 0
55 @HICO 0
47 @GORMAN 7
41 COMANCHE 0
0 @COLEMAN (B) 13
Programs and many photos provided by Ben Blitch
In the long years between 1932 and 1959, there was but one season in which the Bearcats claimed a District Championship. In 1946, competing in District 9-A along with Comanche, Gorman, Hico, Hamilton, Dublin and Eastland, the Bearcats rolled to a perfect district record. The only losses came against AA teams Ranger and Stephenville and to Coleman in the Bi-district game. The Maroon gave up only seven points in district play, a feat not matched by a Bearcat team until the great teams of ’74, ’75, and ’76.
In addition to De Leon and Comanche, seven other schools in the county competed in football that year, all in Class B. Those schools were Comyn, Proctor, Gustine, Sidney, Beattie, Duster and Lamkin.
RANGER
To open the season, De Leon journeyed to AA Ranger. It was the first renewal of play between the two teams since the home and home series of 1919 which De Leon had won 19-6 and 39-0. De Leon probably had little expectation of winning the game against what was at the time, a much larger school (Ranger still had a daily newspaper), but the Bearcats played well and kept the game within reach.
Ranger scored in the first quarter on a pass from Arlerburn to Frazier from mid-field. Frazier kicked the point after. In the second quarter Arlerburn handed off to Frazier who then lateraled to Mac Donald. The play put another Ranger score on the board and the extra point gave the Bulldogs the 14-0 lead that held up as the final score.
In the second half, the Bearcats were able to stymie the Bulldogs but could not score themselves. De Leon kicked off and exchanged punts with Ranger throughout the third and most of the fourth quarter. One De Leon drive was highlighted by a long run by Keith Jaye. The Bulldogs threatened once as they moved into Bearcat territory on a series of passes but, could not score.
Late in the game, a Bearcat pass was intercepted by Arterburn resulting in a long return that set up the Bulldogs deep in Bearcat territory. The defense stiffened and Ranger did not score.
Officials for the game were Elliott Chipps of T.C.U., Warren Comely of T.C.U. and Bob Worley of Howard Payne. Even with a season opening loss, the town’s expectations began to grow.
ALBANY
Here is a perfect example of the difficulty in determining the score of a game. The Albany News reported a 38-0 De Leon victory but Ben Blitch wrote a 37-0 score on his program. We’ll go with Ben.
The News reported that Keith Jay picked up the first Bearcat touchdown and that De Leon was on Albany’s eight when the half ended but, gave no other information about the first half. Albany kicked off to begin the second half. After an exchange of interceptions, De Leon began at their own 28 and drove the distance in 4 plays. Albany took the ensuing kickoff and in three plays, coupled with a penalty, found themselves backed up to their own five. The Lions punt went only 17 yards and De Leon took over at Albany’s 22. Four plays later and the Bearcats were in the end zone.
On the Lions’ next possession, the Bearcats blocked the punt, recovered at the 10, and quickly scored. The final Bearcat tally came on a 52 yard touchdown pass.
WACO STATE HOME
De Leon hosted the Home and registered a 46-0 win. No other details have been located except that Bobby Simpson recalled that the Home had one really short player who looked like he could be easily crushed. Cap Nowlin said he would take care of him and headed down field. The Homer may have been small but he was smart as he went under Nowlin and flipped him.
EASTLAND
The district championship was determined early in the season as De Leon beat the Mavericks 7-0 in the only close game of district play.
HICO
The Bearcats beat Hico 55-0 according to the Hico Hearld Review and the score written on Blitch’s program. The Comanche Chief reported the score as 32-0. No details have been found.
STEPHENVILLE
De Leon played the AA Yellow Jackets on a Thursday night in Stephenville and lost 19-13. No other details have been found.
GORMAN
On Armistice Day, Monday November 11, the Bearcats and Panthers met in Gorman for their traditional holiday game. De Leon won 47-7. While no details have been found, several fans recalled the story behind the only score that the Bearcats gave up in district play. Betting on whether or not the Bearcats would allow a district opponent to score was rampant among De Leon fans. Coach Sorley was disgusted with this nonsense and to end the gambling, played the subs until Gorman scored.
DUBLIN
No details have been found on De Leon’s 48-0 victory. It was the Bearcats’ greatest margin of victory over Dublin in two decades.
HAMILTON
Both teams came into the game undefeated in district play. The Hamilton Herald News described the game as “a slow game marred by fumbles, penalties, and incompetent officiating.”
De Leon took the opening kickoff at their own twelve and marched 88 yards in 15 plays aided by three off side calls against Hamilton while getting one themselves. Blitch scored the touchdown on a keeper from the one and then kicked the point after.
On the ensuing Hamilton series, the Bulldogs eventually were forced to punt. The punt hit at the thirty but rolled dead a the De Leon one. One official then ruled that he had blown an inadvertent whistle and gave De Leon the ball at the thirty.
Three plays later, De Leon picked up a first down at their own forty. On first down, Blitch seeing the receivers covered, threw the ball away. The referees spotted the ball at the 28, the point at which the ball was thrown. The Bearcats could not overcome the second and 22 and eventually were forced to punt.
In the second quarter, a Hilton punt only went 25 yards before being caught by Page who retuned it to the Bulldog 13. On the next play Cled Heathington went around right end for a touchdown and Blitch added the point after.
Hamilton fielded the kickoff at their five and returned it to the 27. On the first play, Miller picked off the Bulldog pass and returned it for a touchdown.
Just before the half, De Leon fielded a punt. The ball was lateraled to Heath who raced sixty yards for a touchdown. Blitch added the point after.
There was no scoring in the second half, and De Leon won 27-0.
COMANCHE
De Leon was assured of the playoff berth regardless of the outcome of the Comanche game since the Bearcats had beaten Eastland, the only team with a shot at a tie for the title. But, De Leon was not interested in sharing its first title in 14 years with anyone, least of all with Eastland who the Bearcats felt had robbed them of the two previous championships. the Thanksgiving game was played in De Leon.
The Chief said the Native Americans “had the upper hand of the new champions during the first quarter when the Bearcats were only able to score once.” What the paper did not want to say was that the team that supposedly had the upper hand had been outscored 7-0 in the first quarter.
De Leon added two more touchdown in the second quarter and took a 20-0 lead in at half time. In the second half the Bearcats added three more touchdowns to lead 41-0. Comanche’s lone threat came late in the game when the Native Americans drove to the Bearcat 15 before fumbling.
The 1946 Bearcats garnered that sought after Championship while Eastland ended up in second place followed by Hamilton, Gorman, and Comanche. Dublin and Hico tied for the cellar. It would be another 13 years before the Bearcats won another title.
COLEMAN
The Bi-district game between De Leon and the champions of District 10-A took place on December 6, 1946 at Coleman after the Bluecats guaranteed De Leon half the gate or a minimum of $1,000. De Leon, just as it had done in 1917, accepted the much needed cash rather than risk a coin flip. Tickets sold for $1.20 for reserved seats and everyone in De Leon was in the estimated 3,500 that saw the game. Game officials included Lon Evans of T.C.U., John Sherry of East Texas State, Charles Berry of Baylor, and Poss Yearly of A&M.
On paper, the teams appeared to be evenly matched with both teams having allowed only 46 points during the season. De Leon had scored 322 points to the Bluecats’ 269. Two things tilted that balance to Coleman.
For the Gorman game, Reese Upshaw had arranged for a camera man from Brownwood to film the game, a tool seldom, if ever used before by De Leon, due to the expense. The photographer filmed the game but the film never reached De Leon. The excuse given was that the film had been lost in the mail or had been lost by the photographic lab. The camera man assured everyone that there was nothing else he could do. The film was gone.
Several years later, when Coach Sorley had moved to Petersburg, a man asked him if he had coached in De Leon. When he replied yes, the man said he had seen the Gorman-De Leon game on film and wondered if Sorley had ever seen it. When Sorley said he had never gotten the film, the man stated that the reason it had never been received was the the Brownwood fellow had sold the film for a higher price to Coleman. Coleman knew every play the Bearcats ran.
The second, and more serious blow the De Leon’s chances came when Benny Blitch got a severe cut on his had from a broken milk or coke bottle. Although he played, his had was heavily taped and he was ineffective as a passer. Never-the-less, the game was described as a “savage, hard hitting duel” by the Coleman Democrat Voice.
The initial threat of the game came when Coleman’s Don Norton got into De Leon’s secondary and raced 58 yards to the Bearcat 29 for the longest run of the game. But, Coleman could not score.
The Bluecats did score when Frank Wise grabbed a pass from Tommy White out of the hands of the De Leon defender and escaped for a touchdown. Their second tally came when Clifford intercepted a De Leon pass at the Coleman 48 and retuned it to the Bearcat 33. After a 5 yard gain by White and a 5 yard offside penalty against De Leon, McCorkle took it in for the score.
De Leon did not threaten until the latter part of the third quarter when Cled Heathinton circled right end for a 50 yard gain to the Coleman 35. But the Bearcats never could push it in and the final was a 13-0 Coleman win.
Toward the end of the game, De Leon sportsmanship sunk perhaps to its lowest point since the early games with Comanche. A De Leonian, in military uniform, kept shouting at the referee or members of the chain gang until one of the Coleman men came over to challenge him. Soon fights broke out and spilled onto the field. Many of the fans left before the fighting overtook the everyone that remained. Even the team made a quick exit so as not to get involved.
It is rare that statistics of Bearcat games in that era are found They are included her to provide a record of the game.
De Leon Coleman
5 First Downs 10
128 Yards Rushing 143
21 Passing Yards 101
2/9 Attempts/Comp 4/11
2 Interceptions 1
8/190 Punts 6/166
3/25 Penalties 2/30
1946 BEARCATS
DISTRICT CHAMPIONS
COACHES: FLOYD SORLEY and C.L. MOHON
CAPTAINS: HOMER MILLER AND BENNY BLITCH
Charley Page, Bobby Carl Simpson, Keith Jaye, Cled Heathington, Arl Nowlin, Henry Van Terrill, James Upshaw, Max Goates, Carroll Ragland, George Campbell, Jimmy Hansford, John Dendy, Kenneth Darby, Ross Decker, Joe Durham, Charlie Page, Marvin Boswell, D. Lock, William Campbell, John Mac Weaver, Glenn Pitts, Bobby Lawless, T.H. Williams, Troy Coan,Brown, Gilder, Nolan, Martin, Dabney, and Ellis.
Floyd Sorley
Page last updated Jan. 19, 2008
(L-R) Asst. Coach C.L. Mohon Jr., Superintendent E.F. Harley, and Head Coach Floyd Sorley with trophies at banquet at the Travelers Hotel.