The Temple team that finally broke through and the one that concluded the school’s dominant era will go head-to-head for a spot in the Greatest on the Gridiron final four.

The Buccaneers had lost the Black Big 8 championship by a single game in 1964 and ‘65. Led by quarterback William Triplett and coach W.C. Gorden, they finished 11-0 and won the league for the first time in 1966 to truly usher in a dynasty that concluded when the school closed in 1971.

Temple posted a 48-2-2 record from the start of the 1966 season to the end of the 1970 season. They did not lose in the last 39 of those games, and the 1970 team wrapped it all up by beating New Orleans powerhouse St. Augustine in the Red Carpet Bowl. Temple, Vicksburg’s all-black high school from 1959-71, closed at the end of the 1970-71 school year as desegregation began.

Quarterback William Wooley set a then-county record with 28 touchdown passes in 1970 and threw for 1,784 yards as Temple finished a perfect 9-0.

First or last? One team will get that distinction once and for all, and your vote at vicksburgpost.com will decide which it is.