1964 Raymond High Rangers

Families are the pride of Mississippi. In the Magnolia State many players on high school football teams were preceded by their fathers, grandfathers, uncles, brothers, and cousins. Coaches often coach their own sons and sons of former players. Generations of Mississippians are linked by this fraternal connection to this hometown team. As a result, legacies are created.

Jay Lacoste

Gridiron Glory captures some of Mississippi’s football legacies in photographs of Jay Lacoste (Gulfport) and his son Paul (Jackson Prep), Ken Toler (Inverness) and his son Ken, Jr. (Jackson Prep). Coach Robert Morgan and his three sons, Rob, Brett and Josh (Warren Central) and the rich legacy of Olive Branch with the Brigance, Pool and Samsel families.

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Ken Toler

The ultimate producer of Magnolia football legacies–The University of South Panola–is represented by a number of action packed photos. Jim Drewry, whose coaching career spanned six decades, producing a multitude of player and coach legacies, is honored with a two-page color photo leading his Booneville Blue Devils onto the field at a State Championship game.

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If you are a football fan, Gridiron Glory will entertain you with its unique collection of photographs, many of which have never been made public.

-Mike

The Frascognas will be signing Gridiron Glory this evening at 5:00.

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One of the most heated high school football rivalries in America takes place every year in southeast Mississippi. As one long time Mississippi high school football fan stated, “Turn out the lights, lock the doors, hide the women and children because West Jones and Wayne County are playing football tonight.”

Here is what the Mustangs and War Eagles say about each other. According to a former West Jones Mustang football player, “Instead of War Eagles, we like to call them War Chickens. Our fans wear KFC buckets on their heads.” A former Mustang cheerleader commented, “They have big trucks and coon dogs.”

Wayne County War Eagles fans say, “West Jones are the rich boys; they view us as the country hicks.” Another War Eagle fan comments, “Yes sir, West Jones sees us as rednecks and ole country bumpkins.”

However, there is one thing War Eagle and Mustang fans can agree on. The West Jones and Wayne County rivalry is why the game of football was invented because it cannot get any better. The fans and players from each team may hate each other (in a football way) but they love the rivalry. Go War Chickens!

The Frascognas will be signing Gridiron Glory at Lemuria on Wednesday, November 17th at 5:00.

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Gridiron Glory has captured some of the classic moments in one of the most fascinating high school rivalries in Mississippi–the Jackson Academy Raiders and the Jackson Prep Patriots. This annual gridiron classic is more competitive than others because it often involves people in the same household. It’s one room in the house versus another room down the hall. Members of the same family can become mortal enemies (at least for one day) over the outcome of the JA-Prep game.

The origin of the rivalry began in 1984 and the intensity of the game keeps accelerating like a rocket to the moon. The 2010 game was broadcast by Fox South Sports and televised to 13 million viewers in seven states. Each game has been a classic in its own right in the joy of victory for one team and a bitter disappointment for the other. All in all, it is high school football at its finest for players, parents and fans.

The Frascognas will be signing Gridiron Glory at Lemuria on Wednesday, November 17th at 5:00.

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According to longtime Booneville assistant football coach Riley Presley, “When a male child is born in Booneville he learns 48 Sweep coming down the birth canal.”

Every kid who has ever played football at Booneville High School under “The Legend” is taught 48 sweep before anything else. The play is so ingrained in the fabric of the Booneville community that almost every man, woman and child can diagram it against any basic defense.

Of course, “The Legend” who has made the 48 sweep so famous is Jim Drewry, the most successful coach in the history of Mississippi High School Activities Association. Coach Drewry has won more than 300 games, three state championships and has been inducted into the National High School Sports Hall of Fame in Washington, D.C. Simply stated, Coach Drewry is a “rock star” in the world of high school football.

Enjoy some of Coach Drewry’s exciting moments in his almost 50-year career in photographs in Gridiron Glory. Also, let the Blue Devil teach you how to run the famous 48 Sweep so you will have something to talk about the next time you visit Booneville–home of The Legend and the 48 Sweep.

The Frascognas will be signing Gridiron Glory at Lemuria on Wednesday, November 17th at 5:00.

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One of the main motivations for my two sons, Marty and Mike, and me to start writing about Mississippi high school football came about in 2006 when Mississippi was selected as the top high school football state in the United States.

While some football fans, namely those in Texas, Florida and Ohio were surprised, the awarding of the first-ever Governor’s Cup to the Magnolia State confirmed what many football fans across the nation already suspected and what Mississippians have passionately believed for generations. Our latest book, Gridiron Glory, celebrates over 100 years of Mississippi high school football mania through a special collection of photographs depicting Mississippi’s fascinating culture.

Beginning with a 1905 photography of Chuck Trotter, Winona’s first quarterback, all the way to the 2009 State Championship 6-A Title won by national super power South Panola, Gridiron Glory is packed full of vintage black and white photographs never seen by most Mississippi football enthusiasts together with an array of eye-popping color photographs of Friday night football action across the state.

Anyone who has ever played high school football in Mississippi, or anybody who has shared the Magnolia football experience with a husband, son, brother, nephew, uncle, cousin, father or grandfather has become an inseparable part of Mississippi’s Gridiron Glory.

The Frascognas will be signing Gridiron Glory at Lemuria on Wednesday, November 17th at 5:00.

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