Behind Friday Night Lights

SPRING VALLEY — Homecoming, October 4. Kingsland Knights football players were warming up around 6 p.m., preparing for a huge matchup against the undefeated Spring Grove Lions, as Lee Gealow continued preparing off-the-field details for the game.

Gealow, the Kingsland athletic director, said about 20 people are paid to make the game work such as the chain gang that shows downs and how many yards to a first down, the announcer, ticket sellers, the announcer and person running the scoreboard. But there are also many volunteers, including student managers, Future Farmers of America (FFA) students selling popcorn, pop and candy, as well as junior-class parents selling nachos, hot dogs and apple pie. 

Laylie Betts and Madelyn Marcon play flute in the Kingsland pep band before the game.

Those people also help “to make sure the experience is what it should be,” Gealow said. “That is a big dose of people, groups of people.”

Football games are huge, especially in small towns, he said, “Just being outside and the nature of the sport tends to draw a big crowd,” he said. “It’s always exciting, it happens on Friday nights.” 

Being homecoming there is a weeklong build up to games.  Gealow expected it to draw a big crowd, 800 to 1,000 people.

He said he was quarterback for his Mason City high school and at first, when he attended games in Spring Valley, it brought back memories of his days as an athlete.

But now, he said, “I like to see the kids. I’m genuinely thinking more about what their experience is like. That is what brings me joy…I like these guys to experience what I felt like a long time ago.”

With that, he moved around to make sure everything was ready; during the game, he would be one of four supervisors who moved around to make sure all was going well.

It takes a village

In the ticket booth, Sam Campbell, with her 6-month-old son, Caleb, was taking money along with Bonnie Hammon. Campbell said she gets paid and gets in free, and had worked on the Kingsland staff. But for her, selling tickets means meeting her former students or their siblings.

“I grew up here, I have kids from 6 months to 12 years,” she said. She once worked in childcare and knows youth from there too. “It’s easy and it’s fun,” she said.

Hammon echoed that. She’s been doing it since 1991. “I love to meet the kids,” she said. She once drove bus too. It’s a chance to “be part of the whole school system and the community.” 

On the sidelines, Jim Hubka and three other members of the chain gang met with game officials to introduce themselves and find out where they wanted them to be. Hubka is also a basketball coach, assistant track coach, and subs a lot.

Sam Campbell and Bonnie Hammon sell tickets to the game. Hammon has been doing this since 1991.

“It’s not about the money,” he said. “You get a different viewpoint…you see the game differently when you’re running the chain gang.”

He said he began as the guy who put a marker on the chains to mark where the ball had been placed but has since risen to being the team member holding the sign denoting the down. He has to focus on getting it right, but he’s been doing the work 20 years.

It’s fun and Hubka gets a great view of the game because he’s on the sideline with the opposing team. This supports the local athletics; it makes him part of the community. And football is a big part of the community.

With that, came the opening ceremonies and the game began.

It would be a seesaw battle between two top 9-player squads and it would be emotional for many parents and fans on both sides. They yelled encouragement; they yelled at the refs, they made noise.

Troy Harwood gives six-year old Clayton Hellickson a lift to get a better view of the game.

Many youth, on the other hand, paid no attention to the game, with a few dozen younger ones playing on the playground to the east of the field, while older ones were playing a scrambled game of football or passing around a volleyball.

On the Kingsland side stood Troy Harwood with his friend’s son, Clayton Hellickson, 6 on his shoulders. Harwood said he went to school in LeRoy but now lives in Spring Valley. 

“I just like it, like it a lot,” he said of the game. His son plays in the 4-5-6-grade squad and maybe some day will be on the field with the varsity. It’s a big time in a small town, he said. “just brings the town together. I’ve known these kids since they were little and now they are on the varsity.”

Funds for prom and FFA

While the focus of nearly all was on the field, the FFA was busy selling pop, popcorn and candy without even seeing the game and parents of the junior class sold hotdogs, Rice Krispy bars, nachos and more substantial food. It was a good, complementary system. What would a football game be without the food?

FFA profits go to paying for entries to contests, camps and banquets, said Crystal Brogan, Ag teacher and the FFA advisor. Sure, they don’t get to see the game but “they don’t mind,” she said. Those who work two shifts get a movie and breakfast in Rochester.

Across the way, in the Concession stand, Nicole Howard was “coordinator of chaos” for parents of the junior class selling food. They made nachos, put hot dogs in buns, sold slices of pie or other foods, but it was fun chaos.

The money goes for the junior prom and the class trip next year, she said. Her daughter is junior Emma Howard.

It wouldn’t work without “fabulous people in or community” who donate food at much lower cost such as Sunshine Food, Pizza Place and Ody’s Meats. Also, some with cottage licenses make food to donate.  Over the four home games and other events, they raise up to $15,000. Howard said, “It’s amazing what a community can do.”

Helping Howard as nacho makers were Jenny Huebner and junior daughter Bryne Huebner. Yes, it’s work, yes, you don’t get to see the game but “this is a way for me to give back and support the class,” she said.

Former KFIL radio football announcer Brent Kohn does the play-by-play during the game.

Play by play

One person with one of the best views of the game was announcer Brent Kohn who’s done it for many years. He was calm, efficient, just-the-facts guy who told the crowd who ran for what yardage, the down and the score.

“Second and 10, he fires from the shotgun,” or “Johnson with the catch, first down and 10.”

He said he graduated from LeRoy but married a Spring Valley woman. He once announced the games for KFIL radio. Now, he’s home game announcer.

“It’s fun,” he said. “I think the biggest thing is it keeps you connected to the kids … you couldn’t get better seats.”

While he was calm, professional, announcers for KVIK radio in Decorah, Iowa, were not. They yelled, they

Spring Grove star Bryce Berns runs for a touchdown to give the Lions the lead late in the game.

commented, they were loud and carried well the power of the game that was a seesaw battle to the very end.

Nearby, staff of the two teams who watch the game from high up to let coaches know more about what’s happening, added to the loud chorus. They were not calm, they yelled, groaned and commented (of course, Kingsland and Spring Grove staff were separated by a wall).

Around 9:15 p.m., with about three minutes left in the game, Spring Grove star Bryce Berns ran for yet another touchdown and the Lions led 36-32.

Kingsland tried for a comeback but lost the ball on downs. Spring Grove let the clock run down to zero and the team is now 6-0 while Kingsland fell to 4-2 at this point in the season.

The Lions and fans celebrated; Knight fans waited for the players to come off the field. The Knights were dejected.

The FFA and junior class food stands were already closed, fans slowly walked away, the stadium calmed. 

Gealow, however, stayed around making sure everything was getting done. It was.

Yes, they lost, he said, but things went well behind the scenes, often out of the lights.

“You know, we have great people on the staff and that is really what it comes down to,” he said. 

A bit after 10 p.m. on this Friday, October 4th, the stadium was quiet.