NOTE: This is the third in a series recognizing Joey Pender (JHHS), Steve Treadway (JHHS), Lowell Mize (JHHS), Cynthia Loyd (JHHS), and Shelby Green (QHS), who were selected to be inducted into the Jackson Parish Sports Hall of Fame as the Class of 2026, along with Bill DeCou (Rundell Jr. High), who will receive the prestigious Meritorious Service Award. The induction banquet is scheduled for October 3rd in the Family Life Center at First Baptist Church in Jonesboro. This week: Lowell Mize
Entering the 1963 football season, when people talked about Jonesboro-Hodge High School football, the conversation centered on Johnny Garlington, who was recognized as one of the state’s better returning defensive players and slated to be the Tigers’ main threat at running back.
JHHS head coach Bobby Stone was concerned, though. Garlington was returning from a devastating injury that almost kept him from playing football anymore, and Stone knew that if the Tigers were to have any success that year, he needed to keep Garlington healthy.
While watching his team during fall practice, Stone noticed a strapping young man making his defense look bad. And it wasn’t Garlington. The more he watched, the more confident he became that he had the answer to his perceived problem.
Some would say Lowell Mize should be best known for beating out legendary JHHS, LSU, and NFL great Johnny Garlington for a position. Stone’s decision to put Mize at running back and play Garlington on defense only paved the way for the Tigers’ first district championship season in 13 seasons, this coming at a time when JHHS competed in Class AA, the top classification in the state, and the district comprised of Ruston, Neville, JHHS and Haynesville – all powers in schoolboy football.
Mize is to be remembered for far more than that. That season, he and quarterback Robert Marrus became the first pair of backfield mates in school history to both gain over 900 yards in a season. That included the contest against Neville, where Mize played an instrumental role in the Tigers setting a new school record with a 22-play scoring drive (all rushes) by carrying the ball on more than half of the rushing attempts.
In the 1964-65 season, Mize helped lead the Tigers to a second straight district championship for the first time since 1930-31 and the first berth in the state semifinals since the 1945-46 state championship season. The standout back finished the year with 1198 yards, becoming the first running back in JHHS history to rush for over 1000 yards in one season. He was also the first to accumulate over 2000 career rushing yards, earning first-team all-district honors for two years and a scholarship to play football at Louisiana Tech University.
The coach made a great decision in August of 1963. Earlier this year, the board of directors for the Jackson Parish Sports Hall of Fame made another great decision: they included one of the best running backs in JHHS history as a member of the Class of 2026.