Kerry Marbury, probably the greatest athlete in Monongah High’s glorious history, passed away.

The Carolina comet was a blur with the football for Monongah on the 1968 and 1969 Lions state football championship teams, in 1968 with Alabama football coach Nick “Brother” Saban, who has six national college titles in his resume, and the late Tom Hulderman.

Kerry was a running back who scored 144 points and gained more than 6,000 yards for Monongah High before advancing to WVU, turning down colleges all over the country seeking his talents.

His speed won him state track titles, too, with the most points by any individual in his junior and senior years. Kerry set records in the 100- and 220-yard dashes his senior year. He also set records in the 440-yard relay his sophomore year and 880-yard relay his senior year.  Kerry had an all-time 100-yard dash best of 9.7 seconds under legendary Lions track coach Joe Ross.

He won four letters in football, four in track and two in basketball.

Kerry began his football career under the legendary Nick Saban, Sr., Brother’s father, in Pop Warner football in Marion County.

Brother said:

"I always say that the first championship that we won in 1968 means as much as any national championship or any other championship that we ever won. And that's because of the players on the team that that all was possible."

Monongah beat Paden City in Fairmont’s East-West Stadium on a field that was so muddy that quarterback Brother threw only three passes.

Monongah thrashed Fairmont East, 39-7; Morgantown University High, 39-0; Mannington 58-7; Clay-Battelle, 53-19; Rivesville, 52-7; Shinnston, 47-13, with Kerry gaining 165 yards on 10 carries; then unbeaten Class AAA Bridgeport, 40-0; and, to end the regular season, Monongah beat Farmington, Masontown and Fairview by a combined 136-0. The Lions averaged 46.4 points per game on offense and 4.6 points per game on defense -- both high-water marks in their class.

At WVU, his freshman team coach Donnie Young said:

"I always felt that Kerry had more natural God-given ability than any other running back at West Virginia University." Young personally witnessed the school's top five all-time runners Amos Zereoue, Avon Cobourne, Artie Owens, Robert Walker and Robert Alexander.

As a sophomore, Kerry had 890 yards, only 4 short of the sophomore record set by Garrett Ford in 1965, even though Kerry missed 3½ games. He also was on WVU track's 440-yard relay team.

For a great video of Brother and Kerry tearing up the opposing defenses in 1968 and (for Kerry) 1969, both state championship years for Monongah High, go to https://www.youtube.com/attribution_link?a=a5kjN1e_i4s&u=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DHkgFrDm8CwA%26feature%3Dshare