Not only was Venner unafraid to sing the praises of his veteran Hornets with whom he'd invested the previous two years of his life; he also wanted to make sure as many people within driving distance had the opportunity to catch a glimpse of his squad.
Maybe a marketing guru at heart, Venner moved all of Holland's five home games off the traditional Friday night slate, when, by and large, only the local and opposing fan bases would be in attendance. Instead, the Hornets played one game on a Saturday and the other four on Thursdays. Venner's reasoning was that it allowed a greater variety of football watchers to see the Hornets than just those who were going to be there anyway. Plus, it allowed him greater access to personally scout future Hornet opponents.
With playmakers such as Johnny Surovik and Billy Sparks in the backfield with help from Harold Kurtz, Jim Liles and Chris Cook to go with Wayne Spinn and Wayne Williams at the ends, the Hornets had the makings of an explosive team. Linemen Stanley Koonsen, Bill Stienhauser, Bob Price, Jimmy Stroud and Harold Spinn were as solid as they come on both sides of the ball.
The Hornets were a lackluster fifth-place team in 1961, but in '62 there was a sense that they had a team that ranked with the Hornets' powerhouses of the mid-to-late 1950s.
The eyes of not only Texas but also the entire high school football nation in 1962 were fixed on what then was a tiny hamlet north of Austin. The Panthers of Pflugerville, a town of not quite 500, opened that season needing victories in their first five games to eclipse the national record for consecutive wins established five years before by Abilene at 49. Pflugerville today, with two Class 5A high schools and one 4A school, bears little resemblance to the quaint community of the early 1960s.
In spite of the national attention they were getting, the Panthers' quest for that record would come with an asterisk much like Roger Maris' 61 home runs in 1961 would get. When the streak began in 1958, the Panthers were playing eight-man football, which was instituted in Texas that season. Pflugerville won all 21 games it played those first two years of eight-man before making the leap to 11-man in 1960. Eight-man football, which never caught the fancy of Texans like six-man did, had modest participation before being phased out after the 1975 season.
Pflugerville transitioned into 11-man football just fine, capturing back-to-back Class B regional titles with 12-0 records. The Panthers overtook Abilene's record midway through the 1962 campaign and ran the string to 55 by going 10-0 through the regular season.
Meanwhile, Holland was starting to raise a few eyebrows by boldly taking on non-district opponents of higher classification and faring well. The Hornets opened the season with three straight wins, sandwiching shutout victories over Rogers and Granger around a 39-20 rout of Florence that featured Surovik's four touchdowns. The Hornets dropped a 20-12 decision to rival Academy before bouncing back to beat Thrall 15-8 before heading into District 23-B play.
Venner installed a hard-nosed defensive team when he took over, while putting his offense through the paces of a Wing-T set. Surovik and later sophomore Sparks engineered a balanced offensive attack that saw Surovik, a four-year all-district pick, smash the 1,000-yard rushing barrier well before the end of the regular season while Wayne Spinn was hauling in touchdown passes.
Many considered the 18-6 district-opening victory over Lott to be the probable title game. That proved to be the case as the Hornets rolled to three straight decisive Thursday night home victories over Chilton, Troy and Salado to clinch the title before finishing off Bartlett in the final week. The Hornets had outscored opponents 230-90.
That set up a bi-district clash against Pflugerville in Taylor. Pflugerville quarterback Joe Weiss had scored more points himself than the Hornets combined. The Panther defense had yielded just 46 points. The Hornets were underdogs on a global scale, but not in the confines of their locker room. Would the Hornets be just another victim in Pflugerville's assault on the record books? Or would Holland's quiet determination translate into a historic win?
One of Venner's assistants, Jackie Gains, came back with a scouting report that stated the Hornets could beat the Panthers. Venner matter-of-factly said, "We played a tougher schedule than Pflugerville."
After a scoreless first quarter, the Hornets posted two second-quarter touchdowns in two minutes to ignite the Holland faithful and stun the Pflugerville fandom unaccustomed to trailing.
Sparks hit Spinn on a 21-yard scoring strike, his 10th touchdown reception of the year, to put the Hornets up 6-0. Spinn recovered a fumble on the ensuing kickoff. Shortly after, Surovik snared a Sparks pass amongst a crowd of defenders for a 23-yard touchdown and a 12-0 lead that held up through halftime.
The Panthers cut the lead in half midway through the third quarter when Weiss fired a touchdown pass. However, the Hornet defense stiffened against Weiss' air brigade the rest of the way, preserving a stunning 12-6 victory.
If the Hornets had kept their emotions under wraps all week, they let fly that Friday, Nov. 23. Hysterical screams of "We beat Pflugerville" reverberated through the night air. It was exhilaration probably beyond their regional championship four years prior. The team and community were treated to a celebratory barbecue dinner a few nights later.
Pflugerville's winning streak had ended at 55 games. However, only the final 34 as an 11-man outfit were recognized for record-book posterity.
Holland's joy didn't carry into the regional final, as the Hornets lost 25-16 to Johnson City.
It would be 31 years before the Hornets would reach the playoffs again. That monumental victory 47 years ago remains the Hornets' last playoff win.
But what a last time it was.
twaits@temple-telegram.com
