1988

Sam Ball, HCHS 1962
This three-sport athlete at Henderson County High would become a consensus All-America tackle at the University of Kentucky (1965) and would go on to become a first round draft choice and starting offensive tackle for the Baltimore Colts. He was a member of the 1971 Colt team that defeated Dallas in the Super Bowl. A lanky sophomore in high school, he worked in a weightlifting program under his high school coach, Mojo Hollowell, and by his senior year was recognized as the finest offensive tackle in the state. He also was a forward on Henderson County High’s first ever regional champion basketball team and a member of the track squad.

Pascal Benson, City High 1956
One of the most gifted athletes in local history, he earned all-state honors in three sports: football, basketball, and baseball. He was center-linebacker on the undefeated 1955 City High football team that claimed the state championship, was a starting guard-forward on the City High basketball team that 29-3 and runner-up in the state tournament and was a pitcher-first baseman on the baseball team that captured third in the state. He went on to become a starting lineman at the University of Kentucky and later coached baseball and football at Henderson County High.

John Francis Burris, Douglass 1955
“He was the most gifted, all-around athlete I ever coached. He could do it all.” That’s how former Douglass High three-sport head coach Pete Rembert sized up Burris. Considering that Rembert produced many outstanding athletes during his coach career (1945-61) at Douglass and later at Hopkinsville, that says a lot about Burris’ ability. He was the kingpin of Douglass football, basketball, and track teams in the early to mid-50s and later to become one of the Tri-State’s most feared amateur baseball players. He was Douglass’ punter as an eighth-grader and was destined for greatness. Michigan State recruited him as a punter but he did not attend college.

John Chaney, Douglass 1930’s
John “Fats” Cheaney was one of Douglass’ earliest sports superstars, whose specialty was football. He got an early start, earning a starting role as a seventh-grader. By the time he was a freshman, he was the star of the team and earned the “Mr. Football” title. He returned a punt 100 yards for a touchdown to score the very first varsity touchdown at Barret Stadium. He later became a deputy sheriff in his home county.

 

 

 

Tommy Glover, City High 1960
Glover captained the 1959 Louisville Courier-Journal all-state team after leading Henderson City High to the state Class AA football championship in the first year of the playoffs. The Flash were 12-0 as Glover, a fullback, broke the single season scoring record with 30 touchdowns. A shifty and powerful runner, he signed with Bear Bryant’s Alabama Crimson Tide and later transferred to Murray State, where he became an all-OVC fullback under his old high school coach, Don Shelton. Glover later coached football at Union County High School.

Jimmy Feix, Barret 1949
After an outstanding prep career at Barret that saw him earn all-state honors as a quarterback, Feix began an association at Western Kentucky University that lasted for more than four decades until his retirement in 1991 as athletic director. As a player he became Western’s first football All-American, quarterbacking the 1952 team to a 34-19 Refrigerator Bowl victory over Arkansas State. After a service career, he returned to Western in 1957 as a football aide and became coach in 1968. Sixteen years later, he retired as Western’s winningest football coach (196-56-6) and six Ohio Valley Conference crowns. His ’73 team, which was undefeated in the regular season, advanced to the NCAA Division II title game. His “75 team also finished as national runnerup.

James “Mojo” Hollowell, Barret 1946 and HCHS Coach
This 1946 Barret graduate was pound for pound one of the toughest Henderson-area football players of all time. His credentials as a player are impressive: All-Western Kentucky Conference, All-State, and All-Southern prep as a guard under coach Frank Camp. Hollowell later became a starter for the University of Louisville. After a remarkable career as a prep and collegiate player, he turned to coaching and became one of the state’s winningest coaches. His 1976 Henderson County High football team finished 14-1 and lost the Class AAAA state championship to Louisville Trinity 28-24.

Karl “Doc” Hosbach, Barret 1918
The 1918 Barret High graduate was a good athlete in his own right as a basketball and baseball player, but it was his contribution to the local tennis program that earned him induction into the Hall of Fame. As an instructor in summer recreation youth tennis programs, he helped groom many of the young tennis stars who later helped establish Henderson’s prep tennis program as one of the state’s finest. The modern tennis complex on Water Street, where he taught for years, is named in his honor.

Wilbur (Shorty) Jamerson, Barret 1947
Jamerson was a star in football, basketball, and track at Barret, but it was in football that he exceled. The running back earned all-state honors at Barret and went on to star at the University of Kentucky. His greatest collegiate moment came when he scored both touchdowns in Kentucky’s 13-7 upset of top-ranked Oklahoma and ended the nation’s longest winning string at 31 games.

 

Norman O’Nan, Niagara Athlete and HHS Coach
One of Niagara High’s all-time great basketball players, O’Nan played collegiately at the University of Southwestern Louisiana. An outstanding baseball player, too, he later would post enviable coaching records in both basketball and baseball. His Henderson County High basketball teams posted a composite record of 130-50, won seven straight district championships, and the school’s first regional title (1961). His Colonel baseball teams won nine consecutive district baseball crowns.

 

Fred Schuette, Barret 1933
Schuette played four years of football and was on the 1932-33 basketball team that competed in the state tournament, but he made his mark in track and field. Described by area sportswriters as “the best track athlete to be developed in Kentucky,” he lived up to the billing in 1933. In the state meet that year he won five first places and set records in the shot put, pole vault, and high hurdles. A year earlier he won the pole vault in a national meet in Chicago and was eligible to compete in the Olympics, but declined to go.

Barry Skaggs, HCHS 1978
As a junior running back, he was a key player in his team’s 14-1 record that was marred only by a 28-24 defeat by Louisville Trinity in the Class AAAA state championship. He established scoring and rushing records for the Colonels en route to earning All-State honors. He is widely regarded as one of the finest running backs in western Kentucky history. He later played at Western Kentucky University.

 

 

 

William Spoehr, Barret 1916
One of the greatest of long-ago athletes, he starred in three sports for Barret High teams in 1915 and 1916. The 1915-16 basketball team was undefeated in 12 games, won the first state basketball tournament and defeated Parkersburg, WV at Athens, OH 38-32 for the recognized national basketball title. He also played football for three years and was a member of the 1912 Barret track team as an eighth-grader.