Oklahoma Sports – County by County: Choctaw

CHOCTAW COUNTY

County by County pres. Stuteville

County seat: Hugo
Population: 15,300
High schools (4): Boswell Scorpions, Fort Towson Tigers, Hugo Buffaloes, Soper Red Bears
Universities: None
State championships (11): Only 11 total state championships for the southeastern Oklahoma county. Fort Towson has six with three of them coming in four years (1979, 81, 82) in volleyball. Hugo claims four in three sports and Soper was the Class A baseball champion in 2009.

Famous sports figures from Choctaw County:

• Richard Billingsley: Hugo gentleman who created his own college football rankings system – the Billingsley Report – that was used by the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) to help determine the Division I football teams that would play for the national championship; His work can be found at the College Football Research Center (cfrc.com)

• Mike Parker: Played football for Hugo High School (Class of 1960); Played football for the University of Arkansas, defensive captain, Defensive Player of the Game in Sugar Bowl and Cotton Bowl appearances.

• Jackie Davis: Played football at Hugo High School (Class of 1954); Played football one season at Texas A&M for coach Bear Bryant and was one of the “Junction Boys”.

Memorable sports moments:

• 1972
For a county that has only 11 state titles, it’s a big year when three are earned. On March 4, both girls and boys basketball teams at Fort Towson won the Class A championships: the girls beat Bowlegs, 75-53, behind 30 points from Belinda Candler and 28 from Janice Fuller; the boys won over Depew, 65-55, with 34 points coming from Zack Jenkins. This also marked the first time in Oklahoma high school history that a school had won the girls and boys basketball state championship in the same year.
On May 13, the Hugo Buffaloes won the boys track title in Class 2A, with the highlight being the Buffaloes’ 1-2-3 finish in the 440-yard dash.
Additionally, it was also the first year any school in the county won a state title.

How do you get to Choctaw County?  It is in the southwest quadrant of the state on the Red River and you can get to any county in Oklahoma in a vehicle from the Stuteville Automotive Group, with locations in Atoka, Durant and Tahlequah.

Contributions by: Hugo News, iwasatthegame.com

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