A three-letter winner in three high school sports, Keith Stonecipher, now of Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, was a 1946 SCHS graduate.

He earned letters in football, basketball and track while at Salem and was an ALL-North Egypt Conference selection in football his senior year. In track he participated in the 440-yard dash, the long jump, discus, and on the 440-yard relay team.
(more…)

Bill Spratt, a triple threat halfback, amassed 3733 yards from scrimmage over a three-year period for SCHS. During that span from 1949 to 1951, the Wildcats had a combined record of 20-6-1.

The 1952 graduate, whose rushing and passing yardage totaled 1682 in his junior year, keyed Salem’s 8-1 record in 1950. Spratt scored 127 points that year. As a sophomore in 1949, when Salem tied for the North Egypt Conference title, the Wildcats had a 7- 1-1 record, Spratt rushed for 700 yards and scored 48 points.

In his three-year high school career, he rushed for 2455 yards and passed for 1278. Spratt also handled the punting chores and during his senior year, he caught four passes for an additional 43 yards. In three seasons, he scored 240 points.
(more…)

A letter winner for three years in football and two in track, a Class of ’49 graduate, Stanley Knight is inducted into the Salem High School Sports Hall of Fame as a former football lineman.

Knight, a real estate salesman in Norman, Oklahoma, was a tackle on the 1947 North Egypt Conference Champion Team and on the 1948 team which finished with a flourish, scoring 13-12 and 14-13 victories over Lawrenceville and Mt. Vernon.

An All North Egypt Conference selection in 1948, Knight handled the kickoff for the Wildcats, consistently sending booming kicks inside the opponent’s 10-yard line. He earned two track letters for competing in the shot put.
(more…)

Louie Donoho, the anchor for the line of the 1938 SCHS football team was also a discus thrower and low hurdler for the track team. He went on to play varsity football at the University of Illinois.

After high school, two years at St. Louis University and military service in World War II, Donoho enrolled at the University of Illinois where he played center and linebacker on the 1945 and 1946 Illini varsity. The Illini won the Big Ten Championship in 1946, the first Big Ten team to play in the Rose Bowl under the current Big Ten-Pac 10 post season pact.

During his freshman and sophomore years at St. Louis University, Donoho was a heavyweight boxer and captain of the Billiken freshman football team. He entered the military in 1942.
(more…)

The man who marked up more points in basketball and called more plays in football than anyone in the history of sports at Salem High School, was inducted into the Salem High School Sports Hall of Fame in 1990.

The late Herbert B. Davis, for 45 years an SCHS English and journalism instructor, was inducted in the category “Friends of Sports.” Mr. Davis was the official scorer at basketball games for many of those 45 years, including regular season, regional and sectional games, and was the voice of the Wildcats on the public address system at home football games.
(more…)

The 1941 Salem football team, North Egypt Conference champions with a 6-0 record, were deemed one of the best teams in the state.

In addition to winning the conference, the first ever outright title for Salem, the Wildcats compiled an 8-1 record, including a 13-12 win over Centralia in a classic “Battle of Marion County” contest. They were also invited to play in the first ever Shriner’s benefit football game, and were the cause of Centralia severing athletic relations with Salem.

Some of this group started the renaissance of Salem football as sophomores on a team that finished 7-1-1, including a 16-0 win over Centralia-the first ever in football for the Wildcats over Centralia. As juniors some of these players tied for the NEC crown with a 5-0-1 mark.
(more…)