The Trigg County High School Athletic Hall of Fame inducted its 13th class on Saturday. This year’s class includes Benji Glunt (football), Ray Torian (basketball/baseball), Tom Patterson (archery coach), and the 1999 girls’ region championship golf team.
Benji was a key member on the defensive side of the football for Trigg County’s back-to-back state champion teams in 1971-72.
From his linebacker spot, Benji was consistently among the leaders in tackles each night and had a nose for the football. His fumble recovery in the 1971 state championship game set up the clinching score in Trigg County’s 30-23 win over Lynch at Lexington’s Stoll Field.
Earlier in the season, Benji recorded 11 tackles in a win over Union County and recovered three fumbles – a school record that was tied in 1997 and remains today.
He also intercepted six passes which was a school record at the time.
He received the Big Play Defensive Award at the team’s banquet following the 1971 season.
In 1972, Benji was the co-captain of a defensive unit that remains one of the best in the school’s history.
He earned Second-Team All-State Honors in addition to Class A First-Team All-Defense by the Louisville Courier-Journal and was Class A All Western Kentucky Conference.
The Wildcats allowed just 10 points in three postseason games on their way to their second straight 13-1 Class A state championship season.
One of his bigger plays from his senior season came against North Marshall when he returned an interception 91 yards for a touchdown which would remain a school record until 2016.
Benji called Trigg County’s two-year state championship run a “magical time”, so much so that his teachers gave him a rubber stamp as a senior gag gift that said “football champs” so he wouldn’t have to write it so much.
At Trigg County, Benji was also on the wrestling team and was a starting catcher on the baseball team.
Benji continued his athletic and academic career at Georgetown College where he played football for three seasons. He also attended the school on a partial wrestling scholarship where he competed for one season before the school shuttered the program.
Benji was joined at Georgetown by his high school teammate James Tyler.
He continued to help future Trigg County football teams by scouting opponents for Coach Dixie Jones, including the 1989 state runner-up season.
Benji received a Bachelor of Science degree from Georgetown and later a bachelor’s in civil engineering from Georgia Tech.
He was involved in road and bridge design for many years and currently lives in Greer, South Carolina.
You can listen to some of Benji’s acceptance speech here.
