Two men who share several similarities will serve as honorary captains when the Russellville Panthers prepare to kick off against Franklin-Simpson Friday night.
Russellville Alumni Athletic Hall of Fame members Darwin Washington and Jerry Humble will be the third set of Honorary Captains as RHS celebrates 75 years of football at Rhea Stadium. Both of them make their homes in Russellville.
This is part of a season-long celebration that began with Hall of Famers Sonny Duncan, Johnny Guion and Larry Johnson serving as honorary captains for the home opener against Trigg County. Then two weeks later, 1968 stars Brad Watson and Toby Nichols were at midfield for the Butler County game as honorary captains.
Humble and Washington will try to bring good luck to Coach John Myers’ Panthers as they take on their toughest opponent yet in Franklin-Simpson. The Class 1A Panthers are 5-0 for the second straight year. Coach Doug Preston’s Wildcats are 3-1, having beaten three Class 5A teams before losing last week to BGA (Battle Ground Academy).
They will be on the field prior to the game’s kickoff. The celebration of the 1939 team is scheduled for halftime.
Darwin Washington and Jerry Humble share these distinctions:
· They have been tremendously successful football players;
· They are versatile athletes, excelling in a variety of sports;
· They were key senior players on two of Russellville’s state runner-up teams.
Humble was the middle linebacker and fullback on Coach Waymond Morris’ 1964 Panthers, who became the first RHS team to reach the state Class A finals in Lexington on UK’s Stoll Field. Humble suffered a concussion early against Elkhorn City, and that made a huge difference in the only loss the Panthers’ won record in that magical 8-1-2 season.
He was named first team all-state Class A along with All-WKC and All-SKY.
More about that 1964 team will be recalled soon. All-state lineman Joe Hicks is going to be the honorary captain at the Panthers’ Oct. 17 game, and the entire 1964 team will be recognized that night in honor of their 50th anniversary of going to state.
Additionally, Humble played basketball for Coach Howard Owens and alternated between running track and playing baseball.
From RHS, Humble went on to play for Coach Jimmy Feix’s Western Kentucky team. He was a leader of the WKU defense, which gave of the fewest points in Hilltopper history.
Darwin Washington had one of the greatest football seasons in RHS gridiron history in 1987. Only the great Larry Johnson in 1961 scored more points than Washington did in that magical season. He could have passed Johnson in the state championship game if Coach Ken Barrett’s team hadn’t had to go up against what was essentially a prep school in that championship game at Cardinal Stadium in Louisville. Pikeville was that opponent.
Washington was sharing the rushing with two other outstanding W backs, Phillip West and Dante Wells. And they were in the backfield with Hall of Famer John Markham at quarterback. He was third team all-state after having been honorable mention all-state the previous two seasons.
For his career, Washington rushed for 3,085 yards and scored 288 points.
Like Markham, Washington may have been an even better baseball player than football player. A four-year letterman for Coach Lou Kendall, he had a career batting average of .427, including hitting .504 as a senior. He set the RHS record for walks in a season and in a career. He played college baseball instead of football.
Washington also ran track and won the regional championship in the 100-meter dash. His body has been a remarkable blend of speed, power and hand-eye coordination.
Washington was an assistant baseball coach for the Panthers for several years. He now works at Logan Aluminum.
After graduating from WKU, Humble was headed to Owensboro where his father, Brother Sam Humble, had moved to preach. He had been hired to coach at Apollo High School, but when it became apparent he was going to be drafted during the Vietnam War, he chose to join the Marines as an officer. Thirty-four years later he retired as one of the highest-ranking and most respected officers in the Corps.
Among his roles was serving as commanding general of Parris Island, the legendary training base for all recruits east of the Mississippi and all women recruits.
He served as commanding general of the Third Marine Division, one of only three divisions in the Corps. His headquarters was in Okinauwa then. His wife, the former Margaret Hollingsworth—a 1964 RHS graduate, was hostess to heads of state from all over the world.
Next Jerry Humble became commanding general of Marine forces in Korea and CJ5 CINC, which placed him in charge of all Marine plans and policy for Korea. Before that he had been Operations Officer for the First Division, a role which had him planning much of the U.S. strategy in Desert Storm that was carried out by General Norman Schwarzkopf..
He officially retired on Jan. 1, 2003 and was sworn in as Tennessee's first director of Homeland Security less than three weeks later. He stayed in that role for two years before resigning to become a successful businessman. He is chairman of the Russellville-Logan County Airport Board.