By Con Marshall Chadron State College’s 1996 football team will be inducted into the Eagles’ Athletic Hall of Fame this coming weekend, Friday and Saturday, September 25 and 26.
That team had several Chadron State College firsts. It was the first to win a Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference championship, the first to win 10 games in a season, the first to participate in an NCAA Division II playoff game and the first to ride in an airplane. The Eagles flew to Edmond, Oklahoma, to meet the Central Oklahoma Broncos in the playoff game.
They also were the first to be ranked by the NCAA. They finished 11th nationally, even though Central Oklahoma won 23-21.
Two of the team leaders were from Sheridan County. They are Judd Hoos of Rushville and Ryan Turman of Hay Springs. Both were four-year lettermen for the Eagles and previously have been inducted individually into the CSC Athletic Hall of Fame.
Hoos was a senior in 1996. Coach Brad Smith called him, “One of the toughest and most dedicated athletes to ever play at Chadron State.”
He played fullback, slotback, tailback and tight end during his career and was chosen CSC’s Outstanding Special Teams Player of the Year as both a sophomore and a junior and was voted the Eagles’ overall MVP as a senior by his teammates and coaches.
In addition, Hoos was one of 19 players on all levels nationwide selected to College Football Chronicle’s Unsung Heroes All-American Team in 1996.
As a Rushville High School senior athlete, Hoos rushed 203 times for 1,224 yards and won the Class C 171-pound state tournament wrestling championship. He and his wife, Brandy, are Sheridan County ranchers, known for their outstanding cattle. They have three daughters.
Turman was a sophomore in 1996 when he broke into the Eagles’ starting lineup full-time at safety. He was the Eagles’ second leading tackler that season with 73 unassisted and 19 assisted stops. He also led the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference with six interceptions that he returned for 161 yards and a touchdown.
That was just the first of three great seasons of college football for the former Hawks’ all-star. He finished his career with 319 total tackles, including 234 that were solos. He also intercepted 20 passes, still second alltime for the Eagles, including one he returned 51 yards for a touchdown vs. Central Oklahoma in the 1996 playoff game.
Turman was a three-time First Team All-RMAC and Nebraska NCAA II choice and was a Second-Team Daktronics/ CoSIDA and Football Gazette All-American as a senior in 1998.
Ryan and his wife, Anna, now live in Elkhorn, where he is in the construction business. They have three children, including Peyton, who is a sophomore at Chadron State and is about to rejoin the Eagles football program as a pass receiver after recovering from an injury.