The 1971 Braman Pirates 8-man football team marched through 1971 football season with 1 loss and 9 wins. Their only loss came in Week 2 to Balko 40-6. Entering the playoffs with a 9-1 record, the Pirates got a BYE in the 1st round, or Semi-Finals (because their were only 3 8-man districts) and met Balko for a rematch in the Championship.
In the Championship, Braman fell behind early to the high scoring Balko team trailing 30-14 midway through the 2nd quarter. Braman went on to score four straight touchdowns started by Junior Carl Mayden, who finished with two on the day. Harold LaValley scored three TD's in a row to finish with four on the day as the Pirates held Balko to a lone touchdown (by Gary Tice) over the final 2 1/2 quarters for their only Football State Championship with a 42-36 win. Balko, who entered the game undefeated, finished 10-1 on the season.
Not only did Max Moore win the football State Championship, he also coached the Girls Basketball team to the State Title that season also as Braman downed Carmen-Dacoma 34-32 on a last second baseline shot by 5-7 Senior Toni Means. Braman girls had lost in the 1971 championship to OBA in a 53-51 OT loss.
It is believed that Moore is the only coach to win a Football and Girls Basketball State Championship in the same season.
Max Moore coached at Braman for four years and then went back to farming. Sitting at home one evening, Moore got a call from the Superintendent at Pond Creek-Hunter who asked if he wanted to come be their High School principal. Moore said he would try it for a year. He stayed for 20. This past season the floor at the new Pond Creek-Hunter gym was named for Max Moore.
The Braman team had a lot of ingredients for a championship team. Good speed, size , and depth. These guys had high expectations. They had been good all through the junior high years while still playing 11 man. It is difficult to single out guys but in my opinion senior Lonnie Grace was the heart and soul of that team. Great defender, blocker, and runner. The senior class of ‘71-‘72 was special. 1972 girls state champion and a solid boys basketball team that is sometimes overlooked.