Memories of 1980 championship team still fresh in Anderson’s mind

Some periods of time in life leave such an imprint, that no matter how much time passes, the memories remain nearly crystal clear.

Such is the case for Buddy Anderson and members of the 1980 Vestavia Hills High School football team, which triumphed and won the Class 4A state championship.

“I can tell you things that happened in 1980 and I can relive those stories and the people,” said Anderson, the coach of the Rebels.

Anderson said that the day after an early October game against Hewitt-Trussville. Of that game, he could recall certain high points in the game, but needed help filling in some of the details. But of that 1980 season, the recollections are numerous and specific. And most impressively, stunningly accurate.

“The stories grow larger as the years go by,” said Howie Johnston, an offensive center and team captain on that championship team.

This fall, Anderson is wrapping up his 43rd and final season in charge of the Rebels. But those games, players and fellow coaches from 40 years ago remain fresh in his mind.

BOUND AND DETERMINED

Buddy Anderson arrived at Vestavia Hills in 1972 as an assistant football coach. Ahead of the 1978 season, Anderson was promoted to the head coach. All the Rebels did in his first three years was advance to the state championship game each fall.

Jeff Davis toppled the Rebels 21-7 in the 1978 championship game. The Volunteers took a 21-0 lead in the fourth quarter and Anderson recalls them soundly beating his squad.

The 1979 title game was a much different story, as Enterprise and Vestavia Hills went toe to toe, with Enterprise squeaking out a 14-13 edge. The Rebels scored a touchdown with 2:56 to play in the game — one of those details burned in Anderson’s mind — and elected for a two-point try to potentially win the game as opposed to settling for a tie.

That two-point conversion was thwarted by an Enterprise defender, who got a finger on the pass attempt, causing the ball to fall incomplete.

“Seniors on that 1980 team had finished second twice,” said defensive end Craig Farris. “That motivated that team to work hard and take it home.”

Heading into the 1980 season, Anderson said he knew he had a pretty strong team with the potential to get back to the big stage. The offensive and defensive lines were even stronger and the team was equipped with plenty of experience.

He was right.

A WAKEUP CALLAND SOME NEW THREADS

Over the duration of the season, Vestavia allowed just over five points per game and only surrendered double digits in three of the 14 games it played. One of those was a 14-7 loss to Berry (now Hoover), Vestavia Hills’ nemesis. That would be the Rebels’ only setback of the season.

Following the Berry loss, the Rebels shut out John Carroll and Homewood before welcoming Carver-Montgomery to town in late October. The weather was an issue that evening, with persistent heavy rain and thunderstorms causing the game to be postponed at halftime. Carver finished the season with a measly 3-6 record, but Anderson said the Rebels played their worst half of football that Friday night, leading to a 7-7 halftime score.

The two teams agreed to return to the field the following evening to resume the contest. In the hours beforehand, Johnston recalls a team meeting in which Anderson effectively lit a charge into the team.

“We came back and played an incredible half of football,” Johnston said.

The Rebels outscored Carver 20-0 in the second half on the way to a 27-7 victory.

After that, Vestavia shut out its next three opponents, the third of which was a 7-0 victory over Berry in the first round of the state playoffs.

“It was 7-0, but we dominated the game,” Johnston recalled, in a sentiment echoed by Anderson.

The most memorable item of that game came in the jerseys worn by Vestavia Hills. It was the first game in which the Rebels wore red jerseys. Anderson finally gave into the urging of his assistant coaches to purchase a set of red jerseys. During the pregame warm-up period, the red jerseys were dispersed in the locker room unbeknownst to the players on the field. When the players returned to the locker room before the game, they exploded in glee.

“You’d have thought we’d won the Super Bowl,” Johnston said.

FINISHING THE CLIMB

Vestavia Hills went on to beat Banks and Grissom in the subsequent playoff rounds before a meeting with Parker in the state championship game at Legion Field. In front of an estimated 25,000 fans, Danny Pritchard’s late field goal lifted Vestavia to a 15-13 victory and its first state title.

“I remember Legion Field as a place where you knew big time SEC football games were played there,” longtime defensive coordinator Peter Braasch said. “We had a couple playoff games there. It was just really special seeing  that huge crowd.”

Lance Gulledge scored both of the Rebels’ touchdowns that day and was one of a few backs that carried the offensive load for that team all season. Danny Salchert was the primary quarterback, but he suffered an injury in the Parker game and John Wilson led the team on its winning drive.

After Pritchard’s field goal, Parker had one last shot. With the Thundering Herd driving, defensive lineman Ricky Needham got his hands on a pass and deflected it. Farris dove and made the grab for the interception.

Farris certainly isn’t changing his story now.

“I caught that sucker,” he said.

CALLING IT A CAREER

Anderson can scan a team picture of that 1980 squad and name most of them, even offering details about where those players are today. He saw many of them most recently at the funeral of Jeff Looney, an offensive line-man on that team revered by his coaches and teammates.

He has positively affected the trajectory of thousands of lives in his 43 years as the head coach at Vestavia Hills and has kept up relationships with many of them.

“It’s really hard to put into words because he’s meant so much to us,” Johnston said. “I feel like I’ve been richly blessed to have been part of this. It doesn’t end when you play that last game for him.”

In the summer, he announced this fall would be his final one patrolling the sidelines. Then, he and wife Linda contracted and beat COVID-19. The pandemic also resulted in the Rebels’ forfeiting their first two games of the season. They didn’t make the playoffs in 2020, but that does nothing to tarnish his legacy as a coach and mentor.

“He’s a guy that’s meant so much to the community,” Farris said. “The city has been blessed totally by having him around and I don’t think you’d find anybody to disagree with that.”

Soon, there will be a new face leading the Rebels’ program for the first time since 1977. Whoever that is will have massive shoes to fill.

“People will say that it’s the end of an era, but it’s bigger than that,” Johnston said.