FOLEY, Ala. — Foley High School will induct seven into the school’s Athletic Hall of Fame this Friday, Sept. 11 — Billie Jo Wilson Underwood, Charlie Wheaton, Doug Suttle, Larry Cole, Robert Averitt, Russ Moore and Tommy Salter. 

A reception will take place in the new Foley Elementary cafeteria across Oak St. from the west end zone of Ivan Jones Stadium at 5:30 p.m.

All Hall of Fame members are encouraged to join the staff of Foley High School and the Hall of Fame committee in welcoming these individuals to the organization before they will be announced to the crowd at 6:35 in the stadium.

Billie Jo Wilson Underwood played for the Foley Lions basketball team from 1982 – 1985 where she was a three-year letterman and starter for Coach Tommy Catlin. Prior to this Underwood was the MVP of the ninth grade team at Summerdale School.

Her sophomore year, the Lady Lions basketball team won the 1983 Region III Championship for the first time ever. In 1984, the team was ranked in the top 10 in the state and had a record of 22-3. Underwood was a member of the all-county and all-region teams that season.

During her senior year in 1985, Underwood was the 2nd leading scorer in the county, averaging 15.8 points per game and 8 rebounds per game and was again chosen to the all-county team. She scored a career high 29 points against Fairhope in the 1985 region tournament.

During her basketball career at Foley, Underwood was chosen Pizza Hut Player of the Week multiple times. She was then awarded a scholarship to play basketball at Faulkner State.

Underwood also lettered in track for FHS in her 10th and 11th grade years. The track team won the 1983 & 1984 county championships, both years that she participated. She ran in the mile relay at the 1984 state track meet in Selma.

Underwood was a member of National Honor Society all three years she attended FHS and was president of the organization her senior year.

She graduated seventh in her class of 230 students in 1985 and was voted Most Athletic and received the Scholar/Athlete award for the female athlete with the highest GPA.

Underwood went on to graduate from Faulkner State with an Associate in Science degree in business and then graduated from the University of South Alabama with a bachelor’s degree in accounting. She is a Certified Public Accountant and works in Summerdale.

Underwood has been married for 19 years to Gary Underwood, a 1979 Foley grad. She performs her civic duty by serving on the Baldwin County Planning Commission and the Summerdale Planning Commission, both appointed positions.

Charlie Wheaton is a 1984 graduate of Foley High School. During his time at FHS he was a three year letterman in football, starting two years. He was the blocker of the week seven times and an offensive captain two times. He was awarded the Optimist “Player of the Week” two times.

Wheaton also served as the kickoff man during his senior year and helped the teams he played with to a strong 27-6 record during his career.

Wheaton was awarded All-County, All-Region, and Offensive Lineman of the Year at the conclusion of his high school career. He then went to Culver-Stockton University in Missouri on a football scholarship.

In addition to his athletic pursuits, Wheaton was involved in several activities as a Foley High School student. He participated in the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Student Government Association, and the Blue and Gold Club. He was voted class vice president and chosen to Who’s Who Among High School Students.

After school, Wheaton served 12 years as a volunteer coach for the Foley Junior High football team. He is currently employed at Goodrich Aerospace.

Wheaton’s parents are Larry and Cleo Wheaton and his siblings are Mike Wheaton, Liz McNair, Joe Wheaton, David Wheaton, and Theresa Merchant.

Doug Suttle is a 1978 graduate of FHS. During his years at FHS, Doug lettered three years in football and three years in baseball. He was an all-county and all-region football player for the Lions on teams that earned a record of 18-2 over his junior and senior seasons.

His junior year, Suttle intercepted a pass against Robertsdale and returned it for a touchdown in a 6-0 Foley victory that ended with a goal line stand by Doug and his defensive teammates.

He was a strong linebacker on the undefeated 1977 team that allowed only 40 points and shut out five opponents during the regular season. He is remembered by coaches as a great hitter and tackler.

Suttle is working as a captain for Teppco Cenac Marine out of Houma, La. He and his wife of 27 years Pamela have a son, Hunter, who is a police officer for the city of Mobile.

Their daughter, Shauna, is a senior at Faulkner University in Montgomery attending on a softball scholarship. They also have a two year old granddaughter, Ella Marie.

Larry Cole was born and raised in Magnolia Springs and still lives there. He attended Magnolia Springs School and then went on to Foley junior and high schools. He is proud to be part of the class of 1958.

Cole married his high school sweetheart, Carolyn Vance, and they will have their 50th wedding anniversary coming up in December. They have three sons — Rocky, Derek, and Reid, and six grandchildren — Tristen, Britton, Wesley, Owen, Hannah, and Madelyn.

Cole is honored to be standing here on the same field that he played on some 50 odd years ago, and more than that , that it’s named after a man he has great respect for – his coach, Ivan Jones.

Cole lettered three years in football and four years in baseball. His junior year, Foley went to state playoffs in baseball, and in football, they won three consecutive county championships.

Cole is remembered by coaches of this era as the ace pitcher on FHS teams that were among the best to play in Baldwin County during the 1950’s.

Cole is very humbled by this honor and would like to thank everyone who had a part in this event happening to him.

Robert Averitt is a 1979 graduate of FHS. He presently works at Riviera Utilities and works part-time at Stacey’s Drug Store delivering medicine.

Averitt is also the pastor at Freedom Baptist Church between Magnolia Springs and Bon Secour on county road 49.

Averitt is awarded to the hall of fame tonight in recognition of his gift of encouragement that he has used to bolster coaches and athletes and administrators at Foley over the past 30 years.

Many members of the Hall of Fame selection committee have expressed their gratitude for Robert’s support of the entire high school program over these past many years.

Russ Moore is a 1987 graduate of FHS. During his time at Foley, Russ was a three year starter in football and lettered four years in baseball. During his three years on Foley’s defense, Russ collected 200 total tackles while helping the team to the playoffs his junior and senior seasons.

After his senior season in which he totaled 13 quarterback sacks, Moore was named all-region and honorable-mention all-state. He was also honored as the team’s outstanding student. He has great memories of playing for Coach Smith, Coach Pigott, Coach Pennington, Coach Suttle, and many others at FHS.

During his years at Foley High School, Moore was an active member of Key Club and National Honor Society and was elected junior and senior class president.

After high school, Moore attended the University of Alabama on academic scholarships including a National Merit Scholarship and a Presidential Scholarship. He earned his bachelor’s degree in secondary education in 1991.

After three years teaching and coaching in Georgia, Moore jumped at the opportunity to return to Foley High School and coach with Coach Jimmy Nazary, who had been his junior high football coach and a great influence in his life. Moore worked for Coach Nazary for four years, and three of those years he served as Foley’s defensive coordinator. Highlights of those years included a shutout of #1 ranked Greenville, a 10-0 regular season in 1995, the comeback in the rain vs. Escambia-Florida, and two region championships.

Moore then took over as head coach of the Lions for the 1998-2000 seasons, struggling the first two seasons but emerging as a playoff team in 2000. Moore was very proud to coach a lot of outstanding athletes and wonderful people during his seven years with Foley football, including an Alabama-Mississippi All-star game athlete and five Alabama North-South All-star game athletes.

Moore was the coach of the FHS track & field program for 11 years. During his time as coach, the Lions won nine county championships, one section championship, and finished in the top 10 in the state seven times. Moore was named Baldwin County Coach of the Year eight times during this stretch. FHS athletes won 52 medals in the state championship meet during this time, and in the jumping event athletes finished 49 times in the top 10 at the state meet and earned 16 medals.

After earning a master’s degree in educational leadership from the University of South Alabama, Moore served as an assistant principal at FHS from 2005 – 2009. When Kenneth Dinges’ retired this past spring, Moore was hired as the head principal of Foley High School.

Moore is married to Rocky Moore and they have four children – Jake, 14; Sam, 12; Sydney, 7; and Shelley, 5. All four children attend Foley schools and are excellent students. Russ is also proud to be the third #40 from the Moore family inducted into the Foley Hall of Fame after his father Norm and his uncle Don.

Tommy Salter is a 1966 graduate of Foley High School. After high school, he earned bachelor’s, master’s and specialist’s degrees in education from the University of South Alabama.

During his 30-year career as an educator in the Baldwin County school system, Salter taught hundreds of area students in the 4 areas of English, special education, science, and biology.

His last role in the school system before his retirement was as the principal of Foley Middle School. FMS coach Keith Smith remembers Mr. Salter as a tireless supporter of all the activities at the school, including the football program.

Specific things that Salter did to aid the programs at Foley Middle School included arranging for pre-game meals for athletes, hiring strong coaching staffs, personally helping build the lab for film development, and many others. He also spoke to teams on numerous occasions and was always supportive of his staff.

Salter has been married to Kay for 40 years and they have two children – Dr. Sean Salter of Murfreesboro, Tennessee, and Dr. Shannon Salter Fussell of Statesboro, Ga.