Sometimes, the guy writing the story doesn’t catch everything.
The first game I ever covered in Bemidji was a good one. The Bemidji High ÍáÍáÂþ» boys basketball team hosted West Fargo on Feb. 2, 2023. It was the game when Isaac Severts received a three-quarter-court pass from Dan Clusiau, turned toward the basket and drove to the rack for the game-winning bucket.
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Not a bad way to start your time at the Pioneer, right? And I was beginning to believe not all first games for me here wouldn’t be that thrilling until I covered my first BHS football game last Tuesday.
The Jacks hosted St. Cloud Tech in the Section 8-5A Tournament at Chet Anderson Stadium. The 49-47 instant classic was pure, unadulterated chaos, ending with a touchdown and a blocked field goal from senior Sam Gish.
To peel back the curtain a bit, my routine after a game is to wrap up quickly in the press box and get down on the field to grab the players and coaches I need for quotes. Football is always tricky because there are so many people on the field waiting for the postgame huddle to break.
I found the guys I needed – Gish and Kobe Brown – then migrated toward head coach Bryan Stoffel for the last of the quotes. It was a euphoric, emotionally charged set of interviews that matched the weight of the moment. But amid the hysteria, I missed something bigger.
The best thing I saw last week was something I didn’t see until later that week: a pause in the celebration. Jacks players and coaches rushed the field immediately following the kick — all of them except for a group of five players, that is. They stopped momentarily on the field to console St. Cloud Tech’s Batuo Teboh, who fell to his knees after the Tigers’ crushing loss.
Athletes often have the realization that when a season ends, it’s the last time that specific group of players will ever take the field together. At all levels, that concept is undefeated. For the Lumberjacks, that realization wouldn’t come until the following Saturday, but it didn’t stop that group of five – including Carson Perez, Kasey Roff and Kohen Donat – from lending a hand to a kid who needed it on Tuesday.
Luckily for me, and more importantly, the rest of the Bemidji community, we have people like Misty from Misty Moments Photography who were in the right place at the right time. She snapped a picture of the kids helping Teboh through his sorrows and shared it on Facebook to a viral ovation. But if you allow me to peel back the curtain again, that moment embodied something more significant than the grandiose attention it received.
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Just 11 days after that thrilling basketball game last February, Bemidji was struck with the burdensome news that Bemidji High ÍáÍáÂþ» football assistant coach Jim McKeon died of a heart attack. To say he was beloved is an understatement. It was news that rippled through the gut of people who saw the outpouring of support for his family and friends.
I never met McKeon, but in my conversations with some of the people closest to him, I learned that he was one of those larger-than-life figures that high school sports needs. I was told his ability to connect with people was what made him who he was, and it’s hard not to think about how proud a guy like that would’ve been to see his players do the right thing in that moment.
This BHS football season won't be remembered forever for its results on the field. They won’t raise banners or bring a bus full of kids to Minneapolis for the Prep Bowl. But I hope I’m not alone in saying that last Tuesday’s showing, during and after the game, has had a lasting impact on me. Stuff like this preserves my faith in the humanity of people, whether they’re the ones teaching, acting or capturing the moment with a camera.
The Trust Project
