PLANO, Texas — Terence Green and Jeff Whitley sat down on folding chairs on a sun-soaked football field in Plano last month. They chit-chatted about family and kids and old high school friends they only see on Facebook.
Both nearing 50, Green and Whitley looked the part of high school football stars with a few decades behind them — broad shoulders and massive forearms; less hair on their heads, a sore shoulder after a few passes back and forth.
But their memories gave no indication to the years gone by.
Thirty years, in fact.
Thirty years since Green and Whitley made history together — then lost it all the same.
"For about 20 to 25 minutes in real time, it was as low as you can get, high as you can get and back to low as you can get," Whitley told WFAA.
On Nov. 26, 1994, Green, Whitley and their Plano East teammates mounted a miraculous comeback against Tyler John Tyler in the third round of the Class 5A Division II playoffs at Texas Stadium in Irving.
The Panthers had trailed Tyler 41-17 with just under three minutes left in the game. Plano East announcer Eddy Clinton, trying to explain a string of mishaps that let the game slip away, summed it up for the broadcast: "Bingo, bango, bongo."
The lore of Texas high school football would never be the same.
On the next play, Whitley hit Green for a long touchdown pass. A little more than two minutes later, Plano East took a 44-41 lead.
But 24 seconds remained on the clock, and that was 24 seconds too many.
Tyler's Roderick Dunn — who muffed a pair of onside kicks during Plano East's comeback and who had never before scored a varsity touchdown — ran back the ensuing kickoff for the game-winning score. The result was a crushing East loss, an exhilarating Tyler win, and the greatest high school football game in history.
Except the action on the field was only one half of the story — and hardly the only reason the game found national fame.
When footage of the tape-delayed broadcast surfaced, the motley crew of announcers became minor celebrities, even landing a guest appearance on "The Tonight Show" with Jay Leno.
They were led by Clinton, the play-by-play announcer and executive producer for high school football broadcasts on a Plano cable access channel. Clinton and his longtime radio partner Denny Garver were occasionally joined by part-time analyst Mike Zoffuto, and a straggler or two in the booth, like Clinton's cousin, Earl "The Cookie Man" Miller.
Clinton's operation filmed and announced Plano games that would air on tape delay the following Monday.
Clinton and Garver had just enough twang between them to sound like what Texas high school football announcers sound like in the movies. Zoffuto, who coached at Lake Highlands, was a Vietnam veteran from Pittsburgh. Together, the trio could produce an entertaining three hours, if at times a little chaotic.
But nothing they did before or after Nov. 26, 1994, would compare to the Plano East-John Tyler game.
As Plano East crawled back against Tyler, the broadcasters went from eulogizing the Panthers' season to relishing in the hysteria of it all. The freewheeling broadcast produced phrases that became part of Texas high school football legend. Garver gets credit for most of them:
"Good gosh almighty, Joe Friday!"
"If they score here, I'm gonna jump out of this booth."
"I'm gonna wet my britches!"
"Someone help me, I'm gonna die."
It was Zoffuto, though, who summed it up best at the end.
"That makes me sick. I wanna throw up."
The broadcast theatrics paired perfectly with the insanity of the comeback itself: 34 points in 2:42?! Three onside kicks recovered in a row?! A 100-yard kickoff return for the game-winning touchdown?!
And those were just the highlights ...
Plano East players made no shortage of memorable plays in clutch moments, Green in particular. In addition to kicking the successful onside kicks, Green made one-handed grabs, broke tackle after tackle on screen passes and scored the first touchdown that kickstarted the comeback.
Thirty years after the fact, WFAA sat down with Clinton, Green, Whitley and Tyler defensive back Morris Anderson to talk about the night they made history.
The greatest game ever
Terence Green (Plano East tight end/kicker): “It doesn’t get old for me. I’m around kids a lot, so I like when it’s brought back up. Just gives them that mindset to never give up. So it doesn’t get old for me.”
Morris Anderson (Tyler quarterback/defensive back): "Absolutely the greatest. The greatest … because you couldn’t script it. You can’t do this again. You can’t duplicate it, and to be able to touch about 1.5 million people in 1995…when dot com hasn’t even hit yet. We broke the internet before the internet. We went viral before viral was even created."
Jeff Whitley (Plano East quarterback): “It doesn't get old for me. It did at a point, but I've kind of learned that it's part of history so it will fade one day. So as my wife tells me, enjoy it, she even told me to enjoy it today. It's definitely a part of history and, and lore for Texas high school football.”
Terence Green: “I've heard a couple, you watch social media and there’s been some games that are really, really great. Had some fantastic endings. But I still think this tops them all. I don't think there's no question about it. To recover three onsides in a row, go up, and then you see the ending but, I don't think a team will ever do that, recover three onsides and go up.”
Jeff Whitley: "And I just remember looking at the crowd, the people that were still there, and just thinking, ‘Oh my God, I've never seen people going so crazy.’ And then the kickoff return, it's the lowest of lows. So for about 20 to 25 minutes in real time, it was low as you can get, high as you can get, and back to low as you can get. It was definitely one of the most emotional roller coasters in my life, on anything that life presents."
Eddy Clinton (Plano East play-by-play announcer): “We had already called two games that day, and this was the third. It was the perfect storm – this game and the broadcasters. Thirty years later, people still remember the things we said, the way it ended. It was something no one had ever seen – somebody down 41-17 with 2:32 left and coming back. It was the greatest high school football game I ever saw, no question.”
How a comeback starts
After a close start to the game, Tyler pulled away in the second half, extending their lead from 24-17 to 41-17. Plano East got the ball back with 3:03 left in the game. Fans of both teams had already started to drift toward the exits, and some Tyler players even took their shoulder pads off. With nothing to lose, the run-heavy East offense opened up the playbook. Whitley started throwing.
Morris Anderson: "We literally felt like we had won the game. The game was over with because the players were taking pads off. We pretty much shut it down. As far as our starters. Mark Broyles being one. David Warren. Jesse Taylor was sitting on the sidelines, looking in the stands, chilling. We literally felt like we won."
Jeff Whitley: “The first score was Whitley to Green about a 40-yard pass on a post route. That’s what got it going. At that time, we didn't know what was gonna happen, but it definitely was the first play. If you look at YouTube in the shortcuts, it's the first play that gets the whole thing going.”
Morris Anderson: "When we got back on defense, it was like it just went in slow motion the last three minutes and three seconds. It was slow motion. Couldn't believe it."
Terence Green: “We needed a quick score. I ran the post route, and Whit hit me right in the chest. So that started everything. We just needed something quick, and we knew that was gonna be a touchdown that we can go ahead and get the ball rolling."
Jeff Whitley: “At this point, we didn't think that we were going to come back with three onside kicks, but we were still playing football and just trying to finish strong.”
The pass from Whitley to Green cut the Tyler lead to 41-24, with under three minutes left to play. East had no choice: It was onside kick, or game over. Green, who was filling in at kicker, gave it a try.
Terence Green: "I was like, ‘Look, I just need to get something end over end and it was fortunate that we got that ball and everybody was just shocked. I think still at that point, we didn't think we were gonna come back. It was just, ‘Hey, we gotta go score again.'”
Jeff Whitley: “This guy played soccer his entire life. Our kicker wasn't there any longer. So [Green] took over the all the kicking. We didn't realize how good of an onside kicker he was.”
Eddy Clinton: “When they recovered the first onside kick, it was like, ‘Oh, good deal. They covered an onside kick. It’s great.’ We were still thinking, ‘They’re still trying.’ But winning the game? Are you kidding me? No.”
Still holding onto hope, the Plano East offense trotted onto the field with around 2:42 left in the game, trailing 41-24. The crowd and announcers might not have noticed it yet – but East felt the momentum start to shift.
Jeff Whitley: “The next one is a throw to [Green] on an out route, like a 20-yard out route, that he catches with one hand. Coach Ryan, our offensive coordinator, came from the box because we just assumed the game was pretty much over, and we just started throwing the ball. Just started throwing every pass play. We ran a veer offense. So for us, to throw 20 times a game was a big deal."
“It was a 20-yeard deep out route to Terrence. And I just know with him – he was in double coverage – I just threw it where it was supposed to be. And of course this guy comes up and grabs it with one hand and brings it down. As my dad says, he always made me look good."
Terence Green: “[Whitley] threw a screen to our running back, Kevin Coit. Called him three-piece, the fastest guy it the Metroplex, I’m telling you."
Jeff Whitley: "And still is."
Terence Green: “We got him that ball and he took it up to the right side. He wasn’t in the game as much as he probably needed to be. But when he stepped in, he made an impact right away.”
Jeff Whitley: “I always say, over last 30 years, that Kevin Coit is the one that really got this started. He caught that ball and broke about three tackles, barely, and used his speed to get around the corner.”
After long passes to Green and Coit, Whitley hit towering tight end Jonathan Braddick, nicknamed The Condor, over the seam for a touchdown, making it 41-31 with under two minutes left.
Jeff Whitley: “It was a simple seam route with a tight end. Jonathan Braddick, the Condor we called him. He's about 6-6. He had great hands, great football player. But it was real simple. Just cleared the linebackers hit him about, about eight yards deep, on a little seam and he was wide open. It was an easy pass.”
Lightning strikes again - and again
Still needing 10 more points to catch Tyler, East again opted for an onside kick. And yet again, Green flummoxed Tyler with a funky ball that went off the hands of Roderick Dunn.
Terence Green: "The second onside didn't even go 10 yards. But it was end-over-end, and that was my main goal because all three had a specific touch to it. And it was a tough ball to field and he came up aggressively, hit off his hand, and we were able to recover it."
Eddy Clinton: “After the second on side kick, I truly felt we had a chance and you could see or you could hear in the broadcast. I said, I've been sitting here trying to figure this out that if we can get another touchdown and a two point, we're within three points of winning the game."
East’s offense headed back out to the field and went to work quickly again. And Whitley went back to his favorite target. On the broadcast, Clinton began saying, "If they score here ..." and Garver finished his sentence. "I'm gonna jump out of this booth!"
Terence Green: "After that on-side, we needed a quick strike. And the play calling… man, I'm telling you, Coach Phillips was a genius. We just had to execute. So we called the screen, and I kind of one-handed that one and got up field and got some good yardage on that and that put us even closer. I just remember, low point to high point. Nobody was just gonna bring me down. Right? Not one person was gonna tackle me. That was my mentality.”
Jeff Whitley: “It was a perfect play. He catches it with one hand. This is when Terrence starts to take over the game and nobody's gonna bring him down.”
After the long pass to Green, Whitley went back to Braddick. The Condor was covered well in the endzone, so Whitley threw it high.
Jeff Whitley: "I actually threw it high on purpose because he's about 6-6, and he caught it in the end zone. We, at this point, we are starting to believe that we can win this game."
Terence Green: "We hyped now. We hyped. Just need one more."
At this point, the score stood at 41-37, as East still trailed. In one of the more improbable moments in Texas high school football history, Green, the fill-in kicker, successfully converted a third consecutive onside kick, which again went off Dunn's hands and was recovered by Plano East. In the booth, Garver delivered another gem: "Good gosh o'mighty, Joe Friday! Somebody give me something. I'm gonna die."
Terence Green: "I remember I put a little juice on that one … Like I said, every onside kick had a different speed, different approach to it. So that one, I had a little bit more on it. And it flew off his hand."
Jeff Whitley: "We get the onside kick, and what's going through my head is we're going to win this game, that we're supposed to win this game. There's just something in the air of this kind of comeback. So we were ready to go."
A comeback completed
Whitley immediately went to Green on another screen pass, and he got down to the 20-yard-line.
Terence Green: "We had success on the previous screen and we ran another one. Literally what's going through my mind is, ‘Hey, nobody's gonna tackle you, keep going.’"
Jeff Whitley: "At this point, it’s just a matter of time before we score."
Then, it happened. Thirty years later, Whitley still remembers the play call.
Jeff Whitley: "Pro right, 16 drag, 2-back, backside roll. Which means I’m going to fake a veer option to the right. The running back, everything’s flowing that way. They’re probably lookin for the seam route because we’ve scored a couple of times on it, and the line and the running back kind of secretly delays and goes on the backside flare. And it was the perfect call. It was wide open."
“It’s still the loudest and most chaotic crowd I’ve ever seen, even with half the attendance left. And I remember thinking to myself, I’ve never seen … it was like a dream and very surreal."
A comeback lost
After trailing 41-17 less than three minutes earlier, Plano East now led 44-41. But 24 seconds remained on the clock. Green went out for the kickoff, and this time the onside kick wasn’t needed. Tyler’s Roderick Dunn, who had muffed the previous two onside kicks, was the deep man receiving the kick.
Terence Green: "Coming off of that touchdown. I don't even remember going to the sideline. Honestly. I mean, when people say, ‘Hey, why'd you kick it deep or did they tell you to pooch kick,' whatever it was. I don't remember any communication. Look, we're kicking it deep anyway, so we can pin them down inside the 20, and then we go home as a winner."
Eddy Clinton: "Dunn catches the ball over his shoulder like Willie Mays in the ‘54 World Series, catches it at the 3-yard-line, turns around and heads up the field. Cuts to the left sideline, and you will hear me on that broadcast be very succinct that he has the ball, cuts to the left. Now, things are gonna happen and you gotta let the crowd react to the situation. The action is gonna carry it."
Morris Anderson: "There was a wall basically set up. It wasn't scripted, but we just had guys that just got in place uh to make the play. And actually, Mark Broyles and David Warren were the only two player that made the block, because there’s only two blocks…The one block happens once we cross the 20. Rod makes a move and then the [next] block comes between the 20 and 30."
"[Dunn] just juked…just a little juke. Then came out to 30. That's when the next [block] came. The first block was Mark Broyles, and then David peeled off at the 30 and was able to still catch up and set the wall, and Rod was basically scot-free from that point. There was another guy from Plano that was trying to come but Rod was covered by David, Darwin Brown and Jesse Taylor."
"Rod is not the fastest guy, but he was definitely one of the fastest. And at that moment, he was fast enough to get to the endzone."
Terence Green: "It was quick. I kicked it off and next thing you know, the guy’s sliding his helmet in the end zone and I'm just like, ‘Wow, no flags, nothing.’"
Jeff Whitley: “It was like a dream to me, because I’m on the sideline and he runs it back and he just hits that sideline, and he’s gone. And so it went from, ‘We’re gonna win this great comeback,’ all this extreme sports high – to absolute devastation.”
Morris Anderson: "Plano East, they were talking noise to me the whole time saying that they were gonna get these onside kicks, which I couldn't believe it. But when they got the last one, I really stopped, watch Rod catch it and … I watched the whole thing."
"Right when I knew he was free, I instantly turned to the Plano East side and I was running down that sideline, pointing to them."
Eddy Clinton: "Mike [Zoffuto] from the bottom of his soul said, ‘God bless those kids. I'm sick. I wanna throw up.’ And you don't hear Denny and I say one word. We're just appalled at the whole situation."
With just seconds remaining, East could not mount another comeback. Tyler won, 48-44, to advance to the fourth round of the playoffs. Tyler would ultimately win the Class 5A state championship.
30 years of perspective
Morris Anderson: "We went from winning to losing to winning once again. And again, we went on and we won state. We won state. We went 16-0. What do people talk about? This game."
Jeff Whitley: “My father has watched highlights of that game a hundred times but has never watched the kickoff return. He’ll turn it off every time.”
Terence Green: “I’m saving it for my little one. I got a 7-year-old who’s pretty involved in athletics and sports. I think he’ll get a kick out if once he understands the whole football aspect of just never giving up."
“That was the biggest thing of the [previous] interviews, when I kind of teared up. My dad had passed. I remember him specifically leaning over the rail telling me, ‘Hey, you did your best.’"
“You don't ever step on the field and think you're gonna lose or you're not gonna be able to carry a team or you're not gonna be able to step up and do your job."
Morris Anderson: "Thirty years later, I gotta definitely give all the praises to God, and I'm glad to be able to be alive to be able to talk about it. And I hope this world can understand that God has a plan. And when he wants to get everybody's attention, he will. He will put a show on for you. This game was definitely put on for us to, to learn something from."
Eddy Clinton: “I’ve thought about it over the years, and I’ve talked to a lot of the kids that played in that game on both sides. And they relayed to me that as they grew into men, they may have had a bad day. They may have had a bad day in their marriage. They may have had a bad day at work. And a lot of them said, ‘I know what tough is. I played in the Plano East-Tyler game.’"
"So they learned from that, and I think that’s the main lesson. We always talk about the ‘American way.’ Well, that was the American way. Right there. There were two giants going hit for hit on each other. Neither one of them willing to quit. And here we are 30 years later, and I think there’s a great deal of pride in all those kids who are now men and having been participants in it."
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