Five outstanding area sports legends, representing basketball, football, wrestling and swimming, are the latest inductees into Buddy LaRosa's High School Sports Hall of Fame. Joining them is a legendary Cincinnati basketball coach and two fabled high school sports' teams representing basketball and volleyball.

The new 2021 LaRosa's Sports Hall of Fame inductees are:

• 2004 Colerain Football Team
• 1980 Villa Madonna Girls' Basketball Team
• Tara Boothe (Smith), Highlands High School, Class of 2002
• Pete Carothers, St. Xavier High School, Class of 2004
• Jason Druso, Anderson High School, Class of 1993
• Luke Kuechly, St. Xavier High School, Class of 2009
• Orlando Scales, Elder High School, Class of 2009
• Coach Jerry Doerger, McNicholas/Moeller High Schools, 1966-2009

The latest additions to the LaRosa's High School Sports Hall of Fame will be officially inducted into the Hall in ceremonies in summer 2022. Now in its 47th year of recognizing outstanding local high school athletes and coaches, Buddy LaRosa's High School Sports Hall of Fame has honored 289 athletes and coaches and ten top teams since its founding in 1975. It is the oldest and one of the only Halls of Fame of its kind in the country.

COLERAIN FOOTBALL 2004

(Coach Kerry Coombs)

Team Record: 15-0

Arguably one of the five best high school football teams in Greater Cincinnati history, the 2004 Colerain football team was a blitzkrieg through the regular season and post-season as well. Led by LaRosa's Hall of Famer and MVP of the Year Dominick Goodman, the Cardinals were the Ohio Division I state champion and finished ranked No. 1 in the nation by MaxPreps and No. 5 by USA TODAY.  This team was so overpowering that its defense scored more points than it allowed during the course of the season.

Coach Kerry Coombs truly believes the groundwork was laid in 2003 when the Cardinals suffered a 24-23 loss to Elder in the regional championship. Elder went on to win the state title.

"I think that disappointment motivated the team all the way through the next year culminating with a state championship," Coombs said. "I believe what made the 2004 team different from other teams was these guys played basketball together, worked out together, hung out together from the time they were 11 years old until their last game together in Canton.  They knew each other better than anyone else, and more importantly, they truly loved each other."

After an inauspicious start in the state title game that saw Colerain lose three fumbles within its own territory and falling behind 13th-ranked Canton McKinley, 10-6, the Cardinals put on a record-setting show with a 50-10 victory over the Bulldogs. It was the most points scored and the largest margin of victory in the big-school title game, and senior quarterback Goodman rushed for a division record 259 yards and four touchdowns. Colerain, which outscored its five tournament opponents, 191-22, set a division state finals record with 463 yards rushing and held McKinley to 127 total yards.

In addition to Goodman, other key players on this squad included LaRosa's 2005-06 MVP of the Year in offensive lineman Conner Smith (Ohio State), defensive lineman and LaRosa's Hall of Famer Terrill Byrd (Cincinnati) and brother Tirdell, free safety Eugene Clifford (Ohio State), running backs  Mister Simpson (Michigan) and Terrence Sherrer (Minnesota), and linebackers Andre Revels (Cincinnati) and Cobrani Mixon (Kent State). This team set school records in: Most Points Scored/Season (504), Most Extra Points (Brad Schutte 62), Yards Per Carry (Sherrer, 11.8), Career TDs (Simpson 40) and Career Points (Simpson 240).

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