Lifelong Friendships & Connections: ‘The Twelve’ Set to Reunite on Homecoming Weekend
10/28/2021 8:00:00 AM | Football, General
Wake Forest University football players from the 1968 team vowed to reunite after a pledge they made ahead of a great win over North Carolina that season.
"We the undersigned of room number six resolve to return to Groves Stadium in the year 1975 for Homecoming."
That was the pledge signed by 12 key members of the 1968 Wake Forest Football team, sleeping together in a Groves Stadium field house room the night before squaring off against Big Four rival North Carolina. Twenty more members of the team ended up signing the paper, which was then stuffed behind an overhead ceiling tile.
The year 2000 was originally on the pledge, but it's scratched out as 'The Twelve' decided that was just much-too-far into the future. The promised 1975 reunion never took place. The dark days of the global pandemic led to the reemergence of the pledge and a flurry of communication between these teammates from 53 years ago, and they're now joining together in kinship and celebration this year at Homecoming to see the nationally ranked and undefeated Demon Deacons square off against Duke on Saturday.
"I don't get to Homecoming that often," said Don Kobos, one of 'The Twelve' and wide receiver on the 1968 team. "I worked in TV for years, and that's when they want you there. It's a big ratings period during those months. But since I have retired, I have been back several times and I am really looking forward to it. This has just taken off. We're all getting back into each other's lives and sharing experiences. It's really nice."
The 1968 Demon Deacons were desperately searching for some bit of positive energy, having dropped four games in a row after starting the season 0-4-1, with no game decided by more than five points. Wake Forest had dropped back-to-back games by a single point, falling 7-6 at Virginia Tech and then 28-27 at No. 5 Purdue.
So close, yet so far.
"We were 0-4-1 going into the Carolina game, which was Homecoming," said Ron Jurewicz, one of 'The Twelve' and fullback on the 1968 team. "Everything was going wrong. We should memorialize that we're a good team and we're going to get back together. That was the genesis of it."
Kobos recalls the team being drawn closer together through the difficult stretch they had endured.
"We lost so many games by a point-or-two that year," he said. "We had a good team, but a lot just didn't fall our way. Carolina was always the big game for us. We just put everything together. It was one of those games where everything came together, and beating Carolina is special."
This was the first season of football for Wake Forest at what is now named Truist Field. The area currently known as Bridger Field House -- which is home for the football ticket office and Deacon Club, locker rooms and postgame press conferences --- was adorned with bunk beds in several rooms to host the football team the night before hosting UNC.
The team arrived on the bus at the field house after a dinner at The Pit and settled into their rooms. Jurewicz came up with the idea of the pledge, and all 12 players in room six signed: Jurewicz, Terry Kuharchek, Mike Magnot, Vince Nedimyer, Kobos, Buz Leavitt, Tom Jones, John Mazalewski, Digit Laughridge, Fred Cooke, Win Headley and Jerry McGowen. Word got out to some of the other players, and 20 more names were added.
"Ron stuck it up in the ceiling tiles, then after that it was all football," 1968 defensive back Laughridge said.
Then the Deacs proceeded to go out on the field the next day and defeat the Tar Heels in a decisive 48-31 win.
"We just went out and had a great game," Laughridge said. "This was nice to have a little bit of a cushion, and the offense was really cooking. To me it was very personal to not lose to North Carolina. It's just a big deal. We played our hearts out that day. It was great."
The Bill Dooley-coached Tar Heels had defeated No. 7 Florida 22-7 the previous week. Dooley, of course, coached Wake Forest from 1987-92.
"We dominated them," Jurewicz said. "We expected that to carry us through the rest of the year."
Wake Forest defeated Maryland the next week, but then dropped its final three contests of the season.
That was the last year at the helm for Coach Bill Tate, with Cal Stoll taking over in 1969.
"We had high hopes for that 1968 season," Laughridge said. "We had the talent to do it, but just fell short so many times. The loss to Purdue was just heartbreaking. We all knew everyone was giving everything they could give. We just wanted the 'Football Gods' to smile upon us and have a couple of bounces go our way. It was an honor to go out each week and play for your teammates.
"We learned to play with courage, we learned to play with honor and we sure learned how to persevere."
Two seasons later, five members of The Twelve were part of the 1970 Wake Forest football team that went 5-1 in the conference and won the first ACC Championship in program history.
Though they didn't reunite in 1975 as agreed, three members (Jurewicz, Headley and Jack Dolbin) of the team were together in 1988 for a function and decided to go hunting for the original pledge sheet in the ceiling tiles of Bridger Field House.
"The three of us went on a hunt after a banquet in the stadium," Jurewicz said. "The rooms aren't used as bedrooms anymore. While looking for what we called room six, we didn't have flashlights or any tools to work with."
Without much luck, the trio nearly gave up on the search, but Dolbin vowed to look around one last time.
"I just happened to find it folded in a corner," Jurewicz said."It was quite a jubilation finding this note 20 years later. We weren't that optimistic, considering the changes that had taken place. We figured they had already replaced the drop-down ceiling tiles. It was determination to piece it together and joy when we found it."
When Jurewicz returned home, he sent letters to the other members of 'The Twelve', remarking that "our dreams were unfulfilled."
After sending copies of The Pledge to his teammates, Jurewicz tucked the original away in a Wake Forest yearbook, the Howler — and that's where it's been for the last 33 years.
The Pledge, unfulfilled and dormant for 53 years, found a second life as Laughridge occupied himself during the pandemic by sorting through his box of keepsakes and mementos.
"As you get older, you really start to appreciate things more," he said. "You get busy, get married and other things. Then I am sitting here during this COVID stuff cleaning out my desk and I found the letter. I found my copy, then I found the original.
"We aren't getting any younger. We need to get the group back together."
Laughridge called Jurewicz and Kobos, with the former remembering where he'd placed the original. After several conversations, they decided to bring everyone together this year at Homecoming.
"The three of us have been in communication three-or-four times a week," Kobos said. "It's been a positive experience. In light of the pandemic, which has put a damper on everyone's activities, I am looking forward to getting up there for Homecoming."
Kobos wrote a small booklet detailing the story, while Laughride, who is a brilliant calligrapher sent beautiful invitations out to their teammates along with the families of those teammates no longer with us.
"Ron is the founder," Laughridge said about nicknames he came up with for the trio. "Kobos the author. I am the scribe."
To make the reunion even more special, the original document has been sent to Wake Forest special collections, where it will be memorialized.
"The museum accepting the pledge sheet to honor and document really meant a lot to me as a closing chapter," Jurewicz said. "And now we've turned it into a reunion of our team. It should be a great homecoming weekend with all the events.
"I'm so thrilled beyond words. I am hoping it is a good turnout, but the gratification I have had just following up with guys I have not spoken to in nearly 50 yards has just been a thrill. It's been a great labor of love."
Laughridge wrote more than 200 invitations for the event.
"It was a labor of love — for the University and the football program, but also for our teammates; those who are here and those who have passed," he said.
That was the pledge signed by 12 key members of the 1968 Wake Forest Football team, sleeping together in a Groves Stadium field house room the night before squaring off against Big Four rival North Carolina. Twenty more members of the team ended up signing the paper, which was then stuffed behind an overhead ceiling tile.
The year 2000 was originally on the pledge, but it's scratched out as 'The Twelve' decided that was just much-too-far into the future. The promised 1975 reunion never took place. The dark days of the global pandemic led to the reemergence of the pledge and a flurry of communication between these teammates from 53 years ago, and they're now joining together in kinship and celebration this year at Homecoming to see the nationally ranked and undefeated Demon Deacons square off against Duke on Saturday.
"I don't get to Homecoming that often," said Don Kobos, one of 'The Twelve' and wide receiver on the 1968 team. "I worked in TV for years, and that's when they want you there. It's a big ratings period during those months. But since I have retired, I have been back several times and I am really looking forward to it. This has just taken off. We're all getting back into each other's lives and sharing experiences. It's really nice."
The 1968 Demon Deacons were desperately searching for some bit of positive energy, having dropped four games in a row after starting the season 0-4-1, with no game decided by more than five points. Wake Forest had dropped back-to-back games by a single point, falling 7-6 at Virginia Tech and then 28-27 at No. 5 Purdue.
So close, yet so far.
"We were 0-4-1 going into the Carolina game, which was Homecoming," said Ron Jurewicz, one of 'The Twelve' and fullback on the 1968 team. "Everything was going wrong. We should memorialize that we're a good team and we're going to get back together. That was the genesis of it."
Kobos recalls the team being drawn closer together through the difficult stretch they had endured.
"We lost so many games by a point-or-two that year," he said. "We had a good team, but a lot just didn't fall our way. Carolina was always the big game for us. We just put everything together. It was one of those games where everything came together, and beating Carolina is special."
This was the first season of football for Wake Forest at what is now named Truist Field. The area currently known as Bridger Field House -- which is home for the football ticket office and Deacon Club, locker rooms and postgame press conferences --- was adorned with bunk beds in several rooms to host the football team the night before hosting UNC.
The team arrived on the bus at the field house after a dinner at The Pit and settled into their rooms. Jurewicz came up with the idea of the pledge, and all 12 players in room six signed: Jurewicz, Terry Kuharchek, Mike Magnot, Vince Nedimyer, Kobos, Buz Leavitt, Tom Jones, John Mazalewski, Digit Laughridge, Fred Cooke, Win Headley and Jerry McGowen. Word got out to some of the other players, and 20 more names were added.
"Ron stuck it up in the ceiling tiles, then after that it was all football," 1968 defensive back Laughridge said.
Then the Deacs proceeded to go out on the field the next day and defeat the Tar Heels in a decisive 48-31 win.
"We just went out and had a great game," Laughridge said. "This was nice to have a little bit of a cushion, and the offense was really cooking. To me it was very personal to not lose to North Carolina. It's just a big deal. We played our hearts out that day. It was great."
The Bill Dooley-coached Tar Heels had defeated No. 7 Florida 22-7 the previous week. Dooley, of course, coached Wake Forest from 1987-92.
"We dominated them," Jurewicz said. "We expected that to carry us through the rest of the year."
Wake Forest defeated Maryland the next week, but then dropped its final three contests of the season.
That was the last year at the helm for Coach Bill Tate, with Cal Stoll taking over in 1969.
"We had high hopes for that 1968 season," Laughridge said. "We had the talent to do it, but just fell short so many times. The loss to Purdue was just heartbreaking. We all knew everyone was giving everything they could give. We just wanted the 'Football Gods' to smile upon us and have a couple of bounces go our way. It was an honor to go out each week and play for your teammates.
"We learned to play with courage, we learned to play with honor and we sure learned how to persevere."
Two seasons later, five members of The Twelve were part of the 1970 Wake Forest football team that went 5-1 in the conference and won the first ACC Championship in program history.
Though they didn't reunite in 1975 as agreed, three members (Jurewicz, Headley and Jack Dolbin) of the team were together in 1988 for a function and decided to go hunting for the original pledge sheet in the ceiling tiles of Bridger Field House.
"The three of us went on a hunt after a banquet in the stadium," Jurewicz said. "The rooms aren't used as bedrooms anymore. While looking for what we called room six, we didn't have flashlights or any tools to work with."
Without much luck, the trio nearly gave up on the search, but Dolbin vowed to look around one last time.
"I just happened to find it folded in a corner," Jurewicz said."It was quite a jubilation finding this note 20 years later. We weren't that optimistic, considering the changes that had taken place. We figured they had already replaced the drop-down ceiling tiles. It was determination to piece it together and joy when we found it."
When Jurewicz returned home, he sent letters to the other members of 'The Twelve', remarking that "our dreams were unfulfilled."
After sending copies of The Pledge to his teammates, Jurewicz tucked the original away in a Wake Forest yearbook, the Howler — and that's where it's been for the last 33 years.
The Pledge, unfulfilled and dormant for 53 years, found a second life as Laughridge occupied himself during the pandemic by sorting through his box of keepsakes and mementos.
"As you get older, you really start to appreciate things more," he said. "You get busy, get married and other things. Then I am sitting here during this COVID stuff cleaning out my desk and I found the letter. I found my copy, then I found the original.
"We aren't getting any younger. We need to get the group back together."
Laughridge called Jurewicz and Kobos, with the former remembering where he'd placed the original. After several conversations, they decided to bring everyone together this year at Homecoming.
"The three of us have been in communication three-or-four times a week," Kobos said. "It's been a positive experience. In light of the pandemic, which has put a damper on everyone's activities, I am looking forward to getting up there for Homecoming."
Kobos wrote a small booklet detailing the story, while Laughride, who is a brilliant calligrapher sent beautiful invitations out to their teammates along with the families of those teammates no longer with us.
"Ron is the founder," Laughridge said about nicknames he came up with for the trio. "Kobos the author. I am the scribe."
To make the reunion even more special, the original document has been sent to Wake Forest special collections, where it will be memorialized.
"The museum accepting the pledge sheet to honor and document really meant a lot to me as a closing chapter," Jurewicz said. "And now we've turned it into a reunion of our team. It should be a great homecoming weekend with all the events.
"I'm so thrilled beyond words. I am hoping it is a good turnout, but the gratification I have had just following up with guys I have not spoken to in nearly 50 yards has just been a thrill. It's been a great labor of love."
Laughridge wrote more than 200 invitations for the event.
"It was a labor of love — for the University and the football program, but also for our teammates; those who are here and those who have passed," he said.
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