It was the fall of 1955 and a couple of tradition high school football powers – Rossville and Baylor – were on their way to great gridiron seasons.
Rossville would finish 10-1-2 and tie LaGrange High School 13-13 in the Georgia state championship game, while Baylor, then competing in the old prep school Mid-South Conference, would post yet another perfect season (10-0-0) under legendary coach Humpy Heywood.
Chattanooga Central was a year removed from a state championship (1954).
While the Friday night lights were burning bright around the Scenic City at various high school fields, a group of freshman at Soddy Daisy were quietly on their way to a perfect season, setting the stage for their senior year in 1958.
The captain of the 1958 varsity Trojan team was lineman Eddie Brannon who would block for friend and all-city running back Sam Gill as the Blue and Gold won the Tennessee Valley Conference and posted a school best 10-1-0 record.
“When we were freshman we thought we had a chance to be pretty good when we reached our senior year,” said Eddie Brannon is owner of E.F.
Brannon Furniture and part owner of The Racquet Club in Hixson.
Today, Brannon and six other alums are members of the eighth hall of fame class at Soddy Daisy High School with ceremonies taking place in the school gym this morning.
“We had a great season as seniors under coach Harland Burnette with wins against Rhea County, South Pittsburg, Marion County, Tyner, Red Bank, Chattanooga City among others,” said Brannon.
“Our lone loss was to Hixson (8-6) which kept us from a perfect season, but we still went on to win the conference title.”
Gill and Brannon played against each other through the eighth grade before becoming teammates in high school.
Dr. Gill, a 2015 SDHS HOF inductee, and who also played college football at the University of the South said, “I went to Soddy elementary and Soddy Junior High, while Eddie went to Daisy elementary and Daisy Junior High. My junior high coach was Buck Johnson who would later become a hall of fame sports writer with the Chattanooga Times.”
Brannon and his wife, Winkie, are also known for tennis as their two daughters the late Kim Ellis (Hixson HS/Auburn – school record for career wins) and Audra Brannon Pompelly (Hixson HS/Fla. State – All-American) were two the best prep players in the state and the South in the 1980s and 1990s.
2016 Soddy Daisy HS Hall of Fame Class of 2016
Eddie Brannon (1959) … captain of 1958 football team which was 10-1-0 and Tenn. Valley champions
Carrol Morrison DeNure (1987) … graduate of Freed Hardeman University, B.S. Education, Magna Cum Laude. Volleyball coach at Flint Hill High School, Oakton, Va. with seven state championships.
W.V. Roberson (1955)- Played basketball for legendary SD coach Ernest “Big Boy” Eldridge. U.S. Army veteran. Established local celebration and dinner for area veterans. Veteran activist, Community volunteer.
Julia Smith (1980) …graduate of UTC and Milwaukee School of Engineering. Retired Engineer, Research and Development, Kimberly Clark Corporation. Currently Vice-President, Delicato Family Vineyards, Napa, Calif.
Carlos Wilson (1958) …. Graduate of UTC in Engineering … worked for DuPont for 25 years. Comprehensive research in the local Trail of Tears and Cherokee Indian relocation.
Randy Wilson (1986) … graduate of Tennessee Tech, studying Wildlife Fisheries Science. A Masters from the University of Memphis in Ecology. Works for U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Migratory Bird Field Office, in Jackson, Miss. … ARegional Migratory Bird Biologist.
Tonya Wilson (1976) … All-State basketball player, Wilson played four years at Belmont College in Nashville … Cum Laude … earned MBA at New York University. Director of Global Compliance at Barclays Bank, New York City.
“We feel this class consists of seven great alums with impressive credentials,” said Soddy Daisy teacher and hall of fame committee chairman Ken Thomas.
contact B.B. Branton at william.branton@comcast.net