Second-year coach Kenny Farrar guided the 1944 Wildcats to an 8-1 record and the North Egypt Conference championship with a perfect 6-0 record. The eight wins Salem posted that year tied the 1941 team for most school wins in a season. Only the 1985 and 1991 teams have surpassed that win total for a season. Both of those clubs won nine.

Defense was a big key to Salem’s success that season, as the Wildcats posted four shutouts. They blanked Lawrenceville 25-0, Fairfield 44-0, Mt. Carmel 20-0 and Benton 35-0. In four of the five other games played that season the Wildcats surrendered 13 points or less.

The lone loss Salem suffered that season came late in the year, a 19-0 setback at Danville.

As far as the NEC race was concerned, the key game that year was a 32-20 win over Flora. Future NFL Hall of Famer Jim Finks scored five touchdowns that evening to spark Salem to the win.

Finks was a big part of the Salem success that season, as he accounted for more than 2500 yards with his passing, rushing and kicking.

However, Salem was hardly a one-man show. Finks had a sound lineup around him. Other usual starters that season included: 1990 Hall of Fame inductee Keith Stonecipher at left end, George Beck at left tackle, William Woolridge at left guard, Robert Raver at center, Robert Davisson at right guard, Jim Kendrick at right tackle, Keith Doane at right end, George Hofstetter at quarterback, Joe Conley at left halfback, and Howard Wagoner at right halfback.

The Wildcats of that season went through the campaign with a 6-0-1 mark. That lone blemish came in a 7-7 tie with Benton.

Under first-year coach Kenny Farrar, the Wildcats won the North Egypt Conference championship that season with a 5-0 mark. A key conference game against Olney was not played that season because of a polio outbreak at that school. Olney was also undefeated at the time.

The Wildcats racked up 338 points that season, an average of 48.3 points per contest. Among the victims included a 184-0 embarrassment of Fairfield. That total goes down as the third most points in Illinois history.

On the other side of the ball Salem was just as tough, as it surrendered just 20 points for the entire season. The Wildcats shut out their final four opponents (Fairfield, Flora, Bridgeport and Lawrenceville).

The Wildcats did all this despite being a small team. Right guard Stuart Patton was the only player on the team who weighed more than 200 pounds. The next closest was 180 pound Don Wile. Salem’s offensive line was especially small. Left end Bill Perry, left tackle Gilbert Brown, left guard Robert “Cotton” Davisson, center Dick Swope, Patton, right tackle Jim Black, and right end Keith Doane averaged only 159 pounds per man.

Salem had a talented backfield led by Wile. Wile scored 29 touchdowns that season and 191 total points. In the game against Fairfield he scored 86 points, which was a national record.

NFL Hall of Famer Jim Finks also roamed in the backfield as did Howard Wagoner. Salem rotated quarterbacks that season between Leon Davenport and Johnny Baker, who was regarded as one of the team’s best blockers.

Wagoner, who was second in touchdowns behind Wile with eight, was tabbed in the Salem Republican newspaper as one of the team’s best tacklers. Wagoner was credited with making a game-saving tackle in a win over Flora.

Out of the nine games Salem played that season, the defense posted shutouts in seven of them.

Salem blanked Pinckneyville in the season opener 42-0. The Wildcats followed with shutout victories against Albion 12-0, Fairfield 13-0, Mt. Carmel 13-0, Centralia 16-0, and Bridgeport 34-0.

The Wildcats also shut out Flora that season, but the game ended in a 0-0 tie.

That tie wound up costing Salem the North Egypt Conference championship that season, as the Wildcats finished the league season 3-0-1. They were one-half game behind Lawrenceville. However, Salem did not play the Indians that season. In those days the NEC did not always play a round robin schedule like it does now.

The only teams which were able to score against stingy defense were Mt. Vernon and Johnston City.

The Wildcats suffered their only loss that season at the hands of Mt. Vernon 19-0. Salem allowed just a single touchdown in the 19-7 win over Johnston city.

In all the seven wins Salem posted that season tied the 1926 team for most school wins in a season up to that point. The Wildcats win over Centralia was its first in 15 tries. Bill Finks and Howard Jenkins both scored touchdowns on that momentous day.

Third-year coach Van Howe’s crew was rather small that year, especially by today’s standard. Salem’s starting lineup averaged only 170 pounds per man.

More often than not the lineup went like this: Jack Morgan at left end, Clarence Moore at left tackle, Leon Bourell at left guard, Louie Donoho at center, George Seifert at right guard, Carl Gatewood at right tackle, Daryl Robb at right end, Bob Scoles at quarterback, Bill Finks at fullback, Babe Jenkins at left halfback and Herman Howard at right halfback.

The first came when Ross Smith placed second in the hammer throw in 1905.

The other was Louis Middleton, who placed in the state meet on two occasions.

Nicknamed Tuffy, the mile run was Middleton’s specialty. As a sophomore in 1925 he finished fifth overall. Two years later in 1927 Middleton was back at state again and topped his performance from two years earlier. This time Middleton came away with a fourth place finish at state.

While track was Middleton’s strongest sport at Salem, he also played football and basketball. In fact he was a member of the first football team ever at Salem.

After high school Middleton continued his athletic career at McKendree College where he ran track and also played basketball.

Although Middleton is now deceased, part of him is still in Salem Community High School athletics. His grandson John Boles is an assistant coach with both the football and boys’ basketball programs.

After graduating from Northwestern University with a degree in business and accounting, Boring nearly hit big as an owner of a professional basketball team.

Boring, who was nicknamed King because he took on and beat the school bully growing up, purchased the Detroit Gems in an era when pro basketball did not have the appeal that it does today. The Gems were a barnstorming team that played in cities across the country.

The Gems struggled to make a go of it financially. The struggling franchise was finally sold to Max Winter for $10,000 in 1948.

The next day at the BAA draft, Boring’s former team drafted Hall of Famer George Mikan. Winter also announced he was moving the team to Minneapolis and changing the nickname to Lakers. One year later the Lakers joined the NBA where they have remained ever since. Winter eventually sold those same Lakers to Jack Kent Cooke for $5.2 million. Cooke then moved the Lakers to Los Angeles.

Basketball was not the only place Boring made an impact. He also made his presence known in baseball. Boring served a scout for both the St. Louis Browns and Detroit Tigers.

Boring also coached a Class A level team in Dearborn, Michigan. On four occasions his teams reached the Class A national finals. The last came in 1978.

Fifteen future major league players played for Boring. Perhaps the most famous was former Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres first baseman Steve Garvey.

Boring was elected to the Dearborn Sports Hall of Fame in 1978. The city’s softball complex is named after him.

Boring first got into sports while growing up in rural Salem. He played basketball, baseball and track in high school.

Boring recalled when he went out for the high school team as a freshman, competition was very stiff. He noted 93 boys were out for the team, but he overcame the odds and made the varsity.

Boring died in April, 1996.

The son of former Salem coaching great Howard Thurman Sr.,Thurman Jr. was a strong athlete in basketball, track and football during his days as a Wildcat.

A 1952 graduate, Thurman Jr. set school records in both basketball and track at Salem. He set a single game scoring record of 34 points during a game in the 1951-52 season.

During that same year he broke the North Egypt Conference track record in the 180 yard low hurdles with a time of 22.9.

Thurman Jr. received state recognition in both basketball and track. In 1952 he was chosen to the Chicago Daily News All-State Third Team.

In his senior track season,Thurman Jr. competed in the Illinois state meet as a member of the mile relay team. Other members on that relay team were Frank Brinkerhoff, Harold Thurman and Glendel Phelps.

After he graduated from high school, Thurman Jr. went on to play both basketball and football at Bacone Junior College in Muskogee, Oklahoma. On the basketball court Thurman Jr. led his team in scoring in both the 1952-53 and 1953-54 seasons. As a member of the Bacone football team, he played in the Junior Rose Bowl at Pasadena, California in 1952.

After junior college Thurman Jr. transferred to Oklahoma A & M (now Oklahoma State) where he obtained a B.S. in geology.

At the time of his induction,Thurman Jr. resided in Bakersfield, California.

Tolliver is Salem’s all-time career scoring leader for both boys and girls with 2347 points. At one time it was believed she was the state’s all-time career scoring leader. Sixteen years after she graduated from Salem that total still ranks among the top 20 in Illinois history for girls.

Another SCHS record Tolliver holds for both boys and girls is most points in a game, 56. She accomplished that feat in a 1981 game against Greenville. While Tolliver is best known for her scoring, she could do other things well on the basketball court. She finished her Lady Wildcats career with 961 career rebounds.

Tolliver was a focal point in some great Salem teams. Her sophomore squad of 1979 went through the regular season undefeated at 23-0. Salem won its only North Egypt Conference title that year.

Tolliver was the Most Valuable Player in the North Egypt Conference in her senior season of 1981 and was also a member of the all-state team.

During her days at Salem,Tolliver was highly active in other sports as well. In all she earned 14 varsity letters covering basketball, track, softball and volleyball.

After she graduated from Salem, Tolliver went on to Northwest Missouri State University where she continued to excel on the basketball court as well as the softball field.

Tolliver compiled a string of 40 consecutive games where she scored in double digits. She finished fourth on the Northwest Missouri State career scoring list with 1456 points.

Tolliver was on strong college teams in both sports she participated in with both her softball and basketball teams nationally ranked. Both her teams competed in the NCAA Tournament.

As successful as she was on the court, Tolliver was equally successful off the court. During her senior season in college she was named to the All-American Academic Team.

Tolliver was offered an opportunity to continue her basketball playing career overseas after she graduated from college in 1985. Instead she opted to come back to Salem where she currently resides.

Haney reached that plateau late in the 1978-79 season. She wound up with a final career mark of 1087 points.

Haney saved her best season for last. In her senior campaign of 1978-79, she averaged 21.8 points per contest. Haney was a member of the All-North Egypt Conference First Team, a member of the Decatur Herald All-Area Team and a member of the Chicago Tribune All-State team.

Haney’s senior team produced the best overall season mark for both boys and girls at Salem. The Lady Wildcats went through the regular season undefeated at 23-0 before losing to Centralia in the regional championship game. Salem won its only NEC girls basketball championship that season with Haney.

Haney was also a great track athlete at Salem.

As a sophomore she qualified for the state meet in both the mile and the 440 yard relay. Earlier that season the 440 yard relay team set a school record with a time of 52.7. Haney broke the district record for the mile at Olney with a time of 5:30.1.

As a junior Haney qualified for state again in the mile and went on to finish sixth. She is one of only two Salem girls to ever place at state meet. The other is Lori Beckham.

Haney’s time at the state meet in 1978 was 5:18.2. That mark still stands as the school record.

After high school Haney went on to play college basketball at both Eastern Illinois and Kaskaskia College. She was named the Co-Most Valuable Player for Kaskaskia for the 1983-84 season.

Haney entered the teaching ranks after she graduated from college and spent some time coaching. She coached the Patoka Junior High volleyball team to a 21-1 record in 1987. Haney still teaches at Patoka.