Hillcrest High School Alumni
Dallas, Texas (TX)
Alumni Stories
George C. Sowan
Class of 1973
I am a published sportswriter. I wrote for a major car magazine for almost 5 years, MazdaSport Magazine.
My story is about the annual touch football game at Hillcrest between the Juniors (Class of 1973) and the Seniors (Class of 1972). The game took place in 1972 at Franklin Field, if I remember correctly.
We (the Juniors 1973) were the underdogs going into the game. Few thought we had a chance to win. Even though this was "touch" football, the rules were 2 hand touch below the ankles, so it was a very physical game. In the early part of the game during the first half we were dominating the Seniors (1972 Class) and they didn't like it one bit. We were kicking their butts up and down the field . Things started to get ugly towards the end of the first half. We were ahead by at least 2 touchdowns at halftime.
I (George Sowan) played on the offensive and defensive lines during this game. I was having a great game. I think Mark Middlebrooks was our quarterback and I had played on his team during the intramural football season. I liked Mark. He was a good leader and a heck of a quarterback.
Bruce Feldman, quarterback for the Seniors, didn't like the intense pass rush we were giving him. I got to him several times and so did our other defensive lineman. I knew Bruce and thought I had a friendly relationship with him, but when we were beating his team and making him look mediocre, he started getting very angry. He would start cussing us out whenever we pressured him. He did not have a good first half at all. As I said, the first half ended with our 1973 having a big lead. Things were about to change dramatically in the 2nd half, however. The Juniors had no idea of what was in store for us in the 2nd half.
The Seniors were upset and embarrassed that we were kicking their ass. When the 2nd half started all of a sudden the cheap shots and dirty play started. The Seniors were going out of their way to injure players on the 1973 Junior team. Late hits and cheap shots were happening all over the field. The 72 Senior team was intentionally hurting players on the 73 Junior team. On 1 play during the 2nd half I was rushing the quarterback. One of the Senior offensive lineman (a big guy named Frank with short blond hair) was blocking me. Out of nowhere, the guy playing tackle next to Frank popped up in front of me and leveled me with a hard forearm hit. It was obvious that he and Frank had planned the hit on me beforehand. The hit gave me a concussion. I didn't know what day it was. It knocked the hell out of me. I had to temporarily leave the game and was never the same player after this vicious intentional illegal hit to my head. Similar acts of violence were being committed against my teammates on the 73 Junior team. There were bodies laying all over the field.
The Seniors finally pulled ahead late in the 2nd half and ended up winning the game, but they didn't have anything to be proud about. They didn't win because they were more talented or better football players. It became a game of attrition and we just ran out of healthy players. And many of my 73 Junior teammates were intimidated when the 72 Seniors started playing dirty.
I still remember how brutal this game was. There was no sportsmanship shown by the 73 Seniors. They wanted to win the game no matter how many people got hurt. I briefly thought about going to the 1972 Hillcrest 50th Reunion to see if I could spot any of the jerks I played against that night.
The final part of my story is a message to many of my teammates on the 73 Junior team. I didn't forget how a lot of you just stood around and did nothing when myself and others got hurt. I wanted to fight back against the 72 Seniors but hardly anyone on my team would offer to help. If any members of the 73 Junior team who were playing that night and stood by doing nothing while seeing their teammates get hurt are reading my story, I hope you are ashamed of what you did.
Whenever I played sports or even in the business world, I was taught to stand up and protect my teammates and co-workers. Well, on that night in 1972 you didn't do that and I hope that is burned into your memories.
George C. Sowan
Hillcrest Class of 1973
Contributing Editor
MazdaSport Magazine
My story is about the annual touch football game at Hillcrest between the Juniors (Class of 1973) and the Seniors (Class of 1972). The game took place in 1972 at Franklin Field, if I remember correctly.
We (the Juniors 1973) were the underdogs going into the game. Few thought we had a chance to win. Even though this was "touch" football, the rules were 2 hand touch below the ankles, so it was a very physical game. In the early part of the game during the first half we were dominating the Seniors (1972 Class) and they didn't like it one bit. We were kicking their butts up and down the field . Things started to get ugly towards the end of the first half. We were ahead by at least 2 touchdowns at halftime.
I (George Sowan) played on the offensive and defensive lines during this game. I was having a great game. I think Mark Middlebrooks was our quarterback and I had played on his team during the intramural football season. I liked Mark. He was a good leader and a heck of a quarterback.
Bruce Feldman, quarterback for the Seniors, didn't like the intense pass rush we were giving him. I got to him several times and so did our other defensive lineman. I knew Bruce and thought I had a friendly relationship with him, but when we were beating his team and making him look mediocre, he started getting very angry. He would start cussing us out whenever we pressured him. He did not have a good first half at all. As I said, the first half ended with our 1973 having a big lead. Things were about to change dramatically in the 2nd half, however. The Juniors had no idea of what was in store for us in the 2nd half.
The Seniors were upset and embarrassed that we were kicking their ass. When the 2nd half started all of a sudden the cheap shots and dirty play started. The Seniors were going out of their way to injure players on the 1973 Junior team. Late hits and cheap shots were happening all over the field. The 72 Senior team was intentionally hurting players on the 73 Junior team. On 1 play during the 2nd half I was rushing the quarterback. One of the Senior offensive lineman (a big guy named Frank with short blond hair) was blocking me. Out of nowhere, the guy playing tackle next to Frank popped up in front of me and leveled me with a hard forearm hit. It was obvious that he and Frank had planned the hit on me beforehand. The hit gave me a concussion. I didn't know what day it was. It knocked the hell out of me. I had to temporarily leave the game and was never the same player after this vicious intentional illegal hit to my head. Similar acts of violence were being committed against my teammates on the 73 Junior team. There were bodies laying all over the field.
The Seniors finally pulled ahead late in the 2nd half and ended up winning the game, but they didn't have anything to be proud about. They didn't win because they were more talented or better football players. It became a game of attrition and we just ran out of healthy players. And many of my 73 Junior teammates were intimidated when the 72 Seniors started playing dirty.
I still remember how brutal this game was. There was no sportsmanship shown by the 73 Seniors. They wanted to win the game no matter how many people got hurt. I briefly thought about going to the 1972 Hillcrest 50th Reunion to see if I could spot any of the jerks I played against that night.
The final part of my story is a message to many of my teammates on the 73 Junior team. I didn't forget how a lot of you just stood around and did nothing when myself and others got hurt. I wanted to fight back against the 72 Seniors but hardly anyone on my team would offer to help. If any members of the 73 Junior team who were playing that night and stood by doing nothing while seeing their teammates get hurt are reading my story, I hope you are ashamed of what you did.
Whenever I played sports or even in the business world, I was taught to stand up and protect my teammates and co-workers. Well, on that night in 1972 you didn't do that and I hope that is burned into your memories.
George C. Sowan
Hillcrest Class of 1973
Contributing Editor
MazdaSport Magazine
Recent Members
| Bennie Hamilton Bennie Hamilton | 1987 |
| Bucky Buckley Walter A Buckley Iii | 1961 |
| Diane T. Taylor | 1965 |
| Linda Feldman Linda Feldman | 1963 |
| Linda Lawson | 1969 |
| Mary Knowles | 1964 |
| Pris Gelfand | 1961 |
| Todd Thomas | 1979 |
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