Thirteen was a lucky number for Cedar Bluff head football coach Leonard D. Bruce. In 1959, the legendary coach was heading into his 13th year at the helm of the Tigers.

Behind seniors Harry and Larry Tucker, Bruce's team posted a perfect 10-0 mark. Harry earned First Team All State honors as an end, while twin brother Larry was a Second Team selection at back. Cedar Bluff was rewarded by the Birmingham News as the Class 1A Region 3 state champions.

Bruce followed up the '59 season with a solid 7-1-1 showing in 1960. The Tigers slipped out of the gate with a 6-0 loss to Springville and then tied Walnut Grove the following week, 13-13. At the time, no one could predict what the Tigers were about to accomplish.

In 1961, the Red and White proved to be untouchable. By finishing the year 10-0, the Tigers won the Choccolocco Conference for the third consecutive year. Junior running back Jim Bouchillon ran roughshod over anyone who got in his way and was First Team All State. For the second time in three seasons, Cedar Bluff was crowned state champion.

As the summer of 1962 spilled into the fall, the country stood at the threshold of social transformation. Grassroots efforts that sparked dynamic movements were beginning to surface into mainstream America. A generation that ushered in unparalleled change was slowly but surely uniting in preparation for a remarkable revolution. While the United States was stretched from within by the tide of social revolution, waves of external forces existed that threatened to crash down upon our national security.

The world would hold their collective breaths as two superpowers flexed their strategic muscles and stared each other down off the coast of Cuba. President John F. Kennedy and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev were on the verge of unleashing an arsenal of weapons that all of humanity hoped and prayed would never be used. In the end, cooler heads prevailed and an international crisis was averted.

President Kennedy and Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy also intervened at Ole Miss, where James H. Meredith was denied the opportunity to enroll in classes due to an “imminent breach of peace.” Meredith, 29 at the time and an Air Force veteran, would become the first African American to enroll at Ole Miss.

The fall of 1962 saw the United States space program take a step toward their goal of placing a man on the surface of the moon. At the time, most Americans were convinced that the Russians were well ahead of the United States in the space race. Astronaut Wally Schirra boosted the NASA program by completing six orbits around the earth aboard Sigma 7. Those six laps, along with previous Mercury missions, blazed the trail for coming Gemini journeys and later fostered Project Apollo voyages of the future.

Ray Charles would be one at the top of the popular music chart with “I Can't Stop Loving You,” The Four Seasons filled the airwaves with “Big Girls Don't Cry” and “Sherry,” Chubby Checker's “The Twist” and Gene Chandler's “Duke of Earl” were also favorites along with Elvis Presley's “Return to Sender.” On the big screen the Academy Award for Best Picture went to “Lawrence of Arabia.” Sean Connery brought James Bond to life in “Dr. No.”

But in sports of every kind at almost any level, one could escape the drudgery of work and the worries of war . In the world of sports, Americans can usually find peace.

It was in sports that the Los Angeles Dodgers late-season collapse made way for a classic San Francisco Giants versus New York Yankees World Series matchup. Maris and Mantle supplied the firepower for the Yanks, while the Giants countered with McCovey and Mays. Rookie Jack Nicklaus, the U.S. Open champion, defeated Masters and British Open Champion Arnold Palmer in the “World Series” of golf champions event. Sonny Liston KO'd Floyd Patterson in the first round to become the world heavyweight champ. The Green Bay Packers were preseason picks to win the NFL title. Alabama's Paul “Bear” Bryant, coming off a national championship, turned to sophomore Joe Namath to replace Tide legend Pat Trammell at quarterback. (Alabama would lose only once, 7-6 to Georgia Tech.) USC would be the top pick in both the UPI and AP rankings at season's end. At Auburn, Ralph “Shug” Jordan would finish the year at 6-3-1.

So it was, in 1962, that L.D. Bruce and the Cedar Bluff Tigers garnered a lot of attention. Bruce's Tigers had won 31 of their last 35 games, while tying one. In fact, the Tigers entered the '62 season with a 17-game win streak. While the revolutionary groundwork that shaped the 1960's was being laid down around the United States a different type of ground, via hard work, was being churned up in Cedar Bluff.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of that historic season. To this day, renowned Gadsden Times sports journalist Jimmy Smothers has vivid recollections of Coach Bruce and the Bluff's star backs, Jim Bouchillon and David Bedwell.

“Those boys were exceptional,” Smothers said. “You usually didn't see two players that good at a 1A school. Bouchillon was as tough and hard running as they come, and Bedwell was just a smooth as can be.”

Smothers had praise for their coach, as well.

“L.D. Bruce was one of the finest men I have ever known,” Smothers said. “He was so personable and likeable. But, all in all they just had some great teams up there in Cedar Bluff.”

Editor's note: In the coming weeks, Kurt Duryea will provide a nostalgic review of the 1962 Cedar Bluff Tigers season in The Post. Join us each week as players present their recollections from 50 years ago. Resource material will include player interviews, archived issues of the Gadsden Times and the book “Coach”, written by Bruce's son, Lynn.