FOOTBALL: Jonesville Bulldogs Were Ultimate Underdogs

BY TIM HAYES
Bristol Herald Courier
Brett Clark vividly remembers how the scene unfolded on that chilly December afternoon 21 years ago at Bullitt Park in Big Stone Gap.

A sophomore quarterback at the time, Clark had just helped Jonesville High School earn a wild 21-20 overtime victory over Strasburg and secure the Virginia High School League Group A, Division 1 state title trophy.

It capped the most improbable championship season in Southwest Virginia history. The Bulldogs had struggled to a 5-5 record in the regular season and were an afterthought in many fans’ minds. Also, the Lee County school was in its final year of existence.

Consolidation forced the school to close and combine with former archrival Pennington and non-football playing schools Dryden, Keokee and Flatwoods to form the brand new Lee High in the fall of 1989.

But Dec. 3, 1988 truly belonged to the Jonesville Bulldogs, and a Hollywood screen writer could not have scripted a more dramatic ending.

Fans poured onto the field and screamed at the top of their lungs, tears were shed and embraces were shared. It might have all seemed like a blur to the players and coaches at the time, but the scope
of the accomplishment is now clearly in focus for those involved.

“It was just an unbelievable feeling,” Clark said. “I don’t know if we really knew what we had just accomplished back then because we were so young. But every year that passes, it seems to become more special for the guys on that team.”

Ultimate underdogs
Jonesville entered its final season with high hopes, but it faced some harsh realities. Only 30 players were on the Bulldogs’ preseason eligibility list, and only six full-time starters were back from the year before.

The team wasn’t ranked in the Bristol Herald Courier’s Southwest Virginia preseason top 10 poll, and the reality that it was the team’s final season hung over the players.

Yet, the team had a proven head coach in John Cooke and a tough group of players.

“There was not a kid on that team that would not stick you hard,” said Gary Pendergraft, an assistant coach on the team. “They were so hard-nosed.”

However, the regular season was full of tough losses and missed opportunities. That included a 14-0 loss to rival Pennington in the regular-season finale, during which the Bulldogs allowed 226 rushing
yards in the 30th and final meeting between the schools.

The Bulldogs squeaked into the playoffs and had to face Appalachia, the state’s top-ranked team, in the opening round.

Showing no fear, Jonesville recovered a botched punt in the first quarter and scored a few plays later on Pete Lawson’s touchdown run. Tim Spence followed with an extra-point kick.

Appalachia scored in the second quarter but missed a 2-point conversion attempt. Jonesville held on for a 7-6 victory in what might have been the turning point in the ’Dogs’ season.

“When I saw our QB under center at the end of the Appalachia game and the confidence in all those young men’s eyes after that game, I knew we had a shot at winning,” Pendergraft said.

Jonesville clinched the Region D title a week later with a 7-0 win over Rye Cove. A 63-yard touchdown run on the game’s second play by sophomore running back Brady Yeary, who had been the workhorse all season, was all Jonesville needed.

Jonesville was the underdog in the state semifinals, facing a high-octane Rural Retreat team that featured quarterback Tony Copenhaver. Cooke tapped into his memory bank to come up with a game plan to stop the Indians’ air attack.

“He threw for like three touchdowns and 280-some yards [when Jonesville scouted them], and I noticed [the opponent] didn’t have any pressure on him,” Cooke said. “[In the state semifinals] we ran a 6-2 defense and 99.9 percent of the game, I sent eight men at him.”

It worked. Copenhaver was intercepted five times, including three by Jonesville cornerback Shawn Morris. Yeary’s touchdown run and 2-point conversion in overtime sealed a 15-7 win that sent Jonesville into the state finals against yet another heavily favored opponent.

“I know it’s cliché  but I don’t really remember anyone giving us much of a chance,” Clark said. “All through the playoffs, we were supposed to lose to Appalachia, Rye Cove, Rural Retreat, and then, of course, Strasburg. They came in at 13-0 and some of their fans were overhead saying that the trophy should ... be given to them and the game was just an afterthought. That gave us some extra incentive, as if we needed any more.”

State shocker
Strasburg was likely shocked when Jonesville matched them yard for yard and hit for hit in the early stages of the state championship game. Still, the Rams held a seven-point edge entering the waning moments.

But, as it had all season, an amazing sequence of events occurred.

On a drive late in the game, Cooke called for the “Appalachia Special,” a play that had been put into the playbook in August before the season-opener against Appalachia.

The gutsy call worked. The ball went to tight end Mark Sweeney on a reverse, who then pulled up and fired a perfect touchdown pass to Robbie Newman with 1:22 left in regulation to knot the score at 14-14. It was the only TD reception of the season for Newman, an unheralded 5-foot-6, 135-pound hero.

In overtime, Jonesville scored first on a Spence run and kick. Strasburg scored, too, but the Rams were stopped on a 2-point conversion try.

That set off a raucous Jonesville celebration.

“I can remember one of the toughest kids I have ever seen on a football field, Tim Spence, coming over to me, and he was crying so hard and so happy, and I just hugged him for what seemed like an hour,” Pendergraft said.

The aftermath
To say that Jonesville’s victory caused a commotion in the small town would be an understatement.

“They went wild,” Cooke said. “We had a Christmas parade, and the football team was on the floats. It was the first state championship in Lee County, and you know how old Lee County is.”

Many players went on to star at the new Lee High. Cooke stayed in the area for a while in administrative roles, but eventually got the itch to coach again.

He eventually led Roanoke Catholic to a state private school title and is believed to be the first coach in Virginia history to win state titles at a public school and private school.

Jonesville has been closed for more than two decades, and many former coaches and players interviewed for this story don’t know what happened to the state championship trophy.

However, the memories still remain.

“We could see the construction [of Lee High] there at Ben Hur,  and we definitely wanted to make it a season we would never forget,” Yeary said. “It was probably more memorable by the way the events ended up occurring than if we had planned it or drew up a script ourselves.”

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