The newest class of the Caldwell County Football Hall of Fame will be honored Friday night when the Tigers host Mayfield at Tiger Stadium.
The 2025 class features Curtis Bates, Jeff Boone, Dee Cain, Gary Bertel Dixon, Austin McGowan, Wes Oden and Sue Simms.
Curtis Bates was a senior on the 1958 Caldwell County team that went 9-0-2.
A two-way starter, Bates was named All-WKC guard as Caldwell won the West Kentucky Conference championship that season.
Bates earned All-WKC honors three times.
Jeff Boone was a four-year starter for the Tigers.
He led the team in tackles as a junior and was named All-WKC his junior and senior seasons.
He was twice named to the All-Kentucky New Era Team and was selected All-Evansville Courier as a senior in the 1985 season.
Boone was also a state champion in powerlifting as a sophomore and junior and Competed in US Teenage Powerlifting Championship his sophomore year.
Boone also qualified for the state wrestling tournament as a sophomore, junior and senior. He had the fastest pin in the region his junior year, pinning an opponent in just 9 seconds.
Dee Cain’s senior season at Caldwell was 2015.
He was a consensus first-team all-stater as both a junior and senior.
A two-way standout, Cain was a key member of the Tigers’ state runner-up team in 2012.
As a senior, Cain was part of what was the winningest class of seniors in school history, going 44-10 in four seasons.
The versatile Cain led the Tigers with 24 touchdowns his senior season, scoring 14 TDs rushing, six receiving, three on punt returns and one on an interception. Caldwell went 10-3 this season.
Cain is also on the top 25 basketball scorers at Caldwell with 934 points.
Gary Bertel Dixon’s senior season with the Tiger football team was 1973.
Dixon was a two-way standout at guard and linebacker.
He was an honorable mention all-state selection in 1973.
Austin McGowan’s senior season was 2013.
He was an offensive lineman and saw some action on the defensive line on Caldwell’s 2012 state runner-up squad.
As an offensive lineman, McGowan helped the Tigers average 48.9 points a game in 2013 when the Tigers went 12-1.
Wes Oden was a senior on Caldwell’s 1986 team.
The versatile two-way performer, Oden also was a kicker for the Tigers.
He had a 36-yard field goal in Caldwell’s 15-7 victory at No. 1-ranked Mayfield in 1985 in what was legendary head coach Al Giordano’s last game on the Tiger football sideline.
Oden was named an All-WKC offensive lineman his senior season.
Also selected for the Hall of Fame as a contributor and supporter is Sue Simms.
Simms drove the bus for the Tigers for many years. She started driving the school bus in 1989 and retired in 2019.
Simms is known to many Tigers as simply SueMomma.
One of the greatest joys of her life was the years she drove a school bus and being around the kids. She particularly was fond of driving for the Tiger football team. She referred to them as “SueMomma’s boys.”
The Hall of Fame Class will be recognized at halftime Friday night when the Tigers host Mayfield at Tiger Stadium.
CALDWELL COUNTY FOOTBALL HALL OF FAME
2025—Curtis Bates, Jeff Boone, Dee Cain, Gary Bertel Dixon, Austin McGowan, Wes Oden, Sue Simms
2024—Elijah Sindelar, Jaylen Boyd, Justin Grooms, Evans Wells, Kyler Kendall, Drake VanHooser, Bob Hayes
2023—Paul Copeland, David Feagan, Mo Hollowell, John Mark Hutcheson, Ricky Robinson, Craig Wyatt, Frankie Brown
2022—Billy Hooks, Tez Sivils, Cole Webster, Andrew Webster, Brock Thomas, Will Brown, Brian Davis, Matt Tittle, Chris George
2021—John Boyd, Brett Hawkins, Eric Faughn, Matt Wilson, Dean Sears, Jason Asher, Ralph Sharp
2020—Rodney Bell, Brandon Sigler, Kent Wells, Donovan Dame, Timmy Beshear, Ben VanHooser, Earl Hammond
2019—Will Barnes, Cameron Williams, Marc Kanipe, Bob Hudson, Chad Lane, Gary Goodaker
2018—Carl Copeland, Jason Faughn, Garrick Sigler, Chris Cochran, Mark Hooks, William Fralick, Dann Hughes
2017—Ken Barrett, Bradley Stallins, Stan Hudson, Mark Barnes, Ken Argo, Andy Davis, Kelly Tinsley, Todd Griffin
2010—Ronnie Ladd, Chris Childress, Philip Phelps, Rumsey Taylor Jr.
2009—Junior McGowan, Stewart Childress, Kelly Davis, Jerrold Fuqua
2008—1998 Class 2A state championship team
2007—Randy Bruce, Byron Copeland, David Stephens
2006—Trevor Aikins, Eddy Hawkins, Bryan Jaggers, Dexter Lander
2005—Bart Griffith, George “Bubs” Harralson, Cray Lewis, John H. Stevens
2004—Dimitri McGowan, Steve P’Pool, Dickie Thomas
2003—Don Reid, Dixie Jones, Johnny McCalister, Pat Gates
2002—Billy Joe Grooms, Ron Hunter, Norman Jackson, Johnny Stone
2001—Michael Brown, Trice Hughes, Steve Kukahiko, Waynee McGowan
2000—Mark Blackburn, Twyman Boren, William F. “Bill” Brown, Norman Carner, David Mallory
1999—Larry Curling, Bobby Franklin, Joby Loftus, Wayne Sweeney
1998—Everett Cherry, Gary Childress, Chip Hutcheson, Dickie McCalister, Sammy Newsom, Clarence Robinson
1997—Neal Cummins, Tony Franklin, Bill Giannini, Leslie “Moe” Mallory, Donnie Miller
1996—David Barnes, Carrell Boyd, Tommy Giannini, David Mitchell, Chris Lewis, Gid Shelby Pool, William “Chick” Walker
1995—Tommy Atwood, Craig Clayton, Jimmy Johnson, Pete Moore, Garnett Scott
1994—Bill Henry Cartwright, Randy Dorroh, John Hopper, Richie Hughes, Johnny Jaggers, Rayburn Pickering, Dennis Tomek
1993—Marvin Copeland, Charlie Davis, Hayden Kelly, Ronald “Duck” Lacey, David “Gut” Lewis, Charlie Mitchell, Oscar Mitchell, 1963 Class 2A state championship team
1992—Jackie Crider, Hollis Curling, Scottie Edwards, Al Giordano, Ray “Red Rider” Hammonds
1991—Dr. Ralph Cash Sr., Fred Clayton, Kerry Curling, Joe Jaggers, Wayne Kelly, Gladys Knott, Ed Settle, Irl Stevens, Rumsey Taylor Sr.
