Kenneth Hall, one of Texas high school football's most iconic players, has died according to a report by the Houston Chronicle. He was 89.
Known as "The Sugar Land Express" for his spectacular exploits at Sugar Land High School (now Fort Bend Dulles), Hall ran for 11,232 yards during his career from 1950 to 1953, setting a national rushing record that would stand until 2012 when it was broken by future Heisman Trophy winner and NFL All-Pro Derrick Henry. It remains the state record here in Texas, with only two other players — Cayuga's Traylon Shead and Aledo's Johnathan Gray — even eclipsing 10,000 career yards.
In a sign of the times, Hall's standard-smashing career — which included as many as 17 national records at one point — came not as a running back, but as a quarterback in Sugar Land's single-wing offense.
Hall's finest season came as a senior in 1953, when he ran for 4,045 yards in leading the Gators to a third consecutive Class B regional title, the highest achievement at the time for schools of that size. More than 70 years layer, he remains the only player in 11-man Texas high school football history to run for 4,000 yards in a season, despite accomplishing the feat in 12 games while his modern contemporaries often have as many as 16 contests. His 1953 season included 520-yard rushing performance against Houston Lutheran, still the 11th-highest rushing total in Texas history; he also added a kickoff return touchdown, punt return touchdown and defensive interception in that performance.
Recruited heavily, Hall went to play for Texas A&M and legendary coach Bear Bryant, but stepped away from college football before playing a snap for the Aggies. He would go on to play in the Canadian Football League and the NFL, appearing in 34 games mostly as a halfback and a special teams standout.
Hall was inducted in the Texas High School Football Hall of Fame in 1983, the National High School Sports Hall of Fame in 1984, and the Texas Sports Hall of Fame in 1994. He lived out the remainder of his life in Fredericksburg, keeping a connection to the game through the Hall Trophy, awarded annually to the best player in the annual All-American Game.
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