60 Years Later, Istrouma Team Is Legendary

There are a few — a very few — sports teams that live on in the memory of fans all their lives and whose legends are passed down through the generations.  One is LSU’s national championship team of 1958 and another is the Chinese Bandits, the third-string defensive unit on that championship team, which so often stood like a stone wall against all opponents.

At the high school level in Louisiana, there are a handful of legendary teams but perhaps the greatest of all was the 1955 Istrouma High team that went undefeated and won the State Championship.  The team, coached by legendary Big Fuzzy Brown — the Bear Bryant of high school football in Louisiana — included Billy Cannon, who went on to anchor the 1958 LSU National Champions and who won the Heisman Trophy in 1959.  But it also included a host of other stars, including George Guidry, who was almost as great as Cannon.  This is the 60th anniversary of that renowned team.