WELLSTON – When Dave Lucas retired at Coal Grove High School, he admitted that he still had some coaching left in him.

Thursday, July 20, 2000

WELLSTON – When Dave Lucas retired at Coal Grove High School, he admitted that he still had some coaching left in him.

Evidently Lucas has plenty of coaching left after the former Coal Grove Hornets football coach was hired as the Wellston Golden Rockets head coach Monday night. He replaces Larry Blackstone who took a job as an assistant coach at Lancaster.

"When their coach went to Lancaster, they needed a coach and someone called me," said Lucas. "I went up there to talk to them and they hired me. I’m glad to get the chance to coach again."

With the season rapidly approaching, Lucas has already begun working on assembling his staff which will include his son, Jason.

"I’m getting organized and getting a staff together," said Lucas. "Jay’s going to be on the staff. He’s a hard worker, which is what we’re looking for."

Lucas left Coal Grove a year ago when the school board gave him the chance to take early retirement from teaching. After sitting out a year, Lucas felt he was ready to return.

"The opportunity was something I couldn’t walk away from. I knew I would coach again, I just didn’t know when or where," said Lucas.

Wellston plays in the Tri-Valley Conference against teams such as Nelsonville-York, Meigs, Trimble, Alexander, Vinton County, Federal Hocking, and Hemlock Miller. The non-league schedule includes the season-opener with Jackson, Waverly, Oak Hill, and Ohio Valley Conference member Rock Hill.

"I feel like there are some pretty good numbers to work with. They’re still young, but we’re looking forward to it," said Lucas.

Lucas won or shared 15 Ohio Valley Conference championships, more than any coach since the league was founded in 1954, during his tenure. He spent his entire head coaching career at Coal Grove, compiling a 154-70-1 record in 22 seasons for a 68.8 winning percentage.

His teams had only three losing seasons. He was 95-24 in the league.

After the Hornets program experienced three straight losing seasons, Lucas was hired in 1977. His first team went 4-6 and the following year he posted an 8-2 mark and won the OVC with a 6-0 record.

The next year the Hornets were 9-0, his first unbeaten season. In 1981, Coal Grove was 8-3 and qualified for its first-ever postseason playoff appearance, losing 14-12 in the first round of the playoffs to eventual state champion Nelsonville-York.

The Hornets also went unbeaten at 10-0 in the regular season in 1983. They finished at 11-1, losing in the second round of the playoffs to eventual state champion Columbus Bishop Ready.

Lucas guided the Hornets to seven postseason playoff appearances including a state semifinal berth in 1990. His other playoff seasons were 1986, 1989, 1992, and 1994.

He was named the league Coach of the Year on 15 different occasions and in 1990 was selected the Associated Press Southeast District Coach of the Year.

Besides coaching on the field, Lucas was very active off the field as well. A member of the Ohio High School Coaches Association his entire career, Lucas has served as the regional director since 1979 and was the association’s president on three different occasions.

Not only has Lucas enjoyed a stellar coaching career, he was an outstanding football player as well.

A standout lineman at Ceredo-Kenova, W.Va., Lucas was not only an all-state player put was voted the Offensive Lineman of the Year his senior year and won the Hunt Award at the state’s top player in 1965.

He was a starter when C-K won state championships his sophomore and senior seasons.

In track, Lucas was the state runner-up in the shot put his senior year.

Lucas signed a scholarship to play football for Marshall University and was a starting offensive tackle in 1967 and ’68.

After graduating from Marshall, Lucas was eventually hired as an assistant coach at Fairland in 1972 where he remained until being hired at Coal Grove in 1977.