Burleson Star (Burleson, Tex.), Vol. 18, No. 10, Ed. 1 Thursday, November 18, 1982 Page: 4 of 32
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4A -Burleson Star, Thursday, November 18, 1982
Star?VSports
No fame or fortune, but Rangers play on
B\ STEW \HT APPI.IN
The radio, the character
istic hum of the motors, and
the bumps and dips of I-35W
compete with the dozen or so
conversations on the con-
verted Trmlways bus
The Inis is about two thirds
lull ot Mansfield Hanger foot-
ball players and coaches and a
few wives, girlfriends, and
assorted friends on their way
from Fort Worth to Oklahoma
i ity Two coaches in the front
seats are going over their play
book Several players read the
Saturday morning news
papers, mostly the sports sec-
tions one player is already
asleep before the bus reaches
I teuton
The tensions and anticipa-
tion usual before a football
game are already beginning to
show, even now seven hours
before the evening game is to
begin The Mansfield semi pro
team heads toward Oklahoma
with its back to the wall,
needing to win the game to
make the fourth and final
playotl berth in the North
Texas Football League
Mam of the players are
thinking atiout the good start
the team had. the optimism
during the almost forgotten
hot days of August when the
Hangers won two and tied two
in the first four games of the
year Hut the Hangers were
brought down to earth in
September and October, los-
ing live of six games, to find
themselves in the position of
having to win their final two
games to advance to post
season action
t ill CONVERSATION on
the bus jumps from today's
Texas Texas Tech game to the
pro football strike to
Burleson's unexpectedly large
51 n loss to Hichland the night
betore
Linebacker Greg Bowling,
tackle Jell < 'mss, and split end
Steve Fiscus. all of Burleson,
discuss the fallen fortunes of
the Burleson High football
teams m recent years Cross
and Fiscus both played foot
ball at Burleson High School.
Another Burlesoa- graduate,
quarterback Bobbie Bransom,
is driving up to the game this
evening and w ill meet the bus
n i Iklalioma City
Howling, standing in the
middle of the aisle, remarks
that he was ill when he heard
the final score of the Hichland
Burleson game The mustach-
ed Bowling is an intense com
petitor and has been trying to
instill some of his winning
- pi r it in the players he
coaches at Hughes Middle
School
The lall and muscular Bowl
mg grew up in Lubhock and
played football, basketball,
and baseball at Monterey
High Baseball was his forte in
school as he pitched the
Plainsmen to the quarter-
finals his sophomore year and
the state championship his
senior year in Class 4A in 1972
"At that time, football was
only my second sport," he
said Scouts from Texas A&M
watched his performances
from the mound and offered
him the chance to pitch for the
Aggies in college
lit I TWO weeks before he
w as to set off for college, Bowl
ing was hit hv a car while he
was ruling his hike and he
broke his wrist in his pitching
arm His arm was in a cast for
several months and he later
needed a bone graft
Bowling never went back to
baseball but tried out as a
walk on for the Texas Tech
football team He played some
under Steve Sloan and
graduated from the Lubbock
school in 1977
While hoping to get into
coaching, he worked for a
time at a pharmacy and later
went into teaching He and his
wife .lull, who he married
while a sophomore at Texas
Tech and who is accompany-
ing him to the game today,
took positions in the Burleson
elementary school system
Bowling finally got the
chance to coach this school
year, taking his first coaching
job at Hughes Middle School
He coached the seventh grade
football teams to a combined
record of 112-2 this fall, their
best record in many years
After being beat up in foot-
ball during college as a
175-pound end, Bowling took
up weightlifting six years ago
to build up his weight and
strength He has brought his
weight up to 223 pounds in 1982
and was 11th in the nation in
his weight class in a power lif-
ting meet in Arkansas three
years ago
He played with the Fort
Worth Wranglers for several
seasons and, when they moved
to Mesquite, joined the
Mansfield Hangers semi pro
team
W HV IHIFS he continue to
play football even as he moves
into his late 20s'’ "I'm out
there because I love the game
As long as I keep enjoying It, I
can still hit hard, and I don't
get hurt, why not'’"
Bowling looks hack at his
wife Juli who is sitting with
some of the other wives.
"She's gone to most nf the
games this season," he says,
"She's behind me She's
always supported me in what
I’ve done " Juli teaches
kindergarten at Mound
Elementary and was going to
bring their three year old
daughter Brooke to tonight's
game but she got sick and is
staying with their grand
parents
I hope to be a fixture. ”
Bowling says of his coaching
career at Hughes, I'm going
to fight to change attitudes as
long as I can " He leaves no
doubt that he thinks that the
high school can once again he
a football power
Teammate Jeff Cross will
play offensive tackle tonight
In the hack of his mind is the
Oklahoma City defensive
player he w ill have to face He
nervously discusses "No tin,
the reputedly huge defensive
end for the Oklahoma City
team, with his offensive line
colleagues
ing which he has been at for
three years He has been
working out for a month at the
Burleson Boys Club after not
competing for a year BBC
boxing coach Haul Stephens
has been giving him
assistance as he trains
A heavyweight boxer, the
soft-spoken Cross has fought
only 11 bouts "That's not very
many," he observes. “That's
my problem I don't have
much experience." He will he
in a boxing tournament this
month I know boxing helps
football,'' he said of the two
sports “You have to be in
much better condition to box
than to play football
A little over an hour after
crossing the Hed Hiver into
Oklahoma, the bus pulls off
the Pauls Valley exit and
several minutes later pulls in
front of Ben s Country Kitchen
Restaurant
The talk at the tables of the
players and coaches Is about
No 9o.' the lineman who Is
expected to be a major pro
blent to keep out of the
hackfield this evening The
conversation also turns to
topics such as the Mansfield
and Burleson football pro
grams and [he World Series
between Milwaukee and St
Louis
One coach says that the
Greg Bowling lifts weights
and Jeff Cross boxes.
( ROSS PLAYED in both the
offensive and defensive line
for the Burleson Klks during
his high school career He was
named the Defensive Player
of the 't ear in 1978, Burleson's
first and best year in the
state's highest classification
Cross participated in
freshmen football at Mc.Murry
College in Abilene hut
transferred to the l diversity
of Texas at Arlington and
dropped football He plans to
go back to l TA and finish
school after working for his
father at a roofing company in
Fort Worth in recent months
Having grown up in
Burleson. Cross will return
here in January after having
lived in Arlington for one year
He played two years with the
Fort Worth Falcons before
joining the Hangers this year
Cross's older brother played
for the football Klks in 1989
when they last won a district
title He shakes his head sadly
when asked about the Klks of
the late 1970s and early 1980s
"I really don't know They
don't have the quality players
They may be in school but
they don't want to come out
for football Cross explains
that a vicious cycle develops
as poor teams cause fewer
persons to come out which
causes still poorer teams He
says that many students he
knew got tired of football or
had to work when they got to
be juniors and seniors. Cross
said that didn't happen to him
because he didn't start to plav
football until he was in
seventh grade
CROSS'S avocation besides
football is Golden Gloves box
Hangers might have problems
playing on the field In
Oklahoma City Although
nobody has seen it, the
coaches have heard that it is
three feet higher in the middle
than at the sidelines “The
quarterback could lose sight
of his wide receiver," one
coach laughs
\FTER THE lunch that
ranges from hamburgers to
steak for the large group,
everyone hops back on the bus
for the final 55 miles to
(Iklahoma ( ity.
Among them is Steve Fiscus
who wears glasses on the field
at his starting split end posi
tion He is one of the players
who might fall out of sight on
the sideline patterns if the
rumors hold true
Fiscus. despite desrribing
his season as "so-so." has
done well this year with the
Hangers considering he never
played varsity football in high
school or college
After his family moved to
Burleson from Fort Worth in
1983. he tried out tor football
his junior >ear at Burleson
High hut quit the sport
because he had to work He
ran track his final two years of
high school and graduated in
1974
In the L .S Army for (our
years in the infantry at Fort
Bragg, N C , Fiscus returned
to Burleson in 1980 and has
worked as a machinist in
Fverman and Fort Worth the
past three years
I love Burleson, he states
"There's no comparison bet
ween Burleson and Fort
Worth The hig city has its ad
vantages but I II take a small
town any day " Fiscus was
married a year and is now'
divorced
DESPITE his lack of ex
perience, Fiscus will start
tonight at split end after hav
ing missed the last three
ballgames with a sprained
wrist The 28-year-old Fiscus
has caught nine passes and
had one TD reception this
season
Both Fiscus and Cross feel
thaf the Mansfield offense has
nof played up to expectations
in 1982 "The offense hasn't
played well We just haven't
jelled." Cross offers
Fiscus says that the team
has gotten more serious after
having started off well then
gone into a slump The offense
has scored onh aboul nine
points a game during the first
Id games
"We realized that we can't
do nothing if we don t prac
tice." Fiscus comments on the
team "Ynu have to work
together and get that timing
dow n," he says of the offense
Practice was irregular during
the early part of the season
and it eventually caught up
with the Hangers The team
gets together now every
Wednesday and Thursday
night
"It's hard to play a good
type of ball w ith people work
ing, Fiscus says The dif
ferent work schedules of
players has made it difficult to
hold practices and to get
together for games Players
are now wondering how many
people who said they would
drive themselves to tonight's
game will actually show up
THK HI S reaches
Oklahoma City at 4 3(1 pm
and takes the N F 2.3rd Street
exit off I 35 Since no one has
seen the playing field. Coach
Danny Crow is relying on
directions on a slip of paper
The bus slowly drives east
on C S 82 on the eastern edge
of (Iklahoma City, through
business and residential sec-
tions. for almost eight miles A
supermarket on the right
bustles with late Saturday
afternoon shoppers
We turn left and go down a
side road for several miles in
to the countryside but still no
sign of any football stadium
"It's probably someone's
backyard," someone jokes A
couple of miles later, wat
ching scattered homes and
leaves falling off the autumn
trees, one player asks, "Does
anybody know where were
going'’"
The bus stops and (he two
coaches in the front hold a
discussion The bus makes a
sharp left and heads hack
south, in the direction in which
we came We enter the City of
Spencer which consists of two
gas stations, a bank, a grocery
store, and a few houses There
is no activity on the mam
street as the sun begins setting
in the west
Thw bus stops and Crow
jumps out and asks two kids
playing by the side of the road
next to the train tracks where
the football field is They point
straight ahead
SKVKKAI. blocks later it is
located across the street from
Jubilant Rangers
Three very happy Mansfield Ranger players come off the field after upsetting the
Oklahoma Thunderchlefs 13-7 Oct. 30. From left are Burleson s Jeff Cross (87), Robert
Everett (46), and Todd Chaffin (10) the team’s barefooted placekicker.
Star Spencer High School The
field is situated right next fo a
kindergarten which has sw
ings, slides, and other outdoor
equipment "I got the sandbox
first,” one player says as the
Rangers leave the bus
"Inspection time,” Bowling
comments as he and several
Rangers walk over the field
three hours before game time
The field in indeed humpback
ed but, despite previous fears,
one can see I rum one sideline
to another with the use of a
periscope
What grass there is on the
field is dry and yellow The
ground between the
hashmarks is dirt Someone
from Spencer remarks that it
has only rained once here
since July
The playing held has a lot of
He still has traces of bit-
terness about all the coaching
changes at the school "We
had three different head
coaches my four years Every
year we had a new system
One vear a veer, one vear the
T
Bransom notes that there
were 100 out for football his
freshman years and bv his
senior season only 40.
Burleson s biggest problem
is lack of participation." he
says "They can turn it
around Cleburne did it
The slender quarterback
has few good memories from
his high school days but one
night stands out. the sixth
game of the 1978 season The
Sam Houston Texans had flat
tened the Klks in 1977 by a 67-0
score and were expected to do
Bransom keeps around right
end to the 25 and a first down
but a 38-vard field goal falls
just short
WITH 3:56 left in the half.
Mansfield forces an Oklahoma
City punt inside the Thunder
chief 20 Left tackle J C Sills
breaks through the line and
blocks the kick The hall rolls
into the right part of the end
zone and cornerback Danny
Stone falls on it for a
touchdown The Hangers gam
a 7-0 lead
Cross, who has been holding
his own against "No 90” and
the other large defensive
linemen, is pressed into duty
at linebacker where he joins
Bowling who already has a
fumble recovery to his credit
Bow ling, when not on the field.
( hilly hdns
A small contingent of wives, girlfriends and other fans braved the chills temperatures to
make the 20(1 mile Irqi to Oklahoma ( its to root for their favorite semi-pro team Parkas
and blankets were the rule at the night game held in Spencer. Okla
rocks on il hut the players are
unperturbed The field the
Hangers placed on in Garland
had a worse problem a
swarm of crickets "They
were so large that one tried to
tackle me, a player says with
Texas hyperbole
At 7pm. one hour before
the start of the game the sun
sets and the warm day quickly
turns Into a chilly evening A
strong cold south wind blows
from the home side of the field
to the visitor's side The full
moon rising over the east end
of the stadium reminds
everyone that Halloween is
tomorrow
THE HAM.Fits having
traversed two problems, fin
ding the stadium and taking
measure of the playing sur
face now are worried about a
third obstacle will there be
enough players to have a
game'’
There are only 16 players
here an hour before the game
and everyone is discussing do
ing duty at unfamiliar posi
tions One persons says that a
game shouldn't be risked
unless several more people
show up II is possible that
many of the players who were
driving up might have trouble
finding the out of the way
stadium on the outskirts of
Oklahoma City and never
make it tn the game
Two of the coaches, who pro
bablv haven't played high
school or college football in
many many years, suit up just
in ease
One player looks at me "Do
you want to suit up?" he asks
1 tell him 1 was a 122 pound
weakling in high school and
that I have never played
organized football in my life.
"Well, then, it's about time
you started'"
Three players drive up a lit
tie after 7 and two more strag
gle in at 7 15 Finally, starting
quarterback Robbie Bransom
drives up in his pickup and
quickly heads to the locker
room to don his uniform
Everyone is relieved
At game time, there are 25
Ranger players in uniform
BRANSOM IS a 1979
graduate of Burleson High He
was a starting quarterback,
tailback, fullback, and corner-
back in his junior and senior
year for the Elks
He does not have a lot of
good memories about high
school gridiron action.
Burleson won two games his
junior year and none his
senior. “My memories'’ A lot
of frustration We had a lot of
good talent . his voice
trails off as the remembrance
of the weekly losses returns
the same the next year The
Iexans gratified a 21 u lead
and held it to the (ourth
quarter when the Elks, behind
Bransnm s two touchdowns
and Inn yards rushing rallied
In lie the game 21 21 The tying
TD came on a 43 yard run by
Bransnm
\ CINCH to play college hall
despite Burleson's abysmal
record, Bransom broke two
vertebrae his senior year and
was hospitalized five days He
went to Tarleton State for a
year but didn't play football
Bransom has improved as
the season has progressed
after his three year absence
Irom competitive football
After an emphasis on a power
running game the first part of
the season, the Hangers are
passing more Offensive coach
Leslie Howard lets him call
his owns plays
He is thinking about trying
out with the new 1 mted States
Football League next March
as a defensive back "Her
sonally, I think I'm a lielter
defensive back than quarter
hack I'm too short to play
quarterback in the pros "
lake the other players in the
NTFL. Bransom receives no
money for play ing football and
has to buy his own equipment
Laved off from work Bran
sum thinks the CSFL looks
like a goixl chance
GAME TIME arrives The
crowd of 25 at 7 30 "swells" to
over 75 at 8 pm A small group
of Mansfield women are hud
died together under blankets
all alone in the visitors'
stands
Both teams are introduced
over the loudspeaker system
that works on only one side of
the field The Thunderchlefs
are larger, it is evident as the
two teams face each other
during the invocation Feared
"No 90” is indeed huge
But as the game progresses,
the favored second place
Oklahoma City team is played
toe-to-toe by the hard-hitting
Hangers The Thunderchief
offense is hurt by penalties
and the Mansfield defense,
rated the best in the league It
becomes a question of whether
the visitors can score some
points
The first quarter is a
scoreless defensive battle In
the second period, the
Rangers get a break when
their punter is roughed and
the ball is moved to the OC-40
yells encouragement to the ul
tense from the sidelines
Oklahoma Cdy makes two
long pass plays to move the
hall to the three with 35
seconds remaining m the halt
Hut I tie oxer oppoi t uiilsl u
Mansfield defense stops the
drive as Scott Harrison nails a
pass receiver causing a turn
Me w tiioh is i ecu', cred !*\
Robert Fv cretl
The Thundeii hints go into
the locker room ul haUlime
behind lor the first time this
sea -ul
I lit DORM \NT Hanger of
tense gels mm mg to start the
third quarter Fiscus secxips
up a low Bransom pass and
fights for a first down Several
plays later sparkplug Steve
Fhipps takes a pilohout and
breaks down the left sidelines
to the one t m the next play,
Phipps g(K‘s over left tackle
tor six points The extra point
is no good, making a 13-0 ad
vantage w ith 9 5.3 on the clix’k
Boh Wixxf recoveres a turn
hie at the OP-37 and the
Hangers drive to the five with
the opportunity to put the
game away But "No 90"
pounces on a Mansfield turn
hie and keeps his team in the
contest
The first play of the [ourth
quarter sees a long pass go lor
a touchdow n for (Iklahoma Ci
tv The PAT narrows the
margin to 13 7 and the visiting
players and fans start tilting
their fingernails as the cold
w ind whips in their faces
The Thunderchlefs drive to
the Hanger 36 midway
through the fourth peruxl oil a
long pass hut an Oklahoma Pi-
ty back is hammered and
coughs up the hall and the
alert Bowling, who was on the
sidelines with an injury for
part of the second half, comes
up with his second recovery at
the 31
THE RANGERS run four
minutes off the clock with a
long drive hut the Thunder
chiefs take over on their 18
after an interception A pass
puts the ball on the OP-47 and
another sideline pattern
moves the hall to the
Mansfield 33. But, with three
minutes to go in the game,
Phipps, playing in the defen-
sive secondary, plays a curl in
pattern perfectly and picks off
the pass at the 19
The Rangers on the
sidelines become more
Cont’d on Page 5A
An opportunistic defense
gives Rangers narrow win.
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Moody, James. Burleson Star (Burleson, Tex.), Vol. 18, No. 10, Ed. 1 Thursday, November 18, 1982, newspaper, November 18, 1982; Burleson, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth761135/m1/4/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Burleson Public Library.