by Joe Stout
1946 seemed to be a new beginning. The war was over and no longer were the graduating classes going to be 95% girls.
We also had a new bunch of teachers that were not much older than the graduating class. There were, Miss Maddox, Mr. Holmes, Miss Rowlett, Mr. Gulley along with returning teachers Mrs. Brooks, Mrs. Payne, Mr. Orr and a new principal Mr. Tuck following Mr. L.S. Miles.
John Gulley taught history, phys. Ed. And was the new football coach. During the war years Mr. Smith served as coach with the help of some former football players but he was not a trained coach. Mr. Gulley was a strict disciplinarian compared to what all the team had been used to in the previous years. This season of 1946 promised to be a good year for football at Greenfield High. One of the main problems Coach Gulley had was that his way of coaching and the lax way that had been done in the past caused many of us to resent this new way.
If you were born after 1940 the single wing formation that Coach Gulley taught us and used would seem strange. This was about the time the T formation came into use. Prior to that time most games in football would be low scoring games on both teams if they were fairly equally matched. The single wing was a game of systematically gaining a few yards at a time and punting to keep the opponent in his own territory.
Coach Gulley’s teaching was just the basics and using them to perfection as well as the most rigorous physical workout possible. Much of our practice would be calisthenics, blocking the dummies (including using each other as the dummies by standing still) running no less than 15 laps around the outside of the field. Watching the teams of today I wonder if there would be any players if that type of practice were used now.
Mr. Gulley was one of those persons that did not engage in conversation with anyone. He would answer questions, give directions, but his use of words were the least that he could use in coaching, teaching or just everyday interaction with people. Because of this he was given the nickname of Silent John.
We were to be in bed by 9 p.m. each night and John would make his usual walk (he had no car) around downtown to see that none of his players were out past curfew.
The Gleason game that year was a close one and in the final minutes we were behind just a few points. We were down on about the five yard line and Travis Usery the tailback carried the ball on a plunge for what we thought was a touchdown. “Swat” Scarbrough from McKenzie was officiating the game and he ruled that Travis’ knee touched the ground on the one foot line. This caused us to lose the game and the fans and players were enraged. The officials had to be escorted out of town and some of us players along with fans chased them at high speed all the way to Dresden where they went into a restaurant and the police came to protect them.
Those of us that participated were kicked off the team and Greenfield was put on probation by the TSSAA. This caused what was a promising season to end up being a mediocre one.
Mr. Scarbrough became the mayor of McKenzie years later but he never officiated another ballgame.
Coach Gulley and Miss Rowlett returned the following year as teachers and began dating. Later in the year they married. This was my senior year and I was allowed to go out for football again and I was in the wing back position which was a pass receiving and reverse hand off type running play under the single wing formation. But as luck would have it, James Lee “Horsefly” Rogers, our quarterback was ruled ineligible to play. “Horsefly had played while in the eighth grade and under the rules you could only play four years. The quarterback position under the single wing formation was not a ball handling or running position as it is in the T. formation. It is basically a running interference and blocking position for the fullback and tailback.
Blocking was not my strong suit but Coach Gulley was forced to put me in this position due to the limited number of experienced players on the team. Other than instructions from Coach Gulley and being asked questions by him in class I had never had a conversation with him. Praise from him on the football field was a rarity or even an unknown.
In the game that year with Princeton, KY we were deep in their territory. A double reverse play was called. This was a play where the ball was centered directly to the fullback who then spun around handing the ball off to the wingback running around the left side and just after receiving the ball handed off to the left end running in the opposite direction around the right side. The other team was fooled on this play other than the right end and their left halfback on defense. My job was to run interference and block the opposing player. These two opponents were side by side and were the only thing that could stop James Porter our left end from scoring. I threw a block on the left end low below the knees cutting him down completely. The left halfback did tackle James after a short gain. Coach Gulley sent in the next play by Billy Wright who was my substitute. As I was coming up to Coach Gulley I was certain he would tell me what a nice block I had made on the left end but instead he asked, “why didn’t you block both of those men.”
In later years at the first reunion of our class of “48″, John attended and carried on a conversation with me for quite some time. This conversation in one night was more than the total of what we had in the two years I had known him while in school.
In recent years Greenfield has had what we call homecoming where we have a dinner and anyone that has ever attended Greenfield High comes for this gathering. Silent John has never missed a “47 or “48″ class reunion or a homecoming in over 50 years until last year after losing a bout with cancer.
He was missed.