This great team ran roughshod over 28 consecutive opponents before finally losing to Colquitt High of Miller County in the championship game of the Georgia State Tournament in Macon. The coach of this great team was Clyde Henry. Henry was born in Fannin County in 1910, was educated in Georgia and prior to World War II taught for many years in the Fannin County school system at Mineral Bluff. When war came to the country, Henry was married and had three young children.

1993 state Champions:Team members, coaches, and managers are from left to right: Row 1 – Head Coach Johnny Farmer holding son Jordan, son Jonathan, Tonya Walker, Melissa Pierce, Jennifer Cooley, Julie Mealer, Tina Davis, Angie Taylor (manager), Assistant Coach Carla Sisson. Row 2 – Amy Green (manager), Renee Pelfrey, Melissa Holler, Katie Collins, Leslie Jabaley, Suzianne Green, Angela McDaris, April Pack, Shannon Dillinger, Melissa Clore (manager).

John Wayne Black entered the world on March 5, 1915 in the village of Mineral Bluff, Georgia. His father, a blue collar worker for the Tennessee Copper Company, moved the family down Mineral Bluff Highway to McCaysville, Georgia when Wayne was very young. During Wayne’s childhood and adolescent years, therefore, he experienced the Roaring 20s and the early years of the Great Depression, two vastly different eras in our country’s history.

In 1986, during Senior Night ceremonies , Carla Sisson Boutin received an honor that had never been given to any athlete in the history of athletics in Fannin County. The school rewarded Carla for her outstanding athletic accomplishments at the school by announcing that her basketball jersey, number 15, would be retired and never worn again by any female athlete at the school.

Tom Bowling was an outstanding basketball player at West Fannin High School from 1960 through 1964. He was a key contributor to Region 3AA tournament champions in 1962 and 1964, two of only three regional championships ever captured by the school.

Steve Cheatham will be inducted into the Fannin County Sports Hall of Fame as a member of the class of 2014.

Steve was a tough-as-nails running back and defensive safety for the West Fannin Yellow Jackets from the autumn of 1962 through his senior season of 1965. He graduated in the spring of 1966.

Freddy Cook Jr. was only allotted a shade more than 29 years on this earth. He crammed more living into those 29 years, however, than most who survive for more than the standard three score and ten. Golf was a passion for Freddy for more than half of his life and, in recognition of his accomplishments at that sport, a name card reading ’Freddy Cook, Jr. –

2014 Fannin County Sports Hall of Fame Inductee. Earned 4 football letters and was the starting center for three seasons.

Aldon Farmer Biography – 2013 FCSHOF Inductee High schools in Fannin County have been fielding football teams since West Fannin High sent its first gridiron warriors into battle in the fall of 1955. Counting 2012, that means that a total of 78 football teams have taken the field to represent local high schools (21 at […]

When he took on the challenge of coaching the high school girls basketball team in the remote North Georgia town of Blue Ridge, Johnny Farmer said he wanted to “put Fannin County on the map.”

During his 14 years as the head coach of the West Fannin boys basketball teams, Tom Foster’s teams won 256 games and lost only 111, a winning percentage of 70%. In recognition of this outstanding record, and his other athletic achievements, Tom Foster has been elected as a member of the 2013 inaugural class of the Fannin County Sports Hall of Fame.

Steve Fry – Legendary West Fannin basketball coach Tom Foster says that Steve Fry was ‘a coach’s player—yes sir, no sir—bust my tail for you’. Quite a tribute from a coach who mentored many young basketball players during his career. Another tribute is forthcoming to Steve Fry in the form of his induction as a […]

Godfrey, who will be inducted into the Fannin County Sports Hall of Fame in the 2014 class, was on the athletic stage at West Fannin High School from the fall of 1957 through the 1960-61 school year. From the moment that Rene first stepped onto the West Fannin campus as a freshman, he was a major factor in the athletic efforts at the school.

1959 Gilmer County football game, Carlton Guthrie was the hero on many occasions for the football and basketball teams during his years at West Fannin High School. His athletic heroics have earned him a place in the 2013 inaugural class of the Fannin County Sports Hall of Fame.

The 1960-61 West Fannin basketball team had a 21-9 record, finished as runners-up in the Region 3AA tournament and advanced to the State Tournament in Atlanta. It was the first West Fannin team to qualify for the State Tournament. The team was very experienced and had four seniors in the starting lineup, so only one starter from the team would be back to compete during the 1961-62 season. When the 1961-62 team opened the season with a 60-30 loss at Ringgold, the other opponents on the Jacket schedule must have been licking their chops for their chance to tear into the inexperienced West Fannin 5.

Football coach Paul ‘Bear’ Bryant, when asked to summarize his coaching career, has been quoted as saying: “I ain’t nothing but a winner”. Whether he actually said that or not is subject to doubt, but there is absolutely no doubt that the quote does pretty well describe the coaching career of Clyde Henry. Henry’s ultra successful tenure as a basketball coach in Fannin County schools has landed him a prominent spot in the Fannin County Sports Hall of Fame class of 2014.

Ashley Herendon. It is impossible to find the adjective that describes the athletic career of Ashley Herendon. Outstanding, exceptional, stellar, remarkable, notable, prominent, distinctive and other superlative descriptions come to mind but all seem inadequate. For lack of a stronger word, EXTRAORDINARY is probably best.

Raymond Montgomery is a native of the one time mining town of Ducktown, Tennessee. He was a popular student at Ducktown High School where he played basketball and was a starting guard on the 1943 and 1944 football teams. He was captain of the 1944 Ducktown football team.

Lynn Phillips – Fans walking out of the West Fannin High School gym on the night of January 7, 1969 were shaking their heads in disbelief and awe of the performance they had just witnessed. On that night, Lynn Phillips, 6’ 7” center of the Yellow Jackets put on a terrific performance by scoring 37 points and grabbing 27 rebounds in a 77-50 pasting of Region 7AA foe North Whitfield

Bernadine Heaton Ralston Biography – 2013 FCSHOF Inductee Viola Bernadine Heaton Ralston was a very, very good basketball player at Mineral Bluff School, Epworth High School and Fannin County High School in Morganton during the mid 1940s. In fact, she was so good that the Fannin County Sports Hall of Fame has selected her as […]

Bunzie Doradell Johnson Ross has been selected for induction into the Fannin County Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2013 in recognition of her considerable basketball accomplishments at Fannin County High School in Morganton during the mid-1940s.

Brian Satterfield Biography – 2013 FCSHOF Inductee Brian Satterfield’s record-setting career provided Fannin County football fans with lots to be proud of, and that pride has been channeled into his selection as an inaugural member of the Fannin County Sports Hall of Fame class of 2013. The Epworth native and current Blue Ridge resident graduated […]

Travis Summers was a wrestling phenom at Fannin County High School from the autumn of 1999 until his graduation in 2002. His outstanding mat record, makes him the first Fannin County Sports Hall of Fame inductee to gain admission based on skills at the sport of wrestling.

T.J, Thompson was something of a basketball and baseball prodigy growing up in McCaysville, Georgia. He entered West Fannin High School as a freshman in the fall of 1957. When he arrived, he found a basketball program suffering from growing pains.

From the age of 15, Tipton had been one of the best players in the semi-pro teams in the area. He probably realized that baseball was his ticket to success and in the summer of 1940, along with his brother Dwight, Joe headed to the Rome, Georgia area to play in the Northwest Georgia Textile Industrial League, a very strong semi-pro baseball circuit. Joe

During the 1959 season, Turner accounted for more than 1300 yards in total offense. He scored 11 touchdowns during the season, including 3 in the game against Johnson High of Rome. In the game with Adairsville to decide the sub-region championship, Turner scored the only touchdown of the game on a 55-yard run from scrimmage. His most spectacular touchdown came against Dade County in the region championship game when he scampered 93-yards on a kickoff return for a touchdown.

Jim Woodall began his career in organized athletics as a freshman at West Fannin High School in 1957 and ended it at Northwest Whitfield High School in 2008. He was involved in competitive athletics as a player or coach for roughly 47 of those years.  In recognition of his many accomplishments during that  period, Jim […]