2004

Pouncey inducted into East

For 15 years Ken Pouncey walked the sidelines as head coach of East Central Community College's football team. He led seY– eral Warrior teams to successful campaigns, including three divisiOn championships. Pouncey, whose years of service (1967-81) exceeds all others who have led ECCC footbal squads, will be inducted into the Co11ege's Athletic Hall of Fame dw-– ing Homecoming activities :,cbed– uled Saturday, October 9. His selec~on for the pres~­ gious honor caught him b) surprbe· " I had no idea that I '"'<15 e\ en nominated for the Athletic Hall of Fame. Being selected is qt.:te an honor and T'm very apprectaE!ve to have been chosen. I had a .m of good folks helping me all th )e".JS that I spent at East Cenrral mclrui– ing my family, especially m~ '\\1fe (Alice) whom I owe a lot to: m) assistant coaches: and certainly ibe players, who meant a lot to me and still do,.. Pouncey stated. Among those nominating Coach Pouncey for the Athletic Hall of Fame were former Warriors Ricky Harrison ofDecarur and Mark Killens of Newton, who were mem– bers ofthe 1976 and f977 squads.~ Harrison wrote: "I know first– hand how committed he was to East Central. Coach Pouncey had just one assistant during those I5 years, and much ofthe coaching duties and administrative responsibilities were all on him. I often wondered how he could possibly accomplish all that he did." Harrison further stated that Pouncey treated the players with respect. "He was always fair in his dealings with the players, who most– ly came from district high schools. He was the kind of coach a player would want to play for,·· Harrison satd.

reflect on my life, I can look back and see what an influence Coach Pouncey has had on my life. He is very deserving to be inducted into the Athletic Hall of Fame." Reflecting on his career, Pouncey said coaching was not his first choice. He once had plans of being a geologist. "I started college at Jones (Jones County Junior College) thmking 1 would like to major in geology. But on a field trip to ML :-issippi State University, the ~ec "£) professor . told us that chance~ of genmg a job after gradu– auon with a ~eology degree were not lOO ;;tlOd becs..c.e lhe market was ~1 {of geo QgiSts S~'> I decided to major m ph~ SJca ea..... ~tion and, as the~ sa~. the rest is histof)." Pouncey _ mmente-d Pmmce} Degan Qi, career at blS alma mater. Enterpnse High S::-nool. \\here he ~en -ed from 1961 to •963 as e.ssti~~ head footnall coach and b10logy mstru.:tor. He s...'•rved the followmg mo ~ear:- as bead football coach and btology instructor at Beatnce (Ala.) High School. and lhen served two years in lhe same capacity at South Choctaw High School in Silas, Ala. He recallednow a fefephone conversation with then ECCC presi– dent Dr. Charles Wright helped lure him to the Decatur campus: "I had heard that East Central had an opening for an assistant football coach. I did not know who was serving as president, athletic director or head football coach. I was just ·trying to get back closer to home. When I called the College, I talked with Dr. Wright, then with Coach (Clayton) Blount, who was the athletic director and the one who finalized the deal. Dan Chatwood was the head coach and I was hired to be his assistant. I was also named head baseball coach and physical education .nstructor ·· Patm~

Lin (27-6), Itawamba (42-14) an Northwest (41-15). The Warriors struggled the following two seasons, but experi– enced back-to-back 7-3 seasons dur– ing the 1970 and 1971 campaigns. The 1970 team also shared the North Division title with East Mississippi, and qualified for the state playoffs on a flip of the coin. The state championship game was played in Decatur, with Pearl River winning the contest 27-8. East Central posted key wins during the 1970 campaign over Jones (34- 30), Itawamba (I 0-9), Northwest (14-13), Holmes (28-1 4), Delta (13- 7) and Southwest (27-13), and completely manhandled' 1 Northeast (52-15). Although the loss to Pearl River for the state title was a memorable contest. it was a close contest \\lth Gulf Coast in 1971 that Potmcey said stands out most in his coachmg career. ··Gulf Coast was rankednum– ber one in the nation. and we were ranked 11 tb. The game was played in Pascagoula. and we had the game won until they completed a long pass for a touchdown with 15 sec– onds remaining. Our defensive back was in perfect position, but the Gulf Coast quarterback threw a perfect pass and the receiver made a great catch. We lost the game 28-27." Another contest that stands out to the former ECCC head men– tor was a contest held later the same season with ltawamba, a game played in hurricane-like conditions: "The weather was awful but we managed to lead by three touch- downs at halftime. We scored anoth- er touchdown at the beginning of the third quarter, and their coach decid- ed they had had enough and left the field. We won the game 30-0. and it was the first and only rime that 1 was inYolved in a game ''here th.e opposli.IOn left the field before ~-.e

.---

tappee fvr ~.: C.:J:.~p!·-. Aili:.::Jc Hall of Fame last year: "Besides being a football coach, Coach Pouncey was also a mentor to his players. And he made sure we did

Pounce) \\a:- named as Charwood's successor, and the late Billy Wayne Baucum served as Pouncey's assistant. The Warriors experienced a successful season dur-

\\ 11h the scvre ned at ~6-:6 and nme running out. Itawamba tried a 45- yard field goal. It looked like it was going to be good, especially since a stronsz wind was behinrl th~ kirk