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| Allen Ramsey Photo. The Highlands football team enters the field for Saturday’s game against Paducah Tilghman. Former players formed a tunnel to the home sidelines reminding them of the years of success. |
By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM
Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter
Saturday
marked a day I will never forget.
I was glad
to attend the 100th season celebration with my wife and see what has made the
Highlands Bluebirds football program consistent throughout the years. The
all-time record of 859-227-26 that is the second-winningest in the country has
been built on a solid foundation of dedication, hard work and great family
values. Those three things are something that Highlands does not take for
granted as portrayed with their state-record 22 state championships. The same
can be said for the Newport Central Catholic Thoroughbreds and their five state
championships.
First-year
head coach Brian Weinrich and staff made sure the current players saw what the
tradition meant to the former head coaches and players. He brought them out
sooner than usual as a result.
“We talked some this week about what a unique
situation they’re in,” Weinrich said.
“Sometimes when you’re in a situation,
you don’t realize what you have until it’s gone. This is a really cool
situation. The tradition is second to none. A lot of the guys have heard those
names.”
From a fan
standpoint, there is big reason why one should admire what Highlands and
NewCath have accomplished over the years. Former Highlands player Will Chambers
hit on it in his speech Saturday at the 100th Anniversary gathering and many
former players and coaches reminisced about it throughout the night.
I know what
it’s like to cheer for a team that consistently struggles. I can’t tell you how
many times I have thought about what life would be like if my alma mater could have
the success that Highlands and Newport Central Catholic have enjoyed throughout
the years.
My alma
mater is the Parkway Panthers of Rockford (Ohio). I graduated from there in
1996. Parkway has had a team since 1961 when the Willshire and Rockford school
districts consolidated to form the Parkway Local School District.
I did not
play football past the seventh grade. But I still went to the games to support
the community and my classmates. This included covering them some for a daily
newspaper, the Van Wert Times-Bulletin,
during my junior and senior years in 1994 and 1995.
Highlands
has gone 104-5 since 2006. The most recent graduating class finished 57-3 in
four years of high school. I know both teams were disappointed in not winning
titles last December.
But can you
imagine going 11-29 with no playoff appearances in four years? Now, I will say
Ohio and Kentucky have two completely different playoff formats because there
are more schools in Ohio. But that is what Parkway did during high school.
There were
some bright moments. But nothing compared what the fine people such as Justin
Frisk that I met last night have experienced.
When it
comes to Parkway’s woes, I think back to my junior year talking to former Head
Coach Carl Swander after a loss at Haviland (Ohio) Wayne Trace. I really liked
him as a history teacher in the sixth grade and wanted to see him and the
program succeed so bad.
Instead, he
was in his third season and the Panthers were winless so some impatient people
within the community wanted him gone. Parkway finished 1-9 that year and
Swander resigned in the offseason.
Unfortunately,
Swander’s fate has had a similar tale to many since that 1994 season which
happened to be Dale Mueller’s first of 20 years as head coach of the Bluebirds.
There have
been a few upstart years in Rockford since I graduated. The 1999 team made the
playoffs and made the second round for the school’s lone playoff win and the
2007 team finished 8-2, but did not make the playoffs because of Ohio’s unfair
system in my opinion. Former Ohio University standout tight end and current
Detroit Lions practice squad member Jordan Thompson led the 2007 team.
But the
Panthers have struggled since then and I hate it because junior Sage Dugan is
my third cousin. Parkway is 0-4 so far and a
combined 3-21 since he entered high school. You can imagine how much I hate it
for him.
But Parkway
and any struggling program’s hope can turn around if they adopt some similar
traits the Highlands and NewCath communities have known for years. It is
possible.
1. Coaching continuity:
Highlands and
NewCath have had it for years. Their successors had been on staff at least a
few years before becoming head coach. Weinrich had been on Mueller’s staff
since 1995 and Wagner had been on Schneider and former head coach Eddie Eviston’s
staff since 1999.
When you
promote from within, basic philosophies and principals often may be tweaked,
but not completely changed. That is what happens when new coaching staffs come
in more often than not. It takes kids time to adapt to those changes.
That is why
I hope Parkway gets behind Dan Cairnes and staff. You do not always agree with
coaches. It is human nature.
But there
are many instances where it took a staff many years to make the program good.
The alma mater of Weinrich’s wife Ashley is a prime example. She cheered there
in the early 90s when the Pulaski County Maroons struggled.
But the
Maroons hired current Head Coach John Hines in 1999 and the continuity has paid
off. Pulaski County finished 14-1 last year and lost to Bowling Green in the 5A
title game. The Maroons also made their first state semifinal appearance in
2009 losing at Highlands.
2. Small victories every day:
The Bluebirds
and Thoroughbreds emphasize daily and weekly improvement. Their small victories
throughout the week and offseason have led to many victories on Fridays
throughout the years.
Programs
like Parkway need them to build to that point. That ultimately leads to more
victories down the road. Small victories could lead to no fumbles during
practice to hitting wide receivers down the field several times in a practice.
Highlands
and NewCath would be the first to admit that hitting performance goals leads to
achieving outcome goals. You can’t build Rome overnight.
3. Solid youth programs:
I love how
the Fort Thomas Youth Football Program does this. It is an instructional, not a
competitive league.
The FTYFL
encourages development and not favoritism. They know that a certain sixth
grader may not excel then, but could excel in high school with development.
When youth
leagues have coaches who have favorites, kids get fed up and quit. You often
lose out on the high school level when that happens and never know what could
have been.
4. Find ways to make things fun during practices and
workouts:
Wagner and
staff reminded the team of this last week. Kids play the game because it is
fun.
Highlands
and NewCath try to do that in a variety of ways. I know Highlands does
different workouts in the offseason to keep things interesting. That also keeps
kids interested, even the ones that do not receive a lot of playing time.
Even when
not winning, football can still be fun. One example could be coaches joking
around with players after intense workouts. That lets players know the coaches
care about them enough to also be someone they can get to know and trust.
As a
sidenote, I may have been gone from the Parkway community for a while. But like
other places I’ve lived like Somerset (Kentucky) and Nashville, it will always
have a special place in my heart.
I can’t
will change up there, especially because I live in Northern Kentucky. But I can
always have hope for Parkway no matter what.
…and that
will never change.