Welcome back to Part Two of the 1967 football game between Dewey and Bartlesville. If you missed last week’s article, past issues of the newspaper are available at the Examiner Enterprise office or you can catch up on their website.
The game had been hyped up for weeks; a showdown between two undefeated teams both with players who had college potential. The game was tied up with just minutes to play and the Wildcats had the ball. The defensive play called for George “Junior” Durant, the stud of both teams, to blitz Bartlesville’s quarterback Bill Berryhill. A sophomore quarterback with Junior coming after him; Dewey’s hope was that just maybe Berryhill would fumble or throw an interception and it almost worked. Junior knocked down blockers down like flies and as he was about to sack Berryhill way back for a huge loss, Berryhill passed to his tight end Bill “Alex” Dingman. Unexpectedly, Dingman was wide open without a defensive player anywhere around and the seldom used sophomore player turned and headed for the end zone which was some eighty yards away. Dewey’s star player had flattened Berryhill and now turned his attention to Dingman. Already a state finalist in track even at 15, Junior wasn’t just fast, he was lightening in a bottle and soon he was closing in.
I was standing on the sidelines when first Dingman (with fear written on his face) ran past me and then Junior came by in hot pursuit. Later Dingman said he had never run so fast in his entire life. Yes friends Junior couldn’t catch up with the boy from Bartlesville and the Wildcats won the game on that one play.
Both teams went on to have successful seasons and several players on both sides played college ball. Junior would become a major force in high school sports over the next few years but it all ended there. Although major colleges did come to Dewey to recruit him, the boy wonder who had started playing high school sports at fourteen and who was obviously capable of playing at a higher level, had one big problem he couldn’t outrun. You see he couldn’t read or write. Somehow he had gone from grade school through high school never learning anything except how to write his name but could he play football!
interesting piece of local history about a boy who at one time in our past thrilled hundreds of football fans in Dewey and Bartlesville.
Another type of entertainment came to Bartlesville on Friday when gubernatorial hopeful Mick Cornett came to town. He spoke at Arvest’s Friday Forum and he and host Jim Bohnsack drew quite a crowd .Although I’m not much into politics, Cornett was an interesting guy and I expect we’ll see more candidates coming to town as the elections get closer.
I’ll end this week with another bit of history from 1967. Hulah Lake which in the Osage Indian language means “eagle” was completed in 1951. At the time it was the largest lake in the area and with million dollar hilltop views, Hulah was an immediate hit with campers, boaters and fishermen and in 1967 it was the most popular destination in the area. Today of course there are many more lakes that are easier to get to and Hulah has been mostly forgotten but friends it’s still there and open for business. Check it out, it’s worth the drive just for the scenery.
Thanks for reading and till next time, I’ll see ya down the road……..