Jefferson Dragons Football ~ 1959

The Oglethorpe County Indians were overwhelmed by the Jefferson Dragons in Crawford as the Jefferson team ran out to a 27 - 0 half-time lead and finished the night with a convincing 40 - 7,  second win of the young season.

Jeff Davis scored four touchdowns and threw for another as the Dragons were never threatened.

Davis had touchdown runs of 6, 9, and 27 yards and a 64-yard punt return for a score.

Burton Riddle caught a 14-yard pass from Davis for a score. Richard Langford and Don Tompkins added two more scores for the Dragons on short runs.

Jefferson 40 - Oglethorpe County 7

Jefferson - Commerce ~ 9 - 25 - 59 . . . Friday - In Commerce

The Jefferson Dragons swamped Commerce 26 - 7 on a cool, breezy Friday night before the largest crowd ever to attend a football game in Commerce.

This was the widest margin of victory for Jefferson in the nine-year series. Up to this time the Dragons had won 27 - 13 in 1955 and 12 - 0 in 1956.

Out of nine games played in the series,  Commerce had won four - Jefferson three and two games had wound up in a tie.

The Dragons dominated in the statistics department with 13 first downs to the Tigers’ 6. Jefferson completed only two passes, both for extra points. Commerce threw the ball 13 times with four completions for 45 yards. An alert Dragon defense intercepted four of their attempts.

For the night, Jefferson ran for 263 yards on the ground while Commerce went for 59 yards. The Tigers had a total of 104 yards of offensive gains.

Jefferson had 110 yards in penalties while the Tigers had 45 yards.

Jefferson penalties were; 15 yards for off-sides, 10 yards for delay of the game, 10 yards for illegal motion, 15 yards for holding, 30 yards for clipping and 30 yards for personal fouls.

The Dragons ran 45 plays for a net average gain of 5.8 yards per play. Commerce ran 39 plays for only 1.5 yards per play.

Led by Center Herbert Wilson, Guards Larry Wood and Damon Gause, and Quarterback Jeff Davis, the Dragon defense kept the Tigers bottled up all night. Wilson had 5 solo tackles and assisted on three others.

Wilson and Gause were co-captains for the game.

On the offensive side of the ball, no less than six Dragons hit pay dirt or had a hand in running up the 26 points. Davis, Franklin Nichols, Don Tompkins, and Richard Langford each scored touchdowns, while Burton Riddle and Tom Venable caught passes for extra points from Davis.

Jeff Davis, only a junior, but considered one of the better running backs in Georgia regardless of classification, carried the ball 21 times for 131 yards and averaged 6.2 yards per carry.

Frank Nichols carried the ball 13 times for 72 yards or 5.5 yards per carry.

Nichols put two kickoffs in the end zone in a fine power-kicking display that assisted the Dragons in maintaining an upper hand over the Tigers all night.

Jefferson 26 - Commerce 7

Jefferson - Rockdale County ~ 10 - 02 - 59 . . . Friday - In Jefferson

The Dragon’s fourth straight victory in 1959 was not a small achievement. Rockdale County Came into Jefferson with big wins over South Gwinnett 26 - 0, West Gwinnett 39 - 0, Lithonia 45 - 6, and a 20 - 0 loss to Morgan County. They would later add wins over Tucker 13 - 0, Clarkston 67 - 0, Central Gwinnett 20 - 0 and Stone Mountain 47 - 0. They could put up a lot of points. The Bulldogs would win the South Division of 4 - B and meet 4 - B North winner Morgan County for a second time. They fell 27 - 0 in that playoff game.

The Dragons displayed superior ability in the first half as they ran out to a 14 - 0 lead. In the second half Rockdale began to assert itself both offensively and defensively.

The Dragons scored on their first possession after a 75-yard drive was climaxed by Tompkins scoring from the 4-yard line.

Franklin Nichols kicked the first of his three extra points.

Nichols carried the ball 5 times in the game for 24 yards.

Don Tompkins carried the ball 9 times for 32 yards.

The tandem accounted for 56 of the Dragons 203 rushing yards.

Tompkins was also a demon on defense with 10 tackles.

Herbert Wilson also had 10 tackles for the Dragons.

Burton Riddle had four individual tackles and three assists.

Nichols recorded four tackles as did Richard Langford.

Tom Venable was invaluable from his defensive end position and also pulled in two pass receptions from Jeff Davis for 23 yards.

Buddy Tolbert carried the ball only twice, but ran for 46 yards, a 23-yard per rush average.

Jeff Davis ran 17 times for 121 yards and scored on a 16-yard run and a second half 78-yard punt return for the Dragons only score of the second half.

Total rushing yardage for the Dragons was 224 yards to 140 for Rockdale County.

The Dragons punted only twice for a 46-yard average.

Next it was number one ranked Morgan County for all the marbles.

Jefferson 21 - Rockdale County 7

Morgan County - Jefferson ~ 10 - 09 - 59 . . . Friday - In Madison

That’s about all you can say about this game. The Morgan County Bulldogs, winners of three state titles in four years and the defending state champs turned the Dragons every which way but loose as they ran through, around, passed over, blocked punts and completely dominated the Jefferson team in every aspect of the game.

The Bulldogs took advantage of an early punt block to put their first points on the board. It simply opened the door for them to do just about anything they wanted o do.

The victory against Jefferson was their 18^th in a row. It brought to an end a nine game victory string for the Dragons.

The Jefferson lads could gain only 85 yards on the ground and 12 yards through the air.

Morgan became the first team to gain more than 140 yards on the Dragons during the year.

The Dragons had held Winder to 75 yards, Oglethorpe to 91 yards Commerce to 104 yards and Rockdale to 140 yards. The Bulldogs rushed for three-hundred and forty-five ground yards and had 44 more through the air.

The Bulldogs made 15 first downs to Jefferson’s five. Jefferson tried 8 passes and completed only one. Morgan threw 5 times, completed two with one going for a touchdown.

Morgan punted only one time in the game for 48 yards. Jefferson punted 6 times for only a 19.6 average as they had one kick blocked.

This was  a game with few bright spots for Jefferson.

In the ball carrying department Jeff Davis gained 42 yards in 11 carries, Richard Langford had 6 carries for 21 yards, Buddy Tolbert had 4 carries for 13 yards and Nichols 4 carries for 8 yards.

Morgan County just totally dominated the smaller Dragons on the defensive side of the ball.

Morgan County’s end sweeps were ultra productive. Halfbacks Bomar Newton, Charles Ruark and Fullback Neal Vinson gained big yardage all night through and around the Jefferson line.

Jefferson 0 - Morgan County 40

Jefferson - Stone Mountain ~ 10 - 16 - 59 . . . Friday - In Jefferson

Jefferson rebounded from the Morgan County loss with a 47 - 0 blasting of out-manned Stone Mountain. Jeff Davis scored four touchdowns on a 33-yard pass from Buddy Tolbert and had runs of 63, 61 and 39 yards for three more scores. Don Tompkins scored on an 11-yard run and Burton Riddle caught a 26-yard pass from Jeff Davis to account for the other two Dragon touchdowns.

Davis rushed for 197 of the Dragons 281 rushing yards.

The Dragon squad was down to 18 members as guard Damon Gause  remained out with an injury. He was expected to return Friday night against Thompson.

Jefferson 47 - Stone Mountain 0

Jefferson - Thomson ~ 10 - 23 - 59 . . . Friday - In Thomson

The Jefferson Dragons and Thomson Bulldogs fought to a 19 -19 tie in an exciting football game played in Thomson.

To begin the game, Jefferson kicked to Thomson. The Bulldogs failed to gain on their first two plays, but a 15-yard spearing penalty on the Dragons gave them a first down. The recharged Bulldogs marched down the field to put the first points on the board as they took a 6- 0 lead after the failed extra point.

Jeff Davis returned the Thomson kick for 15 yards.

A series of plays sparked by a 42-yard run by Richard Langford placed the ball at the Bulldog 15-yard line. Davis rolled out left and scored. Frank Nichols kicked the extra point to give Jefferson a 7 - 6 lead.

Jefferson kicked to Thomson with three minutes left in the first half. Thomson relentlessly drove the ball down to the Jefferson 2-yard line where a second down sweep by Thomson tailback Doug Pentecost was stopped on the Jefferson 6-inch line as the half ended with Jefferson leading 7 - 6.

Jefferson kicked off to Thomson to start the second half. The Bulldogs ran two plays before Gause recovered a fumble on the Bulldog 48-yard line.

After two plays carried to the Thomson 30, Davis fired a pass to Riddle at the 5-yard line, from where he zipped into the end zone to give Jefferson a 13 - 6 lead. The extra point attempt was wide right.

Thomson failed to move the ball after the kickoff and punted.

The Dragons drove to the Thomson 15-yard line, sparked by a 21-yard pass to Venable. On the next play, Langford fumbled a toss and the Bulldogs recovered the ball at their own 15

The Bulldogs proceeded to drive 85 yards to score. All-State star Pentecost ran for 56 yards on the drive.The extra point was no good so Jefferson had a lead of only 13 - 12.

Thomson punted to the Dragons 30-yard line where Jeff Davis took the ball on the dead run. The 6’1, 180-pound back dashed 70 yards to give the Dragons a 19 - 12 lead. The extra point was again missed as a Bulldog broke through the Jefferson line to block the Nichols kick.

Thomson received the kickoff and drove straight down the field for the touchdown and extra point that tied the game at 19 - 19.

Wilson had led the Jefferson tacklers with 12 while Jeff Davis had 8.

The Dragons record now stood at 5 - 1 - 1 with Madison County at homecoming the next Friday night.

Jefferson 19 - Thomson 19

Jefferson - Madison County ~ 10 - 30 - 59 . . . Friday - In Jefferson

The number 8 ranked in Class B, Jefferson High School football team, led by all-state quarterback Jeff Davis defeated the Madison County team 26 - 0.

It was homecoming night at JHS.

Jefferson scored 4 touchdowns during the game. All four were scored by Jeff Davis.

The powerful and speedy Dragon back romped for scores of 31, 35, 78 and 73 yards in one of the most dominating individual performances on offense in the history of Jefferson football.

Buddy Tolbert, Richard Langford, Franklin Nichols and Don Tompkins also had exceptional nights running the football.

Herbert Wilson, Tom Venable, Damon Gause and Burton Riddle stood out on defense for the Dragons who ran their record for the season to 6 - 1 - 1.

Jefferson 26 - Madison County 7

Jefferson - Washington-Wilkes ~ 11 - 06 - 59 . . . Friday - In Jefferson

The Washington-Wilkes Tigers brought their single-wing, Georgia Tech uniform look to Jefferson on a cold Friday night. The Tigers were suffering through a rough 2 - 3 - 2 season. The highlight of their season was a one-point loss to defending state champion Morgan County three weeks earlier.

Leading the team was 5’8”, 155-pound tailback Johnny Gresham. An honorable mention all-state in 1959.

The Dragons jumped out to an early 6 - 0  lead on a line-jarring 3-yard run by fullback Franklin Nichols. He also kicked the extra point to give Jefferson a 7 - 0 lead. The Dragons were able to maintain that lead at halftime.

Early in the third quarter, Gresham took the direct snap and darted through the Dragon line for 63 yards to score. He kicked the conversion to knot the score at 7 - 7.

In the third quarter as Gresham carried into the Jefferson line he was met by Damon Gause and Herbert Wilson in a head on collision that left the Washington star missing his two upper-middle teeth. They were knocked form his mouth as his faceguard was mashed back into his mouth. After one missed down on the sideline, his number 10 jersey front covered in blood, Gresham returned to the game.

The game rocked on with both teams playing great defense until late in the fourth quarter when the Dragons cashed in on a Jeff Davis punt return of 71 yards to give the Dragons a 13 - 7 lead. The point after attempt by Nichols went wide to the right.

The kickoff by Nichols was a low trajectory kick that bounced by Gresham and into the end zone. Washington-Wilkes took possession at their own 20-yard line with 2:08 remaining on the Memorial Stadium clock.

On first down Gresham took the snap and cut off tackle. He broke free at the 30-yard line and outraced the speedy Davis, who fought off two blocks as he pursued the play in a futile attempt to make the tackle.

Gresham then kicked the game winning extra point to put the 14 - 13 score on the board.

Washington would win their last three games to finish a disappointing 5 - 3 - 2.

The Dragons record fell to 6 - 2 - 1 with Lavonia left to complete their season.

The next year the Tigers would roll to the state championship with Gresham being the All-State “Back of the Year.”

In the minds of many this was the most memorable and perhaps the greatest game ever played on the old Memorial field that was closed down after the 1961 football season.

Jefferson 13 - Washington-Wilkes 14

Jefferson - Lavonia ~ 11 - 13 - 59 . . . 11 - 13 - 59 - Friday - In Lavonia

Limiting the Lavonia Bulldogs to only 37 yards gained, the Jefferson Dragons wrapped up the 1959 football season with a smashing 47 - 0 win in Lavonia.

It was the seventh win of the season for the Dragons and made their record for the year 7 - 2 - 1.

From the beginning the game was a no contest. The 47 - 0 score equaled the widest victory margin for the Dragons on the year. They also beat Stone Mountain 47 - 0 by an identical score on October 16.

The closing game was also the best defensive night the Dragons had all year. In addition to holding the Bulldogs to only 37 total yards, Jefferson allowed only 9 yards on the ground. Lavonia was able to complete 3 of 9 passes for 28 yards to complete their 37 yards of total offense.

Jefferson made 12 first downs, rushed for 269 yards and added 101 through the air for one of their best offensive games of the year.

Jefferson did not punt in the game while Lavonia had to punt on 5 occasions.

No less than 8 Dragons scored points for the Dragons in the game. Touchdowns were scored by Jeff Davis ( Three ), Buddy Tolbert, Don Tompkins, Tom Venable, and Burton Riddle. Davis ran for an extra point and Richard Langford for another. Eddie Marlow and Damon Gause tackled a Lavonia ball carrier in the endzone for the only safety scored by the Dragons in 1959.

Jimmy Sexton also carried the ball on three occasions in the game.

Davis rushed for 126 yards in only 8 carries with touchdown runs of 38 and 33 yards. He also returned a punt 59 yards for another score.

Nichols gained 30 yards in 3 carries,

Herbert Wilson, Roger Jackson, and Burton Riddle stood out on defense. Herbert had 7 tackles while Roger and Burton and had 6 each.

Jefferson 47 - Lavonia 0

The Dragons had played the season with a full squad of 21 players. Don Tompkins and Damon Gause missed several games with injuries, so the Dragons had played a few games with 20 or less players.

In retrospect the Dragons could have went through the season with only one loss. They probably should have won the Thomson tie and they had the Washington-Wilkes Tigers by 6 with less than two minutes to play before a long touchdown sent them to a 14 - 13 defeat.

The Morgan County Bulldogs would go on to win the state title for the fourth time in five years.

Jefferson would lose Gause, Nichols, and Wilson but with number 27, Davis returning,  along with Riddle, Jackson, Tompkins and an influx of young talent anticipated to contribute immediately, the future looked good for the Dragons.

1959 Jefferson Cheerleaders;