Saturday, October 10, 2009

Friday Night Football ::

Except I see that this game was played Thursday night.

Camden High Bulldogs-45
Wilson-29

The State also has an interesting article chronicling some of the history of Zemp Stadium. Here are some excerpts:

Zemp Stadium, with its seating capacity of 8,000, remains the Friday night social center in town - 80 years after being built in 1929. That makes it the oldest active-use high school football stadium in South Carolina.

History? Lots of it.

Above the press box hangs a wooden, replica No. 10 jersey worn by quarterback Billy Ammons. Ammons led the Bulldogs to the state championship in 1964 and coached them to another title in 1990, one of 26 seasons (1972-1997) he served as coach.

[snip]

Nobody sitting on the Camden side personifies the long, proud history of the school's football program than the tall gentleman walking up the steps at halftime to his midfield seat.

John Speaks played tackle for the 1957 championship team, which finished 10-0-2 and defeated Lancaster at Zemp in the title game.

Speaks and his wife, Nancy, put five kids through Camden High. Three of the boys played varsity football and a daughter was as a cheerleader. For nearly 15 years, they never missed a game. On this night, their oldest son, Robbie, a 1982 graduate, is on the sideline as a Camden assistant coach, and their grandson Tripp is a reserve sophomore receiver.

"Watching my grandson is the biggest thrill I've got," John says.


Go read the entire article-it's worth the time!

No comments: