Terry Ralston; 1978 Red Bud Football; Calhoun Baseball
Looking at Terry Ralston’s 60 years
Last week Terry Ralston celebrated his 60th birthday. What is true of Terry is also true of many people who came into my life when they were quite young. As I write these words I realize I am writing about a person who is familiar to a great number of people. This is a sports column and I am going to give the “young” man attention from an athletic viewpoint.
It was back in 1964 I was coaching my first 12- year- old Golden Bears football team in the Calhoun Recreation League. There was no 10-and under team then so Billy Bearden took the younger ones from my team across the field and worked with them. In a little while Billy brought a young Terry Ralston over to the older group and said to me, “Take this boy with yours. He is making those others over there cry.”
Terry’s older brother Mike Ralston was with that older group. I give this attention to Terry because I coached him more years than any player of my career. By reason of the way my own career progressed, Terry was a specific ingredient on my teams from that 1964 year into his 9th grade and JV years.
Terry was an outstanding player during those years and into the years he played for Coach Ron Purdy on the Jacket varsity team and his senior year with Coach Chip Kell. Still, I remember him most from the day I saw he and three other fresh- men run legs in the mile relay on Coach Lynn Walter’s track team. From that day Terry provided me great pleasure at Calhoun High track meets.
Terry has grown older but he has not strayed far from his interest and devotion to athletics. He and his wife Susan’s (Bagley) two children simply added to his story and gave them cause to be proud. Their son Cody played for University of Central Florida after outstanding seasons on Coach Hal Lamb’s Calhoun championship teams. Their daughter Hannah made her great impression on the Ralston athletic story by serving on Georgia Tech’s football cheerleading squad.
Incidentally Terry wasn’t the only Ralston writing a chapter in Calhoun’s athletic history: In addition, it was my pleasure to coach Terry, his older brother Mike, Donnie and Sheriff Mitch Ralston along their athletic path.
The 1978 Red Bud Cardinal Football Team
Last week it was noted I wanted to give attention to Coach Cliff Key’s outstanding 1978 football team of Red Bud. Simple reflection brought attention to the fact there was a span of several years about that time that Red Bud fielded outstanding teams in several sports.
Often boasted that I write off the top of my head, let me affirm I am not prepared to write about either the 1978 football team or the other outstanding teams in other sports with accuracy. Judy Aronowitz Hales has a picture of the 1978 senior football players. A slight deficiency in the picture prohibits our using it. Their names will be given attention later.
Coach Frank Caputo’s wrestling team of the 1978 season won the State Championship. Coach Tommy Honeycutt’s basketball teams were more than outstanding during the latter years of the 1970s. Then there were accomplished athletes in other sports.
It has always been affirmed her that the 1978 football team at Red Bud and the players never received their due award. Coach Key directed that team to a 6-3 record; it is fully believed here they would have been 7-3 had Suwannee not dropped football during that time.
Chuck Poarch was named to the All-State team in 1978 and Chuck Ruth was on-the-sport directing the offense from his quarterback spot. Larry Thomas received the Big Play award. It was a team to be honored. If I do more than name those seniors I will do so as soon as I get their names from Judy. They are a group to be remembered.
Baseball in the Spotlight
High school baseball comes to an abrupt halt for most high school teams at this time of the year. That isn’t true for 64 teams from each classification as four teams from each region qualify for the state playoffs.
Coach Chip Henderson and his CHS Jackets fought valiantly to stay in the top four teams in Region 6-AAA. Coach Henderson’s team has been the object of great attention while making history in winning three State Championships in a decade following the first one when they defeated Lovett in 2000.
The Jackets’ fourth place finish in this year’s region play sent them to the playoffs against Region 8-AAA champions Morgan County. The Jackets were not ready to pack their bags and go home. Last Friday and Saturday Coach Henderson’s boys did what no one expects any team seeded fourth to do to a number one seed from another region. The Jackets split their games on Friday and went back to Morgan County on Saturday and waylaid any plans the Bulldogs had for advancement.
The victories and advancement had to be exciting to Coach Henderson, his players and Jacket fans. Playoffs get tougher with ever round of advancement. Here is wishing the Jackets the best this week in their next round at Brantley County in deep Southeast Georgia.