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(Data researched  &entered by Joseph Naranjo.  Additions at bottom.)

Monahans' Star Provided a Touch of Home ~~ Odessa American, June 7, 2009
 

Monahans' Star Provided a Touch of Home
     Member of 1948 Championship Team Followed Loboes from San Antonio
                 By Joel A. Erickson, Staff Writer ~~ Odessa American, June 7, 2009

 Tucked away in the most unlikely of places, a thriving nightclub on the north side of San Antonio, is a monument to Monahans high school football.

Faded press clippings, black-and-white photos and an amazing collection of green-and-white memorabilia sit plastered against the walls of Waldo's Nigh Club.

A memorial built to the best football team in Loboes history.

Put there by the bar's owner, Waldo Young, a running back who scored the only two touchdowns of the game to help Monahans beat New Braunfels 14-0 for the Class A title in 1948.

Makes a trip to San Antonio feel a little like home.

"A friend of mine told me, 'you're not going to believe this, but there's a bar in San Antonio you have to check out,'" Loboes head football coach Mickey Owens said.  "It has Monahans stuff all over the wall."

MISSING

For the first time in the club's history, Waldo is no loner around to protect the legacy.

Young died last week, on a Tuesday that watched the best football player in Monahans history slip away due to natural causes.

"He had Alzheimer's for the last couple of years, and he had been going downhill," said Doyle Farmer, an end of the state title team.  "There's not too many of us left.

Growing old hasn't erased the memory of knocking off New Braunfels.

Before the end of the month, the class of '49 is planning a football reunion, a trip back to Monahans to commemorate the 60th anniversary of that spectacular Christmas Day at Broncho Stadium.

"We played in Odessa," said Arthur Carpenter, a graduate in 1953.  "There was snow and ice everywhere.  I sat in the car and watched it with the heater on, and it was quite a game.

Playing in the cold and snow of the West Texas winter, Young played the game of his life.

A little back with plenty of speed, Young played the state title game with a cast on his knee and a limp, the product of damaged cartilage that required surgery after the season.

Forget about the snow.  Forget about the knee.

Young scored the only two touchdowns of the game, racing through the New Braunfels defense to cap a 15-0 season and give Monahans the only state football title in Loboes history.

"Waldo limped his way to two touchdowns running stiff-legged," said Maurice Hodges, a 1951 graduate who played both quarterback and running back.  "They still couldn't catch him."

State title make plenty of memories.

But long before the Loboes beat New Braunfels, Young was already polishing his own legend.

Getting ready to play in a district game against Pecos, Young kept boasting.

"The only thing I need is a center and a quarterback to hand me the ball, and we'll go from there,"  Young told his team, according to Carpenter.

Pecos knocked Young around in the first half.

Taught the little back a lesson.

By the time the Loboes took a break at halftime, Young still hadn't scored.

"He apologized to the team at halftime," Carpenter said. "And they went on to win the game.

ENTREPRENEUR

Back in those days, Young didn't have a car.

But Farmer did, and old 1942 Ford sedan that took both young men to the kinds of places a young many could have some fun.

"Waldo was always an experience," Farmer said, "He was years ahead of me.  He used to play dominoes, and he won a lot of money for a kid that age."

Hanging out at the West End Club one night, Farmer saw Young step outside with another guy.

Young was never a big guy.

"He cold take somebody down pretty quick," Farmer said.

Fresh out of high school Young headed up to Lubbock to play football for Texas Tech, but he transferred to Trinity after one semester, and he finally landed Little All-American honors at Tyler Junior College.

Finished with football early in life, Young put his love of the nightlife to good use.

Over the years, Young has owned a long series of bars and night clubs.

'To his former teammates, he always left the doors open.

"They were top-notch A-1 nightclubs," Hodges said.  "And steaks, he made some good steaks too."

No wonder he lasted in San Antonio for more than 30 years, according to the San Antonio Express-News.

LOOKING BACK

A memorial service was held in San Antonio on Sunday to remember Young's life.

And in a couple of weeks, the class of '49 will meet up at Farmer's house in Odessa, then head to La Bodega for dinner.  Later this summer, the remaining members of that state title team will get back together.

Young will be missed.

"I was hoping Waldo would be able to make the 60-year reunion of the football team over at Monahans in the fall," Farmer said.

"But he didn't make it.  I'm sure they'll honor him at the time."

For the past 30 years, Young has kept the memory of that Monahans team alive, plastered to the walls of his nightclub in north San Antonio.

And that memory isn't going anywhere.

Waldo's Nigh Club has no plans to take any of the memorabilia down.

Wouldn't feel the same.