Saturday, July 27th, 2024

Weldon B. Chapman | Lubbock High School

Most people in Lubbock are familiar with the place called Chapman Field. This outstanding Lubbock High Head Football Coach is its namesake. Coach Chapman served briefly in the Army in 1918 as World War I ended. From there he attended Austin College in Sherman, Texas where he served as the football team business manager and sports editor for the school newspaper. While at Austin College, Chapman played football and basketball. Upon graduating in 1922, he became the Head Football Coach at Cisco, Texas. His first season was a respectable 6-3-1, but his Cisco Loboes never won fewer than eight games in each of his remaining years at Cisco. His eight year record at Cisco was 82-14-6 and his Loboes outscored their opponents 2,814 to 518. Weldon, and his wife Minnie, moved to Lubbock in 1930 where he took the head football job at Lubbock High. His 1931 team won their first 10 games, eight by shutout, and outscored their opponents 445-12. However, on Thanksgiving Day, Amarillo High upset the Westerners. That loss dropped Lubbock High into a three-way tie for the District 1A Title with Amarillo High and Pampa and a playoff to see which team would advance. If the Westerners could keep winning, they would have to play four games in the span of 10 days to advance to the state quarterfinal game. The Westerners got to Abilene High but lost 13-0. Abilene would go on to win the state championship two weeks later. That Lubbock High team wound up with a 13-2 record, but was remembered for many years as the “Iron Men” of the league for their three winning performances in terrible weather conditions during those 10 days. From 1932-1937, Coach Chapman’s teams went 41-16-4 against some of the state’s toughest competition. The 1938 team lost the third game of the season to the eventual State of Oklahoma Champion, but then went through District 5-0. That stretch included a 29-19 win over Amarillo High in front of 18,000 fans at the Texas Tech Field. With an 11-1 record, the Westerners faced Corpus Christi in the state championship game at the Cotton Bowl. Unfortunately, Corpus Christi won the game leaving Lubbock High with an 11-2 record. The 1939 team began the season at 1-3-1. Coach Chapman became ill and was hospitalized prior to the sixth game, which was against Pampa. Under Assistant Coach Goober Keyes, who played for Coach Chapman at Cisco, the Westerners won the next three games. Coach Chapman listened to the games on the radio from his bed at West Texas Hospital. He listened to the 19-0 win over Plainview before peacefully passing away on November 11th. The players dedicated the remainder of the season to his memory. That 1939 Team went on to win the state championship and end the season at 10-3-1. This was the first state championship for Lubbock ISD. For their brave efforts, the players were dubbed the “Cinderella Kids.” To this day, Coach Chapman remains as the man with the all-time most wins as a Lubbock High Football Coach with a record of 67-23-5. In 1961, Coach Chapman was inducted into the Texas High School Coaches Association Hall of Honor.
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