FIRESIDE CHATS: Maennle recalls days of Wildcat lore

    Andrews – Mickey Maennle is surprised that he is still answering questions about a football game when he was a sophomore in high school – 38 years ago.
    Maennle was one of three running backs used by Andrews High School during the Wildcats’ 7-0 win over Murphy in 1981. That stands as the last win over the Bulldogs in Cherokee County’s lone in-county football rivalry.
    Since then, Murphy is 42-0 in their meetings, including 41 straight wins under legendary head coach David Gentry. The series continues Friday night at Hugh Hamilton Stadium, where the teams clash again.
    Maennle played safety and running back for the Wildcats in 1981, when Keith Owenby’s touchdown was the difference in the defensive battle. The front-page article in the Andrews Journal reported that Owenby, Maennle and Ricky Davis were the ball carriers in the game, and Sam Warren’s interception sealed the victory.
    “I didn’t think it would be the last time for however long,” Maennle said. “We just thought, ‘We’re going to get them more often.’ We had a great group of guys who were tough and mean and nasty, and they were in shape.”
    Maennle credited then-Andrews coach Terry Postell for helping whipping his team into shape. The Wildcats lost 28-14 in Maennle’s senior year of 1983, but the battle was still memorable all these years later.
    “I know it was a physical game with a lot of contact, and they knew they had played us, that’s for sure,” Maennle said of the 1983 game. That was the Wildcats’ only loss in a seven-game stretch that resulted in one of the three winning seasons the Wildcats have had since their last state title in 1967. “Both teams had a lot of talent that year.”
    Maennle went to Clemson for two years, then graduated from Western Carolina University. He was hoping to walk on at Clemson but he tore his knee in his last football game, taking him out for basketball and track his senior year in the spring of 1984.
    He is part of the large Maennle family that has been going through Andrews schools for multiple generations. Among his relatives are Andrews boys basketball coach Frank Maennle III (brother) and Wildcats varsity assistant coach Matt Maennle (nephew), along with his son, 2019 graduate Eric Maennle, who played multiple sports for the Wildcats.
    Maennle has been in the insurance business for the last 30 years, including owning his own office in Andrews since 2011.
    As well as supporting the team over the years, Maennle has experienced a few of the losses as a volunteer coach. He has seen the last 38 years of games from nearly every angle.
    “The town thinks it’s a big game,” he said. “As for the kids, a lot of it depends on whether the parents were part of it, whether they played in a game where they almost beat them or something like that.”
    Andrews head coach James Phillips is not one to make a big deal out of any one opponent, as he preaches one practice rep at a time to build his young men.
    “That’s why the head coach is the head coach, he has to be able to keep the kids on an even keel. They might hear it from parents or from the community, though (about how big a game is). When I was a senior, we had not beaten Robbinsville in 22 games (11 seasons), and when we finally beat them on that Friday night, you would think we won the Super Bowl. They did not want to turn the lights off,” Maennle said.
    “We all know the numbers, but we are proud of our boys for their effort and how they carry themselves. If you bust your tail and it doesn’t work out, that’s all you can control. There’s always an opportunity when they flip a coin and you go out on the field. You never know what can happen no matter what your record is.”
    Maennle enjoys reminiscing about the old days, but he is hoping a new generation will get a chance to field similar questions. All it will take is one big win over Murphy.
    “They will have reporters talking to them like you are talking to me now,” he said. “I was just trying to get on the field back in 1981, but today when I see those guys now, we’ll say, ‘Remember when we beat Murphy?’ It’s pretty awesome to have that memory. It’s not going to change your life, but it’s fun to be able to talk about that.
    “I want nothing more than the kids to get one so that they get to talk about it in a few years. I certainly don’t want anyone coming to talk to me about (the 1981 game) again in 10 or 20 more years.”