Strawn Texas

The History of the Strawn Greyhounds

1920 Strawn Greyhounds

The history of high school football in Strawn reaches all the way back to 1920. Back then no one ever heard of or thought of six-man football, what Strawn plays today. Early records show that at least four games were played that first year. They faced the likes of Ranger, Thurber, DeLeon and Ranger again and finished the season 3-1. Strawn fielded a great team in 1923 where they went 9-3-1 and manhandled teams like Weatherford, Mineral Wells, and Bridgeport.

1923 Strawn Greyhounds

The 1927 season was probably Strawn's greatest team in those early years. The team went undefeated into the playoffs before losing to Farmersville in the first round. Only three teams in the regular season saw the endzone versus the '27 Hounds. They clobbered teams like Stephenville (68-0), Bridgeport (62-0), Ft. Worth Diamond Hill (64-0), and Jacksboro (35-0).

Research is still being done on who which players played major roles in those early years. In the 30's and 40's guys like Pat and Bill Hinkson, Marche Zimicki, Alvin Danner, Derwood Cox, and Robert Neeley were great players for Strawn. They had some winning seasons during the years of 1933, 1940, 1944, and 1946.

When Larry Pruitt was injured in the mid 50's it somewhat marked the end of Strawn's ability to compete in 11man. Pruitt was the QB and had led his team to an undefeated mark. He was severely injured on a play vs Woodson where he had thrown an interception and made the tackle. It was the second to last game of the season and they had been destined to go undefeated but it all stopped when he got hurt. Pruitt was a special player, and there were several others that were outstanding (including Marvin Turner, Richard Flinn, Edward Grissom) in those years and there might have been better ones, but none may have been as important as Pruitt.

Declining numbers forced Strawn to take on six-man football, which had been spreading like wildfire to small schools at the time. Strawn played it's first six-man game in 1957. They had a hard time adjusting in the following few years.

In 1963, after having several rough years since the Pruitt injury there was some heavy talk about dropping football in Strawn alltogether. The existing football coach left or was let go and they hired a basketball coach to replace him named Don Hafley. For one reason or another they decided to give football one last shot in ’63, and a good thing they did as they went on to win district for the first time in a couple of decades. That season sparked new interest in the game and football was to stay put. Strawn went on to be successful through the end of the decade. One main reason was QB Larry Kueck. He probably had more post high school success in football than anyone from Strawn and he certainly was a standout in the late 1960's on both sides of the ball. He led his team to the only undefeated mark ever at Strawn in 1968. He played in college but went on to be an OC at several NCAA DI schools. Other guys from the decade that stood out were Mike Lloyd, Johnny Gailey, Steve Nunez, and Marty Salazar.

When the 1970's rolled in, Strawn's football success fell a bit until the hiring of a Gordon alumni, Nelson Campbell. Campbell, was a hard nosed coach and he brought the program back to where it was in the late 60's. Receiver Glenn Abbott caught everything thrown to him and was an important part of the late 70's teams. Other top players were Jimmy Tittle and Larry Tretter. The 1979 team was one of the best teams out of Strawn at the time as they made it to the semis for the first time in school history.

The 1978 Strawn Greyhounds

A couple of guys really stood out in the 80's. Early on Larry Holder was the kingpin (who also helped on the '79 team as a freshman) but later in the decade it was Mike Diaz and his band of track stars. Other great players in the 80's included Ian Gailey, Juan Jimenez, and Stephen Nowak. Nowak was a state finalist track star.

Strawn struggled for the first several years of the 1990's. They make a couple of trips to the playoffs but just seemed to lack the spark to propell them further. In 1998 Quarterback Shane Mallory essentially pulled them out of about a 7 year funk. He and his squad beat Gordon for the first time since 1990 and he took his team to the semis for the first time since 1979. By most years standards they would have won state. Unfortunately Damien Jackson and the Trinidad Trojans were unstoppable that year. Thomas Parsons was also a defensive force in the late 90's among several other standouts.

The 2000 decade brought in probably one of the best coaches to ever coach at Strawn. Coach Dewaine Lee moved to Strawn and has led his team to State titles in 2003 and 2008. The team reached the finals in 2009 but fell short of the gold. Standouts of the decade included Clifton Baker, Trey Doyle, Jonathon Lindsey, and Johnny Abbott.