Brownwood News – Raise your hand if you remember this slogan … ‘Action 71.’
It was 48 years ago that local sports fans first heard those words … ‘Action 71.’ That was the year (1971) Howard Payne College Coach James Cameron took his Yellow Jacket football team to Seguin for the season opener against the Texas Lutheran Bulldogs.
Little did anyone know, at that time, a 7-0 win over the Bulldogs would launch what has become known as HPC’s dream season.
That year, Howard Payne finished the year ranked third in the NAIA’s national rankings with nine wins, one loss and one tie. The 1971 Yellow Jackets claimed their share of the Lone Star Conference football championship and earned an invitation to play in the Cowboy Bowl in Lawton, Oklahoma!
A special honors banquet is set for Saturday at 5 p.m. at Coggin Avenue Baptist Church. Dallas Houston, local radio celebrity, will recognize players and coaches from that 1971 Howard Payne College football team, according to Denise Hudson of Visit Early.
“As I researched the 1971 Howard Payne football team, I began to realize what a very special time and team this was. The team was loaded with outstanding players in every position. The coaching staff of James Cameron, Dean Slayton, Howard Mayo and Wayne Rathke took this team from a lowly pre-season pick to winning the Lone Star Conference Football Championship.
Let me take you back in history, said Ms. Hudson …
It was a hot, humid Saturday afternoon on September 11, 1971 in the south Texas town of Seguin. On that day, Yellow Jackets fumbled three times, had a pass intercepted and was penalized 11 times for 91 yards; yet, the Paynemen held a talented Texas Lutheran team scoreless and right then and there, a storybook football season had its beginning.
Next on the schedule was nationally ranked Northwestern Louisiana State University. The Indians came to Brownwood looking to gain in their national ranking, but quickly discovered the Yellow Jackets were firing on all cylinders that Saturday afternoon in old Lions Stadium. Howard Payne recorded an impressive 24-7 win and the Jackets notched their second win of 1971.
Game three was on the road in Nacogdoches and Howard Payne found itself in a slugfest with the Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks. This was the game where the HPC coaching staff verified that there was no quit in this team. Every snap of the football was contested; yet, the Yellow Jackets met the challenge, battling from behind to take a 38-27 win over SFA.
Things were beginning to jell for the Yellow Jackets. They had a gutsy, never give-up quarterback in Ronnie Colliflower. The defense was looking solid with Ken Sanders at defensive end and big Robert Woods at middle linebacker.
Next up was East Texas State University and more than 4,000 hometown fans turned out to witness Howard Payne’s 37-13 destruction of the East Texas State Lions.
The Jackets were on a rampage. They had a share of the Lone Star Conference lead and were not about to give it up as they made the long trip to Alpine for a decisive 37-0 win over the Sul Ross Lobos. In that game, the Baptists exploded for 27 points in the second half. By the end of the fourth quarter, the Yellow Jackets had established pure football dominance!
Next on the schedule was a heartbreaker that stunned the players and their coaches. It was a game they should have won. A defense that had looked so solid in earlier games was unable to put the brakes on the Angelo State Rams in the second half. Howard Payne fell from the ranks of the unbeaten. It was a two-point loss, 28-26.
Now, it was gut-check time for the Blue and Gold and there were some questions that needed to be answered. Just how good was this Howard Payne football team? Could the defense that had looked so impressive early in the season pull itself together and put HPC back on the winning track?
The HPC coaches were concerned about how their players would respond after the loss in San Angelo. Tarleton State Texans were next up and this one would be test time for the Howard Payne Yellow Jackets. HPC opened that game with a pounding offense behind devastating blocks from fullback Bobby Hammer (what a great football name), and on that game-day Saturday, tailback Charles Louis ripped threw the Texans’ defense. It was a 29-14 win for HPC.
Now loomed the biggest challenges of the 1971 season … were the Yellow Jackets ready for the toughest part of their schedule? Would it be possible to beat the defending National Champs? Texas A&I was waiting in Kingsville; and HPC still had to match football muscle with an extremely talented team from San Marcos, the Southwest Texas State Bobcats. It wasn’t going to get any easier for the Yellow Jackets.
Coach Cameron quickly placed his team’s focus on the next opponent, Sam Houston State’s Bearkats. Early in that game in Huntsville, nothing was working, and the Yellow Jackets saw the Bearkats build a 17 to nothing lead. With their backs to the wall, the Blue and Gold came together. Play-by-play, they began overpowering the Bearkats, final score … Howard Payne 53, Sam Houston State 17!
Howard Payne was just one game out of first place but on November 6, 1971 in a frigid old Lions Stadium, the Southwest Texas Bobcats almost knocked HPC out of the title chase. The two teams battled to a 9-9 tie, leaving the Jackets at 5-1-1 on the season.
The defending national champs were up next and HPC had to face the Javelinas on their home turf in Kingsville. Ironically, the game was played on the opening day of hunting season. It was November 13, 1971 and the Yellow Jackets bagged themselves a trophy Javelina. In that game, HPC scored every way the rule book would allow, and handed Texas A&I its first home loss, 20-14, in five years, knocking the Javelinas from the ranks of the unbeaten.
One regular season game was left on the schedule and Howard Payne needed two things to happen. They needed to beat the McMurry Indians, and they needed Southwest Texas to hand Texas A&I its second straight loss.
That final week was the dream come true. The Yellow Jackets easily put the Indians back on the reservation, 40-0; and the Bobcats beat the Javelinas 29-24 … and Howard Payne College claimed its share of the 1971 Lone Star Conference Football Championship!
That was the year that HPC received a bowl invitation. Cameron University was home to a powerful football team called the Cowboys. This would be the finale to that storybook season. The Yellow Jackets flexed their football muscle and won the Cowboy Bowl, 16-13.
Coggin Avenue Baptist Church is expecting more than 40 players, former coaches and fans to be in Brownwood for this special ceremony, recognizing what could be the greatest Yellow Jacket football team of all-time!
