In 1968, the Dobyns-Bennett Indians of Kingsport, Tenn., were on their way to a successful season. D-B, as it was and is known, was and is the high school football team with the most wins in Tennessee history. It also has the most football championships of any high school in Tennessee history. And so, at mid-season, D-B traveled to Greeneville, Tenn., to smash the Greeneville Green Devils.
No one expected anything else. It had been years since Greenville had even come close to beating Dobyns-Bennett. It was a mid-season break, a tune-up for more difficult teams. Practice that week was relaxed. After all, Greeneville didn’t have near the talented players that we did at D-B. It would be an easy night, a cakewalk, a walk in the park. And then the rains came.
From the very beginning, the torrential rains soaked the field, the teams, the bands, and the fans. In fact, at halftime, the bands declined to march. The rain was so bad that visibility was limited to a few yards. Had there been lightening, the game would have been stopped. But it wasn’t. The rain took away the passing game, the running game, and whatever was left to take away. The two teams slogged it out, playing at mid-field for most of the game.
Finally, D-B caught the Greenville quarterback in his own end zone. The score was now 2-0 in favor of Dobyns-Bennett. The contest resumed its slog in the mud. The players were so muddy that it was hard to tell who was who and it was difficult to even see the brown football because of the mud that covered the ball carriers. Then came the fumble.
A D-B back lost control of the slippery ball as it squirted loose. Players slid in the mud trying to get to the ball until a big Greeneville defensive tackle picked up the ball and ran what had to be the slowest touchdown attempt in the history of the game. Much faster players tried to catch up with him but simply slipped in the mud as the rain continued to pound the field.
I was the offensive center for the team and I watched the big tackle slowly lumber into the end zone as Greenville took the lead 6-2. The extra point failed and, after much more slogging, that’s how the game ended. Greeneville finished the season 4-5-1 but beat D-B in the process. David killed Goliath. The old-timers who were on the field that night probably still talk about that game.
On the bus ride back to Kingsport, the coach wouldn’t accept any excuses. It wasn’t the rain that beat us or the wind or the mud. It was football and, whatever the excuses, Greeneville beat us according to the rules of the game. We were embarrassed, even humiliated. We lost because we got beat, pure and simple.
When fellow students would say, “What happened?” the only true answer was, “We got beat.” Against all odds and contrary to all predictions by people who are supposed to know their stuff, the favored team went down to defeat on that night.
It was a life lesson that some people have yet to learn. We didn’t have time to whine or talk about the conditions, the unfairness of playing in the mud, or how the game should have been postponed. We had to, as the coach said, “Suck it up.” We still had games to play. “We lost, get over it, move on.” That’s what men and women do. They suck it up, get over it, and move on.
[David Epps is the pastor of the Cathedral of Christ the King, Sharpsburg, GA (www.ctkcec.org). He is the bishop of the Mid-South Diocese which consists of Georgia and Tennessee (www.midsouthdiocese.org) and the Associate Endorser for the Department of the Armed Forces, U. S. Military Chaplains, ICCEC. He may contacted at [email protected].]
