The Shadow
Tim Stephens is a Sports Writer for The Herald Dispatch in Huntington, W.Va. Stephens is counting down the greatest moments in Marshall football history. Moment No. 31 involves a member of the Alleghany County High School Class of 1980.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Those who have experienced Marshall University football for just the last 35 years know the thrill of victory, the exhilaration of national championships and the glamour of national rankings.
There was a day, however, when a mere tie — not a win, but a tie — was reason for celebration. That day was Oct. 25, 1980, when Barry Childers kicked a school-record 59-yard field goal to allow the Thundering Herd to tie Western Carolina 13-13, giving Marshall its first non-loss since joining the Southern Conference in 1977.
Here is a recap of that game:
CULLOWHEE, N.C. — The losing streak is over.
Barry Childers kicked a school-record 59-yard field goal as time expired to give Marshall a 13-13 tie with Western Carolina on a cold, rainy day in front of 11,850 spectators at E.J. Whitmire Stadium.
The improbable field goal by the 5-foot-8 Childers lifted the Thundering Herd to its first non-losing game since joining the Southern Conference in 1977. Before Saturday, Oct. 25, 1980, Marshall had lost 19 consecutive games to opponents in its new league.
The field goal, which tied Texas A&M’s Tony Franklin for the NCAA record for longest by a freshman, stunned the crowd, the Catamounts and even the Herd.
“I went over and sat on the bench,” Marshall linebacker Terry Echols said. “He wasn’t going to make that field goal. It was cold and there was a crosswind. He had a great leg, but how do you figure he’s going to make that?”
No one could blame Echols for doubting Childers. A freshman on the road attempting a record-long field goal on a day when the wind and rain had stripped the trees of their picturesque fall leaves in the mountains of western North Carolina was a long shot at best. Marshall hadn’t had much go its way against Southern Conference teams and had lost 41-26, 21-14 and 24-0 to Western Carolina the previous three seasons.
“We’d lost,” Echols said. “That’s what I thought.”
Then, boom! Echols heard something akin to an explosion.
“You knew when he hit one because it sounded like a shotgun blast,” Echols said of Childers’ kicks.
This kick was one of those. Echols turned and looked.
“I thought, ‘That’s got a chance,’” Echols said.
The ball split the uprights with plenty of room to spare. The losing streak was no more.
Marshall coach Sonny Randle, an NFL All-Pro wide receiver with the St. Louis Cardinals and successful coach at Virginia and East Carolina, where he had won two Southern Conference titles, responded as if the Herd had won the Super Bowl. Elated, Randle waved his arms, jumped in the air and celebrated with his coaches and players as they congratulated Childers.
“We haven’t won, but at least the streak is over,” Randle said. “This should give our kids a lot of confidence.”
Childers’ tying field goal was his second of the game and eighth in seven contests. He put Marshall ahead 3-0 with a field goal in the first quarter.
The Herd boosted its lead to 10-0 in the second quarter when quarterback Tony Konopka ran 25 yards for a touchdown and Childers added the extra point. Marshall (2-4-1) took its lead to halftime against the Catamounts (2-5-1), who had lost just 17-10 to Clemson a month earlier.
Western Carolina ran for a pair of touchdowns to take a 13-10 lead, but a missed conversion proved costly.
Marshall’s defense held late and the Herd drove to the Western Carolina 42 with 10 seconds remaining. Childers handled the rest.
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Barry Childers kicks a field goal during Marshall University’s 1980 football season. Childers’ 59-yard field goal against Western Carolina snapped the Thundering Herd’s 19-game Southern Conference losing streak. (Photo Courtesy HD Media)
