The Big Red Tigers Hosted Bruceton in 1961 for First Home Game in New Stadium
The Lexington High School Football Stadium as is today. The stadium was expanded in 1961 with the concrete stands.
Photo by: Steve Corlew / The Lexington Progress
Article by Steve Corlew-
As the Henderson County Board of Education plans for a new stadium at Lexington High School, it seemed a good time to visit the opening of the current stadium 61 years ago.
A senior running back for the Big Red and local attorney, Howard Douglass, played in the first game at the stadium in 1961 and fondly recalls those days.
A couple of weeks ago, he put a post on Facebook about a note he had received from his sister, consoling him for the team’s loss to archrival Huntingdon. That post gave a date and enough information for me to dig into The Lexington Progress archives and find some interesting facts.
“It was 1961, the first season in the new stadium that is still in use and it was packed with an overflow crowd in anticipation of an LHS victory,” according to Douglass’ post. Unfortunately the Tigers lost that game, 42-6.
It turns out that Lexington would overcome that loss and finished the 1961 season with a 7-2 record.
Huntingdon, the biggest rival of that time, went undefeated that season under Coach Paul Ward and won the Lexington Rotary Bowl with a 30-20 win over Hardin County.
The Lexington Big Red Tigers hosted Bruceton for the first home game in a newly revamped stadium in 1961.
According to The Lexington Progress, an estimated crowd of 3,000 attended the first game in the new stadium and “howled as the Red bowled over the longtime enemy.”
Douglass remembers a big crowd. Douglass was a senior starting left half back. The team ran the…
For complete coverage, see the August 24th edition of The Lexington Progress.
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