A Year Of Shining Victory: The 60th Anniversary of Central’s 1957 State Championship

STATE WINNING TEAM -- Centrals legendary 1957 football team is shown.

1957 Champion Yearbook

STATE WINNING TEAM — Central’s legendary 1957 football team is shown.

John Britt, Staff Writer

Editors Note: This article contains summaries and excerpts from the 1957 Champion Yearbook.

Every year, a new group of people come out on the football field to give it their all at achieving victory. Some teams are destined to be great, as was the case with the 1957 Purple Pounders. They dominated almost all of their games, except for one, and was one of the best teams that Central has ever seen up to this date. Central was still downtown on Dodds Avenue during this time but it was still very much the Central that we know and love in spirit.

The first three games of the series were all complete shut-outs with the opponents in all three games scoring no points. The first game of the series was against Ripley High who we beat 20-0 in a very strong start for the rest to come. The next game was against Southside when the Purple Pounders got a fumble into a touchdown in the first quarter, and our defense held true to the end, ending with a score of 7-0.  The last of our first three games was against Memphis Central, which was a grueling game with neither side getting close to a touchdown. However,  a punt was eventually returned to Memphis in the third quarter, gaining the Purple Pounders the touchdown they needed to bring the game to 7-0.

Then, the Purple Pounders went against Kingsport, coming out to a crowd of 12,000 enthusiastic fans. Kingsport managed to start the game at 7-0, but the Purple Pounders managed to fight for the lead. Bringing the score to 13-7 at halftime. The game went back and forth resulting in another win for the Purple Pounders at a score of 26-20.

Central went on another win streak crushing Bradley, Fulton and Woodlawn with scores of 35-0, 41-0, and 21-0 respectfully.

The Purple Pounders finally managed to get points scored on Scottsboro after they had managed a 12 point lead against the Pounder. Neverthless, Central consistently all though four quarters bringing the game to a 29-12 end.

Central completely dominated Knoxville South ending in a score of 41-0.

The Purple Pounders had their first struggle of the season against Oak Ridge. The game was rather defensive until the last quarter when Central managed to land a touchdown. Oak Ridge then managed to get safety called against them when pushed back to the 3 yard line. Bringing the score to 8-0.

Finally, the Purple Pounders finally had the win streak broke after playing against Robert E. Lee High School. The Pounders were out charged for the first half and could never get going on offense. Robert E. Lee managed to score twice in the third and fourth quarters. Bringing the score to 14-0  and ending one of the best seasons of football in Central history.

The Purple Pounders won the championship that year and for good reason as they showed pure talent on the field with a fiery offense. Total points scored ended up being one-sided, 235-46, showing that the defense is just as up to par. A perfect mix for an amazing season of football.