Special thanks to these Bearcat teammates for providing financial support for this website:
Ken Melichar
Lee Dukes
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Randy Dilley
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Walter Hatch
Joe Buddy Madden
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Bubby Johnston
Special Ceremony Honors 1970 Forest Bearcats
By Bubby Johnston
Members of the 1970 Forest High School football team were honored on the 50th anniversary of their championship season during halftime of the Forest/Florence football game held Friday, Sept. 18, 2020, at L.O. Atkins Field.The Bearcat squad won the Overall Little Dixie Conference title with a perfect 11-0 mark. Gary Risher was head coach and his assistants were Billy Ray Dill and the late James C. “Bo” Clark. Special presentations honoring the 1970 team were made by State Rep. Tom Miles of Forest, Forest Mayor Nancy Chambers and Bank of Forest President Drew Kenna. Forest High School Principal Allan Atkison also provided remarks. Coach Risher and Lee Dukes spoke on behalf of the LDC champions. Joining team members for the special celebration were family members of deceased players, 1970 football cheerleaders, representatives of the 1970-71 All-Superior Forest High School Band, as well as administrators and faculty members from the special school year. (Photo by Jason Dyess)
It’s now been more than 50 years since the first integrated Forest High School football team took the field en route to posting a perfect season and a conference championship.
A special ceremony honoring the 1970 team was held Friday, Sept. 18, 2020, at L. O. Atkins Field during halftime of the Forest/Florence game.
Family members of deceased team members were especially encouraged to attend and be a part of the 50th Anniversary celebration. Cheerleaders for the 1970 team as well as members of the 1970-71 All-Superior FHS Band also participated in the special event.
In looking back over the historic season, what those coaches and players accomplished is more than amazing. Not only were they victorious with the school’s first integrated squad (full integration occurred during the 1970-71 school year) but they did so with a mostly new coaching staff and faced several other challenges throughout the season. The biggest challenge came at the final game of the season, with the program’s second-straight conference championship on the line. More about that later.
The 1970 Bearcats were led by first-year head coach Gary Risher, who took the helm at age 28. Risher was an assistant the previous two years for Ken Bramlett, who was serving his second tenure as the program’s leader. Bramlett’s 1968 squad went 8-3 and was followed by the 1969 ‘Cats who finished 10-0-1 and claimed the program’s first overall Little Dixie Conference Championship.
The 1969 team was regarded as one of the best in Bearcat football history, and with the loss of 18 seniors (many of whom received scholarships on the university and junior college levels) from the championship squad, expectations were not high for a repeat season. (Note: This was the era when high school teams were divided into conferences and did not participate in the current state playoff system.)
Risher was serving a second stint as a Bramlett assistant, having previously served on his Mississippi College staff. Bramlett had taken the MC post following his first successful coaching job at Forest.
Risher, who mainly coached offensive and defensive linemen for Bramlett, was selected the new Bearcat head mentor following the 1969 season, when Bramlett and assistant Warren Crain took their talents to Northwest Mississippi Junior College in Senatobia.
A 1960 FHS graduate, Risher was first native son to be selected the Bearcats’ head football coach.
Risher’s athletic background also included stellar football careers at Forest, East Central Junior College and Mississippi College.
Prior to joining the FHS staff, Risher was an assistant at Peoples Junior High in Jackson and was head coach at Hickory.
He recalled being asked by then Forest Supt. of Education L.O. Atkins (now deceased) to submit his application for the job.
These former Forest High School football coaches led the 1970 Bearcats – the first integrated team in school history – to a perfect 11-0 season and an Overall Little Dixie Conference title. From left are Billy Ray Dill, Gary Risher (now deceased) and James “Bo” Clark (also deceased), shown in 2016 on L.O. Atkins Field, where the championship game was held nearly 50 years ago. (Photo by Bubby Johnston)
The score remained 7-3 until the final eight minutes of the game.
It was fitting that the Bearcat defense – which had been so dominating throughout the season – would score the winning points. On fourth down and the Panthers about to punt, Latham burst through the Morton front line and blocked Hiram Richardson’s punt at the Panther 20 and Madden, reportedly dazed from a previous contact that he depended on reflex action, scooped up the pigskin and made it into the end zone. Massey booted the PAT and Forest took its first lead at 10-7.
Another standout defensive play came earlier in the game from the speedy Gibson, who caught Panther receiver Bruce Pevey from behind following a 42-yard pass reception from quarterback Roberts. Pevey appeared to have nothing but daylight ahead of him until Gibson pulled him down at the Forest 28. The Bearcat defense once again stiffened and the drive stalled.
Although several minutes remained in the contest after the Bearcats’ defensive score and a 10-7 lead, some players – especially one in particular – began celebrating much too soon!
“I can still see Lee Evans celebrating with Mayor Fred Gaddis,” Risher recalled. “He was eating it up….dancing and having a good time. I jacked him up and told him to get in the game and that he had better make the next tackle! Well, he did better than that…he made several tackles in a row to help clinch the victory!”
