Most of these Pastimes,’ written for the Saline River Chronicle, are happy recollections of yesterday.
Today’s Pastime is of happier times about a very smart and athletic young man, Gerald “Jerry” Watts, who was indeed the ‘toast of the town,” as a dual sport athlete in the early 1970s.
He will be remembered this Saturday, July 21, with a memorial service at the Warren Cultural Center at 11 a.m.
Jerry Watts was something of an athletic anomaly – he was both an All-State selection in football and basketball. He won the coveted Dino Nichols Award and by many old timers, Jerry Watts, was every bit as outstanding as Nichols. He was an honor graduate and good student.
It was basketball that he excelled at back in these Pastimes.
“Watts” as most of his classmates called him was indeed a sensation on a revived basketball program coming out of the turbulent last 1960s.
In late 1969, both the Bradley County High and Warren High School programs were melded together as one school and one team.
He and his teammate Otis Young, a former Bradley County High star, perhaps more than any two other athletes bonded together making a real team for the city of Warren, alike any other from either school until that time.
This duo was assisted by others on the teams in 1970-71 and 1971-72, like Robert Green, Steve Halley, Jimmy Hall, Ronnie Blackmon, Gary Thornton, Charlie Morgan, David Taylor, Tommy Mitchell, Earl Scott, Otis Young, Steve Lipton, Russell “Petie” Woodard and Joe Davis won 23 games, while losing only 7 to win the second straight 8AA Conference basketball title under a new young coach from Iowa, Dennis Helms and longtime assistant basketball coach John Middleton.
Watts was a swash buckling forward, dipping and cutting to the basket with either hand.
He wore No. 43 for the orange and black along with his long brown hair, was a fast-dribbling, coach-on-the-floor type player.
He, Young and the Lumberjacks packed the old WHS Field House, like few other teams in the history of Warren High.
If the junior high played at 6:30 p.m. you needed to get a seat – or have one saved for you – by tip off at 7:30 p.m. the place was full and not of just students, but town’s people who came to see the Lumberjacks play basketball.
Warren over the span of two years, under Helms, won two back-to-back district championships, which was no easy feat as the entire conference, Monticello, Dermott, McGehee, Eudora, Star City, Hamburg and Lake Village, all fielded good, if not great, basketball teams.
To win two district championships, each time Monticello had to be defeated and that was no easy task. Former Billie great and Coach Kelton Busby was their coach and they had players to the rank of the Lumberjacks, or so it seemed.
It was in the 1971 District Championship on Saturday night at the UA-Monticello Field House, that tempers were high. Monticello fans were waving a “33 to 7” signs – the score from a Lumberjack melt down at the Billie’s home field that fall.
Somewhere in that game one of the most courageous acts by any player I have ever seen took place.
Watts was smashed in the face by an elbow. No foul was called. He staggered to the bench bleeding profusely.
Coach Helms called a time out and put Robert Green, if memory serves me, into the game.
Watts, attended by the coaching staff, stood up, shredded a white towel, stuffed pieces of the cloth into each nostril and told Helms to put in back in the game.
Helms did.
And Jerry Watts went to work.
Monticello never recovered.
Young, the ‘Jacks center, then fouled out, but still all was not lost.
Regulation play ended knotted up at 51-51.
In the three-minute overtime, Helms tightened up the ‘Jack defense as Watts and Taylor did all the scoring for the 62-56 victory.
The jubilation in the UAM field house – packed by the two cities – was complete with Watts hosting Coach Helms on his shoulders (aided by some others) to hoist the 2nd District Trophy won by these Lumberjacks.
In that dressing room even the head coach of these great Lumberjack basketball teams – Coach Helms was tossed into a running shower. So was team manager Sietze Rotton who was also tossed in the ice cold shower, along with this friendly scribe.
Coach John Middleton had hidden from the team, as an entourage of Superintendent James M. Hughes and High School Principal Dale Hasty and a collection of parents, quickly avoided the melee and celebration.
Watts was the son of the late Freddie Watts (longtime Warren Fire chief) and Dora Brown Watts.
Watts got offers from Wichita State, Memphis State, and dozens of others, but elected to play at UA-Monticello. He started as a freshman for the Boll Weevils and later made all-AIC teams.
He, like all of us, moved away from Southeast Arkansas, and as adult hood came along we all change. Some hard knocks were sent his way, he never complained about failures, hardship or misfortune.
He was a painter by trade and a good one when work came his way. He was on a summer-time painting crew led by Robert Dew, a former Razorback, who led a group of young athletes in summer employment painting houses back then.
He had a family of his own, two sons and leaves a brother and two sisters, and three grandchildren.
He leaves a host of friends.
He was a friend to many. He loved connecting with folks coming back to Warren. Success to Jerry Watts was found off the court in his sincere recollection of friendship over the years.
Watts will be missed by generations of Lumberjacks, past and present.
Go dribbling into that good night my friend, you have earned the eternal rest afforded all of us who believe.
Today’s Pastime is of happier times about a very smart and athletic young man, Gerald “Jerry” Watts, who was indeed the ‘toast of the town,” as a dual sport athlete in the early 1970s.
He will be remembered this Saturday, July 21, with a memorial service at the Warren Cultural Center at 11 a.m.
Jerry Watts was something of an athletic anomaly – he was both an All-State selection in football and basketball. He won the coveted Dino Nichols Award and by many old timers, Jerry Watts, was every bit as outstanding as Nichols. He was an honor graduate and good student.
It was basketball that he excelled at back in these Pastimes.
“Watts” as most of his classmates called him was indeed a sensation on a revived basketball program coming out of the turbulent last 1960s.
In late 1969, both the Bradley County High and Warren High School programs were melded together as one school and one team.
He and his teammate Otis Young, a former Bradley County High star, perhaps more than any two other athletes bonded together making a real team for the city of Warren, alike any other from either school until that time.
This duo was assisted by others on the teams in 1970-71 and 1971-72, like Robert Green, Steve Halley, Jimmy Hall, Ronnie Blackmon, Gary Thornton, Charlie Morgan, David Taylor, Tommy Mitchell, Earl Scott, Otis Young, Steve Lipton, Russell “Petie” Woodard and Joe Davis won 23 games, while losing only 7 to win the second straight 8AA Conference basketball title under a new young coach from Iowa, Dennis Helms and longtime assistant basketball coach John Middleton.
Watts was a swash buckling forward, dipping and cutting to the basket with either hand.
He wore No. 43 for the orange and black along with his long brown hair, was a fast-dribbling, coach-on-the-floor type player.
He, Young and the Lumberjacks packed the old WHS Field House, like few other teams in the history of Warren High.
If the junior high played at 6:30 p.m. you needed to get a seat – or have one saved for you – by tip off at 7:30 p.m. the place was full and not of just students, but town’s people who came to see the Lumberjacks play basketball.
Warren over the span of two years, under Helms, won two back-to-back district championships, which was no easy feat as the entire conference, Monticello, Dermott, McGehee, Eudora, Star City, Hamburg and Lake Village, all fielded good, if not great, basketball teams.
To win two district championships, each time Monticello had to be defeated and that was no easy task. Former Billie great and Coach Kelton Busby was their coach and they had players to the rank of the Lumberjacks, or so it seemed.
It was in the 1971 District Championship on Saturday night at the UA-Monticello Field House, that tempers were high. Monticello fans were waving a “33 to 7” signs – the score from a Lumberjack melt down at the Billie’s home field that fall.
Somewhere in that game one of the most courageous acts by any player I have ever seen took place.
Watts was smashed in the face by an elbow. No foul was called. He staggered to the bench bleeding profusely.
Coach Helms called a time out and put Robert Green, if memory serves me, into the game.
Watts, attended by the coaching staff, stood up, shredded a white towel, stuffed pieces of the cloth into each nostril and told Helms to put in back in the game.
Helms did.
And Jerry Watts went to work.
Monticello never recovered.
Young, the ‘Jacks center, then fouled out, but still all was not lost.
Regulation play ended knotted up at 51-51.
In the three-minute overtime, Helms tightened up the ‘Jack defense as Watts and Taylor did all the scoring for the 62-56 victory.
The jubilation in the UAM field house – packed by the two cities – was complete with Watts hosting Coach Helms on his shoulders (aided by some others) to hoist the 2nd District Trophy won by these Lumberjacks.
In that dressing room even the head coach of these great Lumberjack basketball teams – Coach Helms was tossed into a running shower. So was team manager Sietze Rotton who was also tossed in the ice cold shower, along with this friendly scribe.
Coach John Middleton had hidden from the team, as an entourage of Superintendent James M. Hughes and High School Principal Dale Hasty and a collection of parents, quickly avoided the melee and celebration.
Watts was the son of the late Freddie Watts (longtime Warren Fire chief) and Dora Brown Watts.
Watts got offers from Wichita State, Memphis State, and dozens of others, but elected to play at UA-Monticello. He started as a freshman for the Boll Weevils and later made all-AIC teams.
He, like all of us, moved away from Southeast Arkansas, and as adult hood came along we all change. Some hard knocks were sent his way, he never complained about failures, hardship or misfortune.
He was a painter by trade and a good one when work came his way. He was on a summer-time painting crew led by Robert Dew, a former Razorback, who led a group of young athletes in summer employment painting houses back then.
He had a family of his own, two sons and leaves a brother and two sisters, and three grandchildren.
He leaves a host of friends.
He was a friend to many. He loved connecting with folks coming back to Warren. Success to Jerry Watts was found off the court in his sincere recollection of friendship over the years.
Watts will be missed by generations of Lumberjacks, past and present.
Go dribbling into that good night my friend, you have earned the eternal rest afforded all of us who believe.
I enjoyed this article very much and I always enjoy reading these articles by Maylon. I was in the 7th and 8th grade when Jerry was a junior and senior. I remember going to the games and loved watching the Jacks play. Jerry and Odis were certainly two of the greatest players ever to play at Warren I ever saw. When I tell other people about Jerry as a player I always I describe him as a smaller version of Larry Bird and Pistol Pete Maravich. Thanks to Maylon for writing this article and others I have read in the past and I
ReplyDeletelook forward to more in the future.