Fitch HOF establishes William B. Knight Scholarship

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Neighbors | Submitted.The Austintown Fitch High School athletic Hall Of Fame has partnered with the YSU Foundation to create the William B. Knight athletic Scholarship. The scholarship was created to recognize and reward the members of the Austintown Fitch community who have excelled in athletics and have made outstanding community contributions. Shown, from left, are Marty Dyer (Hall of Fame Committee), Dr. Chris Knight, and Timothy S. Kelty (Hall of Fame Chairman).

The Austintown Fitch High School athletic Hall Of Fame has partnered with the YSU Foundation and President Paul McFadden to create a new scholarship.

The Austintown Fitch High School athletic Hall of Fame recognizes and rewards the members of the Austintown Fitch community who have excelled in athletics and have made outstanding community contributions. It recently established the Austintown Fitch High School William B. Knight athletic Hall of Fame Scholarship at Youngstown State University. The support of this scholarship will help the next generation of Austintown Fitch student-athletes with an opportunity to pursue their academic talents at YSU.

The scholarship was named for William B. Knight, who was born in Austintown and was the son of Bert and Mildred (Goist) Knight. He was a lifetime area resident who graduated from Austintown Schools and received his bachelor’s and master’s degree from Kent State University.

He was president of his 1940 senior class. While at Fitch, he scored 22 touchdowns and a two-point conversation in 16 games as starting halfback. Along with his teammate Ray Hood, he was known as one half of “The Touchdown Twins.” He holds the record for the longest interception for a touchdown: 99 yards in the 1938 game with Fitch vs. Wilson at the first night game at South Stadium. As a three-year starter on the basketball team, he averaged 10 points his senior year, more than half the team’s points.

His football team was the first to win any championship in the TMC League. He was also a football coach for five years after college at Fitch and also ran the football scoreboard for 40 years. He was inducted into the third Hall of Fame 2010 class.

Knight was a teacher for 37 years for the Austintown Local Schools in Industrial Arts, having retired in 1983. He was a member of the West Austintown United Methodist Church, Youngstown Masonic Lodge F&AM, Youngstown Shriners Club, and Past President of the Austintown Optimist Club, where he started the Tri-State Meet.

He served his country in the U.S. Army during World War II.