By Tuffy Ryan
The Brinks Armored Car robbery. The kidnapping of the Lindbergh baby. D.B. Cooper parachuting into the forests of the great northwest with a bag of stolen loot. All crimes that have held the attention of the American public for generations, yet for St. Joe sports fans from the land of the 238 phone prefix, nothing will ever compare to the rip-off perpetrated upon the 1972 Benton High School Football team.
It was a different time in Joe Town, as in the rest of the world. Elvis and John Lennon were still alive and rocking. The Kansas City Chiefs were respected as one of the finest sports franchises in existence, Richard Nixon was pulling his tricks in the White House, yet he wasn’t as big a crook as the Missouri State High School Athletic Association.
It was that august body that in their infinite wisdom put in place the scoring system that kept the undefeated and untied Cardinals team out of the 3A State Football playoffs.
I know, I know, that’s too unbelievable. Such a travesty could never take place. Except it did! Here’s the way it went down:
Back in the early 70’s, football on the Southside was mainly about living in the past. The glory days of Coach Pop Springer’s juggernauts were back in the 40’s, and not seen since. As Coach Dick Lehman put his charges through their paces in the summer of 1972 he knew he had something special. But little did he know just how good they would turn out to be and how their unparalleled excellence would go unrewarded.
“Our defense is good, but our offense still needs working on,” the coach was quoted as saying at the beginning of the year.
His prediction for the defense was certainly accurate, as the Cardinals only gave up 73 points, in 10 games. His concerns over the offense proved to be meaningless however, as they scored 299.
The season started back then the same as now with the Jamboree, a round robin affair where
The regular season started with a 34-6 massacre of
As the team finished the season with a 34-0 whitewash of
competition still burns in the craw of Cardinal fans, and the State Championship they claimed while the
There were a number of talented players on both sides of the ball. Quarterback Scott McCamy was a dual threat weapon, who could damage the opposition with his arm and his legs. He and teammate Buddy Gray went on to be named All-City, All-Conference, All-District and All-State.
McCamy and running back Jay Randall accepted scholarships to the
A look at the 72 team roster reveals several names well known around town, among them: Tony Dudik, the coach at Central; former
Long time
2702 Lovers Lane