1966 Sabinal Yellowjackets

Sabinal entered the 1966 high school football season as a district dark horse.  They were coming off a respectable 5-5 season which could have easily been 8-2 if a few breaks had gone their way and had a nucleus of veteran players returning which included 6 seniors and 10 juniors. But the Yellowjackets lacked the one intangible:  A winning tradition.
The starting lineup for this team included Delton O’Bryant at center, guards Richard Chapman and Tony Flores, tackles Kenneth Chapman and Don McNair, ends Billy Kring and Kenneth McCauley.  QB Dusty Parker had fullback Greg Bales and halfback Bobby Hargreaves with flanker Roy Pena to round out the backfield.
Sabinal was also one of the smallest schools in District 30-A, which consisted of Bandera, Medina Valley, Comfort, Marble Falls, Johnson City, and a new school on the North side of San Antonio called Converse Judson.
What irony it was that the UIL put the Judson Rockets in this district in those critical years.  It was one of the fastest growing schools in San Antonio and at the time they played in 1966 and 1967 they had the enrollment of a 4A school, but had to stay in each classification for two years before moving up to the next larger one.  This little rule prevented the Yellowjackets from reaching the playoffs because in those two seasons the only losses Sabinal had were to Judson.  And there was no runner-up rule in those days.  You had to win the district title outright to make the playoffs.
Second-year Head Coach Henry Sollers and his assistant Coach, Frank Neely, molded one of the finest defensive teams in the history of Sabinal.  Through 10 games the Yellowjackets allowed a mere 37 points, shutting out 7 of their opponents.  They opened the season against always-tough D’Hanis and pulled out a 12-6 win on a tipped pass caught by Bobby Hargreaves in the fourth quarter for the winning TD.  They then began their shutout string by defeating Brackettville 15-0, Natalia 25-0, Bandera 52-0, Comfort 29-0, Marble Falls 15-0, and then Johnson City broke the zero scale by scoring one TD in a 20-7 loss to Sabinal.  They followed this with a 42-0 victory over St. Louis Academy of Castroville.
The district showdown was between Medina Valley and Sabinal, or that was what was thought at the time.  The Panthers came into Yellowjacket Stadium undefeated in district play and the pre-district favorite as picked by the coaches.  It was a very hard-fought and well-played defensive struggle and Sabinal prevailed 13-0 and put themselves in the drivers seat to take the district title.  Only Judson remained on their schedule and the Rockets had lost to Medina Valley 27-14 in their first district game and were not expected to do any better against the Yellowjackets.
Someone forgot to tell Judson that they could not win.  As it often happens in high school and even college and pro sports, after gearing up for a big game and winning or losing, it is very difficult to prepare for and play as well as you did the week before.  Sabinal proved to be no exception to this rule. The Rockets capitalized on every Sabinal error and turnover and put up a very staunch defense of its own and handed the Yellowjackets their only defeat of the year, 24-6. 
Co-Captains of this great team, Kenneth Chapman and Greg Bales, and both seniors, watched their playoff dreams end at Rocket Stadium and I remember watching them walk off the field together with their heads down and their helmets swinging in their hands as they left. 
It is so difficult to measure what this team meant to not only the school but to the town as well.  I know I remember as a student how exciting it was to go to the games and see them win and when I would actually stop and look around I could see that not only parents of the players were there, but EVERYONE I knew was there, and there were even students and grownups from neighboring towns there yelling for Sabinal as well.  It was a great experience.
This team started the winning tradition that all Sabinal teams have tried to match and there have been some mighty fine teams since this one.  This was one of those dream teams that come along so rarely and are never forgotten.