NEDERLAND — The 1950s are often described as the “Golden Era” in American culture.

While “Golden Era” would best describe Nederland High School football in the decade, it wasn’t any one thing that was special about the team that achieved so much success, according to one player from that era.

“We just happened to have a bunch of guys like [Herby] Adkins, [Mike] Johnson and Tootie [Litchfield] who were extremely good athletes,” said Fred Lee Melder, a sophomore right halfback for Nederland in 1957 naming three of that team’s seniors. “I don’t think there was anything that was particularly special about us. We were just a bunch of kids that liked to play football.”

The Bulldogs came so close to winning their first state championship in 1956, losing to Garland 3-0 in the 3A title game. (Port Neches beat Garland 20-14 the year before for its second state title, one year before becoming Port Neches-Groves.)

Going into 1957, Jefferson County had at least one team play for a championship four straight years, and Nederland was determined to extend that streak. Port Neches’ success, however, was no motivating factor for Nederland, Adkins said.

“We didn’t want to get our butts beat,” said Litchfield, a linebacker. “We didn’t want to get beat at nothing.”

Adkins, Johnson, Melder and Litchfield were among a number of Bulldogs from different eras who reunited July 1 at the Fraternal Order of Eagles Lodge in Nederland for an annual team reunion. In past years, the reunion was held in Sabine Pass, organized by late Nederland coach-turned-author Neal Morgan.

This year also marks the 60^th anniversary of Nederland’s greatest accomplishment in football. The Bulldogs went 14-0 under first-year head coach Emmett McKenzie, beating Sweetwater 20-7 for the 3A championship at Bulldog Stadium, which also hosted the 1956 final.

Another Jefferson County team made it all the way to the championship round 60 years ago. Thomas Jefferson, known athletically as Port Arthur at the time, lost to Highland Park 21-9 in the 4A final.

Bum Phillips, better known for his success with the Houston Oilers in the 1970s, had coached Nederland to four straight 10-win seasons and four straight district championships (1953-56) in his six-year reign at Nederland. He left after the 1956 season to join Bear Bryant’s staff at Texas A&M, which produced 1957 Heisman Trophy winner John David Crow.

“The greatest guy you’d ever meet,” said Johnson, a left halfback.

The transition from Phillips to McKenzie proved seamless, according to the players.

“Emmett never played football in college, but he was a basketball player,” said Adkins, a center. “He was a brilliant man and he knew how to motivate us. It wasn’t the same method that Bum put out, but it was still effective. He was a real brilliant, brilliant coach, and he knew every bit that Bum knew because they worked together for so long.”

Phillips is widely credited with devising a number system for defensive fronts, and it was Nederland’s defense, Adkins said, that was the best among all high school teams in the nation. The 1957 defense under McKenzie allowed only 54 points, or 3.86 per game, which was 12 fewer than Phillips’ unit the year before.

“We won because we had the best defense in America in high school,” Adkins said. “We knew how to call those numbers, and they didn’t know what we were doing, and we really perfected it.”

The Bulldogs’ Dead-T offense — two halfbacks flanking a fullback directly behind the quarterback — was effective in its own right. The unit scored 431 points — a 30.8 per game clip — in 1957, without heavily relying on the pass.

“Coach Phillips, the way he was, he said, ‘If I can make 3 or 4 yards every down, I’ll win the ballgame,’” Johnson was.

McKenzie’s champs apparently had no problem doing that. The 431 points matched a then-school record set by Elbert Pickell’s 1950 team.

Three of the Bulldogs interviewed went on to play college football. Melder played at Arkansas and resides in the state. Adkins played at Baylor, and Johnson went on to Lamar.

As for Litchfield: “I was too smart. I went to work.”

But the Black and Gold’s finest moment in the “Golden Era” always keeps the players close by.

“It’s the glue that holds us together. This is what keeps us being good friends,” Melder said.

I.C. Murrell: 721-2435. Twitter: @ICMurrellPANews