STURGIS — Former football standout Stan Malone remembers his two North Division title seasons at East Mississippi Junior College.
But he also remembers having fun on campus.
“We lived in The Alamo, a dorm that was named because it resembled the fort,” Malone said. “One night, we caught an opossum and put it in the bed with a guy. We had some good times.”
But Malone better remembers the college now known as East Mississippi Community College in Scooba as the place he developed his leadership skills and played outstanding football.
Some of those memories are bound to come back tonight and Saturday when Malone and nine others are inducted to the school”s Sports Hall of Fame.
EMCC”s 2009 Sports Hall of Fame inductees will be honored tonight on the Scooba campus at a reception and banquet. The 10-member class also is scheduled to be recognized at 2 p.m. Saturday prior to No. 10 EMCC”s homecoming football game against Northeast Mississippi at EMCC”s Sullivan-Windham Field.
Malone, 59, who played football at EMCC in 1968-69, lives in Sturgis with his high school sweetheart, Brenda Green. They married after graduating from EMCC.
Malone was a division all-star in 1969. He also was his team”s co-captain and MVP. James Watson, of Cedar Bluff, was a cornerback both years. He said Malone was a leader on the field who liked to hit.
“He was mean as a snake,” Watson said. “He lived for contact and knocked a few folks out along the way.”
Malone said freshman coach Bull Sullivan was tough on the players, but it paid off as EMCC went 7-3 and won the North Division title in 1968.
“We practiced in a pond when we did not play like (Sullivan) thought we should have,” Malone said. “He also had a cage he would line two athletes in and you”d have to push your opponent out.”
EMCC also won the North Division championship game under coach A.J. Kilpatrick, going 9-1 in 1969.
“He was the type of coach you wanted to play for. Everyone wanted to give 100 percent to satisfy him,” Malone said
Malone remembers when he first met Kilpatrick.
“When he came in, he told me I was too small to play in that league,” he said. “I was about 180 pounds, which for a defensive tackle is kind of light. But after we started practicing, we became good friends.”
Malone might have not been very big, but Watson said you didn”t want to be on the opposing team with Malone on the field.
“Pound for pound, he was the baddest thing on the field,” he said.
Kilpatrick said Malone was the kind of player coaches loved.
“He was serious in his work ethic and he expected the other guys to work like he did,” Kilpatrick said. “He was one of the best players I coached, and he deserves the induction to the (Hall of Fame).”
At Sturgis High, Malone was a three-sport letterman, even though he admits football was “his sport.”
At 6-foot-4, Malone said his basketball coaches had him out there to rebound and to pass the ball.
“The basketball fans would holler at me that the ball was round not oval, so you could dribble it,” Malone said. “My high school (track and field) coach told me he had never seen anyone run for two weeks and get slower.”
In football, Malone was team captain as a senior and was named all-conference.
After graduating from EMCC, Malone went to work with the United States Department of Agriculture.
“When I was in high school I had an uncle working with the (USDA),” he said. “They needed summer help and my uncle got me a job. It all stemmed from there.”
Malone said he always was mechanically inclined, so becoming an USDA engineering tech and remaining for 38 years was natural.
Malone worked for 15 years on developing equipment that helped USDA scientists control pests.
“One of the biggest things I worked on was insect eradication,” he said. “The boll weevil was an insect they had problems with back then. I worked on equipment that fixed that problem.”
Most recently, Malone worked on creating a machine to insert chicken and pig waste into the soil to use in place of commercial fertilizer.
“It has been an interesting job over the years,” he said. “But I”m looking to retire on Jan. 1. I”ll get with my grandchildren and spend as much time with them as possible. My grandboys love sports and get tickled to death listening to my stories.”
Malone and Green have been married for 39 years. They have a daughter, Lindsey Gail Miller, a son, Michael, and four grandchildren.
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