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Daye, Hoffpauir, Hill top vote-getters
The votes are in.
In the same way they finished when there were 25 nominees, Donnie Daye, Jarrett Hoffpauir and Guy Hill have been voted the top three athletes ever in Concordia Parish.
It should not be much of a surprise that two of the three top vote-getters - Daye and Hill - were members of the Ferriday High football teams which had 54 consecutive games without a loss and won four straight state championships.
Hoffpauir is currently in the Toronto Blue Jays baseball organization, after spending several years with the St. Louis Cardinals, including playing in four regular season games with the Cardinals this year.
Daye finished with 249 votes, followed by Hoffpauir with 138, while Hill tallied 93 votes.
Donald Fulford totaled 65 votes, followed by Tony Brocato, Max Fugler, Keith Woodside, Walter Johnson, Mack Moore Jr., and Gerald Vaught.
The voting started in the summer with 25 nominees and was whittled down to 10 last month.
"I just want to say thanks to all the people who voted," Daye said. "To be mentioned in the top 25 with all of the other class athletes, in itself, is quite an honor."
Daye moved to Ferriday in the eighth grade. He led the state in scoring as a senior as Ferriday earned its fourth straight state championship. Daye scored two touchdowns and the PAT as Ferriday beat St. Amant 13-0, giving the Bulldog 23 touchdowns and five point-after runs for a total of 143 points.
Daye went on to earn another title at LSU.
"What an honor to have played with the likes of Max Fuglar, Guy Hill, Tommy Brasher, Frank and Tony Brocato and all of the other excellent players during that era," Daye said. "And I was fortunate to have been a part of the 1958 National Championship team, and the 1959 No. 3 team in the nation. I was so lucky during that time to have played with and blocked for Heisman Trophy winner Billy Cannon, runner-up for Heisman Trophy Jerry Stovall, Johnny Robinson, Roy "Moonie" Winston, Tommy Davis and so many that I can't name them all.
"Throughout my career I had excellent coaches like Johnny "Red" Robertson and James Otto Lancaster who were far ahead of their time in the football coaching profession," Daye added. "They molded a group of young guys into one heckuva a team. My college coaches, Paul Dietzel and Charles McClendon, have gone down in history as championship coaches."
For his career, Daye totaled 80 wins, six losses, a tie, four high school state championships, one national championship and a No. 3 national ranking.
"My son, Daryl, told me, 'I don't know if that's a record, but it sure is an excellent average,'" Donnie said. "I am grateful to God, my family and friends for the opportunities that I have been blessed with."
Hoffpauir is the youngest of the nominees at 26.
"That's pretty exciting," Hoffpauir said of finishing second. "It's a fun deal. I really didn't realize how many good athletes there are from this area and it's just an honor to be mentioned with them."
Hill rushed for more than 5,000 yards at Ferriday High from 1952-54, scoring more than 80 touchdowns. He was part of four Ferriday teams which won 39 straight football games
"It's nice to be remembered, but my name does not even belong among those in the 1950s," Hill said. "There were some great athletes then such as Charles Fugler and Red McNew and many more."
Over the next three weeks, the Sentinel feature articles on Hill, Hoffpauir and Daye, starting on Dec. 16 with Hill and ending with a feature on Daye on Dec. 30. |
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