VHS is one of only 39 schools in Georgia . Belue will host a book signing for his new book "Inside the Hedges". Belue was atUniversities Forever in Cumming on Saturdayto promote his book,'Inside the Hedges: The Quarterback's Journey to the 1980 National Championship,' a project that was decades in the making. One of their defensive linemen, Charles Bergman, got hold of Bucks jersey at the sleeve, and ripped it right off his back, Lastinger said. Andrews signed with Auburn and rushed for 1,347 yards in three seasons playing in a backfield with fellow Georgia backs James Brooks and Joe Cribbs. I admired these athletes. Quarterback of Georgia's 1980 National Championship Team Captain of the 1981 SEC Champion Georgia Bulldogs Twice selected as 1 st Team All-SEC QB 4-Year Starter on the Georgia Baseball Team Twice selected as 1 st Team All-SEC Outfielder Led the SEC in hitting Honored as the SEC Athlete of the Year 1981. Don Shula's Miami Dolphins went undefeated and won the Super Bowl. These two Wildcat backers agree on their most memorable moment: The Comeback.. We were in an extra bedroom, and his wife came in a couple of times and told him dinner was ready. You have permission to edit this article. Published: Apr 25, 2022, 10:44 AM. They put it on us my freshman year. That would be the last time we tried anything like that, said Prince. I have nothing but respect for the man, Belue said of Dooley. It remains one of those indelible football moments from which Buck Belue can never escape, nor does he want to. But that was about to change. Three, Ill win a state championship, which youve never won. Joe Wilson accomplished all three within three years.. Heset a Bengals record in 1984 with four rushing touchdowns in a game against the Houston Oilers. Latest: Gallery: Buck Belue book signing at Coach's Corner Buck Belue Social Network Timeline 2007 He is also the only quarterback to start all four years for the Valdosta Wildcats where he was inducted as a member of the Valdosta High School Hall of Fame in 2007. Even on a business trip in a remote Caribbean country, it followed the former. What is your favorite part of The Valdosta Daily Times? You mentioned that you saw many of the players that were on the Georgia High School Football Hall of Fame ballot or were voted in. That first Valdosta game with Wilson as coach of the Vikings didnt lead to a win, but the effort was there, and it signaled that things were going to be different. The Valdosta fans had bumper stickers that read, City Slickers and, Mama, dont let your babies grow up to be plowboys, Prince said. A behind the curtain look at my story from Valdosta High through the University of Georgia. That next morning, as Valdosta faculty, students, and parents begin arriving at the school, they saw the huge Viking ship floating in the pond in front of their school. Obviously, that did not happen. Belue was selected by the Montreal Expos in the sixth round of the 1982 MLB Draft, and some of his book discusses his path as a two-sport athlete. UGA star Jalen Carter present at scene of fatal crash, From 2021: Buck Belue, QB of 1980 Georgia national champions, to call the Dawgs before kickoff, Georgia Tech hammers Syracuse as Jackets late-season surge continues, Braves notes: Jared Shusters first spring game, Michael Sorokas progress, Ian Anderson on spring debut: Im not gonna sugarcoat it. In three high school seasons, Andrews rushed for 4,252 yards, averaging 7.2 yards per carry, and scored 58 touchdowns. Belue threw for 299 yards in his career, completing 37 of 68 passes with 3 touchdowns and 3 interceptions. Belue played all four years on Georgias baseball team. The head coaches would always come and speak to the small gathering. He will be inducted with Belue in October. I remember Stanley Bounds. It doesnt get better than that. Those who were part of the game shared the plays and players they remember the most. Despite having played each other since 1968, the Lowndes vs. Valdosta game didnt become the Winnersville Classic until 1981. They worked on it all week. Baker said the bands from both schools began joining forces on the field before each game and would play the National Anthem together. Today's interviewee is Buck Belue, sports talk show host for 680 The Fan, quarterback for Georgia's 1980 national championship team, four-year starting quarterback at Valdosta, inaugural selectee into the new Georgia High School Football Hall of Fame and author of a new book, "Inside The Hedges," a look at Georgia's 1980 season and his athletic career. I would soak up all this knowledge. Everybody was running the Wing-T, and he ran the pro set, throwing the ball. We had a Valdosta booster, Charlie Whetherington, who knew a pilot, and they flew over a Valdosta practice the week of the game against Lowndes and dumped those flyers. For him it simply was a passion project that needed to be done. Simmons, a defensive lineman and tight end, was the AJCs Class 3A Lineman of the Year and a Coach Athlete All-American and Joe Namath All-American. On this page: Player News Sports Reference Blog -- Get site news and learn about new and existing features. Baker said the cheerleaders from both teams would usually meet at one of the girls homes, and the groups would alternate each season. Credit: Photo by Chris McShane (provided by Buck Belue). What was the most memorable high school game that you played? I was blessed with this great coaching. [Belue passed for a state-record 5,214 yards and won two region titles in his four Valdosta seasons. He hasnt given up his day job, which is to conduct a daily sports-talk show on Atlanta radio station The Fan. There was still a chance for the Vikings if they could return the kickoff, but they never got the chance. In football, Belue was named to the first-team All-SEC team in 1981. Belue said he and most of his Georgia teammates understood after hearing Dooleys explanation about his deep relationships at Auburn. He was a member of the Redskins Super Bowl champion in 1988. Former UGA quarterback Buck Belue authors book on 1980 championship season, Online archive of print stories 2006-present, Pick em 2022 Forsyth Sports football picks, Football: Forsyth County News Media Day-watch the videos. April 13, 2021, 8:39 AM. You do well at Valdosta High, and you get a shot to play some college ball. Wilson had fulfilled his first promise to Martin: A winning season in his first try, something Lowndes had never before experienced. Hyder became head coach your freshman year. Georgia legend Buck Belue helped lead the Bulldogs to the 1980 national championship and has published a book called " 'Inside the Hedges: The Quarterback's Journey to the 1980 National Championship." There were so many, but I remember Todd Peterson in the 1987 game kicking a 47-yard field goal to beat Lowndes at their place, OBrien said. Youd see him around town and stop and go wow. Youd be in awe. Not to be outdone, Valdosta would come back with its own persona to counter the country boy image of Lowndes. There were coaches before him, but it was Wright Bazemore who took over as the Wildcats head football coach in 1942 and built the foundation for the winningest football team in the country. On their annual Fourth of July vacation to Florida last week, the Belues made stops at the Marshside Grill in Brunswick and the Coachs Corner in Savannah to peddle books. He was the quarterback, and he went to Ole Miss. When Wilson arrived, he saw that many among the Lowndes faithful were not too crazy about the references to the Vikings being known as the country school. He played at 6 feet, 2 inches, and 240 pounds but was exceptionally fast. His 37 career touchdowns are fourth all-time for the franchise. Belue played two seasons in the USFL with the Jacksonville Bulls and was inducted into the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame in 2013. He was the 1974 AJC Class 3A Back of the Year and was a 1974 Coach & Athlete All-American. Valdosta High School - Sandspur Yearbook (Valdosta, GA), Class of 1975, Page 130 of 272 | E-Yearbook.com has the largest online yearbook collection of college, university, high school, middle school, junior high school, military, naval cruise books and yearbooks. The highly recruited player chose Florida State and became the Seminoles first two-time consensus All-American (1979-80). However, this week in anticipation of his new book "Inside the Hedges," Belue took to Sirius XM's SEC This Morning to share a story from his . It was designed to look like it was coming from Lowndes fans. But part of Belue's focus in writing the book was shining a light on his hometown of Valdosta, as well as some of the lesser known players on Georgia's 1980 team. He was the best in the business. And a Plains teen girl borrowed Jimmy Carters clothes. [Johnson scored on a 68-yard run on the final play of the first half, then threw a 28-yard TD pass and a two-point conversion in the final seconds for a 26-26 tie. He was the first 4 year starter at Quarterback at Valdosta High school. What do you get when you combine the winningest high school football program in the country with one of the most consistently winning football programs in the state over the last three decades? He sort of chuckled and said there was a lot of built-up frustration over those years of losing to Valdosta, Dont take it personally is what I believe he said., 5. The Vikings would begin playing crosstown rival Valdosta that same year, but it was a David-vs.-Goliath mismatch for the first decade or so, with Valdosta, boasting all those state and national championships not to mention a 50-year head start defeating the upstart Lowndes High in the teams first 11 games. At Valdosta, you were heavily influenced by the legendary head coaches Wright Bazemore (1941-42, 1946-71) and Nick Hyder (1973-95). How did Bazemore make a quarterback out of you? ", Former Georgia quarterback and current Forsyth County resident Buck Belue, right, with Universities Forever owners Stuart Cohen, left, and Jini Lee. It turned out it was a bad snap from the center and threw off the timing. Baker, who coached from 1976-2006, recalled showing up on Monday morning the week of the Lowndes game, year after year, to a Valdosta High campus awash in hundreds of rolls of toilet paper, and walls and windows painted with pro-Lowndes messages. He fell short of a state title when Clarke Central beat Valdosta 16-14 in the 1977 Class 3A championship. But it was more than that. They hauled the ship over from Lowndes to Valdosta High in the middle of the night and put it in the pond in front of the school. Seeing Andy Johnson in 1969 was one of my first recollections of high school football [at the 1969 Class 3A championship game between Athens and Valdosta at Cleveland Field]. My dad and I waited on Athens High to come out of the locker room, and were standing by the fence, and my dad is saying, Look, heres Andy Johnson. We had about 500 flyers printed with a nasty message directed at our players, Henderson said. I just think of all the people that helped me get there, as I mentioned, Coach Bazemore, Coach Hyder, Coach Wilson, Coach Rudolph. Its an oral history that will never die in fact, it just keeps growing, year after year, down there in Winnersville. 31. With Coach Bazemore, I just looked at him as an innovator offensively. Its great that the Lord Wedgwood Charity offered to give one to a school in my name. SPONSORED BY: Buck Belue - 1980 National Championship QB You do well at Valdosta High, and you get a shot to play some college ball. 115 N. Patterson St. | PO Box 812 | Valdosta, Ga 31601, 13245 Atlantic Blvd., Suite 191 | Jacksonville, FL 32225. Also, I was motivated by writing about the 1980 season and about the guys that never got the credit. The Valdosta High class of '78 alumni are listed below. Buck's Beat podcast episode 80 has dropped. The longtime Lowndes coach was quick to offer his memory of the best performance he saw in the Classic. Belue also details in the book how he. He also told them they have the talent to be a great football team, and said he was excited about the upcoming season, the first under new coach Rick Tomberlin. The quarterback thing happened late for me, and it was Wright Bazemore that told the middle school coach to move me to quarterback, so I owe much of my football success to Coach Bazemore for having the insight to get me over to that position. A couple of the mules handlers were able to catch the mule and bring him back to the field house. Well, the only thing that went crazy was the mule. Between plays, we would stand there and listen to Coach Rudolph break down the responsibilities of each defensive player for the play we just ran. Im just so thankful my quarterback coach was Joe Wilson. I thought long and hard about what I was going to put in there., Photos: Impressive details in Georgia Bulldogs championship rings, Athens celebrates its long-awaited Bulldogs title with parade and stadium event, The drought is over: Georgia is national champion again, Mark Bradley: Mighty Georgia runs down Bama to claim its long-sought championship, QB Stetson Bennetts story a testament to the Georgia community that nurtured him, Steve Hummer: Champion 1980 Bulldogs have waited long enough for company. Today's interviewee is Buck Belue, sports talk show host for 680 The Fan, quarterback for Georgia's 1980 national championship team, four-year starting quarterback at Valdosta, inaugural selectee into the new Georgia High School Football Hall of Fame and author of a new book, "Inside The Hedges," a look at Georgia's 1980 season and his athletic career. So, Joe sits down with Martin and Sonny asks him, Joe, why should I hire you? Prince said. 2022 cohort graduation rate for Valdosta High School . Mark Lemke joins me. Buck Belue is best known as the quarterback who led Georgia to its 1980 national championship, but he was widely known before that as a high school athlete. Owen Prince, Lowndes County Schools director of information and athletic business, and a graduate of Lowndes High School, recalled what led to Wilsons unhappiness at Valdosta. Belue devotes several chapters to his high school days pursuing state championships under coach Nick Hyder. Don't miss this opportunity to learn from these Atlanta football players who have succeeded on every level! The Valdosta Wildcats have been playing football since 1913, and with over 900 wins, 24 state championships, six national championships, and a bunch of region titles, they remain the winningest high school football team in the country. We still do that now, just not as much.. 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