Herman Cheadle
Herman Cheadle attended classes at Purcell Booker T. Washington until racial segregation ended in the 1955-56 school year when he started attending Purcell Schools.
He was a four-year letterman and four-year starter on the high school football team from 1957-1960.
Cheadle was a starting offensive and defensive tackle on the 1960 PHS State Semifinalist team that went 11-1-1. That set a new standard for wins in a season. The season ended in the semifinals to eventual Class B State Champion Choctaw.
He was named to the All-District (B5) team and to the All-Arbuckle Conference team in 1960.
That same year he was named Honorable Mention All-State in football.
He was named to the All-Arbuckle Conference Basketball team as a forward in 1961. He was selected as an alternate to both The Daily Oklahoman and Tulsa World High School All-State Basketball teams as a forward in 1961.
He started and lettered all four years when Boney Matthews’ teams went 100-17.
Cheadle was the starting forward on the 1959-60 basketball team that went 23-3.
He was the starting forward on the 1960-61 Class B State Champion team that finished the year 28-1, losing only to 5A Dallas, W.W. Samuel High School in the finals of the annual Lawton Bi-State High School Basketball Tournament.
He scored 11 points in the 1961 State Quarterfinal game against Stigler when Purcell won 48-41.
He poured in 20 points in the Semifinals when Purcell topped Cordell, 57-46.
In the finals that year, Cheadle again pumped in 20 points when Purcell topped previously undefeated Lawton Douglas, 69-59.
A tenacious defensive player and rebounder, Cheadle was also able to average almost 10 points a game over his four-year basketball career as a starting forward for the Dragons.
Herman was a two-year letterman on the Purcell High School track team in 1960 and 1961.
Not only was Cheadle an outstanding athlete at PHS, but he was also a four-year member of the Purcell High School FFA organization from 1957-61.
Cheadle will always be remembered for his great physical strength and power, coupled with the unique finesse he had as an athlete. His teammates still say he had the strongest hands of anyone to ever play for the Dragons in any sport.
He was named as a defensive lineman on the 1960’s PHS All-Decade football team by Purcell Football Alumni.