Note: this column appears in the 2009 US Army Corky Kell Classic program, which is this Saturday. For more info, visit www.scoreatl.com!
Fans of Georgia High School football are treated every year to four incredible games to kick off the season at the Corky Kell Classic. The Classic, which began in 1992, matches up some of the best teams in the state inside the Georgia Dome where all eight teams hope to finish their seasons. The event carries on today because of a promise Dave Hunter kept to Corky Kell, and Hunter says the event will continue as long as he has a say.
In 1992 former Wheeler head coach and Cobb County’s AD Kell came to Brookwood’s Hunter, the football coach and AD at the time, with the idea to match up McEachern and Brookwood in a game to benefit Cobb and Gwinnett counties. The teams met at the Dome for the first football game ever held at the arena and McEachern won 21-14. The two teams have been a part of the Classic ever since. When Kell fell ill in 1994, he asked Hunter to keep the event going, and Hunter spearheaded the 1995 Classic and took over after Kell passed away. The event has taken place in the Georgia Dome every year since 1992, save for two years when, once the Dome was booked for a convention and another year when part of the roof fell and the Classic was held on a Monday or “Monday Night Football,” as Hunter referred to it. The number of games that makes up the Corky Kell Classic has increased from the original two to three, then four and eventually five before the timing was thrown off and it was scaled back to four games, what it is today. According to Hunter, the teams selected must be programs of quality but also have strong character “in both team and community.”
In addition to the gate, the schools also receive scholarship money from some private backers. Last year the Kell Scholarship Fund awarded six scholarships and over the course of the Classic’s history, over $60,000 has been awarded. Besides the money though, the game gives the teams a measuring stick for their seasons.
It was in the 1996 Kell Classic where Hunter believes his state title run began, despite a loss. In a game that Hunter calls one of the two most important games to his program’s success, Valdosta rallied to beat the Brookwood Broncos 31-28 in the closing seconds. Hunter and his players believed they should have won, and following a loss in the next game to Parkview, the Broncos ran off thirteen straight wins to capture the 1996 Class AAAA state title, the largest classification at the time. Brookwood defeated both Parkview and Valdosta en route to the title, tagging the Wildcats 45-24 in the final game. That team was one of Hunter’s “fifteen favorite teams,” but also one he considered his most unselfish. “They played up to and met their potential.” The team featured Georgia’s Defensive player of the year in DT Curt McGill and Offensive player of the year RB Paul Freeman. Freeman now runs a non-profit organization for handicap children and adults, according to Hunter, and is a player that Hunter remembers fondly. In fact, at a recent Alumni Golf event that featured nearly sixty Broncos, Hunter told his son that “I’ve done my job.”
After fifteen seasons as Brookwood’s coach and several more serving as the Athletic Director, Hunter seems proud to have helped build relationships and have helped the young men grow as individuals. “As a coach,” Hunter says, “it thrills me. You build Brookwood loyalty, but more importantly, teammate loyalty.” These teams helped Hunter achieve a 136-33 record with the Broncos. In 19 career seasons, Hunter posted a 176-52-1 record as he coached for four seasons with Peachtree before coming to Brookwood in 1987.
It was in Hunter’s first season with the Broncos where he believes he scored one of the biggest wins in Brookwood history and one that would set the tone for his career at his new school. That year, the Broncos ventured to Clarke-Central High School and recorded the first victory ever for a Gwinnett County program over the Athens power. That team was led by a kicker, one who has gone on to college and NFL fame and recently returned to his alma mater with the hometown Atlanta Falcons. Jason Elam kicked for Hunter’s first Bronco squad and Hunter called his kicker an “outstanding player and vocal leader.” Hunter said he was so proud at what a great example Elam turned out to be for that team and Elam was also named all-state that 1987 season. Under Hunter, 23 Broncos would earn all-state honors, helping Brookwood to a level of success that few other schools have reached since. With Hunter in charge, the Broncos never posted a losing record and won at least ten games nine times with two nine-win seasons and two eight-win seasons. The Broncos made the playoffs twelve of Hunter’s fifteen seasons and five more times while Hunter served as AD. Hunter posted four 13-win seasons, including three straight from 1996 through 1998. The 1997 and 1998 seasons both saw the Broncos go undefeated in the regular season, only to fall in the state semi-finals at the Georgia Dome.
This season McEachern and Brookwood, the two original teams will battle once again in the Dome as part of the 2009 US Army Corky Kell Classic. Hunter was 6-4 in the Classic but 0-2 against the McEachern Indians. The coach knows that while it will certainly be a battle, he wouldn’t have it any other way. The former Brookwood coach credits the Corky Kell Classic with helping the program attain its success. The teams involved in the Classic are put on display for every fan to see, usually a week before the rest of the schedule kicks off. Throw in the fact that the games are played in the Georgia Dome and you have an event where schools are eager to be involved. While the idea may have been the brainchild of Corky Kell, the event would not be what it is today without Brookwood’s Dave Hunter. While he is quick to give former McEachern coach Jimmy Dorsey plenty of credit, the Kell Classic is what it is today because of Hunter. His passion for not only the game but also helping the players and schools involved is a testament to him. Hunter vows to keep the Classic going as long as he is able because of a promise he made; a promise he has certainly followed through on so far.
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