We are the 'best of the best'.  We are the "Wilson's Tigers" from the years 1947 through 1957.  During coach Wilson Matthews career at Little Rock (Central) High School, in Little Rock, Arkansas, we had a record of 109-17-3.  We won 10 State Championships and one National Championship. Coach Matthews was a legend in high school football.

In the year 2000 Barry Sollenbergers wrote a pre season football preview in the Phoenix Metro Football magazine. One of the articles in this edition is "The Best High School Football Teams Ever".  He mentions the 12 best teams in the USA during the close of the 20th Century.  As you would guess, he named one of Little Rock Central High School's teams - the 1957 team as one of the 12 best of the last 100 years. He goes on to say, "the best ever squad at this national powerhouse" finished the 1957 campaign with a 33 game winning streak and Number One in the national ranking.  The 1957 team, which won the 'Tigers' 22nd state championship (a national record at the time), was Matthew's last team at Central before going to the University of Arkansas. Also, the Tigers are one of only a handful of high school athletic programs in the country that compiled over 100 state championships in team sports.
 

Wilson Matthews who is listed in The Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame, has a book of his achievements at Little Rock (Central) High School from 1947 to 1957, placed in The Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame on August 16, 2008.

 

This is the story of the Coaches, Players and Managers during those years at Little Rock (Central) High School (1947-1957).  This group, the "Wilson's Tigers" meets each year to remember their coach, Wilson Matthews and their high school playing days in football. 

 

 

  • After a game when we did not play well he would say "We didn't tackle well today, but we made up for it by not blocking".

  • If you messed up he would say "You're useless as a hind pockets on a shirt".

  • At a game with Istrouma High, Baton Rouge, La, he saw a big tall player and he said "That guy is tall enough to stand flat footed and piss in a wagon bed".

  • To some quarterback who maybe was not the best passer in the world he would say "I could stick that ball up my ass and fart it farther than you can throw it".

  • Trying to get a player to give more effort, he would say "Getting' work out of you is like trying to beat farts out of a dead mule".

  • Explanation on a player's performance, he would say "You ain't worth a tinkers' dam"

                                                         

 

 

Remembering our 1957 season at our 50th Year Reunion:

  • "It made my hair standup walking down the stairs into the stadium, because I half way expected Wilson to holler 'HICKS!' " ....Bill Hicks

  • "Walking onto this practice field from the parking lot up there, the first thing it reminds me of is coach Wilson Matthews chewing my ass out."  ....Billy Moore

  • "Surrounded by the social and political tension of 1957, Saturday morning box scores were the only time I read the headlines."  ....Billy Moore

  • "He (Wilson) would tell us, 'Hey men if you get kicked out of school for any demonstration you're in trouble'.  We were scared to death of Wilson, but we didn't want to screw up our senior season."  ....Bill Hicks