Not your typical school day

On the one hand, nobody who works or goes to school at Abilene High would choose to be in school today, Monday, when Christmas Day is Friday.

On the other hand, in 1954, when the Eagles won the state championship on Saturday, Dec. 18, Monday, Dec. 20, was a school day. But it wasn't just any school day . . .

Monday, Dec. 20, 1954

"Not much reading, writing or arithmetic got done Monday at Abilene High School. Instead the school day was more like a progressive pep rally. Members of the bell team starting ringing the Victory Bell at 8 a.m. and it didn’t stop all day. Assistant principal J.H. Nail said the students 'walked on air' all day Monday.

“ 'We had to pick them off the ceiling every once in a while,' Nail said. 'They had something going all day long.'

"At 4 p.m., members of the Eagle Booster Club, mostly business and professional men in the community, arrived in convertibles to take the team on a parade through downtown. The parade crossed the T&P tracks to North First, then up Cypress and down Pine with the Eagle Booster Club banner and the Victory Bell leading the way.

"In the lead convertible were Eagle tri-captains Twyman Ash, Jim Millerman and John Thomas. A reporter said the players looked uncomfortable with all the attention from the thousands of Abilenians lining the streets. Behind the string of cars came hundreds of AHS students and the Eagle band. Students carried a 'State Champions' banner that stretched almost all the way across the street.

"It was the Eagles’ fourth state championship, to go with titles won in 1923, 1928 and 1931, but this was the first in the more formalized statewide classifications introduced by the University Interscholastic League for the 1951 season. It was different to be from a town whose high school team had emerged champions from a system that more or less insured that only the best teams from all corners of the state moved forward through the playoffs.

"Moser never shrugged, but a typical eyebrows-up quizzical look came to his face when there was a question he couldn’t answer.

"A newspaperman asked him if he thought the Eagles could win the District 1-AAAA championship and get into the playoffs again in 1955. Up went the eyebrows. 'It just depends on how the boys develop,' he said.

"The school, the Eagle Booster Club, and other sponsors hosted a football banquet for the team at the end of every season. For many adults, the banquet was just another obligatory event to attend. The 1954 banquet was different. Moser and the Eagles for a second time presented Abilene High principal Escoe Webb the District 1-AAAA championship trophy, and then the state Class AAAA championship trophy, Abilene High’s first since 1931.

"In turn, the Eagle Booster Club presented gifts to the coaches: checks, ranging from $1,500 for the varsity coaches to $400 for B Team assistants like Tommy Morris, who was only a couple of years out of Abilene Christian College. It didn’t sound like much, but $400 put a big grin on the faces of assistants like Morris, whose annual salary was $3,500.

"The Booster Club had a gift for the head coach as well. Moser was presented the keys to a new 1954 Buick."