While the term may be subjective, for this purpose the criteria is that someone either earned statewide honors or played at a higher level (college or pros).
Arnold, Ronnie starred in basketball and baseball while at North Caddo, graduating in 1963. He was an eighth round draft choice out of Northwestern State for the Cleveland Indians in 1965 and played in their minor league system for three years.
Playing for North Caddo High School in 1962.
Playing for North Caddo High School in 1962.
Picture from 1963 NC Rebel yearbook.
As an All-Gulf States Conference pitcher.
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Statistics in the minor leagues:
Ronnie Darrell Arnold
- Drafted by the Cleveland Indians in the 8th round of the 1965 MLB June Amateur Draft
- Bats: Right, Throws: Right
- Height: 6' 2", Weight: 185 lb.
- Born: September 9, 1945
- School: Northwestern State University (né College)*
Source: Baseball-Reference.com.
* The website incorrectly lists his college as New Mexico State University.
Austin, James Tillman "Jimmy" both played and coached under Coach J. D. McKellar at Mooringsport High, then later coached at Homer and Lake Charles, winning two state football titles in 1954 and 1957 at the latter.
Here he is a member of the 1935 Louisiana State Normal School (now Northwestern State University) football team.
And as a senior on the 1937 track team.
In addition to his athletic prowess, Jimmy held the distinction of being president of his class his first three years at LSN, and served as student body president his senior year.
Jimmy as head coach of Lake Charles High in 1953.
Coach Austin was a 1983 inductee into the Louisiana State High School Athletic Association Hall-of-Fame.
Barr, Hyder Edward "Scotty" (1884-1934)
A former major leaguer with the Philadelphia Athletics, after baseball he lived in Mooringsport for a while, working for Gulf Oil Company.
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| Hyder "Scotty" Barr as a Philadelphia Athletic |
Read about him at this link.
Bird, Leo (1919-1996) was a Mooringsport native who grew up in Shreveport and starred at LSU, where he lettered 1939-1941.
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| Running the ball against Holy Cross in 1940 |
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| Punting against Tulane in 1940 |
He is further notable as later he became a decorated Navy pilot in WWII who, among his accomplishments, helped guard George Herbert Walker Bush's fallen plane until a submarine could rescue the future president.
Dunham, Volla Albert , Jr., M.D. (1920-1983) received honorable mention All-State recognition in 1935 as a fullback playing for the local school.
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After high school Volla enrolled at Louisiana Normal College (now Northwestern State University) where he played tackle on the Demon football Team.
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Read his complete profile in Notable People.
Gaskell, Prince Douglas (1885-1966)
Prince Gaskell was a journeyman minor league baseball player who later lived and worked in Mooringsport as a warehouseman for Gulf Oil Company.
Read about him in America's Pastime in the Caddo Oilfield.
Holladay, William Noble (1906-1979) was a 1923 graduate of Mooringsport High School and 1927 graduate of Louisiana State University. As a member of the track team, he won the javelin event to help LSU win the Southern Conference (predecessor of SEC) track championship his senior year. He was also captain of the ROTC "F" Company.
A graduating LSU senior.
Captain of the ROTC "F" Company.
Later details of his life are sketchy, but he was working for the Sabine Parish school board (presumably a teacher) when registering for the draft in 1940. Prior to his death, he was a resident of Santa Rosa, CA and is buried in Willamette National Cemetery in Portland, OR.
Hunter, Henry was first team Class AA All-State in baseball in 1968.
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| Henry Hunter at North Caddo - 1968 |
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| Class AA All-State Baseball Team Monroe News Star 10-Jun-1968 |
Janes, Jerry was named an honorable mention All-State back in 1952.
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| Jerry as a Mooringsport High Senior in 1953 |
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| Monroe News Star 14-Dec-1952 |
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| Jerry Janes in High School |
He attended LSU then joined the army where he played on various service teams and named to the 1956 All-Army team:
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In 1957, he was drafted by the Chicago Bears and played five seasons in the Canadian Football League.
NFL Draftees from LSU by year:
From his CFL days
1958 Topps trading card:
Mathis, Charles was cited by Coach J. D. McKellar as being one of his best players while at Mooringsport, and later played at Louisiana State Normal School (now Northwestern State University).
Pictured below as a sophomore
Charles as a Junior.
Charles's vital statistics listed in a preview of a game against the Mississippi State Teachers College Yellowjackets, now the University of Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles. Note his size compared to athletes of today.
McKellar, George was 2nd team all-state for North Caddo in 1969 and led the Rebels to the Top Twenty, then in Alexandria. They lost to eventual champion Hammond in the semi-finals.
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| George McKellar at NC in 1969 |
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| Class AA All-State Selections - Hammond (LA) Daily Star 19-Mar-1969 |
McKellar, (Coach) J. D. A column by longtime Shreveport sportswriter Jerry Byrd from 1981:
'Big Boy' McKellar didn't keep up with records. Fifty-five years ago, H. Lee Prather took one look at the 6-1, 203-pound freshman from Plain Dealing and dubbed him "Big Boy." The name stuck.
'Big Boy' McKellar didn't keep up with records. Fifty-five years ago, H. Lee Prather took one look at the 6-1, 203-pound freshman from Plain Dealing and dubbed him "Big Boy." The name stuck.
He is probably one of the winningest football coaches in Louisiana high school history, but you won't find the name of 75-year-old John Dugal McKellar, Jr. on the list because McKellar himself doesn't know how many games his Mooringsport High School teams won.
"Records?" he laughs. "Never kept them! I played them and forgot them. I looked for the day, and took life one day at a time. Never figured anybody would care about it."
In 1931 and 1932, his teams set what is probably an all-time state record by shutting out 16 consecutive opponents -- the last four teams they played in 1931, and the first 12 in 1932.
The 1931 Mooringsport team lost its season opener, 7-6, to a Haughton team coached by Ted Rusheon. Jack Clayton, who was head football coach at Northwestern State in the 1960s, handled the punting for Haughton, which took advantage of a half-dozen Mooringsport fumbles to win the game.
Mooringsport was then known as the Canines, but the nickname was changed to Oilers a year later.
It was an "Iron Man" group of 14 players, led by the backfield trio of Louis Stephenson, Doyle Thurmond and Jimmy Austin, who later spent four years as McKellar's assistant coach before he became one of the state's top coaches, that roared into the North Louisiana finals in 1932. In a 103-rout of Dodson, those three players accounted for 14 touchdowns -- five apiece by Stephenson and Thurmond, four by Austin.
"Doyle Thurmond," says McKellar, "was one of the best kickers I've ever seen in high school football." Tallulah's Trojans, coached by Herbert Massey, snapped their streak in the Class B North Louisiana championship game at Monroe, scoring a 12-0 victory over the Oilers. The following week, Tallulah won the state championship with a come-from-behind 10-6 victory over LaGrange as Massey scored the winning touchdown in the fourth quarter.
An irony in Mooringsport's 12-0 victory over Dubach for the district championship was that Dubach was coached by Joe Mount. Later, after Austin coached at Homer and Haynesville in the 1940s, he and Mount would be arch-rivals in Southwest Louisiana as Austin coached the Lake Charles High Wildcats and Mount coached the Sulphur Golden Tornado.
A few of the best players McKellar coached in a 43-year career were Jack Duggins, Charles Mathis (who played on Louisiana Normal's unbeaten 1939 team) (Correction: Mathis graduated the prior spring) and Jerry James (Correction: Janes, see above.), who spent one term at LSU (Correction: at least one year as in a 1954 newspaper article he is cited as a sophomore providing depth at his position for the coming season) , served a hitch in the Army and then spent 11 (correction: five) years in the Canadian Football League.
In 1928, "Big Boy" McKellar went directly from Louisiana Normal to the head coaching job at Mooringsport High. Like his nickname, the coach stuck.
When the North Caddo consolidation wiped out several old schools in the mid-1950s, he was just getting warmed up. He continued to coach at the same school (which became Mooringsport Junior High) until he retired in 1971. Ten of his last 12 basketball teams reached the parish tournament finals.
He was born in Plain Dealing on June 24, 1906, and graduated from Plain Dealing High in 1923. At Louisiana Normal, where he played baseball for Dr. C. C. Stroud and basketball (one year) and football for Prather, he majored in science and math.
Later, he played baseball with semi-pro teams in Shreveport, Longview and Lafayette. During summer vacations, he worked for Gulf Oil, the Louisiana Highway Commission and Austin Bridge.
On Aug. 28, 1937, McKellar married the former Jennie Rai Stinson of Dixie. They have three children. John and Mary Jane Hunt live in Shreveport, George in Bossier City. Both of the boys were basketball standouts at North Caddo.
In the 1930s, Mooringsport didn't get much recognition for its record streak of 16 straight shutouts. Byrd High and Centenary College were in their heydays, and got most of the ink in sports sections. Centenary's 6-0 football victory over LSU was the biggest sports story. Everything else was small potatoes.
"Even when we turned in stories, the Shreveport Times and Journal didn't use them," says McKellar.
Memory fails him on that point, because microfilm files at the newspaper, which did a better job of keeping records than high school coaches, show that accounts of most of his team's victories were printed. But if you don't have 20-20 vision, you might have trouble finding the stories.
Although he didn't keep records, 70 years later the streak of 16 consecutive shutouts would still be tied for third on the all-time list in the National High School Sports Record Book -- and no Louisiana teams are on the list.
Like many other stories, his Mooringsport team's accomplishment was underplayed. We may be a half century late, but telling "Big Boy" McKellar's story is a debt that is long past due.
Source: http://www.jerrybyrd.com/ Look under the tab called Top Columns. Note link is not currently active.
Coach as a member of the LSN football team in 1927,
and graduating in 1928.
Coach McKellar played three seasons of minor league professional baseball for Longview, TX and Lafayette, LA; respectively of the Dixie and Evangeline leagues.
Here are his stats:
1933 and 1937 - Listed as J. McKellar
1934 - Listed as John McKellar
This was mentioned in the 1934 LSN Potpourri.
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| J. D. McKellar - LSN Pitcher in 1927 |
Here are his stats:
1933 and 1937 - Listed as J. McKellar
1934 - Listed as John McKellar
This was mentioned in the 1934 LSN Potpourri.
Mooringsport Canines/Oilers.
North Caddo Rebels - After consolidation of Mooringsport High into North Caddo, residents continued to play key roles contributing to the success of their respective teams.
1966 Class AA State Basketball Champions
North Caddo completed a 32-4 season by defeating Zachary 73-59 in the finals of the the Top Twenty tournament, played at Hirsch Coliseum in Shreveport.
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| Front: Coach Billy Wiggins, Coach Jim Simmons Middle: Larry Courtney, John Jones, Kermit Welch, Johnny Flemmons, Jimmy Hall, Butch Flores, Roy Shane Back: Terry Harrist, Pete Schuler, Harry Avant, Mike Durham, Bobby Cheramie, Keith Norman, Jerry Carlisle, Tim Baldwin (Picture courtesy of Ted Williamson) |
Mooringsport players participating in the semi-final and championship games included starters Jerry Carlisle and Pete Schuler, as well as Harry Avant and Larry Courtney.
Semi-Final: North Caddo 71, Slidell 53
Championship: NC 73, Zachary 59
Source: Lake Charles American Press Lake Charles American Press 13-Mar-1966, Page 68
1969 Class AA State Basketball Semifinalists
A Cinderella season of sorts where the Rebels emerged as winners of a three-way tie for the district championship and then defeated Winsboro and Natchitoches to earn a trip to the Top Twenty tournament held at Rapides Coliseum in Alexandria.
Unfortunately their journey ended with a 63-49 loss to Hammond in the semifinals..
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| Monroe (LA) News Star 26-Feb-1969 Page 14 |
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| Hammond (LA) Daily Star 03-MAr-1969 Page 6 |
Unfortunately their journey ended with a 63-49 loss to Hammond in the semifinals..
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| North Caddo (in white) vs. Hammond Rebels pictured are George McKellar (?), Loyd Jeter (22), Bimbo Shane (20) and James Pyle (12). (Hammond (LA) Daily Star 10-Mar-1969 Page 6) |
Porter, Duke was cited by Coach McKellar as being one of his best players ever, and played for Louisiana State Normal in the mid-30s.
As a member of the LSN football team in 1934,
and in 1935.
Duke as a graduating senior at LSN in 1936.
Ryan, Mike played football at North Caddo and later for LSU.
An accomplished student and athlete at North Caddo.
Also note a guy you may have heard of in the top row.
Source:1964 Rebel (yearbook)
Source:1963 Rebel (yearbook)An accomplished student and athlete at North Caddo.
Also note a guy you may have heard of in the top row.
Source:1964 Rebel (yearbook)
Mike as a defensive back at LSU.
Source of above: 1967 LSU Gumbo.
Schuler, Pete was 2nd team all-state as a member of North Caddo's 1966 AA state basketball champions.
Stewart, Bill Honorable mention All-State in 1954.
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| Monroe News Star 19-Dec-1954 |
Tillinghast, Arthur Youmans, Jr. (1912-1992)
Listed as "A. Y.," "Arthur," and "Art" at various times, his baseball nickname was "Lefty." He played for LSU, as well as the El Dorado Lions and Shreveport Sports of the Cotton States and Dixie Leagues respectively as a pitcher and outfielder.
A. Y. listed among 1929 Mooringsport High graduates.
He was member of the 1931 LSU baseball team, then left to play for the El Dorado Lions of the Cotton States League.
He split time during the 1933 season, first playing with the Shreveport Sports, then members of the Class C Dixie League, and later with their rivals, the Baton Rouge Solons.
Pitching Shreveport to victory over El Dorado.
Hitting a homer for Shreveport to defeat Mansfield.
Virtually a lifelong Mooringsport resident, per his obituary A. Y. was later a World War II veteran and retired from Gulf Oil Company as an area superintendent. He passed away in 1992.
Walker, Hugh S. (1935-2000) received honorable mention for the Class B All-State team in 1952, along with teammate Jerry Janes.
He earned an athletic scholarship to Louisiana State University where he also played football for two years. Here he is mentioned in an article about the 1954 LSU Purple-Gold game, again with former Mooringsport teammate Janes and fellow north Caddo Parish product Jim Sanders of Vivian.
Source: Baton Rouge 23-Mar-1954, Page 21 (5-B)
He left the football after two seasons to concentrate on his studies. Read more about his later life and career in Notable People.
Wright, Herman, teammate of Jerry Janes, was an honorable mention All-State end in 1952.
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