Wilsons' third generation proud to be Pounders

photo Ashby Wilson, left, his brother Andrew, right, their father Greg, center, uncle Kyle, top right, and grandfather Andy pose for a portrait at the Central High School football stadium.

The year was 1971 and the season was fall. The setting was still-new Central High School - the one on Highway 58 - and the Purple Pounders were hosting longtime rival City High with at least 10,000 fans filling the stands, camped out on the hill and lining the fences.

"Cars were parked at least a half-mile away," recalled Andy Wilson, the Pounders' junior fullback that year. "That was the most exciting game I played in."

Central was up 7-6 with just under two minutes left but trapped at its own 1-yard line.

Thus began the Wilson family saga at and love affair with the "new" Central High, so far from the school's original site on Dodds Avenue downtown.

"Our quarterback (future pro baseball player Robert Long) called for a pitchout," Wilson related. "I said, no, give the ball to me and run it up the middle. City was out of timeouts, so we did it two-three times and ran out the clock to win."

Wilson, who had transferred to Central from Ooltewah, was a two-year starter for the Pounders. His sons Greg and Kyle also played for the Pounders and now his grandsons, Andrew and Ashby, are adding their marks to the purple legacy.

Andy played for Tommy Runyon, Greg played for John Crawford and Kyle for Crawford and David Church. The twin grandsons played for John Allen last year and now play for Ryan Mallory.

Andy got out of the habit of going to Central games once he graduated. He got married in December of his senior year and had Greg a year later.

"For a long time I didn't go at all. I'd been up to my ears in work and family," Andy said. "I went to the games when the boys were playing, and I'm going again now that the grandsons are playing."

Kyle, a Pounders linebacker in his day, also is back into attending Central football games, and he's enjoyed running into numerous classmates.

Yet for the family, Central football has provided common conversation ground.

"If you get Dad started, he'll go on and on. He had some old reels of film and had them put on VHS so he could continue to watch them," Kyle said.

"It never gets old," Andrew said when asked if he ever tired of hearing good-old-days stories from his grandfather and father. "They played many of the same teams we play, and they talk about how the teams in their years were small and didn't have enough players to have a JV team so a lot of their players went both ways. Nowadays, we have 60-70 players and everybody pretty much plays just one way."

It's the same for Ashby, who snagged jersey No. 58, the same number his father wore at Central.

"I've heard a lot of stories, mainly about teams we lost to that they beat and teams we beat that they lost to," he said.

The twins are proud of their heritage. One of the first things they did when they arrived at Central was to find yearbooks from the seasons their grandfather, father and uncle played at Central.

They also know about Mike Perkins, the Central star who died on the football field, and the award that was once given to a special Pounder.

"They know he was a special player," said Greg, the twins' father who was a two-way lineman in his day. "Perkins just kept going. There were a lot of guys like him back them, guys that just wanted to be out there."

Greg used to have a lot of plaques from those days, awards voted on by coaches and/or teammates. They're now boxed up, but the kids remember.

"They'd ask me about the plaques and we'd talk about Central and football. They know Central won a lot of championships over the years," he said.

There was a question at one time about the twins, both offensive linemen, attending Central.

"We had been living with my mom and had our hearts set on going to [Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe], but then we moved in with Dad and ended up going to Central," Ashby said.

"Knowing that my granddad played there and then my dad and uncle went there -- pretty much my whole family went to Central -- it seemed like I belong there," Andrew added.

"I tell the boys to be proud of being a Pounder. We all were," their father said. "We all loved it, and I think they do too."

Contact Ward Gossett at wgossett@timesfreepress.com or 423-886-4765. Follow him on Twitter at wardgossett.

Upcoming Events