BY RAY SCHAEFER
Enquirer contributor

FLORENCE - Boone County football coaching legend Owen Hauck is considering retiring after the 1997 season.

''I haven't made up my mind yet,'' Hauck said Saturday. ''I want to spend a little time relaxing. I haven't made a firm decision.''

It is the first time Hauck, 69, of Fort Thomas, has thought about leaving Boone County, where he has been the coach since 1973. Some speculated that Hauck would leave after the 1994 season, when the Rebels lost in the Class AAAA finals to Louisville Trinity, and Shaun Alexander, now an Alabama freshman, completed his high school career.

''Those were rumors,'' Hauck said.

With the Rebels' 14-10 loss to Lexington Dunbar in the Class AAAA regional title game Friday, Hauck's record is 273-127-4, which includes stints at Mount Healthy (26-21-3) as well as Highlands and Boone County (247-106-1).

Hauck began his coaching career at Highlands in 1954 and stayed until 1966. He was an assistant at the University of Cincinnati in 1967, followed by his stint at Mount Healthy from 1968-72.

The 247 wins at Highlands and Boone County places Hauck eighth on the Kentucky high school career victory list. The Kentucky High School Athletic Association does not count his wins at Mount Healthy.

Hauck was still smarting from the final play against Dunbar, in which Justin Rahschulte was stopped on a fourth-down sweep from the two-yard line with 18 seconds left.

''When we didn't score .Ç.Ç. it seemed like a century,'' he said. ''We shut that team out the second half.''

Published Nov. 26, 1996.