Blast From The Past: 75 years ago Beckley ruled the gridiron

NOTE: All information courtesy of The Sunday Register (now the Beckley-Register Herald)

Bluefield - Seventy-five years ago was a banner time for the City of Champions.

It started in the spring of 1951 when Beckley fans witnessed its second basketball title under head coach Jerome Van Meter.

The win over archrival Charleston was the first of three straight basketball titles (1951-53) under the legendary coach.

However, basketball was not the only sport to bask in the state championship glory.

Later that year, the Flying Eagles put on a dominant gridiron display thrashing Gary, 26-0 for its third football title in five years.

Beckley entered the game undefeated and for the most part, unchallenged over its nine previous regular season wins.

The Coaldiggers, on the other hand, were riding a 28-game win streak, the longest in West Virginia history to date.

How dominant was Gary over that run?

Only eight teams had scored against the McDowell County titans over that span. Following a 25-21 loss to Princeton in September of 1949, the Coaldiggers knocked off Bluefield 14-12 and did not surrender more than seven points to any opponent in the next 27 wins.

Gary had missed out on a title shot in 1950 when undefeated Parkersburg and Oak Hill earned the right to play for the title under a limited playoff format.

That championship Saturday afternoon, on a snowy day at Mitchell Stadium, however, it was Beckley who gave Gary, as The Register Sports Editor Bob Wills wrote, "an object in big league football."

The Flying Eagles attack included names like Bob Davis, Johnny Marks, Bob Crews, Bill Turner, Lewis Webb, Dwayne Wingler, Nick Sanna and a list of Hall of Fame teammates, but it was quarterback Bill "Punk" Collier, described as the smallest player on the field, who set the tone for Beckley.

Collier passed for two touchdowns and ran for another, while gashing the vaunted Gary line.

Taking the opening kick, Beckley marched 60 yards capped by a five-yard sneak from Collier, saddling the Coaldiggers with their first deficit of the season.

Gary's initial drive of the game was a precursor of things to come when the Coaldiggers went three-and-out and was forced to kick the ball back to the Flying Eagles as the quarter ended.

Beckley quickly made the battle a two-score game when Collier hooked up with Davis for a touchdown. Davis made a circus catch and followed the blocking of Bruce Collier to give Beckley a 13-0 lead which stood until the fourth quarter.

Beckley put the game out of reach in the final period.

A partially blocked punt early in the fourth quarter gave Beckley the ball at the Gary 23-yard line. Four plays later, the Flying Eagles pushed the lead to 20-0 on a one-yard plunge from Crews.

The final Beckley score came after Wingler intercepted a pass at the Gary 45-yard line and rumbled down to the 11-yard line.

Collier capped the scoring with a 14-yard strike to Davis, leaving to a huge ovation.

Beckley held Gary to just three first downs and 86 yards of total offense. The Flying Eagles on the other hand tallied 12 first downs on the snowy, muddy field, rushing for 169 yards and passing for 146 more.

Gary never advanced inside the Beckley 30-yard line in the championship clash.

The City of Champions was officially born.