LaGrange clashes with Stephens Co. in first-ever meeting
By Scott Sickler
LaGrange Football Historian
2008 LaGrange Football Notebook
 
     The LaGrange-Stephens Co. game is the first-ever meeting between two of the most tradition-rich programs in the state. LG-SC also share a special 50th anniversary celebration in 2008 in marking LaGrange winning the GHSA 3A (big school classification then) state title and Stephens Co. claiming the Class 1A state championship in magical 1958 seasons. LG's title in '58 was its second in four years under the direction of legendary coach Oliver Hunnicutt as LG tied Rossville 13-13 in the 1955 2A state title game. While LG claimed the 3A title, SC earned the 1A title and West Point High, the old Red Devils under legendary coach Carlton Lewis, claimed the 1958 GHSA Class C title (smallest classification in '58). Just across the state border, the Lanett Panthers under legend Mal Morgan, won the 1958 AHSAA 2A state championship and were long-time rivals of LG for many years in one of the best Ga-Ala. rivalries for many years. In short, in 1958, LaGrange (3A) and West Point (C) from the same county (Troup) each won football state titles and just 20 miles down the road from LG and adjoining West Point on the state border, Lanett claimed an AHSAA (Alabama) 2A state title as well ---- 3 state titles in a 20-mile radius, pretty rare, indeed!
 
     LG also laid claim to state titles in 1921, 1924, 1925, 1926, 1930, 1955, 1958, 1991, 2001, 2003 & 2004. The Grangers claimed the USA-Today national championship in 1991 and defeated nationally No. 2-rated (USA-Today) Valdosta in the state quarterfinals. The late Nick Hyder's Wildcats were riding a 30-game winning streak (one game in the 30-win streak was a 24-13 '89 4A state semifinals playoff win over LG -- see later in story) and back-to-back 4A state titles -- '89 & '90 -- before No. 8 rated (USA-Today) LaGrange led by coach Gary Guthrie posted a thrilling 6-0 win before 10,000 fans at Callaway Stadium. The  '91 LG-V game pitted only the third time overall in the USA-Today poll history (1982-present) and the only time in Georgia to have a pair of Top-10 nationally-ranked teams squaring off. LG was ranked No. 2 in the AP and AJC polls and Valdosta was ranked No. 1 in both the AP and AJC in '91. LG's now classic 6-0 win over Valdosta avenged a gut-wrenching 24-13 loss to Valdosta in the 1989 state semifinals in the deep mud at Callaway Stadium. V led LG 12-0 early but LG roared back to hold a 13-12 late, V then rallied for an 18-13 lead before LG tried to rally for the win. Then sophomore QB Rodney Hudson had to not only battle a terrific Valdosta defense but also the mud in giving LG a chance to win in the last minute of the game. On the game's final play, Hudson had wideouts Michael Berry and Buster Owens both open deep. However, as Hudson dropped back to pass, he was leveled by a V linebacker, the ball was caught in a mid-air fumble by another V player and returned 40 yards for a V TD on the game's final play to give V a deceivingly tough 24-13 win. LG's sophomores in '89 returned the favor in a measure of revenge in evening the score with Valdosta in a classic 6-0 win in '91, considered by many still as the biggest Georgia high school football game ever played. The LG-V game in '91 was sold out long before the Friday kickoff and media members flew in on helicopters from Atlanta and around the state to witness the spectacle.
 
     The old Region 1-AAA -- '58 to '63 -- was a true classic in GHSA football history pitting LaGrange, Valdosta, Moultrie, Albany, Macon-Lanier, Columbus, Columbus-Jordan and Columbus-Baker and only Region 1-AAAAA in '08 now rivals it. Region 1-AAA teams won the big school state title 5 of six years from '58-'63. LG is 5-11 all-time vs. Valdosta, 2 state championship losses in '52 and '53 to Bazemore's V-Cats but LG was 4-6 vs. V from '58-'67 in playing regularly in Region 1-AAA as LG was the only school with any type of success against Bazemore's vaunted V Wildcats.