Former Buffaloes reflect on first championships
Dec. 6—McAlester made its fifth state championship appearance on Saturday, sparking memories of the program's first two title teams.
The Buffaloes won state championships in 1968 and 1988, and finished second in 1996 and 2013 before Saturday's Class 5A state title game against Collinsville.
Richard Carney, a star linebacker on McAlester's 1968 title team, and Allen Wadsworth, who coached the 1988 champions, both have recalled what it was like to accomplish the ultimate goal of hoisting a trophy at the end of the season.
"We were very blessed and our kids played extremely hard the whole year, and I couldn't ask for anymore," Wadsworth has said.
"It was all just really exciting," Carney said.
Carney was a star linebacker on the team that brought home McAlester's first state title in 1968, when the Buffs defeated Stillwater 42-12.
It was a year where Carney said many were unsure of how exactly the team would look as students from L'Ouverture School integrated with McAlester High School and the student-athletes of McAlester were all under one roof.
But, as Carney put it, they quickly became brothers and won a state championship as a result.
Wadsworth coached the Buffaloes from 1982 to 1988 — winning McAlester's second state title in his final season at the helm with a 13-3 victory over Altus.
That season, the Buffs began the year with back-to-back losses to Muskogee and Ada. But what happened next was a rally that ended with them winning it all.
Records were set and local legends were forged, all culminating in bringing a state championship trophy back to McAlester.
From packing the stands, to painted windows and black and gold decorated store fronts, and even — as Carney was quick to mention — a big welcome home for the state champions.
"They had a sign already up when we got back," Carney said. "They already had it made, right there on Carl Albert."
The sign read "Welcome to McAlester, Home of the Buffaloes. 1968-69 Class AA State Football Champs." And Carney said it was in that moment, seeing the sign for the first time, that he realized just how special the accomplishment was not just to the team but to the entire town of McAlester.
"We went undefeated, and when we won that game, it was all very exciting," Carney said.
But now, a new generation of Buffs have written themselves into McAlester history, and the two former Buffs talked of how proud they are of a program that they themselves put so much into.
"I'm just glad to see the Buffaloes win every Friday night," Wadsworth said.
And as Carney mentioned, he believed that there were many more successes in store for McAlester football — now, and many years into the future.
"They've got it going in the right direction," Carney said. "They work really hard and do a lot of things right. It's a lot of fun to see."
Contact Derek Hatridge at dhatridge@mcalesternews.com.
