Inductees

Back in 1977, a football season that had begun in the warmth of the late-summer sun reached the Class 1 state championship game only to be faced with two opponents – one being an ice storm.

Quarterback David McNeel remembers it being 9 degrees. Coach Jim Dykens says it was a little warmer, maybe 10, with a strong wind. Still, there the Greenfield Wildcats were north of Kansas City, carrying the weight of their rural community on their collective shoulders.

“I remember walking around outside the locker room before the game, and my hat flew off,” Dykens said. “I thought, ‘How are we ever going to take a hit? How are we going to hold on to the football?’ The ground was like concrete.”

Greenfield instead showed its grit, grinding out a victory that stands as the last football state title in rural Dade County history. And its success – and character shown throughout – is why the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame is proud to induct the 1977 Greenfield High School State Championship Football Team with the Class of 2019.

Those Wildcats finished 12-0 after a 20-6 victory against King City, galvanizing an entire rural community.

“The whole team bought in,” Dykens said. “When we got past the quarterfinals, we realized it was bigger than just football. People from far away would send us telegrams and tell us how proud they were. I remember it all.”

How could anyone forget?

Dykens, 32 years old at the time, was in his first season as a varsity coach after having coached several seasons in Greenfield’s junior high. Assistants were Mike Brown, Butch Vaughn and John Shipley.

The Wildcats entered 1977 with only six seniors –McNeel, Bill Andrews and Johnny Wooldridge were senior starters – and had a talented junior class.

The offense featured center Jeff Russell, guards Roger Grider and Todd Decker, tackles Scott Taylor and Darrel Huchmann and tight end James Reeves. Joe Hembree and Randy Meadows were fullbacks, with Joe Reeves at tailback and Andrews a flanker.

A lot of those players also played on defense, but had help from Kevin Sullivan, Brian Sullivan, Greg Killingsworth and Steve Wynes. Wayne Crouch, Darren West and Bobby Bryant also were key parts of the 45-man roster.

Dykens, who had grown up in Carterville near Joplin, had coached most Wildcats in their junior high days and had mentored under Greenfield football coach Tony Phillips and basketball coach Bob Jackson.

“For eight years, I sat there and learned from them,” Dykens said. “I certainly learned all about Blue & White Pride and this great community.”

For 1977, Dykens changed the offense to an I formation with double wideouts and a “5-2 monster” defense and didn’t think twice about doing it.

“That group was so smart. We had National Honor Society and President’s scholarship winners,” Dykens said.

Two years earlier, Greenfield finished as a state runner-up and lost to Marionville in the 1976 playoffs.

“We figured it was win it all or bust,” McNeel said. “We were going to run the table from the get-go.”

In the championship game, Greenfield trailed for the first time all season, but rallied as McNeel hit Andrews for a long touchdown pass just before halftime.

One of the most important plays was a 70-yard punt by Andrews, who had to fake out a tackler near the goal line and still got of a punt. When the ball hit the frozen ground, it shot forward like out of a cannon and pinned King City deep in its own territory.

Scott Taylor blocked a punt that Decker turned into a TD.

Those plays were emblematic of Greenfield’s season, especially in the postseason. The Wildcats beat Marionville 7-0 thanks to a stout defense. In the semifinals, they turned back Cass-Midway 14-12, with Reeves busting a 50-yard touchdown run – on third-and-35 no less – after penalties wiped out the two prior plays, both TDs.

“After those three plays, I felt like our offense was humming along,” McNeel said.

Earning All-State honors were McNeel (quarterback  & linebacker), Andrews at defensive back, Grider, James Reeves, Decker and Wynes. McNeel went on to be a starting linebacker at Mizzou and played four seasons in the Canadian Football League.

“At some point in the year, we had our mandatory running and then a few of us stayed after practice to run. And then the whole team would stay,” McNeel said. “That was an important part of the season. We were team in every sense of the word.”