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Jim Rice part of winningest era in Tiger football
By Joe Warren
Nevada Daily Mail
When Jim Rice is inducted into the NHS Athletics Hall of Fame before Friday's football season opener against Bolivar, it will be the first link between the Hall and the famed 1973 football team that went undefeated.
Coached by John Osborne, the '73 team did what only one other in Nevada High School history had done -- win all of its games.
While Rice was only a sophomore on that squad, the unbeaten season is a euphemism for the 1976 graduate's football playing career.
That's because Jim Rice didn't lose. At least the football teams he played on didn't.
In Rice's three years as a varsity player, the Tigers amassed an impressive 31-2 record. That's the best three-year stretch in school history.
But the winning didn't begin with the varsity campaigns.
It started in seventh grade. Rice's class of '76, the nation's bicentennial class, had a knack for winning.
"One of the things I'm proudest of is our class only lost two games the whole time," Rice said. "There were 12 of us that started in seventh grade and finished our senior year and we only lost twice."
In other words, the team that started in seventh grade in 1970, didn't lose a game throughout middle school. They didn't lose a game in their freshman schedule. Their sophomore year it was the famous 1973 season (10-0).
The first time this group of kids tasted defeat was in Rice's junior year. The eighth game of the season, against Webb City, Nevada fell 13-9. It ended a school record 19-game winning streak for the varsity and stopped a perfect career for Rice and his classmates.
Rice said part of the success was due to a good class, but that the entire football program was strong during those years.
"The whole system (was good)," Rice said. "Nevada had several good athletes. I was fortunate to be around a whole group of great athletes."
Rice recalls the community support being enormous during that stretch.
"I remember it was such a fun time," he said. "The town was behind us a lot.
"One game that really sticks out is our junior year (1974) at Mount Vernon. We stunk it up in the first half. When we came out of the locker room, all the fans were lined up outside, waiting for us. It really got us going."
Nevada went on to win that game 27-0, the 18th consecutive during the 19-game streak.
Sure, Rice played on some good teams, but he was a big reason for their success.
The halfback rushed for over 1,000 yards in both his junior and senior seasons. He was selected first team All-Big 10 twice and was all-district two times as well.
Some of Rice's amazing accomplishments include a five-touchdown game on Sept. 5, 1974, against Harrisonville. Rice also scored four times in a game two other times.
Rice's 39 career varsity touchdowns are another impressive notch on the belt.
Incredible statistics aside, Rice said he was shocked to get the call to join the Hall.
"It very much caught me by surprise. I was very honored and humbled, that's for sure," Rice said.
Rice will be only the third football player to join the NHS Hall of Fame. His induction will come during the same ceremony as the 1966 Tiger football team (the first to go undefeated), and legendary football coach Chuck Shelton.
Rice, who now calls Ennis, Texas, home, went on to school at the University of Arkansas after he graduated in 1976.
He eventually finished his degree in 1985, at Missouri Southern.
After that, Rice started working as an accountant for a manufacturing firm.
In 1989, because of work, he left southwest Missouri for Texas, and he's been there ever since.
Friday he'll be back in Nevada, celebrating with the rest of the inductees.
That Jim Rice will be honored on the same night as the '66 team is fitting seeing as his older brother, Bruce Rice, was a sophomore on that team. Bruce was a backup quarterback in 1966.
The 1973 team will likely be inducted next season.
This year's class is the first to join the Hall since 2003, when Bill Curley and Jim Snyder were enshrined.