SUTTON, AMERICA — Forgive The Rewind, if you would, for just a week as it goes nostalgic.
You see, this space wouldn’t exist were it not for this hard-working town that let me hone my craft at writing some 18 football falls ago. They gave me an undefeated football team. I got write about what they did on the field.
On a rare night if I actually got to go to the Sutton game, I’d venture up to the old coach’s office above the practice gym (this was before Twitter and hashtags, you see) and I’d sit with the guys — Hanger, Spongberg, Hofmann — and we’d share stories and watch the scores roll in. Stories about how football, in this hard-working farm town, was what it’s all about.
So forgive me, if on Friday I wanted to snap a picture of The Clay County News, where Don Russell gave me — a nobody from Hastings College — a camera and a computer. No e-mail, we got the box scores on Monday, by driving to every school in Clay County. Mr. Russell found me a passion I didn’t know about.
Forgive me, too, if I needed to drive by 109 W. Myrtle Street — it’s for sale, now — to see the house that I shared with an over-protective, surrogate grandma who would leave cookies on the dryer every now and then. Where I asked my wife, God bless her, to marry me on the shag carpet in the basement that I called home.
The grocery store still says Brown’s on the front. The banks have different names, but they are still as hometown as you’d find. Heck, even the town chiropractor is still in business.
Oh, and the football hasn’t changed much either.
Yeah, the coaches have different names now — Ramer, Wiseman, Rafert — but, the message is still the same. Here we are, come and beat us. And, if you do, we’ll look you in the eye, shake your hand and say, “well done.”
So on Friday, Class C-2, No. 5 Sutton got on Malcolm quick in our Channel Seed Game-of-the-Week and rolled to a 38-7 win.
The coach just talks about getting better.
“We are just trying to get better week to week,” Steve Ramer said after the game.
And, they probably did. After beating Doniphan-Trumbull 40-34 last week, the Mustangs held the Clippers — who drew the short straw of opening their season against two top-five teams — out of the end zone until 1:31 remained in the contest.
Garrett Leach, who had 2,254 yards a season ago, has a little more help this year. He went for 151 yards on Friday on just 17 carries. His scoring runs of 48 and 24 in the first quarter set the tone.
But, the Mustangs opened this one up with the passing game. After not throwing a single pass in the opener, Sutton was 6-for-9 in game two but for a mind-boggling 201 yards. Quarterback Garrett Stone threw interceptions on his first two passes of the season, but was 5-for-6 afterwards for 148 yards and had a pair of scores.
“(Malcolm) just kept bringing their corners up and we said they are going to have to throw,” Ramer said. “And, we did.”
Sutton racked up 453 yards on just 48 plays from scrimmage. Prior to their final drive, they had held Malcolm to just 136.
Yeah, some things haven’t changed in this little slice of America. The town and the football team share a personality. Work hard. Help your neighbor. Have some toughness. Be a good teammate.
Lessons I’ll never forget.
Let’s Rewind
Class A | Late score gives Millard North win
Class A | Knights rout Southwest
Class A | OT field goal lifts Kearney past Lincoln East
Class B | THURSDAY: Storm comeback halts Skutt
Class B | Waverly edges Seward
Class C-1 | Second quarter lifts Neumann past Scotus
Class C-2 | Enter Sand Man: W-C rolls over No. 1 HSC
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68tb5po3-1c&w=560&h=315]
