Where exactly was "Gantt Field" in Evergreen, Alabama?

Today, October 30, marks the 78th anniversary of one of the more unusual football games in Conecuh County History.

On that day at 2:30 p.m., Evergreen High School played Repton High School on the second day of the Conecuh County Fair. The game was played at Gantt Field in Evergreen and the front page of the following week’s paper included a short story about the game under the headline “Evergreen Bulldogs Win From Repton 47 To 0.”

“The Evergreen Bulldogs clearly outclassed the Repton football team in every department last Friday afternoon on Gantt Field, winning by the score of 47 to 0. Touchdowns were made by Wendell Hart, Aubrey Barganier, Tom Rountree and James Lane.

“In the line, Jerome Weaver and Tom Rountree stood out with the other linemen playing the same class of ball. Wendell Hart put the old fullbacking back in style with James Lane’s and Aubrey Barganier’s running and passing assisting him. The blocking and tackling was good and plenty hard.”

The Conecuh County Fair was a huge event that was attended by “tremendous” crowds. In the newspaper printed after the fair, The Courant estimated that at least 15,000 people attended the fair on Friday, including about 4,000 school children.

I’ve always been interested in the history of Gantt Field, which is where football and baseball games were played in Evergreen prior to the construction of Brooks Memorial Stadium. In my years of working in Evergreen, I’ve never ran into anyone who knows exactly where this field was located. If anyone reading this column knows where Gantt Field was located, please give me a call at The Courant at 578-1492.

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The ninth week of our local ESPN College Football Pick ‘Em contest has come to an end, and the standings at the end of this week show that Glennis Curry remained in sole possession of first place for the fourth week in a row.

Steve Stacey went from third place to second place. Mark Peacock and Ricky Powell were tied for third place. Mark was in tenth place last week, and Powell was in fifth place last week.

Mike Dailey moved up to fifth place from eighth place. Sharon Peacock and Rod Sims were tied for sixth place. Last week, Sharon and Rod were tied for fifth place.

Ricky Taylor finished the week in eighth place, up from fourth place. Johnny Davis remained in ninth place for the second straight week, and Arthur Ingram III finished the week in tenth place.

If you’re playing this local contest and didn’t finish in the Top 10, don’t sweat it. This contest will run for five more weeks, and it’s a marathon not a sprint. You’ll find that the standings will change a lot over the next month or so.

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In the SEC this week, there are five head-to-head games between conference opponents on Saturday and two other games involving an SEC school.

Auburn will play Ole Miss in Oxford, Miss., and Florida will play Georgia in Jacksonville, Fla. Kentucky will play Missouri in Columbia, Mo. and Tennessee will play South Carolina in Columbia, S.C. Arkansas will travel to Starkville to face Mississippi State.

Texas A&M will play Louisiana-Monroe in College Station, and Vandy will play Old Dominion in Nashville. Alabama and LSU don’t play this week.

For what it’s worth, here’s how I see each of those games playing out. I like Ole Miss over Auburn, South Carolina over Tennessee, Texas A&M over Louisiana-Monroe, Mississippi State over Arkansas, Georgia over Florida, Missouri over Kentucky and Vandy over Old Dominion.

Last week: 5-1. So far this season: 60-16.