Havelock High has piled up some historic victories

Often times in athletics, a game comes down to one play.

At Havelock High, it was one season.

In 1971, the Havelock High football team went through the season 13-0, giving up just one touchdown during the regular season. When the Rams defeated Northeastern 20-6 to capture the eastern state championship, Havelock High School athletics had arrived.

"That put Havelock on the map," said Joe Hailey, a longtime Havelock High athletic booster and statistician. "No one could score on them. That was just an incredible team."

Havelock High hasn't won a state football title since, but came close in 1975 and 1986, losing in the state title game both years.

Still, Havelock High has had more than its share of athletic accomplishments and great athletes, Hailey said.

State championships have followed in wrestling, cross country and baseball.

Wrestling is perhaps the most successful sport in Havelock High history, with five state titles all coming since 1996.

Former football coach Wilbur Sasser started the school's wrestling program in the early 1970s. By the 1980s, the Rams had developed into a steady force on the mat.

Dennis Fleming won back-to-back state individual wrestling titles in 1987 and 1988.

"And, he lost in the finals as a sophomore," Hailey said. "I knew he was going to win after that."

Havelock swept both the dual team and tournament state titles in 1997 under then head coach David Siler, one year after winning the state tournament title.

"In 1996, I knew we were pretty good, but I had no idea we would end up like we did," Siler said. "In 1997, we had

everyone back, so I thought we would do well."

Siler said a lot of people deserve a lot of credit for those state titles, including his assistant coaches, the administration at the high school and, of course, the wrestlers themselves.

"What I remember about those years is that the guys really liked each other," Siler said. "They enjoyed each other. They loved being in the wrestling room. We would have to kick them out of there.

"They were fun to be around. There was never a dull moment."

Ram wrestlers have won 13 conference titles in the last 15 years and reached the eastern finals of the state dual-team playoffs this past season under coach Ed Cruz, one of Siler's assistants during the 1990s.

Charlie Millea won the individual heavyweight state championship this year, adding his name to a long list of winning wrestlers.

North Carolina is known as a hotbed for basketball, but Havelock High hoops teams have not been overly successful.

Havelock High's 1965 boys team placed third in the state 2A tournament, while boys teams in 1991 and 1992 reached the 3A eastern finals of the playoffs - the final four of the state - before losing under coach Shelly Marsh.

Havelock won a surprising state baseball title in 1998 after failing to win the conference title during the regular season.

"That was a special season," said Coach Charlie Smith, who returned from a stint coaching at East Carolina to guide the Rams that season.

Havelock was 7-5 at one point during the season but managed to come back and finish second in the league.

"Things just started clicking, and they gained more confidence each week," Smith said.

The Rams traveled to Southern Alamance, Kernersville and Northeast Guilford, all schools west of Durham, in the first three rounds of the playoffs. In the eastern finals, the Rams finally got a home game and beat Wilson Fike to reach the state finals.

The Rams beat North Gaston for the title, winning 8-2 in the third game of the best-of-3 series thanks to strong pitching from Everett Hancock and Shane Knipple, and a key diving catch from outfielder John Carney.

"Everyone contributed, and they all did a good job," Smith said. "We were 7-5, and when all was said and done, we finished 21-7 and were state champions."

Hancock led the Rams that year, going 14-1, and holds the school record for lowest earned run average. He played at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and was drafted by the Detroit Tigers in the 28th round of the 2002 baseball draft.

Havelock also reached the state title series in 1983 under Brad Lawing, but fell to T.C. Roberson in three games, including 10-4 in the final. Richard Carter, who was drafted by the Detroit Tigers, was the team's ace on the mound.

Despite success in other sports, Havelock is still known primarily as a football school, a tradition that started with coach Frank Ciamillo and his run to the 1971 title.

Among the players on that team was a young lineman named Cary Godette, who eventually became an all-American at East Carolina University and has coached in both the NFL and in college.

The area honors Godette each year as the Tucker Creek Mustangs and Havelock Middle School Trojans play for the Cary Godette trophy on the gridiron.

The Rams again made a drive for a title in 1975, falling to Pisgah 35-24 in the title tilt.

It would be 11 years before Havelock again made noise in the state football playoffs, with Sasser, the school's winningest coach, at the helm. Havelock rallied from behind and got narrow victories over Bertie and Southwest Edgecombe in the first two rounds before handling Tarboro and beating Burlington Cummings 31-14 in the eastern finals.

However, in the state title game, the Rams lost a heartbreaking 9-6 contest to Shelby on a field goal in the final minutes.

Havelock isn't without success in girls sports either. Volleyball and basketball teams have been successful, though have never quite managed huge success on a state level.

Laura Maxwell is considered one of the school's best female athletes. She holds the school record for career points in basketball at 2,185, the 18th best total in state history.

"That record she has, I don't know if anyone is ever going to beat that," Hailey said. "You'd have to average 30 points per game."

Maxwell led the Rams to a 21-4 record her senior year in 1988.

Susan Childers, a 1984 graduate, is remembered as being the first female athlete to win a state title. Childers won the shot put state championship in track and field, besting the field by 2 feet.

Lynn Taylor, a 2002 graduate, held the school's cross country record time of 19 minutes, 35 seconds. As a four-year pitcher on the softball team, she holds the school record for career wins. She went on to run cross country and track at East Carolina.

Havelock High also has a long list of coaches who have guided athletes for decades, starting with Hoyt Hayes. The gymnasium at the school is named in honor of the longtime coach, athletic director and assistant principal who retired in 1982.

Sasser, Smith and Vaughn Sturm began working together in 1984, forming a nucleus that guided athletes in football, baseball, wrestling, basketball, track and golf.

Sasser retired as football coach in 2003 with 207 victories at the school. Sturm became the first Havelock High graduate ever to become a head coach.

Smith is still working at the school, serving as baseball coach as well as athletic director.

Hailey said Havelock High has produced some outstanding athletes, from Steve Melkonian, who signed with the Detroit Tigers in 1968, to Deylan Buntyn, who signed to play football at Winston-Salem State this year.

Guy Whimper, a Havelock High graduate who took his talents to East Carolina, has a Super Bowl ring with the New York Giants.

When asked to pick a Mount Rushmore of Havelock athletes, Hailey couldn't limit his list to just four.

But, he has a hard time thinking any were better than Ledel George, the former quarterback who played in the 1986 state title game. He also played basketball and holds the school's single-game scoring record with 41 points.

George, a 1989 graduate, eventually played football at N.C. State, becoming a standout punt returner and leading the Atlantic Coast Conference in punt return yardage. He held the ACC record for career punt return yardage until 2004.

"He could do it all," Hailey said of George. "He could make plays, and not just in football. He was great in basketball, too."

Hailey also recalls Havelock High pitcher Tony DeJesus and his perfect game, one of just 14 registered in the state at the time. DeJesus was eventually drafted in the third round, the 87th selection overall, in 1996, and played in the Seattle Mariners' organization.

Hailey said in all his years as a sports fan and then writing about sports for the Havelock Progress and Havelock News that no two games - or even two plays - are alike.

"The concept of the game is the same, but each win is different. Each loss is different," he said. "It's the unknown.

Hailey said he got involved in Havelock High sports when his family moved here in 1972, and he hasn't stopped.

"It was the thing to do on Friday nights to go to the games," he said. "It helped that they were winning."

And over the years, Havelock athletes have certainly done a lot of winning.