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In 1983, Tuscaloosa News sports writer Cecil Hurt wrote "the Class 1A championship football game was destined for overtime considering the field would have been better suited to the AHSAA swimming and diving championships."           There was a constant torrential downpour throughout the game that prevented either team from gaining any momentum on offense. Brantley outgained Millport 170-93 but could never cross the goal line. As a matter of fact neither team scored during regulation play. Millport's Dale Brock booted a 25-yard field goal in the first overtime to win 3-0 and claim the 1A title for 1983.           Much of the game was spent just trying to hang onto the football. Each team fumbled eight times with Brantley losing four and Millport lost two. Each team also threw an interception.           Brantley's wishbone offense was led by quarterback Todd Johnson, halfbacks Marvin Booker and Mike Coleman along with fullback Ray Christian. The thing about the wishbone is that it works much better with a dry football.           The closest thing to a scoring drive came midway through the final period when Brantley reached the Millport 15-yard line. On fourth down, Johnson fumbled the snap and the Junior Tide took over at that point. Michael Pritchett recovered the ball for Millport to thwart the only serious drive of the game.           In the first overtime, Millport won the toss and elected to give the football to Brantley first. The Bulldogs were unable to score following a second down sack of Johnson by the defense. Millport took over on the ten-yard line and simply ran the ball up the middle where Brock booted the winning field goal on fourth down. The length of the field goal is still in debate as the yard markers had been washed away by the rain.           The Class 1A championship game was the first to be decided in overtime. Prior to a rule change earlier in the year, ties were not played out in overtime for the championship games.           Millport reached the title game by defeating Hackleburg 7-6 in the first round of the playoffs. The Junior Tide next edged by Parrish 8-7 then beat Collinsville 8-6 in overtime to reach the championship game. So it was fitting they would win 3-0. Millport won their four playoff games by a combined score of 26-19.           Millport finished the 1983 season with a school record 14-0 mark. They followed it up the next season by finishing 15-0 and added a second consecutive title. After one more season the school closed when South Lamar opened in 1986. Millport .......................................   0   0   0   0   3 -3 Brantley ......................................   0   0   0   0   0 -0   Millport: Dale Brock 19 yard field goal
Millport 1983 8/26 34 Lamar County . . . . . . 6 9/2 14 Pickens County . . . . . 0 9/9 32 Northside . . . . . . . . . 10 9/16 10 Carrollton . . . . . . . . 9 9/23 24 Hale County . . . . . . . 0 9/30 21 Oakman . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 10/7 12 Akron . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 10/14 48 John Essex . . . . . . . . 0 10/21 46 Kennedy . . . . . . . . . . . 0 10/28 36 Sulligent . . . . . . . . . 15 11/11 7 Hackleburg * . . . . . . 6 11/18 8 Parrish * . . . . . . . . . 7 11/25 8 Collinsville * . . . . . 6 12/2 3 Brantley # . . . . . . . . 0 303 14-0 83 * Playoff game # State championship game	Brantley 1983 8/26 6 McKenzie . . . . . . . . . . 0 9/2 23 Samson . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 9/9 33 Dozier . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 9/16 21 Red Level . . . . . . . . . 0 9/23 10 Luverne . . . . . . . . . . . 6 9/30 28 Goshen . . . . . . . . . . . . 0 10/7 6 Chilton County . . . . . 14 10/14 56 Kinston . . . . . . . . . . . 26 10/21 21 Highland Home . . . . . 6 10/28 36 Zion Chapel . . . . . . . 6 11/4 31 Lowndes County * . . . 0 11/11 21 Coffee Springs * . . . 12 11/18 27 Repton * . . . . . . . . . . 0 11/25 22 Ariton * . . . . . . . . . . 2 12/2 0 Millport # . . . . . . . . 3 341 13-2 88 * Playoff game # State championship game

  The Memorable Games, a series on the important and memorable games in high school football history

David Parker
  AHSFHS.org
  dparker@ahsfhs.org

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