A Dream Season by Phillip Flinn
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Volume 7, Number 2, February 2005 A Dream Season by Phillip Flinn A nineteen-year drought of winning a football state cham- The football Owls got their fi rst test of the season at the pionship ended Tuesday, November 23, when the MUS football Bridges Kickoff Classic against the East High Mustangs at the team defeated Brentwood Academy 35-14 at Vanderbilt Stadium. Liberty Bowl. On what was to become a common occurrence The Owls captured the Division 2-AAA state title for the fi rst time during the year, quarterback Rob Park hit J.D. Lawhorn since the inception of the Super 7 league in 1997. The underrated for two touchdown receptions in the fi rst quarter. The defense, squad grew together as a family and team to be recognized as one sporting its new 3-5-3 look, forced four turnovers and held the of the premier teams in the state. high-powered Mustangs to a stingy eight points. The combination After strenuous drill and weight-lifting sessions and seven-on- of a talented offense, a hard-nosed, fast defense, and a superb seven scrimmages with other area teams during the summer, the coaching staff led by Coach Bobby Alston would prove to be players were eager to suit up in pads to release some testosterone unstoppable throughout the year. and to begin their collective quest to bring home a gold trophy. Noticeably present was an energetic student fan section that It was evident coming into the summer workouts that the football had been missing the previous year. Many students attended the team was loaded with talent at the skill positions and at linemen. East game, and their rowdiness contributed to the overwhelming In order to maximize the abundance of ability on the team, the victory. The fans continued their liveliness for the entire season. coaches implemented the platoon system where roughly half In whatever venue the football team played, MUS had vigorous of the squad is designated as an offensive or defensive player. support from students, cheerleaders, family, and alumni. Many Throughout the August practices a competitive rivalry developed guys traveled on student buses to root for the Owls in victories at between the “O-Show” and “D-Unit” that upped each player’s Jackson Prep and Father Ryan. The squad knew it had uncondi- level of preparation. Yet senior captains Kane Alber, Joey tional support of its followers when at least two hundred people Friend, and Warren Grimm kept the team focused on reaching made the six-hour journey to Chattanooga to encourage the the championship game and on creating a team bond that would players in their only loss of the year to the Baylor School. In home become unbreakable. continued on page 11 The School for Boys Inside MUS 1 InsideInside thethe HuddleHuddle by Bobby Alston, Director of Athletics This is my fourth attempt Clint Cowan writes a great article about the game, at writing this article. My Þ rst not because he got the facts correct, but because he saw three efforts had all started very the truth about our team and summed it up so well in this promising, but had not gotten a quote: “From this moment on, the Owls held a Þ rm grip Þ rst down. I was just about to on the game’s momentum, a grasp made possible by the play conservatively and punt the hard work and unity that has so aptly characterized the assignment back to the editor group this season.” From a coach’s viewpoint, that is a when providentially I picked up a copy of the latest Owl’s touchdown! On the next page is an article on leadership, Hoot. Suddenly, as I read through the articles by the boys written by Price Edwards, that will be a permanent part about our football season, I felt conÞ dent enough to take the of our playbook. He said it so much better than I ever risk and go for it on fourth down. have. That is what a great English Department does for There can be no better feeling for a parent than to see us! After two touchdowns, my heart was really racing. your child grasp one of the great lessons in life you have tried Then I turned the page and found another great article to teach him. Sure, it is fun to see him hit the game-winning by Preston Dennis about the positive support shown to shot or goal, but that is just either luck or taking advantage the team from the fans. Preston’s Þ nal paragraph is too of a technical skill. It has very little to do with what is really long for me to quote here, but he got it totally right. important. I believe we have sports in our school because Our school will always strive to have champions we can teach those life lessons that help fulÞ ll the school’s on the Þ eld as well as in the classroom, but we must mission. Our mission at MUS is a very lofty one because we never lose sight of our goal: that our boys have to be have the most gifted young men in our city. When we fail, we champions in life. While we might not always bring home do not just fail the individual boy but also hundreds, perhaps the gold trophy in a sporting event, we must produce thousands, of others in years to come. As happy as I was young men that will bring back many gold trophies as when we won the state championship game, reading that husbands, fathers, and community citizens during the newspaper meant much more.The headline, to me, was not next 50 years. We will not win 100 percent of the time in “Owls Dominate Brentwood at Clinic Bowl,” but “Hey, Coach, that quest, but MUS is—without a doubt—the best place I think we understand what you were trying to teach us.” in our area to pursue that goal. 2 Inside MUS The School for Boys Smythe had the honor of emceeing this Old Traditions event, which included such competition Renewed and New as “Will It Float?” where contestants had OOwlwl NNewsews to guess which items, when dropped in a Traditions Begun tub of water, would fl oat; and “Mutzi or Amsler?” where contestants were asked There is something unique about this a question, and they had to determine if year’s Student Council—something about Let the Games Begin the person in question was Mr. Vincent the way they have inspired the students The Übertrials—made popular last Mutzi or Mr. Guy Amsler. The next to a level of higher morale than in years year as the Homecoming theme and a competition was Challenge Torrey where past and the way they have tried to way to choose the most perfect specimen competitors had to correctly answer MUS provide opportunities for student involve- of man among all MUS students—began sports trivia questions asked by Coach ment all over campus. No one can deny early in the school year and let students Dax Torrey. This competition narrowed that the spirit level this year has been compete for their homerooms instead of the fi eld to only sophomore Will much higher than years past and the individually. “We decided to put recre- Aldridge and junior Reid Wesson. excitement and positive attitude of the ational games like horseshoes, washers, Two faculty members were chosen to students are the main reasons. “Andrew and Petanque [a game many students compete in their place, “coincidentally” [Robinson, president of the Student learn while staying at Dr. Reginald Dalle’s Mr. Barry Ray and Mr. Loyal Mur- chateau during MUS In Europe trips] in phy, making the competition a disciplin- Council] and I felt like our grade had the the amphitheater,” said Abernathy. “In ary showdown. The two men competed kind of leadership that could bring the the cafeteria, we put checkers, Jenga, with a Rock ’Em, Sock ’Em Robots boxing spirit back—the kind of spirit that we saw Guess Who, and other board games. game, and Mr. Murphy emerged victo- while we were in the Lower School that People could play these games and earn rious allowing Wesson to continue in made us love this school so much,” said points for their homeroom. After a few the competition. His fi nal hurdle was a senior Sloan Abernathy, vice president weeks of light competition, we started the biscuit-eating contest against none other of the Student Council. “Our main goal ‘Funanza,’” said Abernathy. The “Fu- than Abernathy’s 175-pound St. Bernard, this year was to pick it up.” nanza” let people earn more points for Gracie, who, suffering from stage fright Lloyd Hoo? The spirit began to pick up from the very beginning of the year with the re-introduction of the MUS Owl mascot. “The mas- cot had died off at some point, but we thought bringing it back would really help boost school spirit,” said Abernathy. And it did. Abernathy and Robinson went to a costume shop and, thus, Lloyd the Owl was born. “We had a contest throughout the homerooms to name him,” said Abernathy. There was a During heated competition in the Übertrials, their homeroom through a wider variety faculty member Dax Torrey emcees the trivia contest close race with Owlfred (another name of games. In addition, students could as Reid Wesson (78) and Will Aldridge (73) option). But in the end, it just seemed earn points by participating in a number try to win points for their homerooms.