They say time flies when you are having fun.
It has been 20 years since the Bauxite Miners basked in football glory, hoisting a state championship trophy after completing an unforgettable 15-0 season.
Tonight, the members of that team will get to relive those happy days as the 1996 championship team will be honored prior to the Bauxite versus Pulaski Robinson game at The Pit.
“Anybody that played on the 1996 state championship team is welcome to come,” said Bauxite coaching legend Jon Watson.
Aside from the title team, Watson requested that the school also honor the 1995 14-1 runner-up team by inviting the five seniors that suited up for the Miners that year.
“That was the first team to win 12 games, 13 games and 14 games,” Watson said. “Unfortunately, we lost in the finals, but I want those five seniors to come back.”
As for the 1996 squad, Watson said it was a districtwide effort that resulted in the success of his program.
“At that time, Bauxite was a football-crazy place,” Watson said. “Whether it was our fans, our pep groups, our band and our administration, all were pulling together in the same direction on the same rope.
“Tradition meant a lot to those kids and it was a great group. The main thing was it was a group of kids that were willing to work to win.”
The championship team was full of superb talent, including Dan Dawson, who went on to play for Rice University and still owns the Division I NCAA record for longest fumble recovery returned for a touchdown at 100 yards.
“One of the reasons we were 15-0 that year and 14-1 the year before was because everyone was a standout,” Watson said. “It was team, team, team. You are always going to have the running backs like Aaron Halpain that rushed for nearly 2,000 yards and Dan that returned nearly every punt he wanted to for a touchdown.
“But you had your great defensive linebacker Brent Barnard and then you had Burl Camp and Mark Gipson. Tony Fox was superb. Joey Chism was a free safety and split end and was the fastest player I may have ever coached. But you can’t single out anyone because we were all for one and one for all and that includes our administration, student body, cheer groups and our crazy fanatic Bauxite Miner fans.”
During his 20-year career at the helm of the Bauxite football program, Watson’s lone title came in 1996.
Watson-led squads played in a number of semifinal games and are considered by most to be public school state champions of 2006 and 2007.
“That is when the football factory Shiloh Christian was just that – a football factory,” Watson said. “I think Saline County considers us public school state champions at least one of those years.”
Watson added that he had plenty of great district championship teams, but couldn’t keep the momentum in the state playoffs.
From 1994 to 1996, Bauxite football led the state in wins with a record of 40-3.
Watson ended his career following the 2009 season after the Miners posted a 9-2 record.
Watson requests that his former title team members meet him no later than 6:30 p.m. today in the corner of the end zone closest to the fieldhouse.
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at The Pit.