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HHS Kicker Cleats, 1998
Football Kicker Cleats, 1996 HHS-Bell County Semi-final Winning Kick
Football Kicker Cleats, 1996 HHS-Bell County Semi-final Winning Kick
Donor: Damon Chuke, Class of 1998
Author: Carson Hoeh, Class of 2028, Elina Kleina & Miller Barrett, Class of 2025
Story Contributor(s): Damon Chuke, Class of 1998; Coach Dale Mueller, Class of 1973
Web Page Designer: Jade Farley, Class of 2027
The 1996 Bluebird football team was competing in the Kentucky state semi-finals on the Bell County High School field, surrounded by the Pine Mountains of south-eastern Kentucky. The football field was a mud bath and there was hooting and hollering from the emotion-charged crowd. That’s the recollection of HHS Alumnus, Damon Chuke, from this intense 1996 football show-down. Here are some events from that memorable game when Damon made the crucial kick against Bell County to advance the Bluebirds to the State Championship.
These featured cleats were worn by Chuke during the 1996 season and they are special because they are the cleats that sent Highlands to the state finals that year when Chuke made an impressive, but nerve racking kick in the football game at Bell County.
“In the game video when I’m taking my kicking steps, you know 2 steps back 1 to the left… you can see me kinda like fall over because of how thick the mud was on the field… it was crazy.” Chuke said. The field seemed to be more muddy and wet than anyone would expect a football field to be, considering the recent minimal amount of precipitation.
HHS Kicker Cleats, 1998
That evening, as he prepared for the game, he was unwell and felt a significant lack of energy to perform, compounded by the poor state of the field. He had been training specifically for this moment by focusing solely on kicking field goals, executing between one hundred to two hundred kicks during each practice session, which left his legs fatigued.
“I was probably the most nervous I’d ever been in my life,” said Chuke, “It was a moment for sure, and I didn’t know how big of a moment that would end up being.”
It was extremely cold and sloppy on the field that night, they even had to bring a helicopter out to land to dry off the field. Chuke was freezing and so sick that it made him more anxious about the kick, especially after he had already missed an extra point earlier in the game. With the team on his back and the game on the line, he prepared for the kick of his life.
“Coach said, ‘Can you make this?’ I'm pretty sure I looked like a deer in headlights and turned white. I looked over at Andy Raaker, who was the backup kicker,” Chuke said. “I wasn't looking at him to see if he wanted to do it, but to give me confidence or something.”
Damon Chuke, Class of 1998.
With the assurance his teammate, Raaker, gave him, Chuke prepared to kick the ball. He just went with the flow in the moment, tuned out everything else, approached the ball and made the kick. He doesn’t remember walking onto the field, just the moment after the fateful kick when it seemed the whole team enthusiastically tackled him to the ground. Chuke was caked in mud and filled with adrenaline. He still remembers the sky being bright red, which made him think of the great coach Jim Dougherty aka Red Dog.
“One of our coaches was Jim Dougherty, his nickname was Red Dog,” Coach Mueller reflected. “He was a strong, muscular guy who loved football, especially Highlands football. He had an amazing amount of energy. A lot of times people describe others as young and energetic, but Red Dog was in his 70’s and was as energetic as anyone. He had cancer a couple years before, and it came back during the ’96 season.”
Mueller, who won 250 out of 286 games at Highlands, mentioned how great of a coach Dougherty was. During the ’96 season, Coach Dougherty was losing weight and getting weaker. He passed away on a Friday before our game with Conner. The team met to decide whether they should play the game or not.
Mueller explained, “One of the players said that Coach Dougherty would have wanted us to play. We unanimously agreed. On the opening kickoff, Brady Grimm, who was one of Coach Dougherty’s favorite players, ran it back for a touchdown. Brady stood in the end zone and pointed to the sky. We were all crying. I’m actually ready to cry right now just thinking about it.”
The Bluebirds got to the playoffs and started to crush teams left and right. They were winning the games easily. They had big hopes and dreams to play Hopkinsville in the state championship after they beat Bell County in the state semi-finals. After winning the Bell County game, the players were very emotional and joyful.
To Chuke’s recollection, “The locker room after the Bell County game was wild!” The team was achieving their goals, and Coach Dougherty was watching from above.
Just to finish the tale of this special football season, we must share that the 1996 team made it all the way!!! They won state, and finished the season with 15 wins, zero losses. We are still so proud of them…. Amazing!!!
HHS Football Team, 1998.
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