If "ifs" and "buts" were candy and nuts, Dandy Don Meredith said so often, we'd all have a Merry Christmas. That sums up my attitude toward attempts to rank the greatest Louisiana high school football players of all time.

Whether you are talking about running backs, quarterbacks or receivers, great players will distinguish themselves in whatever era they are playing. But comparing players from different eras? Forget about it!

"Bear" Bryant said watching films of John David Crow play for Springhill High was like watching a grown man play against boys. Elmer Smith, the Aggies' assistant who had coached Crow's older brother at Southern State and was responsible for recruiting John David, must not have shown Bryant any of the Springhill-Haynesville films, because the Lumberjacks were 0-for-Haynesville during his career. For that matter, "Bear" probably didn't see the Thanksgiving Day loss to Minden at the end of Crow's high school career.

In compiling a "greatest" list, or making Hall of Fame selections, decisions are influenced by what players do at higher levels. In that respect, no Louisiana running backs can rank above Crow and Istrouma's Billy Cannon, because they both won the Heisman Trophy, and no Louisiana quarterback can rank above Terry Bradshaw because of his four Super Bowl victories.

On the other hand, basing decisions on high school statistics can be misleading, too, because the game has changed through the years and the numbers don't mean the same thing in different eras. If I based decisions on high school performances, Eddie "Touchdown" Townson of Glenmora would rank near the top of the running backs list because he set a national record a career total of 99 touchdowns in the early 1930s despite his diminutive size (5-7, 140 pounds) and later starred on Centenary giant-killer teams.

Another small running back from that era was Rowboat Wroten of Haynesville. In the 1940s, Dub Jones was a high school star at Ruston who played college football at both LSU and Tulane and went on to tie an NFL record with six touchdowns in one game for the Cleveland Browns as he was a standout on championship teams.

Many LSU fans consider Tommy Hodson the greatest passer in the school's history because he holds career passing records. But Y.A. Tittle, Bert Jones (one of Dub's sons) and M.C. Reynolds are, in my opinion, the greatest passers in LSU although they don't rank among the Top Ten for the simple reason that LSU didn't throw as many passes while they were playing. It is the same with rushing leaders. All-time greats such as Cannon and Jimmy Taylor don't rank among the Top Ten in season rushing yardage because they didn't have enough carries. The first LSU player who had 200 rushing attempts in a season was Art Cantrelle in 1970.

Of the players who I saw, I would rank Troy Edwards of Huntington, Derrick Douglas of Captain Shreve, Jerry Stovall of West Monroe and Tony Papa of Jesuit at the top of the running backs list. All of them were threats to score every time they touched the ball. I didn't see Cannon play in high school, but he would be near the top as a power back, along with Tommy Davis of Fair Park, Anthony Thomas of Winnfield, Cecil Collins of Leesville and Raymond Tate of Minden. I didn't see Lou Deutschmann of Holy Cross, Hoyle Granger of Oberlin or Roosevelt Potts of Rayville, but they were great power runners, too.

I don't know what kind of power Sammy Seamster of Minden had, because I rarely saw anybody touch him before he was five yards past the line of scrimmage. But his offensive linemen had plenty of power.

Jacob Hester of Evangel fits between the two categories. He was (and still is) an outstanding all-around back, but he wasn't big enough to be considered a power runner and wasn't quick enough to be considered a great breakaway threat. But he was one of the primary reasons LSU won a national championship.

Of course, I've left off some players who were just as good as some of those I have mentioned. That happens every time you try to compile an all-time list or a Hall of Fame. Eddie Price and Steve Van Buren of Warren Easton played a few years before I came along. So was Al Dark of Lake Charles. And Eugene "Red" Cagle of Merryville was playing at West Point (the United States Military Academy) seven years before I was born, but guys like Knute Rockne and Grantland Rice were impressed, so he probably deserves to be listed, too.

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