Howe and Sanger tie in bi-district classic
November 27, 1942
The country was at war in the early 40’s and before the 1942 football season, the Howe Bulldogs found themselves without at head coach. The program was about to cancel all games that season until a group of hard-headed junior and senior boys pleaded their case to Superintendent Charles R. Thompson. Mr. Thompson told the boys that if they were serious about playing football, then he would drive the bus to and from games, but the team had to schedule their own practices and call their own plays and coach themselves.
What Mr. Thompson didn’t know was that the self-coached team would be flooded with eventual World War II heroes including Tony Brinkley and L.B. Kirby. That coach-less team achieved an unthinkable district championship and faced Sanger in the bi-district showdown in Whitesboro.
As told by L.B. Kirby in a 1999 interview, with the game tied 12-12, Bulldogs halfback Robert Miller crossed the goal line as time expired, but the officials ruled that he was down at the one yard line. Kirby says that the fans of Sanger were actually yelling at the officials that Howe had scored and won the game. He recalls it to be the only time he ever remembers that the opposing team’s fans were upset that they didn’t win.
