Issue link: http://catalog.e-digitaleditions.com/i/151812
2013 FURMAN PALADINS FOOTBALL PEARCE-HORTON FOOTBALL COMPLEX an all-girls school, Winthrop) but she admired the little school in downtown Greenville whose students proudly rang a bell when it claimed football victories. And she had been rooting for Furman even longer than she had been dating Horton. As early as age 8, she recalls listening, alongside her father, to Furman football on the radio. "I remember being in my den, listening to Furman games. My dad would say, 'you're my cheerleader – you've got to cheer for Furman. And I did. A few years later, he started bringing me to games at Sirrine Stadium." Keeter's connection to Furman couldn't have been any stronger had she been a Furman student. It began at Greenwood High, when Babb spotted Keeter in the gym one day, handed her a scorebook, and informed her that she had just volunteered to be the Emeralds' official scorekeeper. "I told him I didn't know how," Keeter said. "You'll learn," Babb said as he walked away. "That was the end of the conversation. I kept score for the boys and girls team the rest of my time at Greenwood. I was too afraid of Coach Babb to tell him I wouldn't." She grew close to Furman coaches as well. Alley was also the head baseball coach at the time, and when he spotted Keeter in the stands he typically had a comment. Moments before one game, Alley "came over to me and said, 'you've got to make Sonny put more time into his studies," Keeter recalls. "I told him, 'you've got a lot better chance to do that than I do. You see him five days a week; I only get to see him on weekends.'" Alley went back toward the field, as if plotting a different strategy. Later, she and Sonny also became close friends with Melvin Bell, who took over the basketball team for one season (1949-50) when Alley worked on his Master's degree. They remain good friends today. "We've both enjoyed Furman. For a long time, Furman has meant a lot to Sonny and a lot to me," says Keeter Horton, who has taken art and computer classes at Furman. The lifelong learning art classes, which included trips to New York, have been especially meaningful. Several other trips – to Missouri, Wyoming, Montana and Arizona – were made following Paladin football teams. "We've seen a lot of things we wouldn't have seen otherwise, because of our connection to Furman." Charlie Pearce, who played on Furman football teams of '21 and '22, in the days of Manley Field, wasn't a star player. Horton was. In the setting of single-wing football, Horton was a quadruple threat. Known best as a between-the-tackles running back, he averaged 4.9 yards a carry – a remarkable career average in that era. At a time when 500 yards was a feat of All-America credentials, Horton rushed for 1,667 yards and 14 touchdowns in a 3-year career. He also caught 13 passes for 225 yards, completed 11 passes for 176 yads, and was a quick-kick specialist used frequently. At the time, the Paladins also boasted one of the nation's leading punters (Paul Stombaugh). Joining a team that had scored only two touchdowns The Pearce-Horton Football Complex's third floor includes club level seating, and the fourth level features an 8,000-square foot press box — almost five times larger than the previous facility. in the entire 1948 season (when Horton was on the freshman team), Horton helped make Furman competitive in '49. He scored the winning touchdown in a win over South Carolina, and a 3-6 record included narrow losses at Florida (28-27) and Clemson (28-21). The next two seasons, under new coach Bill Young, were also marked by struggles: the team finished 2-8-1 and 3-6-1, which made it notable feat that Horton was twice selected to the All-South Carolina team. That distinction was earned by only 10 offensive backs in Furman history – Horton, Roten Shetley, Dewey Proctor, Ed Jasonek, John Popson, Tom Campbell, Stanford Jennings, David Charpia, Robbie Gardner, and Carl Tremble. Keeter quickly became a devoted Furman fan. She's actually seen more Furman games than Horton because she watched many of those – including a game at Georgia memorable for its sub-freezing setting – during Sonny's playing days. Furman closed the '50 season, Horton's junior year, with a Nov. 25 game at Georgia that was painful for Sonny and Keeter. The Paladins lost 40-0; Keeter and Pat Horton sat in the stands the entire sub-freezing game. "It was seven degrees and windy. We both had skirts on and it was so cold that ice crystals formed inside our Furman 49 Paladins nylon hose. I looked down in the second half and the ice had pushed the hose a half-inch away from my legs," Keeter recalls. "It got so cold that Sonny's parents left. But we stayed the entire game." Long after their college days, the Hortons have been fixtures at Furman games. And Horton's name has become synonymous with the football tradition. Sonny Horton was elected to the Furman Athletic Hall of Fame in 1987, a reception of the Southern Conference Service Award in 2006, the Bell Tower Award in 2008, and the Order of the Paladin in 2000, as one of the charter members. An Eagle Scout as a teenager, Horton continued as a leader of young men as an adult. He taught Sunday School for 30 years at Greenville First Baptist Church, working much of that time with teen boys. Horton's leadership skills were no doubt apparent to Babb, and to Charlie Pearce, back in the 1940s in Greenwood. "He and Sonny were always best of friends," says Keeter. It gives the Pearce-Horton Football Complex a fitting label.