Page 48 - Sorghum

Sorghum
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There were lots of fights because there was no place from which to throw in the ball. The guy guarding you would be all over you, creating a lot of tension. It was nothing major, scuffling and relieving tension. We were the worst team in the county and Guin was the best, mainly because they had a full size court. They had the four Dyer brothers and Hayden Riley, who eventually coached Alabama’s basketball team, and they won the state title several times. One time we beat them because we got in a fight and the referees threw all their starters out of the game. The town of Guin got literally flattened by a tornado in 1975. They got what they deserved.
I started playing football at age 15 because the guy whose position I took had to quit due to turning 21. In getting prepared for the season, the coach would run us in the scorching heat of August until our tongues hung out, and not give us water or salt pills as he thought they were detrimental. I punted, played fullback on offense, and halfback on defense— what is now called a defensive back. It wasn’t too busy a place because there was little pass- ing, the ball being much rounder and bigger in diameter than the current ones.