90 Years Old, But Still ‘Coach’

On Friday night, reunions were held for the 1975 and 2000 state championship Leopard football teams at the La Grange home game, and there was one guy everyone wanted to talk to. Ben Bloomer was the head coach of the 1975 Leopards and even though he is 90 years old, he made the trip from Corpus Christi to be there for the event (thanks to his daughter, who takes care of him). “I feel like it was yesterday,” Bloomer said of that title season 50 years ago. “It’s overwhelming (being here).” More than half of the team was able to make it for the reunion with players coming from as far away as Utah, North Carolina and Florida. When asked how his team beat Childress 27-6 for that 1975 title, Bloomer laughed, “give me 30 minutes.” He’s shown below with some trophies from that 1975 title.