The Georgia Sports Hall of Fame is going to get another inductee who hails from Cedartown in a coming ceremony in May to honor a longtime coach and supporter of local youth in the community.
Coach Escue Rodgers is set to become the next inductee following his long career as the head football coach and athletic director of Cedar Hill High School, along with his long service to the community as a youth coach and head of a variety of teams throughout a 24-year career.
According to the Georgia High School Football Historians Association, Rodgers coached at Cedar Hill from 1945 through 1964, and with what records were available to the organization put his tally at 75-33-6 when coaching the Panthers. (Note: Records for the school do not have him as head coach in the GHSFHA database for the full time, and therefore aren’t completely reconciled. Feel free to send additional info to kevin@polk.today or comment below.)
The Cedar Hill Alumni Association sent out a note of thanks for the long support of Cedartown and the surrounding area for pushing for Rodgers’ induction into the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame.
Here’s the letter in full:
The upcoming induction ceremony where Rodgers will join others being honored this year with inclusion is coming up on May 22 in Macon.
From the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame’s Announcement:
Escue Rodgers was a native of Piedmont, Alabama. Graduating from Booker T Washington High School and attending college at Morris Brown. He received a degree in teaching and became head coach and athletic director of Cedar Hill High School in Cedartown, GA. His teams won 85 trophies in 24 years in football, basketball, and track. He coached all sports at the school. The Cedar Hill Fighting Panthers football team was perennial winners. During the time of segregation, Escue was named head coach of the North Team, the first-ever Georgia Interscholastic Association All-Star Team. His interest was not just to produce a winning football team, but he also felt a coach has an obligation to guarantee his boys a good education. Escue was honored during his lifetime with numerous coaching and teaching awards including Coach of the Year from Fort Valley State in 1953, Morris Brown College Outstanding Coaching Achievement Award in 1956, and the distinguished Coaching Award from the Georgia Athletic Coaches Association in 1974. Escue passed away in 1978.
Check back for more info on the induction in the coming days.
Dear Kevin the Editor,
Thank you for publishing this article about Coach Rodgers. Just wanted you to be aware that Escue Rodgers was born in Piedmont, Alabama on March 18, 1919. The GSHF has already made changes to his bio.