Ridgeview Football Field

The Ridgeview Panthers excelled in all sports, but especially in football. Before the team was designated genuinely untouchable, the 1963 football won all their regular games and did not allow their opponents to score. In the final match, they lost 0-38, after being denied a score. Game announcer Ellis Johnson stated that “The Untouchables have been touched,” this propelled the team to vow never to lose again.

During the following summer, of 1964 the team put the work in; they practiced vigorously, studied playbooks intently, and got up earlier for practice. The team had to redeem themselves from last season but had to live up to previous seasons as well. The Panthers had won the state championship four times and would not stop until they won again. Players told stories of their coach would drop the team off in rural Catawba County and make them run back home. 

Their field was called the “dust bowl,” as it was more dirt than grass; despite this, spectators and supporters flocked to the field, even white supporters, which was not common during segregation. The Panthers continued to dominate each team they took on. Newspapers circulated stories that teams tried to avoid taking a beating from the team, one even stating that they could not play in the rain. The Panthers played a close state championship at Lenoir-Rhyne College against Hamlet High School. The game remained scoreless until the last few moments of the second half. The Hamlet Tigers were on the Panther’s two-yard line; however, the Panthers’ defense did not allow them to get through. The Panthers scored twice in the second half, not allowing Hamlet to score, securing the state championship. 

The Panthers’ legacy did not begin or stop in 1964; they produced multiple successful NFL players. Ernest (Ernie) Warlick was the quarterback and end; he graduated in 1948. He went to earn a B.S. in Physical Education for North Carolina Central University and then went on to the Air Force. After his release from service, he signed with the Calgary Stampeders Football Team in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, where he was named All-Pro twice, and soon moved to the Buffalo Bills in 1962, where he was a leading receiver. Ridgeview also produced Washington Redskins’ Ozzie Clay, who graduated in 1960. Clay won two conference titles while a Panther and was recruited by Iowa State before being drafted as a running back. 

No physical recognition exists for the Panthers football team, but as of the summer of 2019 as the United Arts Council of Catawba County has been awarded $45,000 to build a mural honoring Ridgeview High and the Panthers. In the summer of 2020, an archway was erected at their old field commemorating the team with 6 of the former players attending. The Ridgeview community still holds the history and success of the team tightly. The Old Ridgeview Library, which is currently a museum to memorialize the area’s history, contains exhibits dedicated to the team.  

The old Panthers field went untouched as Ridgeview High School dissolved in 1966 due to integration. Most players went on to Hickory High, where they aided in securing state championships for them as well. The field eventually began to be used again, now named Samuel William Davis, Sr. Multipurpose Field, it now contains more grass than dirt. 

The 1964-1965 Panthers

Coaches - Samuel Davis and Roger Scales

Willie Byrd, William Heard, Allen Burch, Ollie Parks, Frank Abernethy, Edward White, Charles Thompson, Jerry Johnson, Hubbard Morrison, Edward Cunningham, Hamp Davis, Xenephone Lutz, Dwight Thompson, Harrison James, Douglas Bumgarner, James Thompson, John Hodge, Craig Wilfong, Allen Pope, Mitchell Anthony, Eddie Corpening, Lewis Collins, Danny Carter, Detroit Rhyne, Charles Redman, Douglas Thompson, John Thompson, Larry Williams, Jimmy Shade, Tommy Yearby, Anthony Parks, Elbert Little, Curtis Cunningham, Tillis Rendleman

Eller, Richard. “Untouchables Football.” Foothills Digest, November 28, 2018. http://foothills.media/digest/untouchables-football/.  

Goldberg, Eric. “Ridgeview Overcame Obstacles.” Hickory Daily Record, 1975.

Griffin, Kevin. “The Untouchables.” Hickory Daily Record, February 17, 2019. https://hickoryrecord.com/news/local/in-1964-ridgeview-fielded-a-team-that-would-not-lose-or-give-up-a-point/article_e7a7e2c6-3204-11e9-90c3-d73a6698e2fd.html.

Griffin, Kevin. "New Archway Commemorates undefeated Ridgeview Football Team." Hickory Daily Record. July 10, 2020. 

Johnson, Ellis. “Buffalo Bills Strengthened By Famed Ex-Ridgeview QB.” Hickory Daily Record, November 5, 1964. 

Johnson, Ellis. “Ex-Ridgeview Grid Great, Now Playing with Redskins.” Hickory Daily Record, November 5, 1964. 

Leon, Vanessa. “‘Untouchables’ Football Team Receiving Recognition 55 Years Later.” Spectrum News, June 6, 2019. https://spectrumlocalnews.com/nc/charlotte/news/2019/06/06/-untouchables--football-team-receiving-recognition-55-years-later.