The Best for Last-Greenwave Football

While growing up in Clintwood, Va., there was little doubt that Johnny McFall was going to be a football player.
?Like a lot of small towns, you almost have to play football,? McFall said. ?Everybody expected it out of you.?
Few played it better than McFall. He was one of many standouts on Clintwood High School?s 1974 and 1975 VHSL Group A state championship teams and seemingly did it all.
He set 17 single-season school records ? and that was during his junior season alone.
He was an excellent halfback, excellent kicker, excellent punter and excellent defensive end.
His nicknames included ?Jumping? Johnny McFall and ?Jarring? Johnny McFall.

A Bristol Herald Courier reporter once wrote that McFall led the area in everything but broken promises.

But above all else McFall and his Clintwood teammates were just winners. From 1973-75, the Greenwave compiled a 37-1-1 record.

?I?ve played in a couple of state championships and that?s not something many people can say,? McFall said. ?I?m very proud of all that we accomplished. We had some talent and we had some great coaches.?

The first title
Clintwood entered the 1974 season on a mission. The team had lost in the state finals the year before, but with 26 lettermen and 10 starters returning, they weren?t planning on coming up short again.

?We kind of used that as a springboard,? McFall said.

With McFall getting the majority of the carries, D.R. Mullins directing the offense from his quarterback position and a strong line led by the likes of Rod Hill, Andy Lyall, Norman Ratcliffe, Wendell Bolling, Jerry Mooney, Richard Peak, Phil Vanover and Tim Baker, the Greenwave claimed the Lonesome Pine District and Region D titles.

Yet the toughest test came in the VHSL Group A state semifinals against Hogoheegee District champ Saltville. The lone score of the game came when McFall booted a 25-yard field goal in the second quarter. The defense made the lead stand up for a 3-0 victory.

?I just remember how hard-fought that game was,? McFall said. ?I was so tired at the end, I had no energy. There was not a whole lot of action, but it was hard-fought.?

That game actually held the record for lowest point total in a state semifinal game for many years. It was broken last month when J.I. Burton posted a 2-0 victory over Holston in the VHSL Group A, Division 1 state semifinals.

Clintwood would claim the state championship with a convincing 20-6 victory over Powhatan.

Repeat title
Clintwood would be even better in 1975, rolling to a perfect season that included the Greenwave offense scoring 50 or more points on six occasions.

The lone drama came in the state finals against Bowling Green and once again McFall came through. His 30-yard field goal with 7:28 remaining was the game-winner.

For all the yards he churned up at running back, McFall?s kicking prowess was a key role in both state title seasons.
His boot against Saltville in ?74 and his field goal against Bowling Green the following season were clutch. McFall also averaged over 40 yards per punt.

?When I was a kid, I did the punt, pass and kick and I just always loved punting,? McFall said. ?I didn?t really like placekicking. My junior year, I kind of played around and didn?t know I could do it until I tried it. I was lucky enough to make a few field goals here and there, but we didn?t try too many field goals.?

The title win in 1975 saw the final heroics in the careers of several of the best football players the ****enson County school has ever seen. McFall, Mullins. Mooney, Phil Vanover and Sammy Dotson were all four-year starters from 1972-75.

?We had quite a bit of talent,? McFall said. ?I was lucky enough to grow up with a class that had a lot of talent. Everybody worked hard.?

Team of the ?70s
Clintwood would win a state championship again in 1978, going 13-0 behind the talent of players like Tim McFall, Doug Anderson, Terry Mullins, Chris Robinson, Kelly Vanover, Ricky Dotson and countless others.

Clintwood won more state titles than any other team from Southwest Virginia during the ?70s and the architect behind the success was head coach Ralph Cummins.

One of the classiest coaches and greatest strategists of his era, Cummins won 267 games in 35 seasons guiding the Greenwave. Clintwood?s football stadium bears the name of the The Virginia High School Coaches Association Hall of Famer.

?Like a workaholic, he paid so much attention to detail,? McFall said. ?Nobody had the attention to detail like Coach Cummins. He loved football.?

And he coached players like McFall, who loved the sport as well.