On a rain-soaked Thursday afternoon Oct. 21, 1971, at Indianapolis
Manual High Schoolâ??s football field on Indianapolisâ?? near-southside,
one high school halfback set an individual scoring record that only has
been exceeded by basketball players.
In 1968, a 135-pound freshman turned out for the freshman football
team at Indianapolis Shortridge High School. Walter Peacock had never
played organized football in grade school or junior high, but he made
it as a flanker that freshman year.
By the end of his â??71 senior year, Peacock was the scoring king of
Indianapolis and Marion County football, breaking the Washington
Continentalsâ?? 10-game season scoring record set in 1968 by 190-pound
Louie Day by one point, 178 to 177. But two weeks earlier, Peacock
scored an incredible 60 points against Indianapolis Wood as the Blue
Devils held the Woodchucks scoreless in a defining 84-0 blowout.
Hereâ??s how the 5â??9â?, 160-pound halfback scored nine touchdowns and six extra points in two-point conversions:
* First there was a 38-yard run for the touchdown plus the conversion four minutes into the first half.
* Then Peacock scored again with a 3-yard run.
* He caught a 28-yard scoring pass from Shortridge quarterback Brad
Grissom, then followed it a bit later with a 14-yard run and another
two-point conversion.
* Peacock then scored on subsequent 12-yard and 9-yard runs,
bringing his individual score to 40 and bookending a halftime show that
featured the snappy Wood ROTC drill team.
* During the third period, he crossed into the end zone on a
15-yard run before making the two-point conversion, then gained 12 more
points with 2- and 1-yard scoring runs for a total of 60.
At that point, Shortridge coach Jerry Chance pulled his star
and put in the subs. It was an all-around miserable day for the
injury-riddled Woodchucks, between the weather and Peacockâ??s
â??Shortridge Strut.â?
The Shortridge Blue Devils finished 1971 with a 9-1 record,
losing only to Indianapolis Cathedral, which held Peacock below his
customary 100-plus yards per game. But it was his scoring 60 big points
in one game that has Walter Peacock as a leader in Indianapolis high
school football record books, another great moment in Indiana sports
history.
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