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Over the years, much has been written about various outstanding area football teams.   Sixty years ago, a particularly outstanding team was the 1964 Southampton High School Indians football team; they were galloping toward the district championship.  

Led by Coach Chris Caison and assistant coach Dallas Hollingsworth, the starting offense that year was quarterback, Jimmy Westbrook; fullback, Buddy Pope; halfbacks, Ben Ussery and Larry Harrell; center, Raymond Francis; guards, Gene Beale and Doug Marks; tackles, James Fuller and Wayne Rock; and ends, PJ Hedgepeth and Walker Gillette.

On Friday night, Oct. 30, 1964, the undefeated “Indians” easily won in a game played against James Blair High School (also undefeated — in conference play); the final score was forty to six.

At halftime, Southampton held a slim one touchdown lead – thirteen to six; the fans were talking about the closeness of the score.   The tension was soon to be over.  Southampton gained possession of the football five times during the second half; and, they scored on each possession except one – winning the game and, at that time, gaining recognition as having the undisputed district leadership.         

The Southampton defense proved that they were the best in the district.   James Blair netted a puny twenty-one yards, in eighteen attempts, against Southampton.  

Quarterback Jimmy Westbrook had one of his best nights with three touchdowns.  Halfback Ben Ussery roared with two scoring runs and three extra points.  And, end Walker Gillette latched on to a sixty-nine-yard Westbrook pass for a touchdown. 

Southampton’s next two games — to finish out the season — were: Virginia Beach Seahawks and then the Franklin Broncos.

On Nov. 6, 1964, the Southampton Indians rolled over the Virginia Beach Seahawks with little trouble.  The undefeated Southampton team shut out the Virginia Beach team with a sixteen to zero score.  

The first drive of the game began on the Southampton twenty-two-yard line:  halfback Larry Harrell ripped off eighteen yards; fullback Buddy Pope plunged through the middle for a twelve-yard gain; and then halfback Larry Harrell ran off tackle for forty-eight yards and a touchdown.   Ben Ussery powered over right guard for the extra point.  With time running out, the Southampton defense nailed a Virginia Beach passer in his own end zone for a safety.  With just seconds left in the game, the Southampton team scored again — a screen pass from Westbrook to Ussery, who galloped twenty-two yards untouched.  Ussery, over right guard, scored the extra point.    

On Nov. 13, 1964, the Southampton Indians played their final game of the season -against the Franklin Broncos.  Southampton displayed the same powerhouse football they had shown all season.  Southampton totaled 357 rushing yards, but it was the passing that accounted for four of their seven touchdowns.  Altogether, Southampton gained six hundred and twenty yards.  Their strong defense yielded yardage to Franklin only in the final quarter.

Southampton received the opening kickoff and marched seventy yards; Westbrook took the ball in for a touchdown from the one-yard line.  On the next series of plays, Southampton stormed downfield for seventy-four yards, with Harrell receiving the football on a screen pass for a touchdown.  Midway in the second quarter, Westbrook, on a first downplay, scooted around left end.  He ran into Franklin defenders and pitched out to Harrell, who was running wide; he trotted over the goal line untouched.

With thirty-two seconds left in the first half, Westbrook passed to end Walker Gillette for another touchdown.  At halftime, Southampton led twenty-seven to zero.  In the third quarter, after an exchange of fumbles and pass interceptions, Westbrook scored again from the three-yard line. 

At the beginning of the third quarter, Franklin began to come to life.  Fullback Billy Atkinson ripped off a pair of 12-yard runs – back-to-back – putting Franklin in Southampton territory for the first time, but they gave up the ball on downs and a long penalty.  Right away, the Indians converted the stalled Franklin drive into another touchdown.  Second team quarterback Scott Hill fired a 31-yard pass to William Gillette who ran for a touchdown. 

Franklin countered with a passing barrage.  Quarterback Cliff Cutchins rifled a thirty-seven yarder to Billy Atkinson, who bolted over the goal line for Franklin’s first score.  Southampton scored again on a sixty-yard drive when Harrell swept the left end of the line four yards and his third touchdown. 

Cutchins connected on passes to Atkinson and Burgess, before Frankie Rabil pulled in a ten-yard Franklin touchdown by leaping high in the air between two Southampton defenders to get the football – with forty-nine seconds left on the clock. 

The game ended with Southampton on the Franklin thirty-five-yard line. With a cherished forty-seven to twelve victory over the Franklin Broncos, the Southampton Indians climaxed a championship season.  They clinched the District One, Group Two title – with ten wins and zero losses.  

About a year ago, Doug Marks — a guard on the team — commented on the 1964 Southampton Indians football team.  “That team never got the recognition of “State Champion”, but in our hearts, we knew that team was the best in the state, and probably the best ever to compete at Southampton High School.   The 1964 Southampton team came along prior to State playoffs.”

CLYDE PARKER is a retired human resources manager for the former Franklin Equipment Co. and a member of the Southampton County Historical Society. His email address is magnolia101@charter.net.