TIME
THE WEEKLY NEWS MAGAZINE
Dec. 6, 1971 Vol. 98,
No. 23
"Mace That Line"
High
school football rivalries in Texas sometimes have a quality of tribal
warfare. This month two old and furious small-town enemies, Premont and Los
Fresnos, were tangling at Premont. With less than two minutes remaining and
Los Fresnos leading 14-12, a brawl erupted among the players on the field.
One of the first to join officials in restoring order
was a Premont policeman. The cop waded into the fight and sprayed his
chemical Mace into the faces of seven of Los Fresnos' first-string players,
who fell to the ground screaming and holding their eyes.
They were guided back to their bench for treatment. The
Premont team, with the opposition disabled by this exercise of frontier
sportsmanship, completed a 55-yd. pass and kicked a field goal to win 15-14.
To compound the offense, Premont school officials later sent Los Fresnos a
bill for $1200-for the damage that the angry losers caused when they tried
to tear up the locker room.