The Shadow
CLIFTON FORGE – The Clifton Forge High School Alumni Association has announced the first inductees into the CFHS Sports Hall of Fame.
About 80 alumni and guests were on hand at the former high school’s “Homeroom” to hear the association’s president, Jimmie Houff, Class of 1956, make the announcement on Friday night, Aug. 20. This marked the beginning of another all-alumni weekend.
Active members of the association nominated 89 candidates for this award. The time frame covered 1928 through 1983, the 56 years the high school existed on Lowell Street.
Separate plaques for the inductees will be prepared in the next few months.
“A big congratulations to our six new inductees in the Clifton Forge High School Sports Hall of Fame,” Houff said.
The six inductees are as follows:
Coach Floyd Sales “Pop” Kay
Coach “Pop” Kay came to Clifton Forge in January 1927 from the University of Richmond. He first coached football and baseball but developed a basketball team in 1929. He took over the track team in 1933.
Kay was the icon of Clifton Forge coaches, serving from 1927 through 1942. His 1934 football team went undefeated.
Coach Kay was convinced that sports took grace and dedication as well as physical effort. He helped to develop many good football and baseball players over the years and saved many others from dropping out of school.
He also developed the first T-formation in football in the state of Virginia in 1939.
Coach Kay died on Nov. 23, 1983.
John William “Johnny” Humphries
Johnny played football and baseball for CFHS from 1930 through 1934. No more popular an athlete ever played around Clifton Forge, according to a Baltimore paper.
He graduated in 1934 and went on to the University of North Carolina, where he played baseball for two years.
He entered professional baseball in 1937, pitching for the New Orleans Pelicans in the Southern Association. He pitched a no-hitter against Chattanooga on July 30, 1937 and finished that season with a 20-7 record.
Humphries was hailed as the best pitcher in the minors in 1937.
He entered the Major Leagues with the Cleveland Indians on May 8, 1938, and with his six saves in 1938, he tied for second in the American League.
Humphries was traded to the Chicago White Sox in 1941, then traded to the Philadelphia Phillies in 1946.
His best year was in 1942 for the White Sox when he compiled a 12-12 record with an earned run average of 2.68. He finished his nine-year career after the ’46 season with a 52-63 mark and an ERA of 3.78.
Humphries died in New Orleans on June 24, 1965.
Robert Barclay Deaton
Bob, a 1939 graduate of CFHS, was known as “Flash” in high school and later called “Ace.”
He wrote numerous sports articles for the Daily Review from the 1950s through the 1980s. He was president of the CFHS Quarterback Club for many years and was a very civic and sports-minded individual.
In his writings, he found it hard to criticize any ballplayer that wore the CFHS green and gold, as he always looked at the positive side.
Bob died on May 5, 2001.
Richard Thomas Smith
Richard played football, basketball and baseball from 1952 through 1954. He grew up on the playgrounds of Clifton Forge, always playing one sport or another.
Many sports fans feel Rich was the most gifted athlete ever to play at CFHS. He lived close to Memorial Park and was ready to play the next sport after the last sport season finished.
He was also skilled in marbles and ping pong and loved to dive at Douthat State Park.
He never stopped being an athlete and died on Oct. 21, 2009.
Walker Burrell Banks
Walker spent his first three sports years at Jefferson High School in Clifton Forge where he played both basketball and football.
When Jefferson High School merged with Clifton Forge High School in 1965, Banks became a dominant force on the basketball court, helping CFHS to a 23-0 record and the Group II state championship for the first time in school history.
During the year, the team scored a 117-70 win over Riverside, and Banks scored a school record 49 points against Alleghany County.
Banks’ 6-foot-9 frame stood above his teammates: Tony Simpson, Griff Peters, Dan Adams, Larry Glover, Glenford Washington, Gary Simpson, Ronnie Volk, Corky Wallace, Tom Dean, Jim Entsminger, Gary Conner, Wayne Humphries, John Grimes and Norman Thomas.
Coach Colin Ferguson was the driving force behind this team.
Banks graduated from CFHS in 1966, then attended Western Kentucky University.
He was drafted by the New York Knicks in the ninth round of the 1970 NBA draft and played one year with the Pittsburgh Condors of the American Basketball Association, averaging 2.6 points and 3.1 rebounds per game in 16 games during the 1970-71 season.
Walker now resides in Illinois.
Robert Wayne Humphries
Wayne, voted Most Athletic in his senior class, played football and basketball from the eighth grade through his senior year. He ran track and played baseball during his four years in high school.
Wayne was the quarterback on the 1966 football team which won the District 5 championship, the first undefeated CFHS football team in 32 years. Trailing 12-0 in the Covington game, CFHS came back to win 32-12.
Humphries was also a major contributor on the state championship basketball team in 1966.
After graduation in 1967, Humphries went to Virginia Tech to continue his football career where he played in 1968 and 1969 under Coach Jerry Claibourne.
He played in the 1968 Liberty Bowl, won by Mississippi, 34-17. Ole Miss was quarterbacked by Archie Manning, while Tech featured a cornerback by the name of Frank Beamer.
In the Liberty Bowl, Humphries carried five times for eight yards and was 1-for-3 passing. Tech finished the season with a 7-4 record.
Wayne still resides in Clifton Forge.
