Monument unveiled for Bridge City 1966 State Championship Football Team

Photo: Members of the 1966 Bridge City Cardinal state championship football team gather around the newly installed monument memorializing their achievement.

Nearly 100 people attended the unveiling ceremony for the Texas-shaped, black granite monument memorializing the Bridge City Cardinal 1966 State Football Championship Team on Friday.

The monument, a gift of former BCISD school board member and longtime community servant Tom Orozco and family, is now a permanent fixture at Larry Ward Stadium.

Attending the ceremony were a dozen or more players from the 1966 state championship team as well classmates, cheerleaders, band members and members of the community.

Special guest, the wife of the late Head Coach H. W. Chief Wilson, Ramona Wilson, unveiled the trophy along with her son, 1972 BCHS graduate Rusty Wilson.

The event blended past and present as several members of the team stood before the attendance and expressed appreciation and jovially remarked of the 1966 season. The BCHS 2015 Cardinal cheerleaders proceeded the unveiling by Mrs. Wilson with the cheer "Big Red!" New Bridge City Cardinal head coach Dwayne DuBois opened the ceremony with the invocation.

It was a happy occasion for all in attendance who had reunited again to remember the state championship run and the effect it had on Bridge City.

Master of ceremonies was BC athletic director Richard Briggs. Speaking on behalf of the 1966 Cardinals was Johnny Miller, Jerry Jaynes, team sweetheart Alice Cole and others.