Published: November 05, 2009 11:35 pm      

Big Creek to play 757th and final game

WAR — Since the birth of Big Creek High School in the fall of 1931, the Owl football games were the only games in town on the weekend.

Tonight, the lights will go out on a long-standing tradition that has seen 756 Big Creek football games prior to tonight’s curtain call against Meadow Bridge.

Next August, this year’s underclassmen football players from Big Creek will join with the underclassmen from Iaeger High School to form the first edition of the River View Raiders in a new high school in Bradshaw.

Prior to looking forward , the illustrious football history at Big Creek warrants several moments of reflection over the last 78 seasons.

Hugh “Tubby” Law got the Owls off to a flying start, guiding Big Creek to a 6-3-1 record in the inaugural season in 1931. The following three campaigns, Law coached his charges to a 29-1-1 mark, including unbeaten seasons in 1932 (9-0) and ‘34 (11-0).

The Owls went through some changes over the next 13 years, under five different head coaches before the legendary Merrill Gainer became the head mentor in the fall of 1948.

It took Gainer a year to lay the groundwork, but after going 4-5-1 that initial year, Big Creek would go 75-11-3 over the next nine seasons under Gainer’s tutelage.

The Owls finished 9-0 in 1955 and 10-0 in ‘57.

When Big Creek wasn’t included in the playoff picture (only the top two teams in each class went to the playoffs in that era) some boosters filed an injunction to stop the playoff because of the two teams to play for the title had lost a game, while the other, like the Owls, was unbeaten.

The injunction failed, the championship game was played without Big Creek, and the Secondary Schools Activities Commission suspended the Owls from playing athletics in the 1958-59 school year.

Although allowed to practice, Big Creek could play no games. That year of suspension was Gainer’s final one at War, as he moved to Bluefield High School in 1959 and guided the Beavers to the Class AAA crown in this first season there.

Carl Mams succeeded Gainer, guiding Big Creek to 30 wins over the five seasons he was there.

Richwood native Joel Hicks, right out of West Virginia University, was hired for the 1964 season and continued the success, leading the Owls to 33 wins over his five seasons, including back-to-back 9-1 records in ‘66 and ‘67.

Big Creek alum Mario Poletti coached from 1969-84, winning 100 games in the process and taking Big Creek to their first state playoff berth in 1976, when the Owls finished as Class AA state runner-up to Ravenswood.

Poletti also guided his clubs to postseason action in ‘79, ‘80 and ‘84.

Drexel “Bear” Adkins, Jr., who had played for Poletti in the early ‘70s, became head coach in ‘91, and Poletti came out of coaching retirement to assist his former player.

Adkins led the Owls to four consecutive playoff appearances, finishing as Class A runner-up in the final trip in 1997.

Continued declining enrollment that saw the Owls go from Class AAA in the 1960s to Class AA in the ‘70, and finally to Class A in the ‘90s, led to fewer players and some tough times after the ‘97 season.

However, the support of the Owl faithful never wavered, with large crowds backing Big Creek on Friday night, whether on the road or at home.

Longtime assistant Mike Vallo, who had taken a hiatus from coaching football at Big Creek, came back to take the reigns in 2001 and started the Owls on a climb that culminated with a trip back to the state playoffs last year

•••

The stars on the gridiron were many over the years, and by no means is this meant to be all-inclusive.

Two standouts from the mid-1950s were Glynn Carlock and Dave Rider. Rider played at WVU before beginning a successful coaching career that went from Tazewell High School to eastern Tennessee.

The late-Carlock served in the Marines before becoming an assistant coach at Bluefield High School after finishing college, and taking the head job at Graham in 1973.

Carlock, who passed away in 2005, guided the G-Men to state titles in 1989 and 1995, while leading Graham to 244 wins in 32 seasons.

Jim Hickam graduated from Big Creek in 1959 and went on to play collegiate football at Virginia Tech. After graduation, he coached at Northside High School in Roanoke for 32 seasons, compiling a 229-116-11 mark.

Hickam is now an assistant coach at Ferrum College.

Glen McNew graduated from Big Creek in 1960 and played at Concord before returning to his alma mater as an assistant coach. He was head coach at Iaeger High School for the 1966 season before becoming an assistant at George Wythe for three years and Richlands for four more. At Richlands, he coached under Jim Hammond, also an Owl grad.

McNew was head coach at Mullens High School from 1974-87 before moving to Morgantown to coach the Class AAA Mohicans from the fall of ‘87 until his retirement from coaching in ‘02. His Morgantown teams won state championships in 2000 and 2002.

By the way, Rider’s grandson can be seen on any given Sunday playing tight end for the Dallas Cowboys. His is Jason Witten.

A trio of all-staters played for coach Hicks, with all three going on to play at WVU. Wide receiver Oscar Patrick graduated from Big Creek in 1966, while running back Robert “Punch” Gresham and end Randy Flinchum both graduated in ‘67.

Flinchum served as an assistant coach at Big Creek, as well as an assistant to Joel Hicks at Pulaski County, Va. He was also the head football coach at Abingdon, Va. for almost 10 years.

Hicks was the head coach at Pulaski County until he retired after the ‘02 season. He guided the Cougars to the 1992 state crown.

Coach Gainer, as mentioned, led Bluefield to the 1959 Class AAA title, and added championships in 1962, 1965 and 1967 before going to Patrick Henry of Roanoke, where he coached that school to a 1973 state crown. His 31 year coaching record was 240-57-14.

Coach Poletti’s sixteen year record at Big Creek as head coach was 100-52-3.

Tom Hale, a 1976 Owl grad, has had an illustrious coaching career, leading Carroll County’s football program for several years. In an interview several years ago, coach Hale attributed Randy Flinchum for getting him interested in becoming a football coach.

Adkins’ accomplishments include taking Big Creek to the playoff four of his seven years and finishing as runner-up in 1997.

Chris Jones, a 1989 Big Creek all-stater, played at Concord and is in his tenth year as a head football coach in Virginia. He led Bath County to the state title in 2001, only his second season there, and guided Heritage of Lynchburg to the championship in 2002, his first year there.

Jones took over at Franklin County High School in Rocky Mount this season and the Eagles are currently 8-1. His ten year coaching record stands at 88-26.

The list goes on and on for former Owl football players, whether it be a John Johnson, who played at Duke and is currently an insurance agent in Princeton, or Pete Palko, who is now Dr. Pete Palko, or Bluefield police chief Joe Wilson, who is a former Owl quarterback.

Of the head coaches mentioned, who either graduated from Big Creek, or coached there prior to moving to another school or schools, there are 12 state championships between them.

Four of those coaches have had football fields named in their honor: Gainer Field at Patrick Henry, Hickam Field at Northside, Hicks Field at Pulaski County and Mario Poletti Field at Big Creek.

Tonight, after the Owls battle Meadow Bridge, the lights will go out for the final time, but for anyone who has experienced Big Creek football, just one more time, the memories will live on forever.



Big Creek Owls by the numbers



Records by decade

1930s: 47-37-7; 1940s: 49-33-8; 1950s: 75-10-4; 1960s: 62-33-4; 1970s: 64-34-1; 1980s: 53-40; 1990s: 45-57-1; 2000s: 39-54

Total: 433-298-25

Playoff appearances

1976: Class AA, def. Greenbrier West 28-6, lost to Ravenswood 15-7 (championship game)

1979: Class AA, def. Central Preston 14-6, lost to Wheeling Central 31-0

1980: Class AA, def. Midland Trail 30-0, lost to Ceredo-Kenova 21-6

1984: Class AA, lost to Man 38-0

1994: Class A, def. Paden City 25-0, lost to St. Mary’s 28-0

1995: Class A, lost to Mount Hope 28-0

1996: Class A, lost to Wahama 41-14

1997: Class A, def. Clay-Batelle 32-26, 2 OT, def. East Hardy 6-0, def. Guyan Valley 15-0, lost to Moorefield 15-12 (championship game)

2008: Class A, lost to Pocahontas County 68-12

Big Creek head coaches

Hugh “Tubby” Law (1931-34, 34 wins); G.E. Brown (’35-39, 12); Elda Carney (’40-41, 14); Jimmy Green (’42, 2); John Carter (’43, 45-47, 19); Ralph Waite (’44, 5); Merrill Gainer (’48-58, 79); Carl Mams (’59-63, 30); Joel Hicks (’64-68, 33); Mario Poletti (’69-84, 100); Howard Linkous (’85-90, 22); Drexel Adams, Jr. (’91-97, 40); Tom Calloway (’98, 1); Rhandy Barnett (’99-2000, 5); Mike Vallo (’01-09, 36).

—Compiled by Gary Dov