1975 Half-Time Tribute

Article by Jeff McQueen
Photos by Jammie Graves

Ladies and gentlemen, as part of tonight’s Homecoming festivities, join me for a moment to look back at the 1975 football season. After a successful freshman team campaign in 1972, the sophomores contributed to the 1973 Redskin squad, marking a 5-5 season record. The foundation was laid, however, in our junior year with the 1974 Redskin football team, which produced a 12-0 record and an undefeated, untied, State Championship season. As seniors we reloaded and repeated as State Champions with an 11-1-0 record. The only black mark was a 14-17 loss against Maryville in game eight that took four overtime periods to decide the outcome. One of the highlights of this astounding season was atoning for that regular season loss to Maryville, by knocking them out of the playoffs by a score of 12-9! This senior class stands as the only Redskin team in 82 years to have earned back-to-back State Championships! Much like the 2005 Redskin team this season, we learned how to win, our three year varsity record stands at 28-6-0.

No one can talk about the history of Loudon Football or great Redskin teams with out mentioning Head Coach Bert “Chig” Ratledge. Coach Ratledge was at the helm for 29 years, he amassed a record of 173-127-9, winning three State Championships (1969, 1974, & 1975) in the process. Coach Ratledge was inducted into the TSSAA Coaches Hall of Fame in 2000. In a long overdue honor, the stadium was named “Chig Ratledge Stadum, Dukes Field, Home of the Loudon Redskins” in 2004. A Fine Coach, a Finer Man!

   LHS                       Opponent 
LHS  38                      Powell                 0
LHS  17                      Kingston               7
LHS  35                      Lenoir City           12
LHS  21                      Crossville            14
LHS  22                      McMinn Central        10
LHS  28                      Harriman              12
LHS  18                      Knox Young             6
LHS  14                      Maryville             17    (4 overtimes)
LHS  13                      Goodlettsville         0

                      Playoffs
                      
LHS  20                      Notre Dame             6
LHS  12                      Maryville              9

             Championship Game
             
LHS  28                      Huntsville            14 
        

Seniors on the 1975 squad were:

#13 Mike Lambert                                 
#18 Tim Murrell
#20 Rick Melton   Co-Captain              
#22 Tim Kiser
#23 Porky Campbell                      
#30 Bumper Webster                         
#31 Dicky Colvin   Co-Captain
#32 Marlin Brown   Co-Captain        
#52 Steve Hill   Co-Captain
#61 Mike Brookshire                      
#76 Jeff Nichols                              
#81 Roy Hughes
#84 David Grissom                         
#85 James “Moose” Birkholz
#86 Steve Harrison


Head Coach: Coach Bert “Chig” Ratledge
Defensive Coordinator & Principal: The Late Coach Jim “Hoot” Gibson
Assistant Coach: Coach Larry Bridges