Oklahoma City’s Heritage Hall High School is celebrating a special milestone this fall. From September 4th thru September 7th, the school will be celebrating its 50th anniversary with a myriad of special events.The four-day celebration kicks off with a highly anticipated gridiron showdown against traditional Oklahoma City power Millwood. The game will be televised live on Yurview Cox Channel 3 on Thursday, September 5th, at 7:00 p.m. and streamed online at Yurview.com.
Millwood handed the Chargers their only loss of season last year, claiming a 30-20 victory in the season opener. Heritage Hall overcame its first regular season loss since 2014 and went on to win the Class 3A state championship last December.
The private school’s upcoming Golden Anniversary event is a great reminder that Heritage Hall has excelled in all areas of athletics during its 50-year existence. The school has captured nearly 100 state championships in all sports, including seven state football titles, with four of those coming in the last five years.
“Our motto is ‘Building Champions for Life,'” said Heritage Hall Associate Athletic Director Chris Gfeller. “For us, a champion is not winning a state championship. These kids learn to strive for excellence, learn to work hard, learn to handle adversity and that’s just been a culture that has spread amongst all our teams. It’s really made a difference.”
Fans can get fired up for the Millwood game by attending the annual Alumni Tailgate Party on the Goodsell Administration Lawn two hours prior to kickoff.
Former athletes and students will gather on Friday at the McClendon Athletic Center for a special reunion of Charger players and coaches. The event will include highlights from some of the top moments in Heritage Hall athletic history.
One topic sure to come up during the athletic reunion is the retirement of Athletic Director and former head football coach Rod Warner. Warner, who led the Chargers to the program’s first-ever state championship in 1998, recently announced his retirement at the end of the school year. He has spent 33 years at Heritage Hall and also won three state titles during a 16-year tenure as the golf coach.
“Rod has been huge for our program,” replied Gfeller, who will replace Warner as Athletic Director next year.
“He kind of set up the blueprint of how we do things at Heritage Hall. He understands what it takes to win and he’s done a great job training our young coaches. We couldn’t have done it without him.”
Some of the other scheduled Golden Anniversary events include an alumni art show, a screening of The Heritage Hall Story, a documentary showcasing the evolution of the private school, several class reunions and a dinner party at Oklahoma City’s Bricktown Events Center.
For more details on the Heritage Hall 50th Anniversary, visit hh50anniversary.com.
Don’t miss Heritage Hall take on Millwood Thursday, September 5th at 7:00pm CT live on YurView Cox Channel 3 and streaming online.
