Golfers grip it and rip it for Owen football
The Warhorse Classic returns to Black Mountain for 35th year
Fred McCormick
The Valley Echo
July 28, 2023
Scores of golfers fanned out across the Black Mountain Golf Course, July 28, to tee off in support of the Owen High School football team, as the Warhorse Classic returned for its 35th year.
The annual fundraiser, organized by retired Owen football coach Kenny Ford and sponsored by the Black Mountain Men’s Golf Association and Pepsi-Cola Bottling Co., featured approximately 130 golfers in a four-person captain’s choice tournament.
Generations of former Warhorse players, including Brad Johnson, who in 2003 won a Super Bowl as the quarterback of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, competed in the event.
“This is home for me, and I’m grateful for Owen,” Johnson said in a brief speech to open the tournament. “I always appreciate coming back home.”
While Johnson played for four teams during his 17-year career NFL career, earning two Pro Bowl appearances, he credits his former high school coach for saving his career before it began.
“I had quit football going into my senior year, and I wanted to be a basketball player,” he recalled. “I was done with football, but we had a new coach here in town. Kenny was probably 23 or 24, and he called me on the phone, chased me down and told me I’d have the most fun I ever had if I played for him.
“I took a chance with him and I’m grateful for that, because without Kenny my career never happens,” Johnson continued. “Those times we played Erwin or Enka, and the rest of the rivalries, were just as big to me as playing the Chicago Bears or the Green Bay Packers. It was the most fun I ever had in football.”
He went on to encourage the community to continue supporting Owen Athletics.
“The support you give these programs means something, and it makes a difference in these kids’ lives,” Johnson said. “Kenny made a difference in my life by giving me a chance to keep my career going.”
As the tournament began, Ford expressed appreciation for the dozens of volunteers who make the Warhorse Classic possible, including Black Mountain Mayor Mike Sobol.
“For 35 years, Mike Sobol, Mike Raines and Alan Styles have done an unbelievable job cooking everything for this,” Ford said. “Pepsi has been great, as always, and they’ve taken great care of Owen for years.”
Many local businesses and organizations supported the event, which concluded with a raffle and auction in the Green Tee Grille. Organizers expected the tournament to raise around $10,000 for the Owen football program.
Photos of the 35th Annual Warhorse Classic can be viewed in the gallery at the top of the page.