All the 1980 UGA stars are mentioned, but also prominently featured are teammates such as Nat Hudson, Hugh Nall, Jimmy Womack, Amp Arnold, Jimmy Payne, Eddie Weaver and Nate Taylor and assistant coaches Mike Cavan and Wayne McDuffie, among others. In practice, it was always the 1s against the 1s. Belue said he and most of his Georgia teammates understood after hearing Dooleys explanation about his deep relationships at Auburn. The current Winnersville series record stands at 36 wins for Valdosta and 24 for Lowndes heading into the 2022 season. His coach, Bobby Bowden, called Simmons the most significant recruit and player in turning FSU into a national power. Proper Name: Benjamin F. Belue High Level: AA Positions: OF (135) Height: 6-1 Weight: 190 Bats: Right Throws: Right Born: Dec 22,1959 age: 63.054 place: Valdosta,GA High School: Valdosta (Valdosta,GA) colleges: University of Georgia (Athens,GA), Drafted: Montreal Expos - 1982 - 6 - 149 (June-Reg) drafted 2x draft posit: OF TBC#: 71816 Belue also details in the book how he. Simmons was selected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 2008 and the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame in 2010. Alumni listings below have either been searched for or they registered as members of this directory. The best players I saw play in the game were quarterback Cedric Hatten for us, and for Lowndes it was Greg Reid. The Georgia High School Association has levied a $7,500 fine against Valdosta High School, ordered the Wildcats to forfeit seven victories from the 2020 football season, banned the team from . Baker said the cheerleaders from both teams would usually meet at one of the girls homes, and the groups would alternate each season. At Valdosta, you were heavily influenced by the legendary head coaches Wright Bazemore (1941-42, 1946-71) and Nick Hyder (1973-95). Between plays, we would stand there and listen to Coach Rudolph break down the responsibilities of each defensive player for the play we just ran. I appreciate these guys taking time out of their busy schedules to come out here and work with these players, Belue said. Probably the most successful event to date was a couple of weeks ago in Valdosta. Former Valdosta Wildcat quarterbacks Buck Belue, left, and John Lastinger, right, will join their coach, the late Nick Hyder, in the Valdosta High Sports Hall of Fame Thursday night.. He is currently co-founder and editor of Georgia High School Football Daily. There will, of course, be signings at the UGA Bookstore before Georgia football games this fall. Stan Rome was awesome, too. He was credited with 130 tackles as a senior. Hyder, a devout Christian, brought fans and players from both teams together for an FCA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes) banquet on Thursday night prior to the big game, allowing the two sides to fellowship over dinner. Belue set the state record for career passing yards with 5,214, which he accumulated as a four-year starter at Valdosta. Tales like McGuyrts are part of a timeless record shared by Valdosta-area locals. SPONSORED BY: Buck Belue - 1980 National Championship QB How did Bazemore make a quarterback out of you? They are two very-talented guys. It seems like a waste to have been exposed to so much (football knowledge), and not share it. On their annual Fourth of July vacation to Florida last week, the Belues made stops at the Marshside Grill in Brunswick and the Coachs Corner in Savannah to peddle books. 3 Georgia high school football player of all time by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution in 2007, and this is just his football career. Seeing Andy Johnson in 1969 was one of my first recollections of high school football [at the 1969 Class 3A championship game between Athens and Valdosta at Cleveland Field]. When Belue finally got to his mom and dad, the tears were flowing. Seeing Andy Johnson in 1969 was one of my first recollections of high school football [at the 1969 Class 3A championship game between Athens and Valdosta at Cleveland Field]. With Coach Hyder, you just couldnt imagine anyone working harder than him to be successful. Hyder became head coach your freshman year. They were very different. The Valdosta Wildcats are undoubtedly one of America's most successful high school football teams, with more than 900 victories, two dozen state titles and its star players seemingly on a. Buck goes shopping with his daughter at the Braves Store in SunTrust Park.It is obvious they are not on the same page when it comes to jersey shopping.. Im just so thankful my quarterback coach was Joe Wilson. Buck Belue's QB Camp Recap Gallery Registration is open to all high-school-age Quarterbacks, however Buck will only be inviting the best 30 QBs and 20 Wide Receivers to participate. I remember in the 1981 game, quarterback John Bond took off down the Lowndes sideline and ran for an 80-yard touchdown, Baker said. We would have to hire extra security guards for the entire week of the game, starting on Sunday night, and it would last all week long until the game was over, Redshaw said. That first Valdosta game with Wilson as coach of the Vikings didnt lead to a win, but the effort was there, and it signaled that things were going to be different. Buck Belue famously guided Georgia's football team to a national championship 42 years ago. I was blessed with this great coaching. [Belue passed for a state-record 5,214 yards and won two region titles in his four Valdosta seasons. "So most days, at the end of the day, I would just jot down some notes from the day. INTERNATIONAL BACCALAUREATE PROGRAMME . There were coaches before him, but it was Wright Bazemore who took over as the Wildcats head football coach in 1942 and built the foundation for the winningest football team in the country. Its an oral history that will never die in fact, it just keeps growing, year after year, down there in Winnersville. All Rights Reserved. In 2004, the Falcons retired his jersey No. Since it started playing football in 1913, Valdosta has won 612 games and lost 129, with 33 ties. Our maintenance folks earned their pay that week.. In the 1977 game, there were no fights, but there was a bounty placed on Buck Belue not to hurt the Valdosta QB great, but to take a piece of his number 8 jersey off his back and to the Lowndes sideline. It was pretty good, Johnson said. He also became the first active player at South Carolina to have his jersey retired, No. I dont blame the players for feeling that way, said Dooley, who will turn 90 in September. He was drafted by the Chiefs of the NFL and the Cleveland Cavaliers of the NBA. According to Baker, the win inspired a year-long rally cry: 7 to 2 we beat Belue., John Lastinger, the son of Johnny B. Lastinger, played receiver at Valdosta and would be the guy who succeeded Belue at quarterback. Prince said a few of the football players jumped in to try to bring it over to the shore, but that didnt work. He will be inducted with Belue in October. What some might not know is that Belue's career as a writer began in earnest around that same time. The Wildcats loss to Lowndes and the close game the year before were the turning points of the series, and turned it into a true rivalry, Lastinger said. The book has not been life-altering for Belue. But I never in any way committed to them.. His 1971 state-record 21 receiving touchdowns stood until 2010. A couple of students jumped in the water and secured the ship so that it would not float over to the shore.. Read, watch, and listen to the latest news and opinions in the high school sports world. A lot of my motivation was to brag on some players and coaches at Valdosta and at Georgia that never got the credit they deserved.. When I got to Georgia, I felt I was way ahead of the curve. Ben Belue, 71, of Valdosta was a devoted family man and lifetime sales executive, born in Anniston, Ala. on Nov. 28, 1940 and raised in Macon, Ga. where he attended Lanier High School. He bypassed his senior season and went to the USFL and totaled 7,046 all-purpose yards and 61 touchdowns in three years. He had everybody running the same offense so that by time you got to middle school and high school, you didnt have to learn any of it. My thought was that they played in Albany last night and probably got in bed at 3 a.m., and hes up scouting out the talent in town. [2] Belue was named captain of the 1981 team. Chuck Knoll's Steelers were champions and as. The 2007 estimate showed a population of 130,170 in the Valdosta metropolitan area. They hear about Herschel [Walker], Coach Dooley, Erk Russell, Buck Belue, and there were just so many guys that played a big part in the championship, and it really gave me an opportunity to really brag on them, which was a real motivator, too.". Despite having played each other since 1968, the Lowndes vs. Valdosta game didnt become the Winnersville Classic until 1981. Doug Henderson, whose sons Ashley, Justin, and Doug all played at Valdosta, recalled a prank in the mid-90s that was designed to fire up the Wildcat players. I just think of all the people that helped me get there, as I mentioned, Coach Bazemore, Coach Hyder, Coach Wilson, Coach Rudolph. After years of typing and saving his reflections, Belue finally decided to put them together in a self-published book that was released earlier this year. He was the most successful Lowndes coach against the Wildcats in the series. Sandra Belue's son and his roommate, Scott, had just carved out a piece of immortality. There were so many, but I remember Todd Peterson in the 1987 game kicking a 47-yard field goal to beat Lowndes at their place, OBrien said. We spent so many Friday nights at Cleveland Field, or Bazemore-Hyder Stadium as they call it now, watching them win big. How would you contrast and compare those iconic coaches? He was totally unselfish, too. It turned out it was a bad snap from the center and threw off the timing. He was the quarterback for the Georgia Bulldogs in 1980, when the team went 12-0, and, after beating Notre Dame in the Sugar Bowl, was named the consensus national champion. I basically wrote it on a Word document with the help of an editor, Belue said in a telephone interview this week. He was the 24th overall pick in the 1981 NFL Draft by the San Diego Chargers, but his best seasons came in Cincinnati, where he was selected to the Pro Bowl four times (1986, 1988-1990). valdosta high school Fields Victoria Lane-Long Victor James Vivian Manghram Voncil Moss Belue played one more season at Georgia, leading the Bulldogs to a 10-2 record the following year while engineering an offense that averaged 31 points per game, the ninth most in the country in 1981. We learned a lot. @ThePodcastPark. I was friends with Coach Wilsons son, Jody, so I got some behind-the-scenes access to practice and going to the games and seeing the locker room. Occasionally, however, things got a little out of control. We spent so many Friday nights at Cleveland Field, or Bazemore-Hyder Stadium as they call it now, watching them win big. Its great that the Lord Wedgwood Charity offered to give one to a school in my name. Baker said the bands from both schools began joining forces on the field before each game and would play the National Anthem together. Closed on Weekends. That was Lowndes first win ever against Valdosta, whose quarterback was Buck Belue, the future University of Georgia star. He and his wife had an apartment next to the school, and I would go over to watch film with him. There was some of that thought process going on. Todays interviewee is Buck Belue, sports talk show host for 680 The Fan, quarterback for Georgias 1980 national championship team, four-year starting quarterback at Valdosta, inaugural selectee into the new Georgia High School Football Hall of Fame and author of a new book, Inside The Hedges, a look at Georgias 1980 season and his athletic career. Your high school friends are looking for you! It doesnt get better than that. It remains one of those indelible football moments from which Buck Belue can never escape, nor does he want to. An astounding number at the time and a record that took more than a decade to break. It doesnt get better than that. The Vikings would begin playing crosstown rival Valdosta that same year, but it was a David-vs.-Goliath mismatch for the first decade or so, with Valdosta, boasting all those state and national championships not to mention a 50-year head start defeating the upstart Lowndes High in the teams first 11 games. Belue, who lives in Forsyth County, currently hosts the Buck Belue Show on 680 The Fan. Most coaches are going to take their schemes to the grave, but he learned the new offense and made the change for the team. Coach Wilson would be saying we can throw to this running back because weve got this linebacker on him. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. To order a book or get a copy at a book signing, click here. The police asked us about the flyers, and coach Jerry Don Baker came walking over and told the cops the plane had a Lowndes County Vikings license plate, Henderson said with a laugh. FCN staff. When the teams returned to the locker room to get ready for the game, Wilson told his team to take off the crimson Vikings jerseys, and the players were then given a dark black jersey with Plowboys across the front to change into. ], 6. Belue also talked to all of the players about being positive influences and representing themselves and the Valdosta Wildcats well. Salary in 2020. I grew up admiring most of those guys on the list we were voting on. Youve been to about 10 cities to sign your book, and youve got several more scheduled. This record stood for 29 years. He came in from West Rome with the idea of running the wishbone like he was doing in Rome, and I was coming over for spring football as an eighth grader, and it wasnt a couple of months later we were back for preseason practice, and he was totally shifted to the Bazemore offense, as we called it. It was WWII. What did those coaches mean to you? . I was wise beyond my years because of them. VALDOSTA - Former Georgia Bulldogs quarterback, Buck Belue, will be doing a book signing at Salty Snapper on Friday, June 17. Schools . On this page: Player News Sports Reference Blog -- Get site news and learn about new and existing features. Baker, who coached from 1976-2006, recalled showing up on Monday morning the week of the Lowndes game, year after year, to a Valdosta High campus awash in hundreds of rolls of toilet paper, and walls and windows painted with pro-Lowndes messages. High School: Valdosta HS (Valdosta, GA) School: University of Georgia (Athens, GA) Full Name: Benjamin F. Belue View Player Info from the B-R Bullpen Become a Stathead & surf this site ad-free. I was always a fan of the top players and programs and curious about the way they did it, what scheme they were running. Even though we had practiced riding the mule out there on the field several times, we had not done it with 12,000 screaming fans, Prince recalled with a laugh. The Valdosta Wildcats have been playing football since 1913, and with over 900 wins, 24 state championships, six national championships, and a bunch of region titles, they remain the winningest high school football team in the country. Martin brought in Wilson for an interview after hearing that the coach was not exactly happy with the Wildcats at the time. Georgia was loaded with talent in 1980 there were five future NFL Draft picks on the roster, plus Hall of Fame head coach Vince Dooley and legendary defensive coordinator Erk Russell. He was redshirted during what would have been his regular sophomore season at Georgia after suffering a knee injury. We just rolled with it and said the timing is the timing. Heads up to Atlanta area high school quarterbacks and receivers: I'll be hosting my annual QB Passing Camp this July, again. My wife and I, when we decided to buy a home we didn't really know where we wanted to go, but we're just really blessed to have found Cumming. Told of the passage about his Auburn flirtations, Dooley laughed and said he doesnt begrudge Belue for including it. He recalled how Valdosta supporters would take the opportunity in front of a full house of fans from both sides to get the Cats fired up just one more time. Bobby Green, a local business owner and Valdosta High supporter, would also host a lunch on a first come-first serve basis at his home, with fans invited. 31. Benjamin Franklin "Buck" Belue played American football and baseball at the University of Georgia from 1978 to 1981. In basketball, Rome averaged 32 points per game as a high school senior and was MVP of the Georgia all-star basketball game. His three children range in age from 8 to 11. Coach Wilson would be saying we can throw to this running back because weve got this linebacker on him. So the Viking flag flew high and proud over the Valdosta stadium property, for at least a little while.. Belue played all four years on Georgias baseball team. In football, Belue was named to the first-team All-SEC team in 1981. He was a member of the Redskins Super Bowl champion in 1988. He was unbelievable.. Rome talked about playing for the legendary Wright Bazemore. Macon, GA Position: QB Height: 6'1" Weight: 190 College: Georgia High School: Valdosta (GA) Career: 1984-1985 Buck Belue played from 1984 to 1985 during his career with the Jacksonville Bulls. Ive been wanting to do this for some time, Belue said. Larry Kinnebrewrushed for more than 1,000 yards as a fullback and was the dominant force defensively on East Romes 15-0 Class A champion that shut out nine opponents and held four others to seven points or less in 1977. When Wilson arrived, he saw that many among the Lowndes faithful were not too crazy about the references to the Vikings being known as the country school. Created by Ellen Kennerly Made with Squarespace, 2022 Georgia High School Football Daily. Following a Lowndes punt, Valdosta took possession around midfield. During the banquet, Valdosta police would bring in a black wreath that said, Death to the Wildcats from the Lowndes High Vikings, McGuyrt recalled. Rogers was among three Georgians named to the 1976 Coach & Athlete All-America team. What did those coaches mean to you? Everybody was running the Wing-T, and he ran the pro set, throwing the ball. I learned some things from him. So he came up with the name Plowboys. He and then-band director Billy Martin ordered straw hats with LHS Plowboys across the front, which the band wore during their halftime performance.. 1 high school football player of all-time in a 2007 article. No question about it.. I should have done it a long time ago. Kinnebrew signed with Georgia but transferred to Tennessee State. I grew up admiring most of those guys on the list we were voting on. Benjamin Franklin "Buck" Belue played American football and baseball at the University of Georgia from 1978 to 1981. 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