History of Lauderdale County School District | Page 121

West Lauderdale Schedule
Sept. 14
Clarkdale – Away
Sept. 21
Open
Sept. 28
Beulah Hubbard – Away
Oct. 5
Southeast at Clarkdale *
Oct. 12
State Line – Away
Oct. 19
Southeast at Northeast *
Oct. 26
Northeast – Away
Nov. 2
Clarkdale – Away
* West Lauderdale home games
When Clay and assistant coach Jackie Ethridge send the Knights out against Bob
Ethridge’s Clarkdale Bulldogs Friday at 8 p.m. on the Clarkdale Field, there will be one 200pounder among them and the overall team average will be a light 157 pounds. “But they want to
play football and have worked very hard in practice,” said Clay. And in football as in all other
sports activities there’s no substitute for desire. West Lauderdale will probably be the underdog
in the first of seven games this season, mainly because the Clarkdale team has a game under its
belt, and an impressive one at that. The Bulldogs opened their season last Friday night with a
12-6 win over Southeast Lauderdale High School in the first game ever played in this county
matching two Lauderdale County schools. Clarkdale has size and showed potent offensive
attack, led by fullback Mickey Sellers who romped for more than 100 yards on the ground.
But West Lauderdale figures to put on an offensive show of its own, running from the Tformation with quarterback George Richardson (150) at the controls. Richardson’s running
mates in the backfield will include a pair of light but speedy halfbacks; Ray Ethridge (130),
Bobby Espey (130) and Gary Gressett. Up front the Knights can count a little more weight with
L.C. Hudnall at right tackle weighting in at 210 pounds. The other tackle spot will be manned by
Doug Cross (175). The starting guards will be Mike Townsend (174) and Barry Moore (150).
Jimmy Little (150) will open at center and the ends will be manned by Ronnie Clay (155) and
Gene May (140).
Thirty two players have been taking part in twice daily workouts at the new school. West
Lauderdale has two home games scheduled for this year, but both will be played on foreign sod
since the school’s athletic field will not be completed until next season. One of those games will
be Knights game with Southeast at Northeast Lauderdale held on October 19. The other will be
the second West Clarkdale game at Clarkdale in the season finale November 2. West
Lauderdale will play Clarkdale and Southeast twice during the season and will take on Northeast
once for a five-game county slate. Out of county teams to be faced during the first season will be
Beulah Hubbard of Newton County another school fielding its first team this year and State Line
located on the Wayne-Greene County line.
That’s a rugged schedule for a light team playing its first season but West Lauderdale
players, coaches and fans are looking forward to playing it. And right now it’s that Friday night
opener with Clarkdale that holds the attention of all concerned.