One of the original Raiders and also my one-time teammate on Milpros, Carlton “Pa Rush” Rushford stopped by the zinc fence this afternoon to share a few moments with old friends.
A younger brother of Michael “Suffudge” Rushford of 1975-76 Charger fame, Carlton played his first senior football season with Landivar before joining Parra’s Milpros for the 1983-84 competition in which Milpros prevailed in the championship game, 4-1, over Bailar’s Royal Rentals. He was the stopper for the legendary “Rest of the World” Coke Milpros team that went undefeated in the 1985-86 Belize City Competition.
The tall and multi-talented Carlton was also an original member of the Raiders basketball team in the inaugural semipro season in 1992, leaving Belize for the U.S. a couple years later, after the Raiders had claimed the championship.
Pa Rush, who was based in Hattieville before migrating north, is on a brief visit back home from Fort Worth, Texas, where he now resides.
Big up, Pa Rush, and enjoy your stay, bro.