Football: Permian's 50th provides blasts from the past

Ja'Quay Wilburn

Few Permian running backs have posted the kinds of numbers Ja’Quay Wilburn put into the record books in three years for the Panthers.

Ranked second among Permian rushers with 4,046 career yards, Wilburn also scored 40 touchdowns, the third-highest total in team history. Back in 1995 and 1996, Wilburn put up the sixth and seventh-best single-season rushing marks in team history.

But Permian isn’t the only school that reaped the benefits of Wilburn’s immense talent.

Bombarded with offers from schools like Texas A&M and Florida to play cornerback, Wilburn chose North Texas.

“Lots of people said I was crazy,” Wilburn said. “Everybody else wanted to change my position. I went to North Texas because they wanted me to play running back.”

Wilburn thrived in Denton.

By the time he graduated in 2000, Wilburn had racked up a school-record 3,120 yards for the Mean Green, although Patrick Cobbs broke his record in 2005.

The first back to break the 3,000-yard mark hasn’t been forgotten, though. Last week, North Texas officials called to tell Wilburn he will be inducted into the school’s Athletic Hall of Fame.

“If I had to do it again, I’d probably go to Texas A&M, play cornerback and sit on the bench for a couple of years,” Wilburn said. “But once I got on the field, I would have had a better chance to go to the NFL.”

For a couple of years, Wilburn kept trying to play football, a career that ended after playing receiver during the Roughnecks’ inaugural season in 2004.

Once out of football, Wilburn taught in Carthage for a few years, at least until he got married.

“When I got married, I needed a little more money, so I moved back here,” Wilburn said.

Married with a daughter, Wilburn works as a service supervisor for an oil service company in Odessa.

Jerrod McDougal

Featured as one of the main characters in H.D. Bissinger’s Friday Night Lights, Jerrod McDougal’s story didn’t make the movie.

The offensive lineman had a passion for a game he knew would pass quickly.

“I knew it was a true gift,” McDougal said. “But I also knew it was fleeting.”

An undersized offensive tackle, McDougal never felt any pressure during his senior season, the 1988 season immortalized in the book.

That was all he knew.

Living in a couple of different places opened his eyes.

“At that time, I didn’t know what pressure was,” McDougal said. “Living in other places, going other places, watching other kids grow up, I realized that lots of kids didn’t grow up in those situations.”

Losing to Dallas Carter hurt. Losing to Midland Lee hurt even worse.

But McDougal, who owns a rock quarry in Bandera, has long forgotten the pain of those losses.

On October 16, 1999, McDougal’s younger brother, Jaxon, fell asleep on a drive coming back from Del Rio with two other guys. He suffered severe brain and spinal cord injuries.

“He was in a coma the first six months,” McDougal said. “You have to rethink everything, he couldn’t speak because of a tracheotomy, and he had bad seizures for awhile.”

Last October, Jaxon died.

Coupled with the downturn in the housing market — which has put a hit on the rock quarry — McDougal is learning to live without his brother.

“My mom took care of him,” McDougal said. “It’s humbling.”

Brian Tucker

Finding a former Permian player with a state championship ring isn’t too difficult.

To find a former Panther with two state titles under his belt, though, it takes a little effort.

A tough linebacker with a penchant for big hits, Brian Tucker played for both the 1989 state title team led by Gary Gaines and the 1991 championship team led by Tam Hollingshead.

“From 4th grade all the way through college, I always played inside linebacker,” Tucker said. “That position just fit me. And I was fortunate enough to be one of the few who played on two state title teams.”

Recruited by Army, Tucker found a home in college football that felt pretty familiar.

“It was a lot like playing at Permian,” Tucker said. “We didn’t have the most talent, but we had discipline, we worked hard, we had a close-knit team. I wouldn’t trade it for playing anywhere in the country.”

Following his career for the Black Knights, Tucker entered the Army as an officer and rose to captain in eight years of military service.

Specializing in air defense artillery, Tucker fought in Bosnia and the Iraqi War. During the Iraqi War, he commanded a Patriot missile battery.

“The leadership skills you learn at the Academy are something you can take with you the rest of your life,” Tucker said.

Five years ago, Tucker left the military. A district manager for a drilling contractor, Tucker is charged with managing the Gulf Coast, South Texas and West Texas from his home in Corpus Christi.

Throw in the task of raising four children, and Tucker hasn’t slowed down a bit.

“Being a part of something special at Permian, we worked harder than anybody else, and I don’t think people realize that,” Tucker said. “It stays with you.”

Greg Anderson

Because Permian has always had an effective ground game, few receivers have put up eye-popping numbers for the Panthers.

Roy Williams comes to mind. So does his older brother, Lloyd Hill, who owns most of Permian’s receiving records.

But Greg Anderson, a member of the 1984 state title team, turned in the first 1,000-yard season in school history, a feat that has only happened five times.

“Seemed like my career was brief,” Anderson said. “I was blessed to be around some awesome teammates, and I think they made me better.”

Anderson didn’t need much help.

In two seasons as a starter for Permian, Anderson caught 145 passes for 2,125 yards and 28 touchdowns.

Baylor took notice, offered a scholarship to Anderson, and the Panthers product responded by catching 76 passes for 1,033 yards during his career.

Shortly after his graduation from Baylor, though, Anderson found a different calling. Today he leads Tap Into The Power ministries, an evangelical organization based in Odessa that is designed to reach people for Christ.

“We try to inspire people to tap into the power that God put in you,” Anderson said. “We don’t have a target group of people to minister to. We present the Gospel to people.”

Rex Lamberti

Ever since the installation of Permian’s multiple-formation, two-back offense three years ago, Panthers quarterbacks have constantly rewritten the record book with 2,000-yard passing seasons.

But when Rex Lamberti took the starting job under center in 1983, only two Permian quarterbacks had ever broken the 1,000-yard barrier.

Lamberti promptly became the third, completing 60 percent of his passes for 1,616 yards and 20 touchdowns in a stacked District 4-5A.

One completion mattered a little more than the rest.

Playing against Odessa High that year, the Panthers trailed their crosstown rivals in the second half.

Facing a 4th-and-5, head coach John Wilkins called a pass play.

“It was like they knew the play,” Lamberti said. “Britt Hager was supposed to go to the flat, but he turned it up, and I popped it to him for the first down. We scored a touchdown on that drive.”

Letting fly became the norm for Lamberti at Abilene Christian.

Two decades after Lamberti took over the starting job for the Wildcats, the Permian product still ranks third in school history in completions, attempts and passing yards, but only sixth in interceptions.

And the 84 touchdown passes he threw ranks second among Abilene Christian quarterbacks.

But it’s the way he compiled his yards that sparks interest. Following his first stint with the Wildcats in 1985 and 1986, Lamberti left college football for seven years, then led Abilene Christian to a 7-3 record in 1993, the program’s first winning season since his junior year in 1986.

Lamberti’s comeback success shouldn’t have surprised anyone.

Guys who quarterbacked the Panthers during the ‘80s don’t like to lose.

“Playing at Permian, being a part of this 50th anniversary celebration, I wouldn’t miss it for the world,” Lamberti said. “Nobody else can claim this awesome tradition.”