Last spring, Pam Pack linebacker E.J. Peartree represented a historically good defense in the coveted East-West All-Star Game, held in Greensboro, a competition to honor some of the top high school football players in North Carolina. He was one of a few integral pieces to a strong front seven that carried Washington to its first state championship appearance last December.

Connecting two generations defined by winning football, Durwood Dixon, a former varsity player at Washington from 1955-’58, has a similar story. In 1956, Dixon’s sophomore season, the Pack won the conference and forcefully climbed the playoff ladder.

Eventually in December, under the tutelage of coach J.G. Choppy Wagner, the team made the 370-mile journey from the flatlands of Washington to the mountains of Canton to compete in the state title game. With an 11-0-1 record and a stingy defensive front, the champions of the East were destined to put up a fight against Canton High School.

“It was an exciting time, something you wouldn’t experience in a lifetime,” Dixon said. “It would be just like playing on a pro football game playing for the first time. You meet so many different people, rugged, heartless people. We just got along well together and played well together.”

Washington failed to find the endzone in the first half and halfway through third quarter, a couple special teams errors ceased what little momentum the Pam Pack had. Canton took the championship, 33-6.

It was a memorable four years for Dixon, whose athletic success stretched well beyond the gridiron, though that is where he thrived. After the memorable season in ’56, Dixon was named co-captain in ’57 and took home his second-straight all-conference honor. Washington finished with a 6-4 record, but their talented linebacker earned statewide recognition by being elected to the 1957 Shrine Bowl held in Charlotte.

The following year in 1958, his senior season, Dixon was invited to play in the East-West All-Star Game, but declined after being called to a two-week active stint for the Naval Reserve.

Dixon also was a three-year varsity basketball player and a four-year varsity first baseman for the Pam Pack. However, it was football and coach Wagner that had the most impact on his life.

“He was a great coach and I had never see another one that can compare,” Dixon said. “He worked with his people. He put it on you until you couldn’t take anymore, then he’d put a little extra on you. That’s just the type of fellow he was.”

Dixon considers his induction into the Washington Walk of Fame a distinct honor.

“When I found out I said Lord, not me,” he said. “I think there are more people deserving. It’s a blessing that the good Lord looked to me and let me into this fairway. It still hasn’t really hit home yet. I appreciate everybody who voted for me and got me into it. It’ll be something me and my family will never forget.”