Former Owensboro Mayor Waymond ‘Bogey’ Morris, who played a key role in Russellville sports history, died at his Owensboro home on May 10.
Morris coached Russellville football and track for five years, from 1960-65. In the process, he coached the Panthers to their first state finals in his final season at Rhea Stadium. The 1964 team powered its way to the championship game at what was then the University of Kentucky’s home turf, Stoll Field.
Not only was it the first of six berths in the Class A state championship game for RHS, but it was the first time in the new playoff system for the Panthers.
Stars of that team (8-2-2) included fullback, linebacker and future general Jerry Humble, quarterback Benny Cox, running backs Michael Benton, Mike Murphy and Garry Todd, and maybe Russellville’s best-ever interior offensive line consisting of center Tommy Kemp, guards Tim Koch and Sammy Todd, and tackles Joe Hicks and Gary Silvey. The ends were Donald Smith, Danny Anderson and Bill McCutchen.
Silvey, who is now deceased, and Hicks played on the West all-star team, which was led by their high school coach, Waymond Morris. Humble became one of WKU’s best linebackers ever.
Morris had been a star running back at both Owensboro High School and the University of Kentucky. He inherited a team that had suffered through a miserable season the year before. Still some stars were available, including seniors Dicky Bagby and George Hill and junior Larry Johnson, who were all starters on Coach Jim Young’s regional finalist basketball team the next spring. The next year Johnson put together arguably the greatest individual season in Panther history.
Coach Morris was only six years older than many of his seniors.
Other key players in the Morris Era before the historic 1964 season included Tom Noe, Tom Kirkpatrick, Kyle Rushing, Mike Hinton, Nat Love, Dickie Carter, Paul McDougal, Ronnie Simpson, Joe Billy Flippin and Phil Smart.
Waymond Morris, who was also an excellent social studies teacher, was named Class A state and Western Kentucky Conference Coach of the Year.
And then he left.
Morris accepted the head coaching job at Daviess County where Owensboro is located. He took with him one of his assistants, former Panther standout Howard Wren. Remaining behind was another man who had assisted him all five years, Clarence ‘Stumpy’ Baker, who went on to coach many of the sophomores and freshmen on Morris’ last team to the 1966 state championship game. One of those sophomores, Mike Humble, and his family moved to Owensboro and Mike continued to play for Coach Morris before joining his brother Jerry as a Hilltopper.
“Leaving Russellville was one of the most difficult decisions I have ever had to make,” Morris told me a decade later when I was doing research for Football City. “Some of the most enjoyable years I ever spent were in Russellville. I loved the town, its people and my church (Trinity Episcopal).
“But we felt football was headed to the larger schools and that it would be wise to go home. Russellville has tremendous football for a town its size.”
Now the son of one of Coach Morris’ best running backs, former UK starter Mikie Benton, is the new Panther coach. Larry Johnson’s son of the same name quarterbacked the Panthers to their most recent state finals berth 28 years ago.
After ending his coaching career, Mr. Morris became principal of Daviess County High School until his retirement in 1995 after having been named state Principal of the Year in 1989.
While still a professional educator, he was elected city commissioner and became mayor pro-tem He served as mayor from 1995-2004, the longest tenure ever for the mayor of Owensboro, one of Kentucky’s largest cities.
The football player/coach showed the other side of his nature by being an ardent supporter of the Owensboro Symphony Orchestra and the Owensboro Fine Arts Museum.
For Mr. Morris’ complete obituary, go to http://glennfuneralhome.com/obituaries/.
Assistant coaches Howard Wren, Stumpy Baker and Buddy Linton predeceased him. So did many of his players, including Bagby, Silvey, Garry Todd, Cox, Kirkpatrick, Simpson, Love, Flippin, Jimmy Skipworth, Johnny Givens, Jimmy O’Dell, Ray Perry, Ronnie Taylor, Frankie Brown, Fran Marren, Mitchell Campbell, Tommy Bonasso, Alan Neal, Tommy Silvey and Rhea Noe.
With the death of Waymond Morris, another chapter in Russellville’s glorious football history closes.