Switzer to introduce Watts at Hall of Fame banquet

J.C. Watts, a former quarterback at Oklahoma who later served 12 years in the United States House of Representatives, will be the special guest at this year’s Oil Bowl banquet, Oil Bowl chairman Ronnie Awtry said Friday. Awtry said that former OU coach Barry Switzer had agreed to introduce Watts at the banquet, which will be held at 7 p.m., Friday June 22 at the Maskat Shrine Temple building. Watts, who played in the 1976 Oil Bowl, will be inducted into the game’s Hall of Fame that night, along with Chuck Curtis and the late Dr. Willy Pino. Tickets for the banquet will go on sale sometime next week at the Maskat Shrine Temple. The 70th Oil Bowl football game will be played at 7:30 p.m., Saturday, June 23 at Memorial Stadium.

J.C. Watts

It seem quite fitting that J.C. Watts played in the 1976 Oil Bowl. That was a year of bicentennial celebrating in the United States. Watts went on to serve our country for 12 years in the House of Representatives. During that time he was chosen by the Republican House Leadership to be chairman of the House Republican Conference, the fourth highest position of leadership in the House of Representatives. In 1996, he gained national attention with a speech before the Republican national convention in which he said: “You see character does count. For too long we have gotten by in a society that says the only thing right is to get by and the only thing wrong is to get caught. Character is doing what’s right when nobody is looking.” But before his political career, he had a football career. Watts played high school football in Eufaula, Okla., where he was chosen to play in the Oil Bowl the summer after graduation. His 38-yard pass to Kenneth Blair helped set up Oklahoma’s first touchdown in the game that Texas eventually won 27-28. From there, Watts went on to the University of Oklahoma, where he was the starting quarterback for Barry Switzer’s Sooners in 1979 and 1980. In those two years, OU went 11-1 and 10-2. The Sooners were 14-0 in the Big Eight Conference. Watts took Oklahoma to back-to-back Orange Bowls and back-to-back wins over Florida State in which he was the offensive MVP of both games. He had a 61-yard option run to lead OU to a 24-7 rout of the Seminoles in the 1981 Orange Bowl. The next year he completed an 11-yard touchdown pass and a two-point conversion pass with less than a minute to play to rally Oklahoma to an 18-17 victory. He played professional football in the Canadian Football League for the Ottawa Rough Riders and received the Grey Cup MVP award his rookie season. Between football and Congress, Watts worked as a Southern Baptist youth minister and associate pastor in Del City, Okla. From 1987 to 1994. Today, he is chairman of J.C. Watts Companies, which works with clients on strategies for business development, communications and public affairs. He also serves on the board of the Boy Scouts of America, the United States Military Academy, Africare, BNSF Railway, Clear Channel Communications, Dillard’s and Terex Corporation. He also works as a political contributor to CNN and writes a monthly column for The Sporting News.

Chuck Curtis

Chuck Curtis had an amazing three seasons as a Texas high school football coach in 1962, 1963 and 1964. In 1962, he led Jacksboro to the Class 2A state championship and a 15-0 record. The Tigers outscored their opponents 602-43 that year. The next two seasons he coached Garland High School to back-to-back Class 4A state titles, going 26-1-1 during that stretch. With stops in Jacksboro, Garland, Holliday, Cleburne and Aledo, Curtis compiled a 135-41-1 coaching record in 15 seasons. He was also an assistant coach under Hayden Fry at SMU and later head coach at Texas-Arlington. His last job was as athletic director in Mineral Wells. He was chosen to coach in the 1983 Oil Bowl. His Texas team lost to Oklahoma 27-3. This year he was inducted into the Texas High School Football Hall of Fame. Curtis was a high school football star in Gainesville before getting a scholarship to TCU. He was a star quarterback at TCU, where in the 1957 Cotton Bowl, Curtis threw two touchdown passes and ran for another TD to lead the Horned Frogs to a 28-27 win over Jim Brown and Syracuse. The All-Southwest Conference quarterback played professional football for the New York Giants, where he was coached by assistant coaches Tom Landry and Vince Lombardi.

Dr. Willy Pino

The Oil Bowl lost a loyal and good friend last September with the death of Dr. Willy Pino. Pino served as a volunteer Oil Bowl doctor for several years. He loved sports -- also serving as team doctor for Rider High School and Midwestern State University teams. Born in Havana, Cuba in 1953, Pino was only 12 when he and his family were forced to immigrate to the United States as political refugees in 1966. Upon graduating from S.H. Rider High School in 1970, Willy attended Midwestern State University and Tarleton State University before graduating from The University of Monterrey Medical School in 1970.

Returning to the U.S., he completed an externship at Methodist Hospital in Dallas, where he met his future wife, Mary Jane Anderson. The couple wed in Dallas on June 25, 1977, and moved to New Orleans, La., where he completed his orthopedic surgery residency at Tulane University. In 1982, the family moved to Wichita Falls where Willy began his medical practice at the Clinics of North Texas.

Willy left a rich legacy of family and community involvement, as well as, mentorship to many young doctors and athletes. Along with being team doctor at Rider and MSU, he served as president and co-founder of XPress Soccer Club. He was also a past president of the Rider Soccer Booster Club, and member of the Texas Exes Association.

Willy also impacted the development of the medical community of Wichita Falls as Chief of Surgery at United Regional Health Care System, past-President Medical Staff of Healthsouth North Texas Surgi Center, Medical Director of Orthopedics at Healthsouth North Texas Surgi Center, Partner in Clinics of North Texas and Healthsouth North Texas Surgi Center, Medical Liaison for the Dallas Cowboys Training Camp in Wichita Falls, and member of the Texas Medical Association and the Wichita County Medical Society. Willy’s other community involvements included long-time member of First Assembly of God and Gideon’s International, adjunct professor at Midwestern State University, member of the Wichita Falls Country Club, and member of the American Association of Pilots.

10 area players on Texas roster

Ten players from the Wichita Falls area have been selected to play in the 70th Oil Bowl football game next month.

The charity game, sponsored by Maskat Shrine Temple, will be played at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, June 23, at Memorial Stadium. It matches high school all-stars from Texas and Oklahoma.

Holliday’s Terry Wolf is the head coach of the Texas team, and Vernon’s Keith Hall is the defensive coordinator.

Four of the 10 players from this area were quarterbacks in high school — Taylor Huskisson of Wichita Falls High; Ray Barry of Hirschi; Bo Bateman of Electra and Brad Green of Windthorst.

Three of the 10 are from Class 3A Division II state semifinalist Vernon and will join their high school coach Keith Hall, who is the defensive coordinator for the Texas team. Fullback-linebacker Aston Whiteside; cornerback-running back Coryan Briggs and tackle-nose guard Tyler Pope are the former Lions who will participate.

The other three players from the area are Rider lineman Casey Bates, Windthorst center-defensive end Jerod Mankins and Holliday wide receiver-cornerback Brendt Brumbelow.

Brumbelow will be playing his final game for Wolf, his coach at Holliday.

Allen coach Tom Westerberg will be the offensive coordinator for Texas. He also has three of his players on the roster — quarterback Nathan Dick; wide receiver-safety Cody Gambill and lineman David Hong.

Two Oklahoma schools will also be represented by three players — Mustang and Tulsa East Central.

Oil Bowl chairman Ronnie Awtry said he believes this will be the first time that twins have played in the game. Collin and Ryon Zych of Plano East are together on the Texas roster.

Fifteen NCAA Division I schools currently have players on the roster, including five from the Big 12.

Five players headed to Oklahoma State are in the game. North Texas, under new head coach Todd Dodge, has four on the Texas roster.

Northeastern Oklahoma A&M, a junior college, is the most represented school with eight players on the Oklahoma roster.

Seven Lone Star Conference schools have players in the game.

Texas shut out Oklahoma 17-0 last year to up its series advantage to 43-17-1.

This year’s game will again be sponsored by Texas Alliance of Energy Producers.

Wolf, Hall to coach in Oil Bowl

Nick Gholson
Times Record News

Two successful coaches from the Wichita Falls area — Terry Wolf of Holliday and Keith Hall of Vernon — were named Saturday to the Texas staff for the 70th Oil Bowl football game.

“I am overwhelmed,” said Wolf, who will be the head coach on a Texas staff that included Hall as defensive coordinator and Tom Westerberg of Allen as offensive coordinator.

“This is a great thing for me and something I have always wanted to do.”

“This is like a dream come true for me,” Hall said. “My only other dream is to win a state title."

“I have been coming to the Oil Bowl since I moved to this area nine years ago, and I am honored to be among the great coaches and great players who have been a part of the game.”

Wolf coached Holliday to a 12-2 season and a berth in the Class 2A quarterfinals in 2006, and Hall led Vernon to the Class 3A semifinals and a 9-6 record. Westerberg coached Allen to a 13-2 record and the Class 5A semifinals, where the Eagles were eliminated by Southlake Carroll.

This year’s Oil Bowl, an annual matchup of high school senior all-stars from Texas and Oklahoma, will be played at 7:30 p.m., Saturday, June 23, at Memorial Stadium. The game is a tradition of the Maskat Shrine Temple of Wichita Falls and for the second year will be sponsored by the Texas Alliance of Energy Producers.

Texas owns a 43-17-1 series advantage, including a 17-0 shutout last season. Tommy Bare of Hugo, Kerry Roberts of Eufaula and Bob Craig of Collinsville were named to coach Oklahoma in this year’s game. Roberts will be the head coach with Bare serving as offensive coordinator and Craig as defensive coordinator.

Selection of coaches brings added bonuses

Nick Gholson
Times Record News

With the selection of six coaches on Saturday, the 70th Oil Bowl got a bonus.

The game picked up the top rusher in Oklahoma and a star quarterback from Texas.

Derrick Locke, who rushed for 3,275 yards and scored 51 touchdowns for Hugo last season, will join his high school head coach Tommy Bare in our June 23 game. Bare will be the offensive coordinator for the Oklahoma all-star team.

Locke helped Hugo go 10-3 and get to the Class 3A semifinals his senior year.

“He’s a stud — I guarantee you,” said Eufaula coach Kerry Roberts, who will be head coach for Oklahoma’s Oil Bowl team.

Bare said the D-1 teams recruiting Locke are Iowa State, Kansas, Wyoming and North Texas.

Nathan Dick, a 6-4, 200-pound quarterback from Allen, has committed to play for Texas in the Oil Bowl.

Dick’s high school coach, Tom Westerberg, will the offensive coordinator in the game.

His parents — Steve and Mary Ellen Dick — both went to high school in Wichita Falls and college at Midwestern State. His older brother, Casey, was the starting quarterback for Arkansas last season.

Dick completed 261 of 402 passes for 3,622 yards with 23 touchdowns and only three interceptions for 13-2 state semifinalist Allen. He also ran 144 times for 577 yards and 11 TDs.

He had verbally committed to Rice but recently switched to Arkansas.

Allen has two other D-1 prospects — defensive end Tyler Crane (Missouri) and offensive lineman David Hong (Navy)