Stories: The First Man Down

            With a world war starting across the ocean in Europe in 1914, it would come as no surprise that the first ever Guntersville football player to later die would be relatively young. Furthermore, since America enters that war three years later, there is no doubt in my mind that there are quite a few young men from Marshall County who did die in the Great War.

            However, the first player to die did not die of a war casualty at all.

            Isaac Satterfield was the starting left end on the 1914 football team. By all accounts that can be found, he was a gregarious, fun-loving guy. In fact, at the end of the season banquet, even though he was only 18, he was the master of ceremonies and from newspaper accounts of the dinner, was very good at it.

            Unfortunately, his demeanor could not overcome his lungs. At the end of December, he was forced to leave school for health reasons and return home near Arab.

            Once at home, his health quickly deteriorated to the point where he was confined to bed, and yet, even then, people flocked to him. There were several accounts in the social section (the main section of 1910s Guntersville newspapers) of students visiting him. Even his sweetheart kept her promise, marrying him three weeks before he died.

            In early May of 1915, Isaac Satterfield succumbed to an undisclosed lung disease, and his funeral was attended by many students and teachers.

            His young bride, Stacy Corbin Satterfield, would later go on to get a bachelor’s degree from Wheaton College and a master’s degree in English from the University of Illinois in the early 1920s. That is the last trace I have been able to find of her for nearly thirty years, but she pops back up in Texas in the early 1950s remarried.

Player of the Week: Mike Horton

Player: Mike Horton

Positions: Offense – Fullback, Jr. & Halfback, Sr.; Defense – cornerback (and although never listed, must have played some linebacker)

Available stats: As a junior, starting at fullback, six of the games listed his yardage, which totaled 630 yards. From reading the articles, I am positive he gained at least 80 yards in one other game, which gets him to at least 710 in his junior year. If he gained only 30 yards in the other three games, he would be right around 800 for the season. Then adding to that, one newspaper article mentioned that he gained almost 1000 yards during his junior season. Pretty good haul for his junior year.

            Then in his senior year, an end of year article states that he carried the ball 192 times for 1,132 yards, an average of 6.1 yards per carry. He also led the team in tackles with 123 total tackles, 39 solo and 84 assists. He was also the kicker and punter for the 1972 team. Over the course of the two years he was a starter, he ran for over 100 yards in 8 games, plus had a game at 99 yards and another at 97.

            He is 13^th all time on the Wildcat rushing list relying on the six games from his junior year and the ten from his senior year. However, if we had access to those other six games in 1971, I would assume that he would jump up to 10^th, just behind Rodriqueke Faulks and just ahead of Ted Reed.

Characteristics: Nicknamed “Frog” (according to one Advertiser-Gleam article). He was blindingly fast, at one time holding the school record for the 100 yard dash. At 5’10’’, 190 lbs, he was incredibly hard to tackle, being both strong and fast.

Modern Equivalent: Corey Cahill (Both in terms of size and speed, but also in terms of positions played, and being jacks of all trades. During Cahill’s senior year, he played some quarterback, halfback, slot receiver, kick returner, punt returner, and kicker. Horton played both back positions, was the returner, punter and kicker for the team. Their stats running the football are also very similar, even though they played nearly 40 years apart)

Big Games: Like many of Guntersville’s greatest players, Horton played his biggest game against Albertville in his senior year. He ran for 227 yards, scored three touchdowns, and had an interception. Against Scottsboro that season, he ran the ball 24 times for 133 yards. In a 41-6 loss against Athens, he ran for 117 yards, threw a touchdown, played good defense (according to the paper), punted, kicked, and did all of this with a injured hand and back. As a junior, he helped the Wildcats defeat the #1 ranked Fort Payne Wildcats by running for 99 yards on 15 carries.

What the Coach Said: Coach Hart said, “He’s the best running back I’ve ever been around, and that includes the ones I saw when I was coaching in Huntsville. He’s got good strength and fine balance, and he’s nimble footed. He moves right along.”

Tidbits: He signed to play football at Alabama A&M. He was on the roster for the 1984 Birmingham Stallions of the USFL as a defensive back.

Stat Night: 2011 Superlatives

With the season ending on Friday, I thought we'd spend tonight's update going over some of the more interesting tidbits from the season, stats wise.

1. Before the season, the general consensus was that this Wildcat team would be very good offensively, but would struggle defensively. In fact, several people stated (including myself) that we would have to outscore people to win. And other, than the playoff game, this was completely wrong. In fact, over the last 11 seasons, no Wildcat defense allowed less yards per carry than this year's defense. Opponents only averaged 3.7 yards per carry against the 2011 defense. (At this point, I only have access to certain stats from 2000 on. Over time, I hope the person or persons who have access to this information will allow me to use it, and/or copy it.) Furthermore, this defense returns six starters next season, including the two leading tacklers on the team.
2. Running back Rodriqueke Faulks ran for 1,050 yards this year. This is the first time since 2008 that a back has run for 1,000 yards. Over his whole career, Faulks was the second leading rusher this century, and the ninth leading rusher in school history. He ran for 1,952 yards and 20 touchdowns over his three seasons on the squad.
3. Again, since I do not have access to all the stats prior to 2000 at this point, I can only make a statement about this century, but Sam Cox, far and away, has been the best pass rusher for the Wildcats in the 21st century. Cox had 7 sacks this year, 2 more than any other player, and had 10 sacks for his career. Again, this leads all other players by 3. Perhaps there have been better in the past, but the numbers certainly point in Cox's favor.
4. Kicker Hunter Kennamer hit 54 extra points in a row over a two year span, far and away the most in school history.
5. The big negative stat for the year happened on Friday. Oneonta threw for 311 yards, the most given up by the Wildcats in a single game in school history. We are at season 98, and it was the first time Guntersville ever gave up 300 passing yards in a game. A rather inauspicious ending to a successful season.
6. Three small things, all of them I would need to have access to older records to check for sure. First, I fully believe that Clayton Daniel will hold most all passing records, and maybe even some running records, especially for quarterbacks, by the end of his tenure as the quarterback of the Wildcats. Second, the offense this year may have been in the top five ever as far as yards per play, but without access, I can't check it for sure. Third, Will Looney was one catch away from qualifying for yards per catch in the record book I am slowly compiling as I get more access. If he would have had that one more catch, he very likely would be first on the list for yards per catch in a single season.

Introduction

When my father died in 2003, I noted in a memorial that “my life has been a poor attempt, to imitate the man.” At the time, what I meant was that I was going to seminary to become a pastor. What I did not realize at the time was that I was going to become the statistician for the Guntersville Wildcats.

But that is what I have become.

It began with Coach Phil Isom, who my father had worked for. When I moved from Atlanta back to Guntersville in 2006, I began working at the high school and Coach Isom and I decided it would be good for me to take my father’s place.

Since that time, I have seen a state championship, the best quarterback, running back, and receiver the school has ever been blessed with, and the retiring of Coach Isom and hiring of Lance Reese.

I personally have moved from Coach Isom’s personal statistician, to keeping the stats for two newspapers, the radio station, and the school. And that’s all in six years. It’s been a great ride so far.

I owe the idea of this book to Dr. John Boggess. During the 2010 season, the radio staff and I were discussing where Chris Daniel stood toward breaking Chaz Rogers yardage record.

Through this discussion, Dr. Boggess suggested that I begin to work on a book about the history of Guntersville football. We agreed that there would be no money in it, but that the historical value of the book would be worth the time.

After putting some (ok, just a tiny bit) of thought, I decided I would give it a try. Now most of the writing is actually going to a website first, and perhaps a book donw the road. Although I’m pretty sure that Doc had a bit of an idea of what this would be.

I, however, had a different idea.

One of my favorite authors is a baseball writer named Bill James. James’s idea of writing includes irreverent stories, interesting anecdotes, and fun labels of things. That is part of what the aim is with this website.

Part of the aim of this website is to find out what Guntersville football was like in 1965 or 1935 or 2005. Who were the people around the program that were important? Who were the players that kids in town wanted to be like? Who was the coach and what did he demand of his kids? These are the stories I hope to tell by building this website.

I want to create a history of the Guntersville football program that is both interesting and informational.

Even with a topic as small and specific as Wildcat football, there is no possible way to completely cover the all the information that would be interesting and informational. By no means is this meant to be a definitive history. It is meant to give you a picture of what Guntersville football was like in a specific time, be it 1935 or 2005.

Through people’s stories, research, statistics, photographs, newspaper articles and many other sources, I hope to bring you a glimpse into the lives of the people, players, and coaches of Guntersville Wildcat football.

To quote James from his Historical Baseball Abstract: “This book is not intended to be studied; it is intended to be enjoyed.” I hope you enjoy the website. Now let’s dive in.