The Year of the Jackrabbit in Texas
by Duff Daniels
Dallas Times Herald
Wednesday, 7 December 1966
In the early September calm before this season’s high school football hurricane, these columns ventured that: “If there is a team anywhere in Texas which deserves to be rated an odds-on favorite to win a state championship, that team is Forney.”
Thirteen weeks of machine-like mayhem, spread across this area by the powerful Jackrabbits, has strengthened that opinion almost to the point of dogmatism.
In the past three years, Forney coach Johnnie Henderson and his exceptionally able assistants have constructed a catapult which seems certain to thrust the Kaufman County school to its first state title.
In 1964, several sophomores played key roles as Forney shared the District 14-A championship with Cedar Hill and Midlothian. Last year, juniors formed the core of a 12-1 team that made it to the quarterfinals.
When this season opened, Henderson greeted 20 lettermen, including nine offensive and eight defensive starters, who made it clear from the start that they would settle for nothing less than a state championship. As the Jackrabbits prepare for Saturday night’s semifinal game against Sonora in Austin, their 3-year goal is only two jumps away, and the Forney fans are frantic.
In most Texas towns, football fever grows week to week as the victories mount. Not so in Forney, reports Henderson. The town of some 1,500 residents was excited when the season opened; spirit peaked just before the district championship game with Cedar Hill; and, says the coach: “It’s been just about the same ever since.
“There wasn’t much room for improvement,” he points out. “Everybody has been pretty fired up all along, and it has really helped.”
Forney merchants and students have displayed victory signs on walls and windows all year, so this week’s preparations are more expected than special. One sign, however, grows more impressive every week. The big bulletin carries scores of Forney’s last 26 games, and every inch of its seven feet tells a strong story.
During the past two years, the Jackrabbits have won 25 games, lost only one. This season they are 13-0 and have been ranked No. 1 in Class A in every one of The Dallas News’ state-wide press polls.
Forney’s statistics, both individual and collective, rival the gross national product. The Jackrabbits have won their 13 games by a combined score of 582-30 (a 45-2 average). They have shut out eight opponents, and six points is the most they have allowed in any one game.
Forney’s pre-district opponents included three Class AA schools and defending Class A state champion Wills Point. Forney won those four by a combination of 158-12 and in the state playoffs has beaten three teams 104-12.
Every dog has his day; tigers and mermaids get their minutes on TV. But in Texas at least, this is the year of the Jackrabbit.
