A Special Night Across The State

by Steve Dunford

Tomorrow night Friday Night Lights begin.  I am pumped as it is my second year of covering High School football.   Before then, I have been a stringer on a few games.

I have been to a few games before, but this is the day I fell in love.  I was at the old football field in Zeigler for a state semi-final game in 1982.  Through the playoff trail, I began to follow the Zeigler-Royalton Tornadoes in the pursuit of the class 1A State Championship.  Before that day, I have listened to every playoff game, as Mike Murphy followed them on WJPF.

After That, I spent a lot of Friday nights at Tabor Field and Johnson Field, it was according to whether Benton or West Frankfort was at home.  If both of them were, several of us from Thompsonville would pick the best game.   If both were on the road the gang of us that would be somewhere every Friday night we could, made a couple trips to Christopher, Sesser-Valier, and McLeansboro (before the Hamco days.)

If you have in the past or you are taking the field tomorrow night, you have an opportunity that I wish that I had, the chance to play high school football.

I was putting on a flag football clinic my senior year at Thompsonville High School in P.E. class.  I just passed for something like my sixth touchdown.  The teacher/AD/head basketball coach said the superintendent at the time, O.J Thompson, who played for the Denver Broncos in the 60’s  went over his head and entered a co-op agreement with West Frankfort.

The next thing out the P.E. teachers mouth was, if you are going to be a Redbird, you will not be a Tiger.  I said it is too late for me.  He then said Dunford and went on a two minute tirade, and the only think I can repeat was he called me a pretty boy and a sissy.

I told him, even if I had a “Rudy Moment” (not exact quote at the time, the movie came out several years later,) I would love to put my helmet on and run on the field one time.

The co-op ended when West Frankfort left the South Seven to become part of the Southern Illinois River to River.  Later Thompsonville and Crab Orchard had a co-op with Johnston City.  When it bumped JC from 2A to 4A, and a playoff date with Mt. Carmel, the co-op ended the next year.

Several years later, I had the awesome opportunity to speak to some high school football teams.  I use the Rudy illustration.  I tell them it was a privilege that I did not have.

I received a text from my son in the summer of 2015.  He told me that he was going out for football.  I told him even if you get in one game on special teams, you will fulfill something that I wished I could.

Tomorrow night, I will be in the press box at Johnson field covering the West Frankfort-Anna Jonesboro game.  Because of logistics, my coverage will be heavily on the Redbirds.  However, I will write the story as I am covering the game for both teams.

Each week, I will do a preview of each game of the four programs in Franklin County.  I am going to release the pre-season preview for the four programs either tonight or tomorrow.

I had Monday slated to contact all the coaches in the SIRR Ohio and Black Diamond and preview the whole conference.   I had this on the docket for Monday, but I was a little busy giving traffic reports from places in Franklin County that I never have before.

I have reached out to all four opposing coaches of the counties four programs.  I will hopefully release an SIRR Ohio preview between weeks three and four.  With the Black Diamond, I will have a more extensive preview of the first matchup against C-Z-R or S-V-W-W.

I am pumped  about the start of the season.  For those who will be taking the gridiron as a Devil, Bearcat, Ranger or a Redbird, remember that not only are you an ambassador for your school, but for the whole community as well.