The Football Stadium and Track at Jonesboro High School - Cooksey-Johns Stadium - brought about by the great people of Jonesboro to honor two of their classmates;my brother Ricky and his best friend Danny Johns.
Cooksey-Johns Memorial Stadium is named after two seniors in the JHS Class of 1970, Ricky Cooksey and Danny Johns; who were killed in a head on collision with a tractor trailer rig at Payneway, AR while enroute to the Sugar Bowl. LSU had promised to give Danny Johns a scholarship if highly recruited Linebacker Ricky Cooksey would accept a scholarship to LSU. Cooksey was sought by every major College and University in the nation after leading the team in scoring without ever playing one down of offense during the 1969 season. The Jonesboro Hurricane finished 8-3-1 that season, in which Cooksey made All-Conference and the AP All-State Super Team. Ricky wore # 34, while Danny wore # 61.
Classmates worked selling napkins, paper towels and toilet paper door to door to raise money to turn the JHS practice field into a stadium they could host their own games at. Home games were played behind the old Annie Camp at Woodland Field before that.
---by Terry Cooksey - brother of Ricky Cooksey
