SMALL TOWN FOOTBALL PART 2
FROM THE GRADE SCHOOL PLAYGROUNDS TO THE REAL FOOTBALL FIELD
So, how did I become a Mossyrock High School football player? It started on the grade school playground, playing keep-a-way. Keep-a-way is a pretty simple game that involves a red rubber play ground ball, about 30 kids, divided equally and the entire playground as the playing field.
One kid would have the ball and would run around until he was cornered or tired and then would try to throw it to a teammate, all who were yelling “THROW IT TO ME!” There were no scores or rules, really. If we were far enough away from the school so that playground monitors would not watch us, we could tackle, trip, kick, hold or whatever else was needed to get or keep the ball. Some of the bigger and slower kids were content to just block for the faster kids who ran around aimlessly as there was no goal line or out of bounds. Big kids liked to block because this meant that when a fast kid was just ready to tackle some little guy with the ball, they could come up from the blind side and knock him on his butt. In real football this is actually called an illegal blindside or crack back block and the player will be penalized. In keep-a-way it was a fun way to see a little fast kid go sliding twenty feet on the wet grass after being drilled by someone twice his size.
The faster kids had the most fun because they kept the ball most of the time. I was in the middle. I was not big or strong enough to be a blocker and I was too slow to be a runner. I was one of those who yelled, “THROW IT TO ME!” I did get the ball now and then, but had to pass it off very quickly before five or six kids dog piled me. I didn’t get the pleasure of running around and having kids yell, “THROW IT TO ME!” I threw the ball before they had a chance to say anything.
A coach looking for future players while watching this nonsensical game, could spot positions for most kids and possible stars. Larry H was a great runner and a good passer. He was willing to share the ball and was good at stealing it as well. Larry would become a very good quarterback and defensive back (at another school because, unfortunately, he moved his freshmen year). Rudy P, one of my best high school friends, was big and strong enough to do whatever he wanted. He could hold the ball and dare kids to take it under threat of bodily harm. This pretty much caused the game to come to a standstill as we stood around daring someone to take Rudy down. Rudy would get bored and pass off the ball to become a blocker. Everyone kept a wary eye on Rudy because no one wanted to be blindsided by him. In high school Rudy became an all-conference (and, no doubt all state if they had such a thing back then) two-way tackle.
The one outlier was Ronny C. Ronny was a very small and wiry kid. He looked like he may have had some Indian in his bloodlines. His Dad had a small business repairing electrical appliances. His name was Dick. He drove an old beat up black Ford pickup with the name of his company hand painted on each door, “ELECTRIC DICK.” On each fender, hand painted in bright yellow, was a lightning bolt with the end looking very much like a huge penis with two bulging eyes that had light shining out of them. It was very unique and great marketing.
Ronny was the king of keep-a-way. He was very fast and quick as well. He could change directions like a rabbit and could run the whole recess if he wanted, but would give the ball up, quite often, to me. I found out later that my Dad and Electric Dick were buddies and Dick had told Ronny to help me out. Ronny should have been an automatic all conference running back, even as small as he was. However, put 15 pounds of pads on a 100 pound kid and he slows down a lot. With pads being as light and skimpy as they are nowadays, he may have had a better chance. The other problem with Ronny, we found out, was that he hated to be hit. We didn’t know that because he never was hit in grade school.
In football, with sidelines, no matter how good you are, you will be hit. The first time Ronny got the ball in a real scrimmage with pads he took off and kept circling back until he finally ran out of bounds, behind the bleachers and then came back in again, looking triumphantly at the coaches. The coaches sympathetically and patiently explained to him that he needed to stay in bounds. He responded with something about not wanting to get hit. The coaches said that is why he had pads and a helmet and he had to expect to be hit. He took off the pads and helmet and went home, never to play again.
We played keep-a-way throughout our grade school years. Then we graduated to junior high to get our first taste of the real thing – two handed touch and flag.