CHS inducted the 1994 OHSAA Division II State Champion Football Team and three individuals into the CHS Athletic Hall of Fame on September 9, 2011. Individual inductees were George “Joe” Huxel, Charles Cox, and Rick Warner.
The 1994 Football Team brought Chardon High School its first team state championship in years and its only State Football Championship. Going 14-0 en route to the title, the ’94 Hilltoppers defeated Riverside, Parma Padua, and Walsh Jesuit in the playoffs before winning the championship game against Youngstown Rayland, 17-6.
George “Joe” Huxel ’61 was a three-year letterman in football, a three-year letterman in basketball, and a four-year letterman in track during his career at Chardon. A quarterback and defensive back, Huxel earned a four-year football scholarship to Florida State University. He also held the CHS long jump record for over 30 years and earned All- Western Reserve League honors in all three sports. Huxel went on to earn a BS in Business Management, and MBA, and a PhD in Higher Education Finance from Florida State University. He also served two years active duty in the US Army, followed by 20 years in the National Guard, retiring with the rank of Major. Upon his retirement from a lengthy career in higher education finance, Huxel established a finance consulting company he continues to operate on a part-time basis. Joe and his wife Betty currently reside outside Lexington, Kentucky, and have a daughter, two sons, and three grandsons.
Charles Cox ’88 has been involved with Chardon sports dating back to his elementary school days and still holds the Chardon Middle School long jump record. He earned three varsity letters in football, one in basketball, and four in track. Despite suffering a severe knee injury that required surgery during the third game of his senior football season, Cox returned to play in two playoff games that season and made a school record 22 tackles in an overtime playoff win over Minerva. He earned a football scholarship to the University of Toledo and graduated with a Criminal Justice degree in 1993. After earning his police certification from the Ohio Police Academy, Cox was hired by the Mentor Police Department, where he has worked since 1995. He helps run the Mentor Police Athletic Association and the Kops’n Kids programs for youths in Mentor and has also coached in the Chardon Recreation basketball and baseball programs, along with coaching in both the Lions Club and the newly-formed Chardon Youth Football programs. Chuck and Tina Cox have been married for 11 years and reside in Hambden Township with their two children, Dillon and Taylor.
Rick Warner ’95 was a two-way starter on the 1994 State Championship Football Team and earned All-Ohio honors that year. An All-CVC performer during both his junior and senior years in football, Warner also earned a varsity letter in wrestling. Upon graduating from Chardon, Warner earned a full football scholarship to Villanova University and has pursued a career in criminal justice, working as a Lake County Deputy, an investigator for internet crimes against children for the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s office, and currently as a special agent for the Bureau of Criminal Investigation. Warner and his family currently reside in Concord Township.
PHOTO (L to R) Athletic Hall of Fame Honorees Rick Warner, Joe Huxel and Charles Cox.
Click HERE for more photos - courtesy of G-TV.