Sonora Cooks Forney 39-28

by Ernest Stromberger

Dallas Times Herald
11 December 1966

AUSTIN – Sonora quarterback Laney Cook, a lanky rifleman who often gave the Forney Jackrabbits as much trouble on defense as he did with his passing, led the West Texans to a spectacular 39-28 victory over Forney Saturday in a Class A state schoolboy semifinal football battle.

Yardstick

Sonora meets Schulenburg next week in the championship game.

Cook iced up the game with about four minutes left when he hit halfback Noe Chavez – the small target which gave Forney fits all night – on a 27-yard pass to put Sonora ahead 32-28.

That score also put on the scoreboard two more points than all of Forney’s 13 opponents scored during the season, illustrating the dramatic reversal Sonora brought to Forney’s usually tough defensive game.

Forney passers Thomas Cheney and Dale Penny were no match for Cook, who hit 17 of 31 for 175 yards, but Forney runners held their own against the Sonora ground game.

Forney fullback Larry Bush ran 153 yards on 25 carries and halfback Sammy Beeler ran 39 yards on 13 carries, compared to Sonora fullback Mike Gosney’s 31 yards and halfback Ed Lee Renfro’s 156 yards

Forney led going into the fourth quarter after a Sonora point after touchdown effort failed. The game up to that point had been a see-saw offensive show in near freezing weather.

The teams were tied at the half, with Forney pushing in a score with one minute left on Bush’s run from the four.

Forney opened the second half scoring with a 38-yard run by Bush to cap a 62-yard drive. The final Forney tally came on a four-yard run by Bush, after he and Beeler had done much of the work on a 54-yard drive which also featured two first down passes from Penny to George Schlebach.

Sonora raced back quickly with Renfro’s 68-yard touchdown dash to narrow the gap, then the Cook to Chavez bomb put Sonora ahead and Gosney added the final score in the game’s closing minutes with a one-yard plunge.