Abilene High School

Abilene High School is a public high school located in Abilene, Texas and is part of the Abilene Independent School District. Abilene High School is the name given to three different schools in the past 150 years. The first Abilene High was an old warehouse. Not long after that, the school was moved to what is now Lincoln Middle School. In 1955, Abilene High was moved to its current location. Its main rival in sports is Cooper High School. Abilene High's mascot is the bald eagle. The Abilene High Marching Band is accepted to be the oldest marching band in Texas.

Athletics

Abilene High has one of the most tradition-rich football programs in the state of Texas. Coached by P.E. Shotwell, whom the Shotwell Stadium is named for, Abilene won its first state championship in 1923, beating Waco 3-0 (Waco had held opponents scoreless since 1921; they had beaten Abilene 13-0 the previous year). In 1928, Abilene won another state championship, and a third one in 1931. During the 1920s Paul Tyson coached Waco dynasty, Abilene and Dallas Oak Cliff were the only teams able to beat Waco.

Coach Shotwell left Abilene in 1923, but return for a second stint from 1946-1952. His successor, Chuck Moser took Abilene football to new heights, guiding them to three consecutive state championships (1954-56) and a state-record 49 consecutive wins.^[1] Moser left Abilene in 1959, his successors Wally Bullington (1960-65) and David McWilliams (1966-69) were not able to keep Abilene High football on that high level, especially since Cooper High School opened in 1960 and since drew a lot of students away from Abilene High. Abilene High has yet to reach the state championship game again.

Notable alumni

• Carl Baugh, young earth creationist
• Jimmy Carpenter, Texas High School Hall of Fame running back who went on to play at Oklahoma for Bud Wilkinson
• Glynn Gregory, Dallas Cowboys running back
• Dave Parks, NFL wide receiver and end
• Jim Perry, Minnesota Vikings safety

References

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