JACKSON – Starkville High School football coach Ricky Woods was inducted along with four others into the Mississippi Association of Coaches Hall of Fame Friday night, June 24 at the Hilton Hotel in Jackson.

Woods, a coach for 34 years, is best known for his five seasons at South Panola, where his Tigers went 74-1 – winning 60 games in a row – and won four consecutive Class 5A championships.

Before arriving at South Panola, Woods coached at Ethel, Eupora and at Ackerman, where he won state Class 2A titles in 1997 and 2001.

Following one season at a Georgia high school after his tenure at South Panola, Woods returned to Mississippi as head coach at Northwest Mississippi Community College, where he went 35-13 in five seasons with two MACJC North Division titles and the school's first bowl victory in 20 years (2012 Brazos Valley Bowl).

In 2014, Woods led Tennessee's Peabody High to a 13-2 record and a Class 2A state championship. Last season, his first in Starkville, the Yellowjackets went 14-1 and won the Class 6A championship.

His overall coaching record stands at 284-63 (.818) with eight state titles at four different schools. He's a five-time MAC High School Football Coach of the Year.

With the induction of the Class of 2016, the MAC Hall of Fame membership will increase to 227 total (215 lifetime and 12 honorary members). The MAC Coaches Hall of Fame was created in 1973.

Other inductees:
• Ken Beesley, a championship football and baseball coach for 36 years at Natchez Cathedral.
• Herman Sanders, who turned Wingfield into a basketball and track powerhouse after his arrival in 1993.
• Gina Skelton, who guided girls basketball teams to four state titles (Wayne County, Forest, Quitman).
• Larry Weems, who led Meridian to the 2008 Class 5A state championship and also coached at Jackson Prep, Biloxi and Pearl.