WRHI Unveils The Final Group Of 25 Of Its Top 75 High School Football Players

On Friday night, WRHI presented its final 25 members of its Top 75 Players to ever play on the WRHI airwaves (over the last 75 years).  In addition, WRHI named its final 2 “legacy coaches”.  Below are the bios for each coach and each player.

Tommy Oates (1923-2004) York High graduate and local native Tommy Oates, coached York High to three consecutive undefeated seasons including a 27-game win streak and only one loss in four seasons. He later became coach of a struggling Rock Hill team that would grow into the area’s most dominant team of the 1960s. Oates’ best seasons were 1967 and 1968 when the Bearcats were named statewide runners-up for two consecutive seasons. He influenced many Tri-County head coaches. Tommy served as head coach of the York Green Dragons 1946-1958 & Rock Hill High Bearcats 1959-1970. (Overall record 156-68) Shrine Bowl Head Coach 1961. SC Coaches HOF 1994. Highway 5 between Rock Hill and York is named in his honor. York County Sports Hall of Fame 1998.

Kyle Richardson: Northwestern Trojans (2011-2015) In five years as head coach, he won two state championships and played for a third. Richardson’s “Air-Raid” Offense set nearly one-hundred statewide season and career records. He led Northwestern to a #7 National Ranking in 2013 (2nd highest final ranked team in SC history), 2014 Carolina Panthers’ Coach of the Year and 2013 Nike South Carolina Coach of the Year. Overall record of 58-13, including 14-2 in playoff games. In 2016, Richardson joined the Clemson University coaching staff where he has won 2 National Championships and 4 ACC titles. York County Sports Hall of Fame inductee-2019.

Joe Blackwell (1944-2016) York OL 1957-1960 (’61) – 1960 North South Game, All State, All Conf, 160 State Champ Runner-up, Clemson 1961-1964, York High HOF.

Bill Few (1936-2014) Rock Hill QB 1950-1953 (’54) – 1953 North South Game, Clemson RB 1954-1957, two-way player for Clemson, Orange Bowl 1958. York County Sports Hall of Fame/2007.

“Ragin’” Ray Head (1935-2005) Rock Hill RB 1950-1953 (’54)  – 1953 Shrine Bowl, 1953 SC Champ, UGA 1954-1957.

Hugh “Mustang” Mauldin (1944-2014)  Rock Hill RB 1958-1961 (’62) – 1961 Shrine Bowl, 1961 North South Game, Clemson 1962-1965, led the ACC in Punt Returns/Rushing yards, York County Sports Hall of Fame/2013.

Pat Burris-Northwestern DB 1983-1986 (’87) – 1986 Shrine Bowl, Arkansas DB 1989-1990.

Chris “Pokey” Cobb (1956-1990) Clover RB, 1973-1976 (’77) 1976 Shrine Bowl MVP, So. Ill. Univ., Led the NCAA in All Purpose Yards for 2 years, CFL Hamilton Tiger Cats.

Skip Dunham-Rock Hill LB 1971-1974 (’75) – 1974 Shrine Bowl, RH MVP, SC State LB 1975-1980, NFL Eagles 1980.

Dee Feaster-Northwestern RB 1991-1994 (’95) – 1994 Shrine Bowl, 1993 State Champion, Florida State 1995-1998.

Jonathan Hefney-Rock Hill DB 1999-2002 (’03) – 2002 Shrine Bowl, 2002 State Champ, Hargrave Academy, Univ. Tennessee DB 2004-2008, All-SEC Freshman 2004, 1^st team All SEC 2007, NFL DB TB/DET/TN 2008-2010, CFL 2009-2015, CFL Rookie of Year 2009, All-Star 2009, 2011, 2012.

Jimmy Kiser-Northwestern QB 1971-1974 (’75) -1974 Shrine Bowl, All Area/All State, Furman, All Conference/MVP, Vanderbilt Coach, York County Sports Hall of Fame/2002.

Leonard  “Cookie” Massey-Northwestern DB 1985-1988 (’89) – 1988 Shrine Bowl, North Carolina 1989-1993. York County Sports Hall of Fame/2017.

Tracey McGriff-Lancaster RB 1987-1990 (’91) – 1990 Shrine Bowl, 1989, 1990 State Runner Up, SC State RB 1991.

Steve Mellon-Northwestern OL 1988-1991 (’92) – 1991 MVP North South Game, Carson Newman OL/DL 1992-1996, 2x Division II All American. York County Sports Hall of Fame/2007.

Vance Walker-Fort Mill DL 2001-2004 (’05) – 2004 Shrine Bowl, Georgia Tech 2005-2009, 2x ACC 1^st team, NFL DE ATL/OAK/KC/DEN 2009-2016, Super Bowl 50 Champ/Denver, York County Sports Hall of Fame/2017.

Tony Watkins-Rock Hill LB 1987-1990 (’90) – 1989 Shrine Bowl, USC DB/LB 1990-1992, NFL Europe 1990-1992.

Montay “Tay” Crockett-South Pointe WR 2008-2011 (’12) – 2008, 2011 SC Champ, Georgia Southern WR 2012-2016, NFL GB 2017- 2019.

Dupree Hart-Northwestern WR 2011-2014 (’15) – 2014 Shrine Bowl, 2013 State Champ, 2012 State Runner Up, Mr. Football finalist, Big 2 Player of Year – 2014, holds state HS record for career receptions, USC/College of Charleston BB 2015-19.

Spencer Lanning-York K 2002-2005 (’06) – 2005 North South Game, USC K 2006-2010, NFL Cleveland 2011-15, York County Sports Hall of Fame/2019.

Nick McCloud – South Pointe DB 2012-2015 (’16) – 2016 North/South Game, 2015, 2014 State Champion, 3 year starter at NC State (2016-18) Currently starting CB for Notre Dame.

Jonathan “Fat Cat” Meeks–Rock Hill DB 2004-2007 (’08) – 2010 North/South Game, Hargrave Academy & Clemson DB 2009-2012, NFL Buffalo Bills 2013-2016.

Corey “C J” Neely-South Pointe 2008-2011 (’12) –  2011 State Champ with 3TDs in game, Georgia Military 2013-2014, Marshall Univ. 2015-2016, All American.

BT Potter-South Pointe K 2014-2017 (’18) – 2017 North South Game, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 State Champ, Rivals #2 National Kicker 2017, Army All-American, Clemson K 2018 – present, 2018 National Champ, 2019 National Champ R/U.

Mason Rudolph-Northwestern QB 2010-2013 (’14) – 2013 Shrine Bowl MVP, 2013 State Champion, 2013 Mr. Football Finalist, 2013 All American, 2012 State Runner Up, Oklahoma State QB 2014-2017, Johnny Unitas Award, Sammy Baugh Trophy, NFL QB PIT 2018 – present.

Greg Ruff-South Pointe QB 2012-2015 (’16) – 2014 North/South Game, 2014 & 2015 State Champ, 2104 & 2015 All-State, holds state HS record for consecutive passes without an interception, Newberry College QB/WR 2016-2020.

Asa Watson-Rock Hill TE 2006-2008 (’09) – 2008 Shrine Bowl Captain, 2008 All State, Nationally ranked #2 TE NC State TE 2009-2013, All ACC, NFL NE/DAL England.