It’s funny that the Cowboys stood their ground during Micah Parsons’ revenge game but couldn’t handle the revenge game for Rico Dowdle.

After telling several former Cowboys teammates last week that he was going to run angry and violently, after warning the Cowboys they had “better buckle up,” and after his grandstanding cautions went public, Rico went off yesterday for 183 yards rushing, 56 more yards receiving, and a touchdown in Carolina’s victory over Jerry’s team. It seems that if an opponent makes those kinds of statements, you do everything in your power to keep it from happening. You let Bryce Young throw for 500 yards and five touchdowns before you let Dowdle make good on his claims. That’s what must be so terrifying for Cowboys fans: Rico called his shot and delivered. Easily. Rico knows how bad the Cowboys defense is, called it out, and then ran around, over, and through it in dominating fashion.

The Cowboys defense is digressing. And that’s saying something. Michael Irvin posted yesterday, “I’ve never seen an NFL defense with so many people running wide open!” The six quarterbacks who have played against Dallas this year are averaging 287 yards per game with a total of 15 TDs.

Rico said after the game that the Cowboys “were not buckled up.” No, sir. They are buckling.

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I’ve been getting about one text per week for the past two months from friends with no ties to Dallas Christian High School sending me screen shots of this Facebook post, asking me if I played on that 1985 football team. That team won the TAPPS State Championship, the first in school history, and the first of three straight state titles. This post / meme / graphic / whatever is evidently making the rounds as members of that team celebrate the 40th anniversary of their historic achievement. And as my friends see it, they shoot me a text. “Did you play on that team?” “Are you in this picture?”

No! I am not in that picture and I did not play on that football team!

I was the class of ’85, which means I graduated in the spring of 1985. That football team won the state championship in the fall of 1985, which means they won three straight championships as soon as I graduated. We lost in the state championship game my sophomore year, got bounced in the second round of both my junior and senior seasons, and then the boys behind us sealed the deal by earning those huge gold footballs over the next three straight campaigns.

They honored that 1985 team at last Friday’s game at DC, gathering up mostly the seniors, it seems, for a nice tribute at halftime. I did play with all the guys in this picture, all of them during the two years before their title, some of them in junior high and JV. More than that, in that little private school, I did life with every one of them, and I remember them fondly. Randy Hill’s outsized personality, his dead-on impersonations of Coach Richmond, and his ability to always make us laugh. Jeff “Low Budget” Majors’ loyalty and friendship and understated compassion and care for others. Mark Cawyer’s leadership and his awesome tenor singing voice. Kyle Douthit’s unmistakable good-natured grumpiness. Robbie Beene’s squirrely penchant for pranks. And our beloved Coach T (“Settle down, little bodies”), who is still driving the team bus today.

Congratulations to the 1985 Dallas Christian Chargers on the 40th anniversary of our school’s first ever state championship.

“Skitta Bop.”
Allan