Searcy inducted into Hall of Fame
Published 4:32 pm Tuesday, August 14, 2012
Former Butler County Schools Superintendent Shelby Searcy was inducted into the Andalusia High School Football Hall of Fame on Friday.
Searcy lettered in football at AHS from 1944-1946, and in baseball and track from 1945-1947.
As a junior, he won a 100-yard dash event against 63 other invited high school players during half time of the Blue-Gray Classic in Montgomery. The race was billed as “the race to find the fastest prep high school football player in Alabama.”
He received the J.J. Moates Most Valuable Player award in 1946 and was named captain of the 1946 team. He also served as president of the student body that year.
His performance on the football field earned him a scholarship to Troy State College where he was a four-year letterman. After graduating in 1951, he served four years in the U.S. Navy. He earned a master’s degree from Long Beach State College.
He was an assistant coach of Andalusia’s 1958 state championship football team, and served as head coach here from 1960-1964. He was named Coach of the Week by The Montgomery Advertiser after a win over Enterprise in 1964.
He returned to Andalusia as a coach, working as an assistant in 1958, when AHS fielded a state championship team, and later serving as head coach (1960-64).
Searcy said he could spend hours thanking people who helped make his honor possible, including his parents, teachers and coaches.
“I would like to thank my team mates for their outstanding skills and abilities,” he said. “Football is a team effort and individuals do not succeed alone.”