MaxPreps Student Section"They use to travel by trains to their football games back in the twenties," stated Bruce Campbell, a long-time Nowata Ironmen supporter, "I met a guy in 1960, somewhere in Muskogee, who remembered playing at Nowata in the twenties. He said they road all the way to Nowata in a train." The first records of the Ironmen were found in 1920 when they played the Pawhuska Indian School. In 1921, they played a full ten game season, winning six, tying three, and losing just one. The Ironmen played teams like Altus and Claremore, now 5A and 6A schools. In 1922, they were known as the "heartbreakers" for all the championship dreams they torched.
The 1924 Football Program.
Courtesy of Nowata Public Library
One of the longest rivalries in Oklahoma High School football history began in 1963 with the Dewey Bulldoggers and the
Nowata (Nowata, Okla.)Ironmen. The battle of the two teams was usually a season closer or opener. There was only one season when the two teams faced off twice, 1970. The Bulldoggers defeated the Ironmen in the season opener, but the Ironmen pulled together a win for the District Title.
In 1970, the Ironmen won their sole 2A State Championship. The Ironmen defeated the Lindsay Leopards. Also in that season they defeated Tulsa Union, a 6A powerhouse in the 2010 football season, and Sallisaw. The Quarterback of the Sallisaw Black Diamonds in 1970 was Steve Davis, who went on to win two National Championships at the University of Oklahoma as QB. Nowata had stiff competition, but as Bruce Campbell said, "You could tell the team had it in them." The Ironmen were 2A State Runner-Up in 1988, 1995, and 1999.
Also heating up in the '70s was Ironmen Basketball. In 1971, 1974, and 1984, the Ironmen were Area Champions and went on to the State Playoffs. Since ‘84, there has been no team to pass regionals.
In March of 2011, the powerlifters competed at the OFBCA State Powerlifting Championship and won as a team in the large school division. This was the second State Championship for the Nowata Ironmen.
In 1998, a movie called "Possums" was filmed in Nowata. The movie was about the Nowata Possums and how the town canceled the football program. Mac Davis starred as the radio announcer for the high school football team who continued to broadcast games, even though they were not being played. Other actors included Barry Switzer and Cynthia Sikes. The movie was a great honor and a treasured piece of sports history for Nowata.
The captivating lights are what draw people from all across town to Ironmen Stadium week after week. The reality of jobs, families, and hard times are forgotten as the kick-off whistle blows. To the Ironmen on the courts and fields, those moments mean everything. High school sports are often the heart of a community; it is the common bond of generations. Although many memories come and go, the legacies of high school sports never die.
It's a magical sight, those Friday night lights.
