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MIDDLETOWN — J.B. Deaton moved to Middletown in 1950 just in time to start the sixth grade.

The next year, the Jackson, Ky., native attended Roosevelt Junior High and began playing football.

That's where his life changed forever.

As a ninth-grader, Deaton was part of an undefeated Roosevelt team that was asked to play against the high school's junior varsity team, a squad that was coached by the already legendary Glenn "Tiger" Ellison.

"We beat his JV team," Deaton recalled.

Deaton said Ellison attended the Roosevelt sports banquet and singled out a few of the freshmen players for their performances. Deaton was one of them.

"When he called out my name, he shook my hand and said he had my name on a locker at Barnitz Stadium," Deaton said. "We were poor, and I was actually planning to quit school and get a job, but when Tiger shook my hand and said that to me, it just changed my life forever."

Deaton said Ellison helped him get a job at the Coca-Cola plant in town where he would work for the next three years while going to school.

Since the day he graduated, Deaton has been a steadfast Middie supporter, and he wouldn't have it any other way.

The same can be said for Leon Mitchell, who played for Ellison for two years (1955-56). Mitchell is one of more than 25 MHS football players who played for Ellison from 1945-62 who are now members of the Middletown Athletic Hall of Fame. Ellison himself was a member of the inaugural class of inductees in 1998.

"It was an experience like no other," Mitchell said of playing for Ellison, considered to be the creator of the run-and-shoot offense that has been popularized in both the college and professional football ranks since the 1970s. "Whatever he said is what he meant. He was very much a disciplinarian."

Mitchell played right end on offense and left end on defense, just the opposite of Pete Snow. He believes he could see the seeds of the run-and-shoot offense planted during his senior season.

"It was about the end of my senior year when he really got the run and shoot started," Mitchell said.

And the rest is history.

Ellison wrote a book called "Run & Shoot Football: Offense of the Future." His teachings have been employed by numerous programs.

Deaton believes the fast-paced offense had its beginnings in Ellison trying to figure out a way to get his two quarterbacks on the field at the same time.

"We had two quarterbacks, a senior (Jeff Phillips) and a junior (Jack Wallace) that were both 6-foot-3 and 230 pounds," Deaton said. "The senior was left-handed and the junior was right-handed. Tiger took the senior and moved him to halfback where he would take the pitch out and draw the defense in. Then he would just pop the ball over them."

"I was never involved in any of the run-and-shoot plays," Deaton continued. "But (Tiger) was always ahead of everyone else. He was always thinking from the beginning of the game to the end. That was the secret to his success."

In 18 years as coach of the Middies, Ellison compiled a record of 124-46-9, second most wins in team history to Elmo Lingrel's 149.

Contact this reporter at (513) 705-2852 or sweaver@coxohio.com.