THE ALL AMERICAN BOY

 

The All American Boy, if there ever was one. Elwood Jones. Handsome, a smile that would melt the chill of the most chaste of virgins and  probably the best halfback ever to play football for the Purville Panthers. Need a quick six points? Hand or pass the football to Elwood and the chances were better than fifty percent he would score. A blind date? Same result.

Elwood was a Purville native, born, reared and educated in the little town in southwest Kentucky. He was raised by his mother and tutored by his older brother. His older brother would have been the best halfback to ever play for the Purville Panthers, but a little thing called World War II got in the way. His playing fields became the bloody battlegrounds of Europe.

Elwood not only charmed the female students at Purville High School but also the teachers – all except Edna Nolan. A combination of Cary Grant, Jimmie Stewart, Gary Cooper and Ronald Coleman couldn’t have charmed the English teacher at Purville High School. In her classes you got what you earned, nothing more and nothing less.

Bookwork was not Elwood’s forte. Football was. For all of his senior and junior years he was the go-to guy. His head fakes and quick cuts became legendary in the Western Kentucky Conference. Opposing coaches built their defenses for the Purville games just to stop him and not very effectively. And when they did manage to stop him for several plays the quarterback handed the ball to the other halfback, Ed Hensen, not as fast or elusive as Elwood but a quality halfback in his own right. Stack the defensive line and the Panther quarterback, Billy Joe Johnson simply took three steps back and threw the ball downfield to Chet McClusky, Purville’s six foot two inch All State end and star basketball player.

The 1949 Purville High School Yearbook pretty well spells out the accolades of Elwood Jones: Football Letterman 3 years, Football All State, Football Co-Captain, Letter Club President, Key Club, Best Looking and Most Ideal in the PHS Popularity Contest, Junior and Senior Homecoming King.

On a cold rainy November evening in 1947 while Purville played one of their most important football games of the year Elwood was not on the field. He and his mother stood alone under a single umbrella on a wooden platform at the Purville Railway Station awaiting the arrival of a casket carrying the remains of the other Jones boy. No newspapers cried aloud his achievements. No letter jackets, no trophies, just a Silver Star for gallantry, a Purple Heart, and a citation signed by President Harry S, Truman.

A serious knee injury his senior year prevented Elwood from playing football for a major university or any football career beyond. His success in life came later on as a manager for a large manufacturing company in Lexington. Elwood’s hero in life was not the myriad of college football players who went on to glory on the gridiron or in the professional ranks, but an older brother who would have been the greatest halfback ever at Purville High School had he not sacrificed his life for a greater cause.