John Tyler running back Earl Campbell (20) runs against Austin Reagan on Dec. 22, 1973, at the Astrodome in Houston. The Lions defeated the Raiders, 21-14, to win the Class 4A state football championship.

In 1973, gas was 40 cents a gallon, a new car cost $3,200, All in the Family was the top rated TV show and the Watergate hearings were beginning.

Richard Nixon was president of the United States and Dolph Briscoe was Governor of Texas.

“Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree,” “Bad, Bad Leroy Brown” and “Killing Me Softly With His Song” were rocking the Billboard charts.

“The Exorcist,” “The Sting” and “American Graffiti” were tops at the cinema.

In the sports world, Secretariat won the Triple Crown, Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs competed in “The Battle of the Sexes”, and one of the top football teams ever assembled was embarking on a magical season in the Rose City.

Fifty years ago on Friday, the John Tyler Lions won the Class 4A state football championship.

On Dec, 22, 1973, in the Astrodome in Houston, JT defeated Austin Reagan, 21-14, in the title game. The Lions finished the season 15-0, bringing Tyler its first state championship since 1930.

The Lions were voted by Dave Campbell’s Texas Football Magazine as the top team between 1960 to 1985.

JT was led by Lone Star Legend, Earl Campbell.

The Tyler Rose is the most decorated high school player that Texas has produced. Campbell was a state champion in high school, a Heisman Trophy winner as a Texas Longhorn, a three-time NFL Most Valuable Player with the Houston Oilers and is a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Larry Hartsfield was quarterback of the team coached by Corky Nelson.

Ronnie Lee, who went on to play 15 years in the NFL after starring at Baylor, was another star on the team, along with Campbell twins — Steve and Tim — and noseguard Gary Don Johnson. The twins and Johnson were part of a standout defense.

On that day 50 years ago, the Tyler Morning Telegraph’s Marvin Ellis wrote, “Santa Claus waited 43 years to deliver a most prized present to the John Tyler Lions — a shiny silver football inscribed with Class AAAA State Champions.”

Before a crowd of 16,375 fans, the Lions rallied twice to defeat the Reagan Raiders.

Reagan took a 6-0 lead in the first quarter, but the Lions blocked the extra point attempt. Earl Campbell scored on a 53-yard run in the second period. Derrick Dillard added the PAT for a 7-6 lead.

The Raiders took a 14-7 halftime lead after a TD and two-point conversion.

The Lions rallied in the second half for the win.

Campbell rushed for 164 yards and two touchdowns on 32 carries. He finished his season with 2,036 rushing yards. Fullback Lynn King rushed for 67 yards on 19 attempts and QB Hartsfield had 48 yards and a TD on 13 carries.

All the Lions’ yards were on the ground as JT attempted only three passes without a completion.

JT’s defense stood out in the second half, holding Reagan to two first downs and 42 yards.

Reagan faced a fourth-and-1 at the JT 16 in the third quarter. Tim Campbell broke through and dropped Raiders running back Larry Mitchell for a three-yard loss.

The Lions then went on a 17-play, 81-yard drive, topped off by Hartsfield’s 1-yard TD run with 23 seconds on the clock in the third quarter. Dillard made the PAT to tie the game 14-14.

On Reagan’s next possession, Tim Campbell, Cleveland Broughton and Gary Don Johnson made big plays to limit the Raiders to one-yard.

With 4:53 showing in the fourth quarter, the Lions took over at their own 38 after a Reagan punt.

The Lions went 10 plays for the winning score. A key play on the drive was a 26-yard run by Hartsfield down inside the 1-yard line with 1:47 showing. After a QB sneak, it was second down and Earl Campbell went over the right side for the TD with 51 seconds showing. Dillard made the PAT and a 21-14 lead.

After a short kickoff, the Raiders took over at the JT 44, but the Lions defense came through.

JT clinched the win when Mike Cayard interepted the ball at the 10 and the celebration began.

Earl Campbell credited his offensive line of left end Claude Jones, left tackle Anthony Thomas, left guard Gary McCaslin, center Don Sanders, right guard Rich Ford, right tackle Derek Dillard and right end Ronnie Lee.

Earlier this year when the Class of 1974 held a reunion at a Lions football game, Cynthia Melontree Johnson, a retired Tyler ISD Educator and the Tyler ISD 2021 Distinguished Alum, said, ”The team’s accomplishments brought the City of Tyler, North and South, together. An example of this was when Coach Corky Nelson read a scroll from the Robert E. Lee Student Senate during a JT pep rally, wishing the Lions good luck in their quest for the state championship against Austin Reagan.”

Plus, it helped racial tensions as intergration was fairly new to Tyler.

The talented team included outstanding seniors: Earl Campbell, Lynn King, Larry Hartsfield, Michael R. Johnson, Cary “Tuffy” Wilson, Michael Taylor, Marc Kemp, Ralph Caldwell, Snow Bush, Rick Ford, Herbert Bristow, Keith Kilpatrick, Donald Sanders, Gary Iverson and Mark Ellis.

The junior and sophomore members of the state team included: Paul Hammock, Claude Jones, Ronnie Jones, Lamar Willis, Doug Shepherd, Brian Herring, Steve DeVille, Anthony Thomas, Tim Campbell, Steve Campbell, Bobby Bobbit, Calvin Ellison, Kevin Dennis, Tony Brown, Zach Guthrie, Derrick Dillard, Gary Johnson, Ronnie Lee, Terry Bizor, Gary McCaslin, Walter Brown, Norris Tave, Tony Terrell, James Roberts, Gerald Jessup, Mike Cayard, James Lang and Cleveland Broughton.

Corky Nelson was the head coach. Others on the coaching staff included: Lawrence LaCroix, Royce Franklin, Charles Craddock, Darvin Hooker, Bob Finklea and Bill Parks.

The City of Tyler, John Tyler High School and the Lions had their own version of “Remember the Titans.”

John Tyler Lions

1973 State Champions

Non-District

John Tyler 21, Greenville 0 in Greenville

John Tyler 26, Corsicana 7 in Tyler

John Tyler 31, Irving Nimitz 0 in Irving

District 14-4A

John Tyler 21, Texas High 16 in Tyler

John Tyler 16, Longview 0 in Tyler

John Tyler 33, Marshall 0 in Marshall

John Tyler 34, Lufkin 20 in Tyler

John Tyler 14, Nacogdoches 7 in Nacogdoches

John Tyler 54, Palestine 0 in Palestine

John Tyler 28, Robert E. Lee 3 in Tyler

Playoffs

Bi-District: John Tyler 34, Plano 0 in Tyler

Area: John Tyler 10, Conroe 7 in Conroe

Quarterfinals: John Tyler 34, Fort Worth Arlington Heights 12 in Fort Worth

Semifinals: John Tyler 22, Arlington Sam Houston 7 in Waco

Championship: John Tyler 21, Austin Reagan 14 in Houston