The following story was in the yesterday's Wenatchee World.
Fielding a team: When your school enrollment only numbers 26, it’s a feat just to put a football team together. Mansfield has done it with the help of a girl and several foreign exchange students. And the Kernal faithful love it
By Matt Ockinga, World sports writer
In a small locker room, 13 Kernels huddle together, their sizes exaggerated by the football pads they wear.
As coach Ric Bayless gives his pre-game pep talk, his audience -- his players -- represent a smattering of backgrounds and talents. They also represent about half of the students at the school.
Assistant coach Curt Schutzmann then takes over.
"How many of you have played football for Mansfield?" Schutzmann asks.
Four hands rise.
"How many of you have not played football for Mansfield?"
Nine hands rise.
Half of those hands had never held a football until late August. It's now Sept. 9. Those hands belong to Sam Yuk, James Bui, Benny Stoezel and Denys Golub, foreign exchange students from South Korea, Vietnam, Germany and Ukraine.
Two other hands belong to a pair of eighth-graders, Connor Smith and Judah Sherwood, who will soon face off against 6-foot-3-inch, 200-pound opponents from Easton in a Class B-8 scrimmage.
Smith says he hopes to "knock three people on their butts."
"That's a big goal because I'm the youngest (player)," he says.
Of the three hands left, one belongs to Ernesto Rodriguez who transferred to MHS for his junior year. The second is that of freshman Korey Gould. The other hand's finger nails are painted in crimson. Senior Sharaya Sherwood, Judah's sister, is moments away from her organized sports debut.
Her goal? To debunk stereotypes.
"I guess I'm prejudiced against prejudiced people," she says.
Looking around the locker room, she adds, "I have 12 brothers now instead of one."
Sherwood is just one of the pieces on a unique team Bayless calls a "hodgepodge," a not quite gelled assortment of different players about to take a crash course in teamwork in eight-man football. Thus, the coach presents a rhetorical question:
"Do you suppose we're going to make mistakes today?" Schutzmann says to a silent chorus of nods. "You guys have got to be patient with each other. I do expect you guys to know what you're doing."
After a few more words of wisdom, the coach turns to his senior captain Matthew DeLozier, a four-year Mansfield player who at 6-foot-3-inches and 200 pounds is easily the team's biggest player. The center makes it simple.
"Let's take a knee and say the Lord's prayer," he says, asking Sharaya Sherwood to begin it.
After amen, Schutzmann, who doubles as the school's athletic director, borrows a fire-up line from Bayless.
"Have I told you guys you look good in red?"
Cheering ensues and the locker room empties.
While the team does its pre-game stretches, Judah Sherwood's newness to football shows.
"Mr. Bayless, how do you tighten these up?" he asks.
Bayless kindly approaches the eighth-grader and tightens the strap.
Stepping back, Bayless smiles at his team.
"This is my lot in life," he says. "We're going to be fun to watch."
And fun is a point of view. As play begins, Bayless' earlier question about mistakes is answered quickly. On the first drive of the game, the purple-clad Jaguars dribble an onside kick about 10 yards to the awaiting Kernels. As the ball comes, the players seem unsure how to regard it. Easton quickly recovers and scores on the first drive.
The naivete continues. Simple passes are dropped. Coverage is poor. Tackles aren't made. Bayless and Schutzmann have patient frustration while yelling out myriad instructions. Schutzmann perpetuates the action with the mantra, "Don't let the receiver get behind you!"
Quarterback Erick Harper often struggles with gripping the ball.
"Harper, you're holding that thing like a melon!" Bayless says.
Playing guard, Sharaya Sherwood seems tentative but takes a few hits as her ponytail slips down from her helmet. In preseason practice, her helmet was fitted for the season. When she came back in the evening for second practice, she pulled her hair back in a ponytail to help combat the heat.
'Yeah, the helmet will feel tight, especially this first week, but you will get used to it," Bayless recalls telling her.
While she and her international teammates make adjustments to their play, a small boy on the sidelines prepares water bottles for player breaks and huddles. The intensity and competition that can found in a Wenatchee or Eastmont or Cashmere game is clearly lacking. It's a different brand of football, where opponents help each other up, coaches jokingly harass the refs from the sidelines and Mansfield fans in the school commons prepare a post-game dinner for Easton, the team that's supposed to be the enemy.
And that's the brand the Kernel faithful on hand this day enjoy. They number about 60. Some are old. Some are young. They are led by just four cheerleaders. And all know that next year is never guaranteed. For more than 70 years, Mansfield football has been as unpredictable as the wheat harvests. Harry Beard is the local expert on that.
"It's just town pride. It's the Mansfield Kernels," says Beard, Mansfield's original quarterback in the inaugural season of 1933. "And, of course, we watch 'em get beat quite regularly because we've never had quite big-enough boys."
Or quite enough boys of any size. So then came the Kernel blight. Starting in 1964, no one suited up for Mansfield as interest waned and football died in the small farming town for nearly two decades.
"The volume of the boys determines our team," says Beard.
Rebirth came in 1984 when five students, including Bayless, approached opposing schools in an attempt to form a co-operative football squad. They formed teams with allies like Bridgeport and Waterville. In 1998, the Kernels played as pure Kernels again and Bayless came aboard to steer the Mansfield ship in 2000. He clearly knows about the occasional famine of participation.
"I have 13 players. I'm counting my blessings," Bayless says.
That's likely what he's thinking as Easton leads the scrimmage 32-0 with under two minutes to play. But suddenly, the Kernels seem ready to pop. Harper leads the team down the field until just 25 yards separate the Kernels from the promised land of the end zone. Bayless calls for a misdirection sweep and Nick Ericson runs by the pursuing Jaguars for 25 yards until he crosses into the end zone. Suddenly, they're not a hodgepodge, but a unified team.
Bayless excitingly runs onto the field to position his confused players for the extra-point attempt. Harper kicks the ball dead-center through the uprights into the cloudless, blue Mansfield sky.
Kernel fans burst from their seats at the score. For some, it's the highlight of the week. They celebrate as if the scoreboard light bulbs under "Guest" have completely dimmed. All that matters is the 7 under "Home."
Life is good.
Tired and smiling, the players care little about their mistake and more about the chance to play football against someone other than themselves.
After the game, Connor knows he didn't knock three people on their butts, but does have something to show.
"I did get two balls but my thumb suffered from it," the bright-faced boy says. "I was one of the smallest and they probably thought they could sack me easier."
Speaking with her mom at the stands, Sharaya Sherwood is relieved to a have her football debut over. She admits being initially scared, but took it like, well, a Kernel.
"I got knocked on my butt about once," she says. "Not hard enough that I didn't get back up."
Sweaty and grinning widely, DeLozier acknowledges the challenge of trying to lead this diverse team toward success.
"They don't know what they're doing," he says of his new teammates. "But we have fun doing it."
In one last huddle, Bayless mentions the crowd that hasn't left the stands. encouraging them to sit amongst the Jaguars at dinner. "Trade battle stories, compare wounds and let's end this with a good day."
For every day Mansfield plays football will be a good day. For the remainder of the season, both fans and players will simply enjoy every yard, every play, every drive, then wait for next year's harvest of Kernels.
"There is something about seeing Mansfield kids wearing red and white when they are playing football," Bayless says. "It inspires, satisfies, excites, encourages and gives hope that we will survive as a school and a town."
Fielding a team: When your school enrollment only numbers 26, it’s a feat just to put a football team together. Mansfield has done it with the help of a girl and several foreign exchange students. And the Kernal faithful love it
By Matt Ockinga, World sports writer
In a small locker room, 13 Kernels huddle together, their sizes exaggerated by the football pads they wear.
As coach Ric Bayless gives his pre-game pep talk, his audience -- his players -- represent a smattering of backgrounds and talents. They also represent about half of the students at the school.
Assistant coach Curt Schutzmann then takes over.
"How many of you have played football for Mansfield?" Schutzmann asks.
Four hands rise.
"How many of you have not played football for Mansfield?"
Nine hands rise.
Half of those hands had never held a football until late August. It's now Sept. 9. Those hands belong to Sam Yuk, James Bui, Benny Stoezel and Denys Golub, foreign exchange students from South Korea, Vietnam, Germany and Ukraine.
Two other hands belong to a pair of eighth-graders, Connor Smith and Judah Sherwood, who will soon face off against 6-foot-3-inch, 200-pound opponents from Easton in a Class B-8 scrimmage.
Smith says he hopes to "knock three people on their butts."
"That's a big goal because I'm the youngest (player)," he says.
Of the three hands left, one belongs to Ernesto Rodriguez who transferred to MHS for his junior year. The second is that of freshman Korey Gould. The other hand's finger nails are painted in crimson. Senior Sharaya Sherwood, Judah's sister, is moments away from her organized sports debut.
Her goal? To debunk stereotypes.
"I guess I'm prejudiced against prejudiced people," she says.
Looking around the locker room, she adds, "I have 12 brothers now instead of one."
Sherwood is just one of the pieces on a unique team Bayless calls a "hodgepodge," a not quite gelled assortment of different players about to take a crash course in teamwork in eight-man football. Thus, the coach presents a rhetorical question:
"Do you suppose we're going to make mistakes today?" Schutzmann says to a silent chorus of nods. "You guys have got to be patient with each other. I do expect you guys to know what you're doing."
After a few more words of wisdom, the coach turns to his senior captain Matthew DeLozier, a four-year Mansfield player who at 6-foot-3-inches and 200 pounds is easily the team's biggest player. The center makes it simple.
"Let's take a knee and say the Lord's prayer," he says, asking Sharaya Sherwood to begin it.
After amen, Schutzmann, who doubles as the school's athletic director, borrows a fire-up line from Bayless.
"Have I told you guys you look good in red?"
Cheering ensues and the locker room empties.
While the team does its pre-game stretches, Judah Sherwood's newness to football shows.
"Mr. Bayless, how do you tighten these up?" he asks.
Bayless kindly approaches the eighth-grader and tightens the strap.
Stepping back, Bayless smiles at his team.
"This is my lot in life," he says. "We're going to be fun to watch."
And fun is a point of view. As play begins, Bayless' earlier question about mistakes is answered quickly. On the first drive of the game, the purple-clad Jaguars dribble an onside kick about 10 yards to the awaiting Kernels. As the ball comes, the players seem unsure how to regard it. Easton quickly recovers and scores on the first drive.
The naivete continues. Simple passes are dropped. Coverage is poor. Tackles aren't made. Bayless and Schutzmann have patient frustration while yelling out myriad instructions. Schutzmann perpetuates the action with the mantra, "Don't let the receiver get behind you!"
Quarterback Erick Harper often struggles with gripping the ball.
"Harper, you're holding that thing like a melon!" Bayless says.
Playing guard, Sharaya Sherwood seems tentative but takes a few hits as her ponytail slips down from her helmet. In preseason practice, her helmet was fitted for the season. When she came back in the evening for second practice, she pulled her hair back in a ponytail to help combat the heat.
'Yeah, the helmet will feel tight, especially this first week, but you will get used to it," Bayless recalls telling her.
While she and her international teammates make adjustments to their play, a small boy on the sidelines prepares water bottles for player breaks and huddles. The intensity and competition that can found in a Wenatchee or Eastmont or Cashmere game is clearly lacking. It's a different brand of football, where opponents help each other up, coaches jokingly harass the refs from the sidelines and Mansfield fans in the school commons prepare a post-game dinner for Easton, the team that's supposed to be the enemy.
And that's the brand the Kernel faithful on hand this day enjoy. They number about 60. Some are old. Some are young. They are led by just four cheerleaders. And all know that next year is never guaranteed. For more than 70 years, Mansfield football has been as unpredictable as the wheat harvests. Harry Beard is the local expert on that.
"It's just town pride. It's the Mansfield Kernels," says Beard, Mansfield's original quarterback in the inaugural season of 1933. "And, of course, we watch 'em get beat quite regularly because we've never had quite big-enough boys."
Or quite enough boys of any size. So then came the Kernel blight. Starting in 1964, no one suited up for Mansfield as interest waned and football died in the small farming town for nearly two decades.
"The volume of the boys determines our team," says Beard.
Rebirth came in 1984 when five students, including Bayless, approached opposing schools in an attempt to form a co-operative football squad. They formed teams with allies like Bridgeport and Waterville. In 1998, the Kernels played as pure Kernels again and Bayless came aboard to steer the Mansfield ship in 2000. He clearly knows about the occasional famine of participation.
"I have 13 players. I'm counting my blessings," Bayless says.
That's likely what he's thinking as Easton leads the scrimmage 32-0 with under two minutes to play. But suddenly, the Kernels seem ready to pop. Harper leads the team down the field until just 25 yards separate the Kernels from the promised land of the end zone. Bayless calls for a misdirection sweep and Nick Ericson runs by the pursuing Jaguars for 25 yards until he crosses into the end zone. Suddenly, they're not a hodgepodge, but a unified team.
Bayless excitingly runs onto the field to position his confused players for the extra-point attempt. Harper kicks the ball dead-center through the uprights into the cloudless, blue Mansfield sky.
Kernel fans burst from their seats at the score. For some, it's the highlight of the week. They celebrate as if the scoreboard light bulbs under "Guest" have completely dimmed. All that matters is the 7 under "Home."
Life is good.
Tired and smiling, the players care little about their mistake and more about the chance to play football against someone other than themselves.
After the game, Connor knows he didn't knock three people on their butts, but does have something to show.
"I did get two balls but my thumb suffered from it," the bright-faced boy says. "I was one of the smallest and they probably thought they could sack me easier."
Speaking with her mom at the stands, Sharaya Sherwood is relieved to a have her football debut over. She admits being initially scared, but took it like, well, a Kernel.
"I got knocked on my butt about once," she says. "Not hard enough that I didn't get back up."
Sweaty and grinning widely, DeLozier acknowledges the challenge of trying to lead this diverse team toward success.
"They don't know what they're doing," he says of his new teammates. "But we have fun doing it."
In one last huddle, Bayless mentions the crowd that hasn't left the stands. encouraging them to sit amongst the Jaguars at dinner. "Trade battle stories, compare wounds and let's end this with a good day."
For every day Mansfield plays football will be a good day. For the remainder of the season, both fans and players will simply enjoy every yard, every play, every drive, then wait for next year's harvest of Kernels.
"There is something about seeing Mansfield kids wearing red and white when they are playing football," Bayless says. "It inspires, satisfies, excites, encourages and gives hope that we will survive as a school and a town."