Ownbey Sets Book Signing For 100 Years Of Bradley Football

Event Scheduled For Sunday At Cleveland Public Library

  • Wednesday, January 18, 2017
  • Larry Fleming

Bradley County basketball enthusiasts are well-acquainted with Gary Ownbey’s highly informative book on the history of Bradley Central High School Basketball 1921-2015 which has been on sale for months.

Now, Ownbey, a 1968 Bradley graduate, has a second contribution to Bradley Central athletics. It’s his, “100 Seasons of Black and Gold Glory – Relentless Pride, Honored Tradition,” an authoritative chronicle of Bears football from 1916 to 2016.

The football book is now on sale and the personable Ownbey will have a book signing at the History Branch of the Cleveland Public Library on Sunday, Jan. 22 at 2:30 p.m. Ownbey will personalize his signings on request.

The hard-covered football book sells for $30 and basketball for $20.

Ownbey’s final version of Bradley’s football history is 350-plus pages chocked full of stories, statistics, season-by-season recaps of every game played with “Bear Facts” added throughout the seasons.

And there are offensive, defensive, kicking and team records galore.

The book’s foreword is written by Steve Sloan, one of the most decorated student-athletes in Bradley Central history.

“Bradley is not just bricks and mortar,” Sloan wrote. “It is teachers who helped thousands of young people along the way. Teachers have an important job in our community. They set the tone for young people and put them on a path that makes their life count.

“Yes, athletics are important but people are important too. I hope and pray that teachers realize the influence that they have on these young adult lives.”

What about Louie Alford? He’s the only man to play for an undefeated Bradley team and later coach an undefeated Bears team to the Class 3A state championship. That’s in the book and comes complete with a game-by-game rundown of that 1976 season.

Then, there is the Elmore family (Ben, Harry, Franklin and Grayson), the only documented family with four generations of young men to play football for the Bears.

The book has plenty of pictures that will trigger old memories or wonderment from people who may not have known a certain fact about the school and its football program.

One picture celebrates the school’s first eight-student graduating class – four boys and four girls.

Bear Fact: Bradley’s first night game was played in 1930.

The Bears played 11 games that season and every loser failed to score, including Bradley. And one game against Kingsport was postponed due to a spinal meningitis outbreak in Kingsport. It was rescheduled and closed the season with the Bears taking a train to Kingsport to play the game the Bears won 39-0.

Bradley football has many glorious moments. Sometimes things didn’t work out so well. In 1967, bitter rival McMinn County whipped the Bears 71-7 and Bradley finished 2-8.

The Bears’ marvelous 1976 state championship season ended with a 13-0 record thanks to a 50-48, three-overtime victory over Jackson Central-Merry. It remains the school’s only TSSAA state title. The Bears won a mythical title in 1961 by finishing No. 1 in the final Litkenhous rankings.

Bears quarterback Scott Kyle scored a state-ranked 32 points in that Thanksgiving night contest, a mark that stood for decades. He scored five touchdowns and ran for a game-winning two-point conversion in the third overtime.

Alford has been quoted as saying just before the play, “Let’s get this thing over with because our defense can’t stop them and they can’t stop us. We’ll be here all night if something doesn’t happen so let’s go for two this time.”

Bear Fact: Bradley standout Dale Jones, who later became an All-America linebacker at Tennessee, was born in Jonesville, Virginia, the12th of 13 children – the youngest male in the family.

One of the most popular and well-respected Bradley coaches was Bill “Chief” Robertson, who led the Bears for eight seasons. He passed away on April 27, 2011, which was the same day that deadly tornadoes destroyed large portions of the Tennessee Valley.

On Nov. 10, 1995, the Bears lost to Farragut 65-64 in seven overtimes in a second round playoff game in Knoxville.

The seven overtimes tied a TSSAA record set in Chattanooga Central’s 35-34 loss to Knoxville West in 1984.

Damon Floyd played at Bradley Central for two years form 1995-96. Floyd transferred to Bradley from Red Bank. Floyd set a then-record for rushing yards with 1,818 yards and 22 touchdowns as a junior.

Floyd has been the Bears’ head coach since 2006.

Bear Fact: The Bears beat Science Hill 78-20 to open the 2000 season. They scored 57 first-half points on Steve Spurrier Field in Johnson City.  

Bradley Central went 0-10 in 2004 under coach Dean Ratledge and was shut out seven times.

In 2008, Deonte Lindsey set a Bradley record with a 96-yard kickoff return for a touchdown in a 28-13 loss to state-ranked Oak Ridge.

Three years later the Bears helped dedicate a new football field at a new school in Chattanooga – East Hamilton – and beat the Hurricanes 34-7.

After the 2012 season Bradley offensive lineman Austin Sanders was selected as the Class 3A Mr. Football Lineman of the Year. Sanders went on to play at Tennessee.

The Bears celebrated their 100th football season in 2016. It ended with a 38-35 loss against Blackman in round two of the Class 3A playoffs.

Bear Fact: Talented quarterback Cole Copeland (his brother Bryce was a QB standout several years before him) ended his prep career at the team’s record-holder for most all-purpose yards and all-purpose touchdowns. The Copeland’s dad, Brian, also played quarterback at Bradley.

To Ownbey’s credit, he’s put all 100 years of Bradley football into one book.

For Bradley fans, it’s a good investment.

(Contact Larry Fleming at larryfleming44@gmail.com and on Twitter @larryfleming44)

 

 

  
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