They meet again…51 years later

By CRAIG HALL

The 1973 Heavener Wolves accomplished several notable items.

That year’s Heavener team defeated Poteau in football for the last time.

Heavener also won the district championship by going 3-0 against Talihina, Valliant and Wilburton.

The Wolves made the playoffs for the second straight year, the first time that happened in over a decade going back to those memorable teams from the 1960s.

Only one team out of a district made the playoffs back them and district champions were not guaranteed a home playoff game.

So on Nov. 16, 1973, Heavener made the long trek to take on Prague in the first round of the playoffs. Back then, the trip was even longer as the speed limit was 55 on I-40, not 75 or 80 as it is now.

It was not a good night for your Heavener Wolves as those Prague Red Devils scored a 41-6 win to eliminate the Wolves from the playoffs.

Now, a month and a half short of 51 years, Heavener finally gets its shot at revenge as the Wolves host Prague Friday night, the first meeting since that playoff game in 1973.

While the previous game was important as it was a playoff contest, Friday night’s game at Harvey Stadium is also important as both teams are 0-1 in the district after Bethel defeated Prague and Heavener lost at Hugo in the opening game of district play in Week 4 action.

Most of the members of that Heavener team from 1973 are still around. Mike Andrews can still be seen around town, especially at church services at First Baptist Church, Ceb Scott is a retired county commissioner, Jackie Linville is a school resource office at Heavener Elementary after retiring from the Department of Corrections.

Kenny Pickle, who opened KPs, was in the team picture, but was not dressed out. Jim Haynes was the former president at First National Bank before moving to Texas and now retired in Poteau. Joey Chitwood, one of the captains of that team, still lives at Hodgen while Ray Caughern has Heavener Tire, just north of the Choctaw Travel Plaza.

There are too many more to mention.

Ralph Perdue Sr. was the head coach on that team, assisted by Bob Riley, who made his mark in Heavener history by coaching at HHS for well over a decade and was a proponent of running sprints, and a lot of them. Heavener might not have always been the best team during Riley’s years at HHS, but the Wolves never lost because of conditioning.

Perdue’s sons, Ralph Perdue Jr. and Andy Perdue, were both graduates of Heavener High School and still live in the area. Ralph is on Heavener’s School Board while Andy now manages Choctaw Country Club after coaching Poteau’s defense for a number of years in football and also was the Pirates’ baseball coach for a number of years, guiding Poteau to the state tournament in baseball several times.

Since he retired, Poteau has not made it back to the state tournament.

Through the last 51 years, Prague has consistently had a good football team. Heavener has been up and down several years.

Perdue coached the Wolves a couple of seasons more before he got out of coaching as he did not want to coach his sons. He went into administration and was a principal several years before retiring to the golf course, as in Choctaw County Club, the same golf course his son, Andy, now manages.

When teams don’t play for over 50 years, it obviously isn’t a rivalry. But this game will be even more interesting as former Heavener head coach Scott Martin is on the Prague staff and his son, Ronin, is a starting linebacker.

Both teams need a win badly Friday night at Harvey Stadium. The majority of fans coming to Harvey Stadium will probably not realize the significance of the game, only the team on the far side of the field dressed in red along with the team on the home side wearing the purple and gold will butt heads for four quarters to decide who has bragging rights.

In honor of that 1973 team, it would be fitting if Heavener Coach Jeff Broyles called the statue of liberty play on the first play, a play that seemed to work every time the Wolves used it back in 1973.

But only one year will separate the two schools from playing again as Heavener makes a return trip to Prague next year for another district game.

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