1974 district championship football team to be honored at Burnet game
Burnet’s 1974 district championship football team will be honored before the Bulldogs’ Oct. 18 game against Lampasas. Photo courtesy of Doak Field
The community will pause to honor one of the greatest football teams in Burnet High School history on Friday, Oct. 18, before the Bulldogs face off against the Lampasas Badgers at 7 p.m.
Fifty years ago, the 1974 District 24-AA championship team broke a 12-year district title drought, compiling an impressive 9-2 season record and outscoring their opponents 308-80.
Prior to Friday night’s game at Bulldog Stadium, 1401 N. Main St., 14 of the 25 players from that squad and assistant coaches David Kleinhans, Paul Mosely, Bob Veach, and Maurice Kemper will be joined by the family of late head coach Ray Frady during a recognition ceremony.
Burnet Consolidated Independent School District Athletic Director Steve Hale, who helped organize the commemoration, underscored the importance of honoring the past.
“District championships are hard to come by, especially back then when only one team made the playoffs. What this team accomplished 50 years ago was remarkable, and it’s important we celebrate their legacy,” Hale said.
In a season where the ‘74 Bulldogs were picked to finish fourth in a five-team district, they exceeded all expectations by dominating their opponents with an average winning score of 34-7. Their nine-game winning streak came to an end in the bi-district round of the playoffs against a powerhouse Cameron team. Despite this, the 1974 Bulldogs left an indelible mark on Burnet football history.
Hale highlighted the impact the 1974 team has had on the community.
“These men have had great careers, and they still love Burnet. They’ve left an unbelievable legacy of leadership and continue to give back to the community,” Hale said. “Our student-athletes today can look up to them as examples of dedication and success.”
One of the 1974 Bulldogs, Doak Field, went on to play for Baylor University after graduating from Burnet High School and then the NFL’s St. Louis Cardinals in 1981.
“We were the underdogs, and no one expected us to win, but we had discipline, dedication, and great leadership,” Field told DailyTrib.com. “It was magical because we hadn’t won in so long, and we gave it everything we had.”
Field emphasized the tight-knit nature of the team and the influence of the coaching staff.
“We had great leaders and coaches who were instrumental in pushing us to succeed. That discipline carried over into everything, from football to basketball and baseball. We pushed each other, and we had each other’s backs,” he said.
For Burnet’s current student-athletes, Field offers this advice:
“Find a mentor you respect both on and off the field and model your game after them. That’s what team is all about—you can’t do it alone,” he said. “It was teammates like Ben Shipley and George Hisler who I followed (during that 1974 season), and they led me down a good path.”