By Mark Carpenter
People’s Defender
The revival of high school football at North Adams has also sparked the creation of the North Adams Football Hall of Fame. Two years ago, 1978 North Adams graduate Sanford Sparks was inducted as the first member of the Hall and now the doors have opened to welcome a second inductee.
On Friday, Oct. 22 as the Devils hosted West Union in Southern Ohio Independent League action, ceremonies were held at halftime to induct 1980 NAHS graduate Mark Davis to the Football Hall of Fame. In the induction script, Davis was described as “representing everything great that we stand for at North Adams. He is a man of great character who carries himself with class on and off the field. He was a great athlete and even greater person. He has demonstrated many years of distinguished service in multiple facets here in Adams County and we are very grateful to welcome him to our Football Hall of Fame.”
“It doesn’t really seem real,” said Davis on the night of his induction. “I can think of a lot of other guys that played, that I played with, and wonder why they aren’t in the Hall of Fame before me. It’s an honor, it’s absolutely an honor, I can’t thank Coach Schmitz and the North Adams football family enough for this honor.”
Davis played four years of football at North Adams, back at a time when the Adams County League existed. He was a Varsity letterman for three of those seasons, playing multiple positions including quarterback, tight end, safety, and cornerback. He was a member of both the 1977 and 1979 teams, both of whom captured league championships. In 1979, Davis was named to the All-League Team.
Davis was a multi-sport athlete in high school, a four-year varsity letterman on the Devils’ baseball squad and he also played four years of basketball, winning the Free Throw Percentage Award in both 1978 and 1979, and also a member of the sectional championship team in 1979.
When his high school playing days were over, Davis gave back to his school by coaching Junior High basketball from 1993-2005, winning over 100 games, four league titles, and two tournament titles.
“As a freshman I started out as a back-up quarterback, didn’t play much as a freshman,” Davis recalled. “My sophomore year my older brother David and I were the tight ends who ran the plays in and out. My last two years I was the starting tight end, split out side some. It all seems like a very long time ago.”
“My senior year sticks out the most for a couple of reasons. One was that the teachers went on strike and we only got half a season and secondly, we won the Adams County League. The only close game I remember is West Union, we beat them 6-0 in the championship game.”
For his first three high school seasons on the gridiron, Davis and the Devils were coached by one of Adams County’s football legends, Mr. Steve Darby. After those three seasons, Darby left for Peebles to attempt to resuscitate the Peebles football program that hadn’t been faring too well in recent seasons. Davis also has one distinctive memory of playing for Coach Darby, who himself had been a college football player under Bo Schembechler at Miami University.
“Coach Darby would come to practice dressed in full pads,” Davis remembers. “You knew you were in trouble when you saw that.”
Davis also recalls some of the teammates that were part of North Adams football at the time.
“Kenny Crank played all four years with me, started as a freshman and broke his arm, but he was a hard-nosed tough player. John Robinson was fast as greased lightning, he scored four or five touchdowns in a game against Peebles. Sandy Sparks and my brother David were great football players, David ran an interception back for a touchdown against Manchester. We tease him about it, it was like a 40-yard return that got longer as he got older.”
“I’m thrilled that football has come back to North Adams,” Davis added. “I’d really like to see football become school-sponsored and I really don’t know why it can’t be. They’ve already got most of the work done. I think we’d get a lot more participation too if it were school-affiliated.”
“I’m so glad that we were able to honor Mark Davis,” said current North Adams football coach Justin Schmitz. “His play on the field and his service to our community off the field more than warranted his induction. We’re very happy to welcome him to the North Adams Hall of Fame where he belongs.”