There are days and there are THOSE days. There are people we meet and THOSE (positive connotation) people we meet. There are games we played and there are a few of THOSE games we played.
Yesterday I went back to the football field that was once my playground. The first game I ever played was on the field at Brownstown Central High School. I was in the 4th grade. Terry Grider was my coach. I liked Terry. He’s not with us now. He had played for my dad. 1977 was the year I played for Terry. Our team was the Bears. We had a 1-1-1 record. 0-1-1 going into the last games against the Cardinals who were 2-0, We beat them 30-26 and I guess that too was one of THOSE games. That is the only score I remember playing 6 scheduled games in 4th and 5th grade. I caught a pass in that game. Brian Crawford threw the pass.
I didn’t hang around Brownstown Central for my 6th grade year. School politics can be nasty. I knew it as a child, and I lived it as an adult. As a child, my dad was told he was not going to be Brownstown’s coach in 1979. That is when we made our way to North Harrison. As an adult, the school politics war I waged is still playing out, if only in my head. Things are much better now. But a price was paid. Free speech can be oxymoronic at times. We’re not going to get into all of that.
Forty years ago in 1984, the North Harrison Cougars team I played for opened the season against the Brownstown Central Braves. If you read any of what I have written, yes, it was an important game for the only kid on the field whose dad had coached both teams. The date is at the bottom of the roster.
When the NH boys got off the bus, the high temperature that day was 76, and the low was 53, so you know we had a pleasant hour-long bus ride North up Hwy 135. We kicked off 8 PM EDT. Remember those? It was 7 in Brownstown and 8 in Ramsey. Fast time and slow time are what we called it back then. The temperature was probably heading for the mid-60s by game’s end.
The first extra point I ever kicked was in the endzone in the background. No, there was no turf field there then. That is not the same goalpost. But it is the same little piece of sky.
I wrote all about how the old field was changed to turf and how the old stadium was torn down and replaced. The place doesn’t look the same. But the faces do. Yesterday I was hanging out with Adam Disque. He’s an old friend from my Medora days. He played at Brownstown and now his son, Jaden, is a senior on the team. I am nothing short of blessed to know Adam. He’s a few years younger than I am. Most are these days. We always have a great time together.
Yesterday I was watching a JV game between the Braves and the Corydon Central Panthers. Adam Disque was in charge of the game. That meant I had a spot on the golf cart.
As I sat there in the blazing sun, every now and then I saw 40 year-old ghosts on the field. Mick Rutherford blocking a punt and landing on it in the endzone for a touchdown. Troy Osborne scooting down the field for six. Russell Harrell putting a lick on Mike Warren that he still remembers. The score was 27-0 at the half in 1984. 53-0 after the third quarter. 59-0 was the final. To this day, I smile when I think about, and I know I was a part of the worst beating a BCHS team has ever taken at home.
Photos from The Banner.
Photo from The Seymour Tribune.
When the old ghosts weren’t there to recall, I was enjoying the camaraderie of old friends. Barry Hall, Don Roberts, Jon Robison, Jeff Settle, all guys I have known for decades. Though the place doesn’t look the same, the friendship and the love still remains. That is the most important thing. Had I been on the other end of that 59-0 score, I would not feel the way I do. That is what makes it one of THOSE games. I needed it then to be here now. Sitting in that golfcart in turn one on the track was a comfortable place to be.
What I wouldn’t give to have a picture of that scoreboard at the end of the game in 1984
All I can do is think about that old field and stadium. There was some extra personal symmetry for this old boy the first time I saw a game after the new stadium was put in.
North Harrison playing Brownstown Central in 2017.
Ben Waynescott was true from 24 yards away kicking the winning field goal as time expired. North Harrison 17 Brownstown Central 14. It wasn’t 59-0, but it sure was fun.
As I drove away from Blevins Stadium yesterday, I could of swore I heard an old friend. I stopped the Explorer and looked to my right. There indeed was an old friend on the practice field. I said hello. I said thanks. I took a picture.
It was an old friend I have known all my life. 40 years ago, we had one great reunion.
Speaking the rights.
Danny Johnson