Landmark's Sports

The 1935 DeKalb County Football Team

The undefeated 1935 football team, by Joe Baxter Brown

Joe Baxter Brown.

DeKalb County High School's Undefeated 1935 Team

The 1935 squad was DeKalb County High School's first unbeaten team. Head coach, Dick Hamner, and assistant coach, Felton Lecroy, put together a group of tough linemen with some hard-running backs to form a team that refused to lose. They were county and state champions and had a 9-0 record. The Wildcats scored 219 points and allowed 34.

Unbeaten 1935 Football Team

First Row: De Arman Everett, Marion Casey, Pete Leath, Dorman Nance, Sam Johnson, Tom McCurdy, Bob Evans, Bill Thornberry, Norman ("Sparky") Adams. Second Row: Clarence Abbott, Harper Milling, Tess Little, Lucian Abbott, Red Ellis, Bill Jackson, Ray Edwards, Wilborn Coleman, Bill Shugart, A.C. Kirby. Third Row: Coach Dick Hamner, Bill Healy, Albert ("Red") Browder, Bo Hall, Charles Aubrey ("Clip") Scott, Bill Cochran, Rebo Pope, Bill Lawson, Coach Felton Lecroy.

The record for the DeKalb County High School 1935 football team was as follows:

Coach Hamner had a winning percentage of 81% during his four years here. This was the highest winning percentage of any coach in the Fort Payne school system, at DeKalb County High School or its successor Fort Payne High School.

The 1930s era was a difficult time in our country's history. In 1935 we were just beginning to come out of the five year Great Depression. The guys who played on this first undefeated team were used to hard times; they were tough and so were their opponents. The protective equipment for football players was far inferior to that used today. Notice the leather helmets they wore, with no faceguards.

View the player photos for some people on the 1935 football team.

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