High school consolidation hasn’t just resulted in fewer schools, it’s robbed sports fans of some of the more colorful nicknames in the area — the Maroons of Madisonville-North Hopkins notwithstanding.
The current 2nd Region zoo does include two different-colored Tigers — the orange-and-black of Hopkinsville and the blue-and-gold of Caldwell County.
It also features Lyons (Lyon County), Panthers (Dawson Springs), Wildcats (Trigg County), Cardinals (Livingston Central) and Falcons (Fort Campbell).
The 2nd Region landscape is commanded by two Colonels — the southern Colonels of Christian County and the northern Colonels of Henderson County. And it’s defended by the Braves (of Union County) and the Trojans (of Webster County).
The region is also home to Rockets (Crittenden County) and Blazers (University Heights Academy), and sometimes the weather brings a Storm (Hopkins County Central).
And did we say colorful nicknames? How about these blasts from the pasts?
Teams like the South Christian Green Dragons, the Dycusburg Green Devils, the Spottsville Blue Demons, the Marion Blue Terrors, the Sturgis Golden Bears, the Salem and Sebree Red Devils, the Nebo Purple Aces and the Henderson City Purple Flash.
And nicknames that were colorful in their own metaphorical way?
Try the Morganfield Guerillas, the St. Vincent Arrows, the Clay Jets, the Friendship Quakers, the Onton Aeroplanes, the Hanson Hunters, the Nortonville Badgers, the Bearcats of both Charleston and Shady Grove, and the Yellowjackets of both Earlington and Fredonia.
Some of the aforementioned schools were in the 3rd Region years ago, but those locations now fall under the footprint of the current 2nd Region.
And some of those high schools and their mascots have been gone 60, 70 years or more.
But longtime 2nd Region followers will certainly remember the Providence Bulldogs, the South Hopkins Tomcats and the West Hopkins Rebels — the most recent high schools lost to consolidation.
How many remember the Pembroke Owls, the Hebbardsville or Frances Bulldogs, the Crofton Cougars, the Farmersville or Mortons Gap Pirates, the Sinking Fork Panthers or the Dixon Dragons?
And don’t forget about the former Kentucky High School Athletic League schools that joined the 2nd Region following integration in the late 1950s. That list includes the Hopkinsville Attucks Wolves, the Madisonville Rosenwald Tigers, the Earlington Million Purple Wave, the Providence Rosenwald Tornadoes and the Princeton Dotson Bearcats.
Hopkinsville is also home today to the Heritage Christian Academy Warriors, who compete in the Kentucky Christian Athletic Association.
Also, the Todd County Central Rebels are a former member of the 2nd Region now in the 4th Region.
Nicknames are fun. Some are unique. All hold special memories for those who played under their banner.
And the list goes on. At one time, it was common for virtually every community to have its own high school — sometimes 8-10, or more, in each county. And most of those schools fielded sports teams.
Mentioned here are just some of the schools and teams that existed through the years within the boundaries of what is now the 2nd Region.
