‘72 Shorthorns: A Look Back At the Title, 50 Years Later

Continued from Page 15 tercepted a Bronco pass in his own end zone to set the ‘Horns up in business at their own 20-year line.

With quarterback Chuck Brown at the controls, Schulenburg began a march which was to culminate the school’s greatest football season ever as 140-pound Myron Hardeman ran three years to paydirt as the clock showed 23 seconds left.

Brown completed five passes in the drive for 57 yards, with the key reception being made by Charles Phillips which moved the ball 16 yards to the Clarendon 7 with 1:32 left to play.

From there the Shorthorns went to a ground attack with Hardeman failing to gain on a first down play. Brown picked up three on the next snap, Hardeman gained one on third down and then, following a shattering block by Michael Spencer, Hardeman went those final three yards to paydirt.

Coach Walker had inserted his field goal kicking unit for the play from inside the 3, but Brown called time out and went to confer with his mentor.

“He told me, ‘we’ve got 11 guys in here who can score a touchdown,” Walker related after the game. “and I didn’t want to deprive them of victory, so I told him to go ahead and try. And it worked.”

When Hardeman scored the winning touchdowns, it marked the first time in the game for the Shorthorns to lead, as they had trailed by 7-0 before tying the score in the second period then went down by 10-7 in the third quarter when the Broncos collected on a 29-yard field goal by Kenneth King. It was Schulenburg’s eight trip to the well in playoff competition and the second trip to the finale, Sonora defeated the ‘Horns 40-14, in the 1966 finals.

Brown threw 14 completions in 30 pass attempts for 171 yards, but had four of his aerials picked off by the alert Bronco defense. Alvin Carroll was Brown’s leading target with five receptions for 73 yards while Willis Adams pulled in four tosses for 54 yards.