The Big Country Athletic Hall of Fame hosted its 2nd annual Champions Celebration to commemorate the two Big Country high schools, Benjamin and Westbrook, that won football state championships during the 2022-23 season on Sunday, January 21. The reception, sponsored by BML Crude Oil Marketing, featured rousing games between the teams, a free museum tour, an awards presentation, limited edition back-to-back state championship shirts for sale and hall of fame coach CH Underwood speaking.
Players, coaches, school administration and staff, families and fans from both schools were present to celebrate both schools’ back-to-back state championships. Including the 2021 and 2022 Benjamin and Albany teams, there have only been 11 Big Country football teams win back-to-back state championships in the history of the UIL.
The Big Country Athletic Hall of Fame has produced limited edition shirts to mark this historic occasion. Long sleeve shirts are available to purchase at the Museum, or you can call us at 325-704-1759 to place an order. We are able to ship shirts for an additional fee.
Kittley, Wes
Wes Kittley Kittley, a state champion in the 880-yard run as a senior in high school at Rule, was an all-American at ACU. He took over as the women’s track coach at ACU in 1985 and then became the men’s coach, too. He won a record 29 NCAA Division II track...
Hays, Curly
Curly Hays Hays was probably the best-known football and basketball referee in the history of the Abilene chapter, working middle school, high school, and college games up until the time of his death. Hays officiated football and basketball for over 50 years. He...
Harrison, Chuck
Chuck Harrison Harrison played football and baseball at Abilene High. He was a two-sport star at Texas Tech, playing defensive end in front of E.J. Holub. But Harrison is considered Tech’s first star in baseball. In 1962, he not only hit .440 but he sported a 1.020...
Dykes, Spike
Spike Dykes Dykes, a native of Ballinger, was a long-time high school and college coach in Texas. He spent the last 13 years of his career as the head football coach at Texas Tech, winning 82 games as the school’s second winningest football coach. He led the Red...
Briles, Art
Art Briles Briles was a star athlete at Rule High School, quarterback his team to the Class B state finals in 1973 and leading the track team to a state championship in 1974. After head coaching stops at Hamlin and Georgetown, Briles engineered the “Decade of...
Allen, Randy
Randy Allen Abilene Cooper has played in only two state championship football games in school history, and Allen was involved in both. He played on the Cougars’ teams that reached the state finals in football in 1967 and baseball in 1968, and he then coached Cooper...
Maxwell, Billy
Billy Maxwell Maxwell was a graduate of St. Joseph Academy of Abilene. He won the U.S. Amateur golf tournament in 1951 and was a member of two national championship golf teams at North Texas State. He played on the PGA and Senior PGA Tour before retiring from...
Lawson, Shorty
Shorty Lawson W. D. “Shorty” Lawson was named the first recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award for Officials in 2005. Lawson was a longtime assistant football and baseball coach at Abilene High and later replaced Hall of Fame member Chuck Moser as the AISD...
Elkins, Lawrence
Lawrence Elkins Elkns began his football career playing for legendary Brownwood High School coach Gordon Wood. In the 1960 3A state championship game, Elkins caught a touchdown pass for the Lions to help seal a 26-6 victory over Port Lavaca. At Baylor University he...
Corn, Paula
Paula Corn Corn set a record at the girls’ state basketball tournament that may never be broken. She scored 61 points in the 1964 Class 2A state championship game, leading Baird to an 85-68 win over Jourdanton. The 23 field goals she made in that game remained a...