“the whole story was 45 boys who wanted to win,” grinned Paul Pierce, coach of Sam Houston’s 1956 Lone Star Conference champions. The BearKat 1956 football season brought the first sole LSC Championship to Sam Houston and the school’s first perfect season of 9-0 in school history.
The championship game was played again Sam Houston State Teachers College’s archrivals the Lumberjacks of Stephen F. Austin State Teachers College. Using a devastating ground attack against the Lumberjack’s aerial attack the BearKats won 31-0, for the BearKats first outright Lonestar Conference Championship since the league was organized.
The images above shows Reed Lindsey, President of the Lone State conference Athletic Committee, handing the championship trophy to SHSTC’s President Harmon Lowman.
After the LSC championship game the BearKats were invited to play against Middle Tennessee State in the Refrigerator Bowl in Evansville, Indiana, on December 1, 1956. The final score was 27-14 which extended the BearKats winning streak for 1956 season to 10-0.
The image below is from the 1956 Refrigerator Bowl. The BearKats are in the dark uniforms. (Image from The Evansville Courier, Evansville, Indiana @)
Out of the Box! 