You couldn’t score on them and you couldn’t stop them. You could only hope to somehow minimize the punishment they inflicted upon their opponents every Friday night. With talented players on both sides of the ball, fans of the Big Sandy Wildcats watched as their favorite sons took gridiron dominance to a whole different level in the 1970s.
From 1971 to 1975, Big Sandy posted an incredible 64-1-1 record and won three consecutive Class B State Championships in 1973, 1974, and 1975.
Championship Season-1973
In ’73, the U.S. was going through a fuel shortage and long lines at the gas pumps due to the OPEC crisis. But in Big Sandy, the only football-related shortage was the serious lack of points scored by each of the Wildcats opponents on their schedule.
Led by Bobby Mitchell and David Overstreet on offense and LB Lovie Smith on defense, Big Sandy scored a whopping 715 points while allowing a minuscule 15 points scored against them. In the first three weeks, they outscored their opponents 134-0 and didn’t allow the first points scored against them until Week 4:
The Schedule
Winona 20-0
Tyler Gorman 48-0
Union Grove 66-0
Hawkins 46-6
Como-Pickton 55-6
Union Hill 50-0
Harmony 68-0
Leverett’s Chapel 82-0
Mount Enterprise 68-0
Carlisle 94-0
After allowing just one touchdown each in weeks 4 and 5, the Wildcats outscored their opponents 362-0 heading into the playoffs.
The Playoffs
Wortham 38-0
New Waverly 14-0
Runge 41-3
Rule 25-0 (State Championship Game)
Big Sandy rolled through their side of the playoff bracket like Patton’s 3rd Army, allowing one measly field goal and scoring 118 points in four games, defeating a Rule team led by quarterback and future Baylor Head Coach Art Briles, on their way to their first state title. Bobby Mitchell scored four rushing touchdowns in the championship victory.
Both Mitchell and Smith were named 1st Team All-State. Mitchell rushed for 7,260 yards in his prep career.
Championship Season-1974
Big Sandy continued its dominance in the ’74 season. The Wildcats outscored their opponents 582-35. They scored 98 points and allowed just 13 points scored against them in the playoffs as they faced Celina in the title game. But in a rare occurrence, the title game ended…in a 0-0 tie.
If you were a betting man, you would’ve lost your shirt, thinking there was no way the Wildcats would NOT score any points. I guess when the Texas High School Football Rule Book went to the printer the concept of “play until there is a winner” was left out of the lexicon of rules and regulations. And so it was, Big Sandy and Celina were named Co-Champions for the 1974 season.
Overstreet finished the season with 1747 rushing yards and 21 touchdowns.
Championship Season-1975
The Wildcats were even more dominant in ’75, scoring an unfathomable 824 points while allowing just 15 points to be scored against them. They pitched 11 shutouts in 14 games, scored 60+ points five times, 70+ points twice, and even scored 91 points in a game.
The Schedule
Winona 43-0
Sabine 54-0
Union Grove 66-0
Hawkins 55-7
Como-Pickton 63-0
Union Hill 60-0
Harmony 73-0
Leverett’s Chapel 62-0
Mount Enterprise 71-0
Carlisle 91-0
After allowing a touchdown and an extra point in Week 4 against Hawkins, they outscored the rest of their opponents 420-0 heading into the playoffs.
In four playoff games, the Wildcats scored 186 points and allowed just eight, including allowing only a safety in the 28-2 state championship victory over Groom. Overstreet rushed for three touchdowns for the Wildcats, helping them to hoist the trophy for the third time.
Overstreet was named 1st Team All-State and rushed for 3,032 yards and 56 touchdowns that season, and was named the Texas High School Player of the Year. In his senior year in 1976, he rushed for 1880 yards and 18 touchdowns.
Talented College Players
Overstreet played at Oklahoma and shared the backfield with Sooners great Billy Sims. He was a first-round pick of the Miami Dolphins in 1981. His pro career ended way too soon when he was tragically killed in a car accident in 1984. He was inducted into the Texas High School Football Hall of Fame in 1994.
Smith played at Tulsa and was a two-time All-American. He was a head coach in the NFL and most recently he was the head man at Illinois. He was inducted into the Texas High School Football Hall of Fame in 2017.
In the past, Texas high school football fans have passionately argued about who is the most dominant high school football team in Lonestar State history. Is it Big Sandy? Could it be 1983 Dangerfield? Or, is it 1985 Houston Yates? All great answers to a lingering question. This argument still rages to this day.
Tony Thomas is a contributing writer. He also writes about college football on his own website, www.thegridironnews.com.
