Before Airline and Parkway were opened in the 1960s, Bossier High was the only Bossier City school that was a member of the Louisiana High School Athletic Association.

The Bearkats won two state football championships in the 1940s, and Bossier High is still the only school in Bossier Parish that has won more than one title.

The 1942 Bossier High team, led by Eugene "Red" Knight, is the only Bossier Parish team that ever posted a perfect record throughout a season, including playoff games. But once wasn't enough for the Bearkats in the 1940s.

In 1948, a Bossier High team coached by Loy Camp won the Class A state title with a 21-0 victory over Reserve. Bobby Ray McHalffey, who later had a Hall of Fame coaching career at Haughton, was the quarterback of that team.

The 1942 Bearkats were coached by Ben Cameron, but many members of the team still give Norman Buckner credit for building the foundation for the championship season. In his only year as the Bossier High coach (1941), Buckner directed the Bearkats to a 4-4-1 record. In a string of eight seasons, from 1939 through 1946, that was the only Bossier team that didn't win more games than it lost.

But Buckner, a strict disciplinarian, left the nucleus of a championship team behind him. After each of four losses, the 1941 Bearkats were not allowed to enter the front door of the school the next week. Any player who fumbled the ball was required to carry a ball to every class each day the following week. If one of the backs complained, he was moved to the line the following week. If a lineman complained, he was moved to the backfield. Players were not allowed to date during the season. If Buckner caught them talking to girls on the school grounds, they had to run 50 laps at practice that day.

He taught the Bearkats six formations: Notre Dame Box, T-formation, Short Punt, Single Wing, Double Wing and Triple Wing. The following year, after the easy-going Cameron took over the coaching reins, the team would make up plays in the huddle from any of those formations. Another factor in the team's improvement from a .500 season to a perfect season was World War II.

Because of the war, St. John's (now Loyola) dropped its football program. That meant Knight had to transfer to a public school to complete his football eligibility. After six weeks at Byrd, where he would've been ineligible, Knight transferred to Bossier High.

On Sept. 25, 1942, Knight turned in a record-breaking performance in a 52-0 rout of Texarkana. He scored seven touchdowns, five of them on plays ranging from 30 to 95 yards, and kicked an extra point to score 43 points in the blowout.

Knight, who scored 25 of Bossier's 47 touchdowns in the championship season, scored the first time he touched the ball in each of the first three games. He and tackle Camille Spataro were the Bearkats' only first-team selections on the 1942 All-State team. Their only close games were against Springhill and Byrd.

With his left arm taped to his stomach because of an injury earlier in the game, Davidson returned to the field to throw a touchdown pass to Knight in a 7-6 victory over Springhill. End Johnny Robertson, who later had a Hall of Fame coaching career at Ferriday, kicked the winning estra point. Knight's 37-yard run in the fourth quarter provided the winning points in a 19-13 victory over Byrd.

It was close, but no cigar for two other Bossier High teams during a nine-year run. The 1946 team was runnerup to Sulphur, 6-0, and the 1950 team was runnerup to Baker, 7-6. The only other teams that held the 1950 Bearkats to less than three touchdowns were Claiborne Parish powers Haynesville (which was in the top class then), a 13-7 winner over Bossier High, and Homer, which Bossier beat 14-13. The 1950 Bearkats, led by the halfback duo of Don Millen and Tony Montalbano, scored 522 points in 15 games, an average of 34.8 points per game. Those are still school records.

The only thing that team lacked was a placekicker. You got only one point for extra points at that time, whether you kicked, ran or passed, but the Bearkats always ran -- and came up short in the championship game, when Baker scored its only touchdown on a defensive play (a fumble recovery return).

Montalbano and tackles Bill Little and Bill Mosely represented the Bearkats on the 1950 All-State team.

*All rights reserved. No part of this article can be reproduced or transmitted without written permission from the author.

.... kenramsey.com is very grateful to receive permission to share this high school sports article with everyone in our state. Are there any more writers out there who would like to share their stories with us? please contact kenramsey today!