November 30, 2023 • 28 mins
Jason Witten's high school football renaissance.
Sinkhole chaos in Rhode Island.
ELITE Arkansas high school football radio call.
High School Football Mascot of the month: Freeport Pretzels
Playoff Matchup Names of the week
____
Witten: https://gocoffeetown.com/jason-witten-high-school-football-coach-one-win-away-from-state/
Radio Call: https://x.com/GWoodDogPound/status/1728986641833038262?s=20
Freeport Pretzels: https://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/2022/06/the-10-wackiest-high-school-mascots/
Coffeetown team store: www.gocoffeetown.com/team-store
Submit your own high school football story: www.gocoffeetown.com/got-a-story
Twitter: @GoCoffeetown / YouTube: @GoCoffeetown / Instagram: @GoCoffeetown / Facebook: @GoCoffeetown / TikTok: @GoCoffeetown
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome in to go Fight, Win the show with all
the high school football stories you love. On this week's episode,
I'll talk about a Dallas cowboy who now has a
chance to do something he never did in the lone
Star state. A team that is literally playing on a
different level than everyone else, bless their hearts. Plus a
fantastic radio call that y'all sent in for my review
(00:21):
and it made the cut. Plus another high school football
legendary mascot spotlight that will put your brain in a twist,
and they're back the all country high school football name
matchups in the high school state playoffs, there are some
really really good ones. It's time for go Fight Win.
Hit that a gap, son, let's go well, just get
(00:47):
the ball of Donnie coug and let that pudge you know. Hey,
Thank y'all for tuning back into fight. When took a
little bit of a hiatus from Thanksgiving and had a
great time with my family, just prioritizing the things that
(01:09):
mean so much to me. And look, I've got this
channel going. I've got my main channel going talking about
SEC college football and those things mean a lot to me,
but not nearly as much as my fam does. And
I can't pass down this generational wisdom and passion for
SEC football in high school football if I'm not in
(01:31):
their line of sight and not showing them the ropes.
So I love that time. I appreciate y'all sticking with
me even after a little bit of a break here
and behind all those things, all those memories, all those
things that I love and the people that I love
not too far away as high school football, and that's
why you're here, and that's what we're going to talk
about today. I do want to say thank you to
(01:53):
everybody who took advantage of the Black Friday Cyber Monday
special to pick up some Coffeetown gear and merch and
get decked out and copper Heads apparel as we prepare
to deck the halls around here. And I also just
want to invite you to hit subscribe, hit like on
this show and help it continue to grow. It's free
(02:14):
right now and it will continue to be that way,
but there is an opportunity for this show to get
big enough for me to also help support that fam
that I mentioned, So go ahead and do that hit
like and subscribe if you're feeling like you're in the
holiday spirit and unlike a high school football team willing
to give a little bit of something away. Y'all, it's
(02:36):
time to talk about the stories in high school football
that we love. That's what this show is all about.
And a story that I loved rather out of the
state of Texas. Jason Witten, the former Dallas Cowboys tied
end great himself and Tennessee volunteer, is now a high
school football head coach for Argyle Liberty Christian and Witten's
(02:57):
got a chance to do something that he never got
to do as a NFL player for the Cowboys. He
kind of had a weird ending to his career. He
retired from the Cowboys, went to the Monday Night Football Booth,
came back to Dallas, played there for a year, then
played for the Raiders. Now he's retired from the league
(03:17):
for Shore and he's coaching high school ball man and
he's coaching a couple guys who are ballers, who are
dogs in their own right, and they are just as
nasty as Popo was. Both of his sons, Cooper and CJ,
are on the team that has a chance to win
a state championship in Texas. I don't care what level
you're on if you win a state championship in Texas,
(03:40):
you did it the hard way, as Rodney Dangerfield set.
So Cooper and CJ doing great things for Jason Witten.
For coach Witton, Cooper's the youngest witting on the field.
He has more than fifty tackles in three blocked kicks
this season as a freshman and then junior stand out CJ.
(04:02):
Witten leads the team in tackles. This is really cool.
And I grew up watching Witten. I played I say
that in air quotes tight end in high school and
Witten was someone that I looked up to. I was
never going to be as tall or as big as him,
but I loved how consistent he was, how he caught
the ball with his hands, was very technically sound, and
(04:25):
always admired him. And now he's giving back to his
roots of high school football. And when you look at
his career as a NFL tight end, All Pro twice
first team, an eleven time Pro Bowler, a Walter Peyton
Man of the Year, and that's the one that if
you can play in the league and win that Walter
Peyton Man of the Year, it shows what kind of
(04:47):
character you have and I don't want to generalize guys
who came before Witting, but I do feel like there's
this generational shift in the thinking of a lot of
these retired NFL players who are not only spending time
with their families once they're done, they're finding purpose in
giving back and coaching. Spoke with David Pollack earlier on
(05:09):
in this season. Obviously not the NFL pedigree, he couldn't
control that. He had a neck injury that forced him
to retire. But guys just can't get away from the game.
And that's the cliche of what happens to an NFL
player or a college player. They feel lost. You know,
you leave that locker room. What do I do? What
do I do with my life? This was my identity? Well,
(05:30):
instead of just feeling lost and feeling hopeless, you're seeing
a lot of guys like Witten, like Pollock start to
give back and funnel that energy towards another locker room
and not just thinking about themselves, but thinking about people
who are coming up behind them, these high school players,
his sons, and making the most of that and passing
(05:53):
down that knowledge. And not only do they have a
chance to do that and make some great memories as
a team. Now they have a chance to win. Stay
our guy, Liberty Christian will play the Regent School of
Austin for the Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools
as known as TAPS in the D two school state
title in Waco on Friday, December first, So we'll certainly
(06:15):
keep you posted on how that game goes and see,
you know what Witting's able to do right now in
his career. He's twenty five and ten as a high
school football head coach. And I wish this game was
in Arlington. Wish it was in Dallas at Jerry World,
(06:35):
But I guess that would be a little too on
the nose for Witting to play for a championship in
the town where his team just couldn't get it done. Man,
And really they should have. Maybe in a couple of
different seasons they could have. But you're going up against
not just you know, the Patriots, that was their era
of dominance, but the Cowboys never even got there to
(06:56):
play him in the Super Bowl going up against the Giants.
Eli Manning was fantastic during that run as well. So
all that to be all that, all that's say, finally
have a chance for a championship for Jason Witten. And
I know that people in his high school bubble will
certainly appreciate that. But Cowboys fans too, in NFL fans
(07:19):
like myself. I mean, I'm not a Cowboys guy. I
never pulled for the for the Cowboys, but I've always
respected what Witton did as a player and certainly now
as a coach. So congrats to him. I hope he
can get himself a ring baby. Get you one of these,
as that straggly haired father says in Friday Night Lights
(07:41):
the movie, gets you one of these, all right? Next
story here, we have a high school football team in
Rhode Island. Way different tradition surrounding high school football in
Rhode Island than you see in Texas. But this team here,
the skitch It High School football team. I saw the
(08:03):
story a couple weeks ago, not playing on its home
turf for the third season in a row after the
district said it found sinkholes in the ground. This is
from WPRI dot Com doing some investigative journalism here, So
skitu It, let's get the scituation. They've been playing at
Johnston High School and at Bryant University they've got no
(08:26):
true home field advantage and the school play or should
play at Cato Field. Junior Paul Zulkos told the outlet
here that while he's glad to have the chance to
play at a college, it's not where he wants to be.
It's not a home game, Zulko said. It's a home game,
but not as many fans would come. If we had
this field, the stands would be packed. Everyone would be here.
(08:49):
It would just be a whole different experience. Cato Field,
built in twenty nineteen through a two point eight million
dollars bond, was shut down by the district in the
spring of twenty twenty one when the superintendents said the
first sinkhole was found. Wow, I mean this sounds like
a coffeetown script. Sink holes in the field two years
(09:10):
in the making here and in more holes reportedly have
emerged Target twelve. As I guess with this story what
this publication is called, went onto the field in July
found divots covered by large pieces of plywood with the
words stay off spray painted on them. That's a home
field advantage. If you want to give it a go,
(09:32):
go out there and research where those holes are. Kind
of like that Haunted field in Texas Rogan Field I
mentioned several episodes back. Sky Drone twelve also identified two
other spots towards the center of the field. I love
these local news side note here as a local news
veteran myself, I love these local news transportation sponsored things.
(09:57):
Whether it's a truck, a drone, what whatever it is
out there, it's got a name slapped on the side.
Sky Drone twelve the most dependable sky drone in the market.
We had a truck at the station I worked at
called the thunder Truck, and I never, for the life
of me, understood why they didn't dip into the budget
(10:21):
a little bit and try to license the tune to
Thunderstruck by ac DC and go.
Speaker 2 (10:27):
Find that truck.
Speaker 1 (10:30):
I mean, that's that just would have been so cool.
I probably would have been the only one who enjoyed it.
But anyways, we'll circle back here to Skydrone twelve that
found the sinkholes in the field. And this is this
truly is a shame for these players. They don't have
a home field advantage, didn't make the playoffs. These players
got to do something. So if you're listening up there,
(10:52):
in Rhode Island or near Rhode Island, and there's any
way you want to spread the news, let me know
to think there's some sort of GoFundMe that they can
do two point eight million dollars bond to make this field.
Then they can't even put one out there that doesn't
have holes in it. They're practicing on a nearby field
(11:15):
that's only fifty yards long. If you haven't been to
a football game lately, it's still one hundred yards. It's
not fifty. We're asking when will this field be fixed.
What they basically said was you're a freshman, so don't
worry about it. Grover told Target twelve that was Charles Grover.
I guess one of the players. He said, as a junior.
(11:36):
I might go to another school committee meeting maybe next year.
Tell them I'm a senior. Maybe next time it'll get done.
I feel for these people. This story is from twenty nineteen.
Renovations put Cato Field at the top of its class.
From the Valley Breeze, Well, now it sounds like a
stiff Valley Breeze is just going to blow holes into
(11:57):
its sad good luck to you, skitch you at high
school there's a lot of shady contractors out there in
shady developers and builders all over the place, and it
seems like high school football fields are not immune to that.
Speaker 2 (12:12):
All right.
Speaker 1 (12:12):
And finally, man, y'all tag me in some great radio
calls each week, but this one really made the cut
in a spectacular way. This is out of the Greenwood
Dog Pound in Arkansas, a Sully nominee featuring Steve Sullivan
and Tim Radio Tim Terry twenty eighteen Sully Award winner.
(12:35):
And from what I gathered, that is the best radio
call in high school football, or at least they give
one out. They give a Soley out to the best
call in high school football. And I want to thank
Jared Hammond for tagging me at West Underscore in Ship
and at Go Coffeetown in this post here on X
(12:57):
here's the video, here's the call, y'all give it a listen. Man,
this I'm a pretty tough critic, and I really has
to be the best to make Go Fight win. But
this whole show was inspired by fictional high school football
radio broadcast and this is a real one. These guys
are real. Here we go.
Speaker 2 (13:19):
Main in motion from left to right. Play action they're
gonna throw the flat dadies go on away back guy
go honey, Dade many made it live yards a big Sex.
(13:40):
Let's get it on. I love that.
Speaker 1 (13:43):
Let's get it home. And I love the five four
three two one. That's a great touch on a radio call.
Let's see you this was Greenwood in Arkansas. Uh, let's
see who actually got the pick six. I want to
give that kid some credit to But great call there
from the radio crew, because that right there is what
this show is all about. Greenwood, by the way, twelve
(14:04):
and oh on the pick six there According to the
Max Preps roster, here that was Brady Mackey and you
hear him say, go Mackey, listen to it again? Can
I restart it? Here's let's listen to it again.
Speaker 2 (14:22):
Here we go, man in motion from left to right,
play action. They're gonna throw the flag is go away.
Speaker 1 (14:34):
If I do saying, Becky.
Speaker 2 (14:41):
Brady bive Yards a big Sex. Let's get it on.
Speaker 1 (14:49):
And that's in the six to A state semi finals
for Arkansas this week. Who does green Wood have the
dog Pound? The dog Pound up next in the state
PL playoffs. After a twelve to zero season, they beat
Pulaski Academy in that call there fifty six twenty six.
Good grief. They haven't scored less than thirty five points
(15:12):
all season. That was their low forty nine forty nine,
fifty five sixty one. The dog Pound is here to
play son, all right. LRCA Little Rock Christian, Little Rock Christian,
pretty stout themselves here, putting up a lot of points too.
(15:32):
They are ten and two and they'll have to take
on the dog Pound. I gotta tell you, I don't
like their chances. If Mackie's out there stalking, getting picked
six is like that eighty five yards. Thank y'all for
sending that in round of applause. To Jared Hammond for sharing,
I encourage you to do the same thing. We're getting
thin here on how many weeks are left in any
(15:54):
given states high school football playoff tournament. So keep an
eye out, keeping her out for those Coffeetown caliber calls
that we want to send in here. And I might
have just come up with a name for that segment,
Coffeetown caliber calls. As we continue here on this go
fight win trajectory, all right. Coming up next, a legendary
(16:14):
high school football mascot out of the state of Illinois.
That will twist your brain, all right, I do it
every now and then. Done a few good ones here,
the Martians, the Gobblers. Want to celebrate the Gobblers. You know,
we celebrated them again on Thanksgiving. I told my family
(16:35):
about how special the Gobbler is to me, and you know,
certainly because of this show, the Gobblers, the Quero Gobblers
out of Texas. Well, how about the New Berlin, Illinois Pretzels.
What do you know about that? Well, this is from
Saturday Eveningpost dot com. They have a list here and
(16:55):
I'll include it, include a link to it so y'all
can feast on it as well. Well. But the New
Berlin Pretzels in New Berlin, Illinois, they don't know how
they got their name. And a lot of these legendary
mascots don't really know. It's a murky past in history.
How did it happen? A school yearbook from the early
(17:17):
nineteen fifties includes four different stories about how the mascot
came to be. Superintendent Jill Larson says, so take your pick,
what do you believe. I'll read them out and give
you the options, and I'll tell you which one I
believe is more likely. One version suggests that school board
members were drinking beer and eating pretzels when they chose
(17:38):
the name That's my Clubhouse Leader. Another theory is that
the board members were sitting around a table with their
arms crossed in frustration because they couldn't pick a name
or revisit that one.
Speaker 2 (17:53):
Yet.
Speaker 1 (17:53):
Another rumor is that a basketball player decades ago had
an unusual free throw shot that involve all lots of
arm twisting. Not buying that one? All right? So it
says all right? The school yearbook includes four different stories,
but that's only three. Larson says, there was a time
(18:18):
that people wanted to change the mascot, and they asked
the kids if it was outdated. Overwhelmingly, the students stood
up back in the day for their mascots, showing the
pride and dedication they have for their school. And I
can guarantee you you would never get rid of it. Now,
everybody loves being a pretzel. How about that pretzel pride.
(18:39):
It's definitely the first option these administrators were getting the hammered,
and the second option where they said they were crossing
their arms because they were frustrated that's the cover up story.
But here's how it went. I mean, this is Illinois.
They like to have their SuDS up there. They're definitely
(19:00):
and around talking about how funny the DFA had mascot
called the Pretzels, and that's what they became. That's what
I'm believing. Regardless of what the yearbook says the annual,
it's probably because the administrators were having some beer having
some pretzels, they thought it'd be hilarious. They submitted it,
(19:23):
it passed, and.
Speaker 2 (19:25):
Here we are.
Speaker 1 (19:27):
However, many years later, and the Pretzels have stuck. I
tell you, these pretzels are making me thirsty coming up.
Even though the Pretzels did not make the playoffs this
year in Illinois, rough season for the Pretzel Crew. We
got a batch of names of high school football teams
that did make the state playoffs. And when they are combined,
(19:51):
it's a combination that is better than pretzels and beer.
All right, y'all. So I love scouring state playoff brackets
from around the country. AI can't do that. Show me
an app where AI does that. This isn't Sports illustrated.
This is real hard elbow grease sweat of my brow work.
(20:11):
I'm on MaxPreps dot com. I'm looking at every state,
every bracket for these names. And what this is is
the best matchup names in high school football playoffs across
the country. Games where when the names are combined, they
tell a story. They spur something in my brain that
(20:32):
I can't explain, but I will just work through it
audibly here with you. So the first one I found
out of the commonwealth state of Virginia. We're getting deeper
and deeper in the state playoffs and these names just
continue to deliver. We've got James Madison taking on Freedom
and Freedom. How did Freedom get there? How did Freedom
(20:55):
get to the Virginia State semifinals which will be played
on December second at two PA. Well, they had to
beat Battlefield Freedom. If you've seen the movie Brave Heart,
is earned on the battlefield or it can be taken. Well,
Freedom defeated the Battlefield fifty to seven. So who does
(21:18):
Freedom get to play as a reward of their victory
over the Battlefield? Well, Freedom has to play James Madison.
And this isn't JMU which is taking college football by
storm this season. This is James Madison, the high school Well,
when you look at you know, American history, James Madison
(21:42):
was one of the signers of the Constitution. He promoted
the Constitution of the United States and the Bill of Rights.
That's I don't know how to feel about this. James
Madison at the biggest proponent of freedom perhaps in our
nation's history, certainly one of the top five fellows. Or
(22:04):
you know, there's people in general to fight for freedom.
Now James Madison has to take on freedom himself. Well,
let me tell you how James Madison would handle this.
A happy union of these states is a wonder, their
constitution a miracle, their example, the hope of liberty throughout
the world. And now you've got to take on liberty.
(22:26):
You got to fight freedom. One of the all time
great matchups in the history of this country. I will
be paying close attention to see how this goes. I
don't know if this if high school football exists without
James Madison. Do you think we're still playing high school
football if we don't have a Constitution of Bill of Wrights,
if we didn't beat the British. Good luck James Madison.
(22:48):
All right, how about elsewhere in the United States? Out
of South Dakota, well, South Dakota is a state that,
you know, not necessarily known for its for its high
school football. But we did have a match up here
in South Dakota that didn't go the way that you
thought it might go. Winter High School, Yeah, that's right.
(23:13):
There's a high school called Winter and Winter started out
the playoffs pretty strong. One seed. Of course, it's Winter
w I N N E R not Winter Winter. Top
seed winner took down Parker thirty six to nothing in
the South Dakota eleven B playoff bracket. Then top seed
(23:34):
winner yet again shuts out Ron Colly twenty eight to nothing.
Winner's rolling. But what happens well in the semi final matchup?
Elk point Jefferson beat Winter, and how do you beat Winter?
(23:57):
I'm flummixed at the result. Twenty one sixteen elk point
Jefferson beats Winner. Doesn't seem like it should be allowed.
What do you do now? If you're a winner? Do
you change your name? Do you put an almost in
front of the name? I uh, I think you got
to earn that name, right. You can't just be calling
yourself winner if you lost? And then elk point Jefferson
(24:20):
went on and actually lost to Hot Springs so winner
lost to the loser out of the state of Oregon.
Now this is a very unique problem. But in the
first round of the four to a Oregon playoff brackets OSAA,
Cascade played Tillamook. And here in my house, we occasionally
(24:43):
will splurge and we'll get the Tillamook cheese. Well, when
I put the Tillamook in my daughter's cheese grits and
fire them up in the microwave, don't don't even say anything,
all right, I can feel your Southern rage and judge
here as I tell you, I microwave instant cheese grits
(25:03):
for my daughter. You come cook for and tell me
how easy it is. Well, the toughest part is often
cleaning the bowl of grits. I like to hand wash things,
like to take care of it myself, but sometimes you
got to throw it in that dishwasher. You're in a pinch,
in a pinch for time you gotta take her to
school the other kids crying. Well, Cascade occasionally will do
(25:28):
its best to take on that Tilimook cheese that's stuck
to the side of the bowl of cheese grits, but
it doesn't always pan out very well. And I was
stunned to see in the organ playoffs a matchup that
does typically does not bode well for Cascade in our household,
(25:50):
taking on that Tillamook cheese, it is rich and creamy,
but when you melt it and it dries up and
gets sticky again, the dishwasher doesn't all always do the
best job well. In the Oregon State playoffs, guess what
happened Upset of the century as Cascade took down Tillamook
thirty two to eight. Now Scapoose beat Cascade in the
(26:14):
following round, So a little bit of a bummer there,
as a Cascade really just spent every single bit of
its energy in that dishwasher of a game and didn't
have enough to take down Scapoose. But congratulations to Cascade
winning a battle that does not oftentimes win in our household. Hey,
(26:39):
thank y'all for sitting through this show. I want to
hear more about what's going on in your high school
football team in town, even beyond your state playoff run.
Maybe you didn't make the playoffs, but you got a
call from earlier on in the year that you want
to share with me, or a story that's evergreen in
your heart from when you played high school football. Send
it to me at go Coffeetown on X at West
(27:04):
underscore in ship on x Instagram there for you as well,
hit like and subscribe. Let's keep talking about high school football,
high school sports, and all the things that make these
high school communities great with real people congregating, laughing, commiserating,
making memories that they'll never forget. As Go Fight Win
(27:27):
continues on this old dusty road, and we'll see if
we can't line up a few more guests here. Coming
out of the holiday break and heading towards a brand
new year of twenty twenty four. What does it hold?
What is happening? And so many of these teams who
came up short, they've got new hope, they've got new life,
(27:48):
the changing of the calendar, a whole new set of
coaching cliches and radio calls. Oh wait, y'all, have a
fantastic weekend. We'll be back here as every episode of
Go Fight wind drops on Thursdays and we continue to
find the best stories, all the high school football stories
(28:08):
you love, I love, They're right here. See you
Welcome in to go Fight, Win the show with all
the high school football stories you love. On this week's episode,
I'll talk about a Dallas cowboy who now has a
chance to do something he never did in the lone
Star state. A team that is literally playing on a
different level than everyone else, bless their hearts. Plus a
fantastic radio call that y'all sent in for my review
(00:21):
and it made the cut. Plus another high school football
legendary mascot spotlight that will put your brain in a twist,
and they're back the all country high school football name
matchups in the high school state playoffs, there are some
really really good ones. It's time for go Fight Win.
Hit that a gap, son, let's go well, just get
(00:47):
the ball of Donnie coug and let that pudge you know. Hey,
Thank y'all for tuning back into fight. When took a
little bit of a hiatus from Thanksgiving and had a
great time with my family, just prioritizing the things that
(01:09):
mean so much to me. And look, I've got this
channel going. I've got my main channel going talking about
SEC college football and those things mean a lot to me,
but not nearly as much as my fam does. And
I can't pass down this generational wisdom and passion for
SEC football in high school football if I'm not in
(01:31):
their line of sight and not showing them the ropes.
So I love that time. I appreciate y'all sticking with
me even after a little bit of a break here
and behind all those things, all those memories, all those
things that I love and the people that I love
not too far away as high school football, and that's
why you're here, and that's what we're going to talk
about today. I do want to say thank you to
(01:53):
everybody who took advantage of the Black Friday Cyber Monday
special to pick up some Coffeetown gear and merch and
get decked out and copper Heads apparel as we prepare
to deck the halls around here. And I also just
want to invite you to hit subscribe, hit like on
this show and help it continue to grow. It's free
(02:14):
right now and it will continue to be that way,
but there is an opportunity for this show to get
big enough for me to also help support that fam
that I mentioned, So go ahead and do that hit
like and subscribe if you're feeling like you're in the
holiday spirit and unlike a high school football team willing
to give a little bit of something away. Y'all, it's
(02:36):
time to talk about the stories in high school football
that we love. That's what this show is all about.
And a story that I loved rather out of the
state of Texas. Jason Witten, the former Dallas Cowboys tied
end great himself and Tennessee volunteer, is now a high
school football head coach for Argyle Liberty Christian and Witten's
(02:57):
got a chance to do something that he never got
to do as a NFL player for the Cowboys. He
kind of had a weird ending to his career. He
retired from the Cowboys, went to the Monday Night Football Booth,
came back to Dallas, played there for a year, then
played for the Raiders. Now he's retired from the league
(03:17):
for Shore and he's coaching high school ball man and
he's coaching a couple guys who are ballers, who are
dogs in their own right, and they are just as
nasty as Popo was. Both of his sons, Cooper and CJ,
are on the team that has a chance to win
a state championship in Texas. I don't care what level
you're on if you win a state championship in Texas,
(03:40):
you did it the hard way, as Rodney Dangerfield set.
So Cooper and CJ doing great things for Jason Witten.
For coach Witton, Cooper's the youngest witting on the field.
He has more than fifty tackles in three blocked kicks
this season as a freshman and then junior stand out CJ.
(04:02):
Witten leads the team in tackles. This is really cool.
And I grew up watching Witten. I played I say
that in air quotes tight end in high school and
Witten was someone that I looked up to. I was
never going to be as tall or as big as him,
but I loved how consistent he was, how he caught
the ball with his hands, was very technically sound, and
(04:25):
always admired him. And now he's giving back to his
roots of high school football. And when you look at
his career as a NFL tight end, All Pro twice
first team, an eleven time Pro Bowler, a Walter Peyton
Man of the Year, and that's the one that if
you can play in the league and win that Walter
Peyton Man of the Year, it shows what kind of
(04:47):
character you have and I don't want to generalize guys
who came before Witting, but I do feel like there's
this generational shift in the thinking of a lot of
these retired NFL players who are not only spending time
with their families once they're done, they're finding purpose in
giving back and coaching. Spoke with David Pollack earlier on
(05:09):
in this season. Obviously not the NFL pedigree, he couldn't
control that. He had a neck injury that forced him
to retire. But guys just can't get away from the game.
And that's the cliche of what happens to an NFL
player or a college player. They feel lost. You know,
you leave that locker room. What do I do? What
do I do with my life? This was my identity? Well,
(05:30):
instead of just feeling lost and feeling hopeless, you're seeing
a lot of guys like Witten, like Pollock start to
give back and funnel that energy towards another locker room
and not just thinking about themselves, but thinking about people
who are coming up behind them, these high school players,
his sons, and making the most of that and passing
(05:53):
down that knowledge. And not only do they have a
chance to do that and make some great memories as
a team. Now they have a chance to win. Stay
our guy, Liberty Christian will play the Regent School of
Austin for the Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools
as known as TAPS in the D two school state
title in Waco on Friday, December first, So we'll certainly
(06:15):
keep you posted on how that game goes and see,
you know what Witting's able to do right now in
his career. He's twenty five and ten as a high
school football head coach. And I wish this game was
in Arlington. Wish it was in Dallas at Jerry World,
(06:35):
But I guess that would be a little too on
the nose for Witting to play for a championship in
the town where his team just couldn't get it done. Man,
And really they should have. Maybe in a couple of
different seasons they could have. But you're going up against
not just you know, the Patriots, that was their era
of dominance, but the Cowboys never even got there to
(06:56):
play him in the Super Bowl going up against the Giants.
Eli Manning was fantastic during that run as well. So
all that to be all that, all that's say, finally
have a chance for a championship for Jason Witten. And
I know that people in his high school bubble will
certainly appreciate that. But Cowboys fans too, in NFL fans
(07:19):
like myself. I mean, I'm not a Cowboys guy. I
never pulled for the for the Cowboys, but I've always
respected what Witton did as a player and certainly now
as a coach. So congrats to him. I hope he
can get himself a ring baby. Get you one of these,
as that straggly haired father says in Friday Night Lights
(07:41):
the movie, gets you one of these, all right? Next
story here, we have a high school football team in
Rhode Island. Way different tradition surrounding high school football in
Rhode Island than you see in Texas. But this team here,
the skitch It High School football team. I saw the
(08:03):
story a couple weeks ago, not playing on its home
turf for the third season in a row after the
district said it found sinkholes in the ground. This is
from WPRI dot Com doing some investigative journalism here, So
skitu It, let's get the scituation. They've been playing at
Johnston High School and at Bryant University they've got no
(08:26):
true home field advantage and the school play or should
play at Cato Field. Junior Paul Zulkos told the outlet
here that while he's glad to have the chance to
play at a college, it's not where he wants to be.
It's not a home game, Zulko said. It's a home game,
but not as many fans would come. If we had
this field, the stands would be packed. Everyone would be here.
(08:49):
It would just be a whole different experience. Cato Field,
built in twenty nineteen through a two point eight million
dollars bond, was shut down by the district in the
spring of twenty twenty one when the superintendents said the
first sinkhole was found. Wow, I mean this sounds like
a coffeetown script. Sink holes in the field two years
(09:10):
in the making here and in more holes reportedly have
emerged Target twelve. As I guess with this story what
this publication is called, went onto the field in July
found divots covered by large pieces of plywood with the
words stay off spray painted on them. That's a home
field advantage. If you want to give it a go,
(09:32):
go out there and research where those holes are. Kind
of like that Haunted field in Texas Rogan Field I
mentioned several episodes back. Sky Drone twelve also identified two
other spots towards the center of the field. I love
these local news side note here as a local news
veteran myself, I love these local news transportation sponsored things.
(09:57):
Whether it's a truck, a drone, what whatever it is
out there, it's got a name slapped on the side.
Sky Drone twelve the most dependable sky drone in the market.
We had a truck at the station I worked at
called the thunder Truck, and I never, for the life
of me, understood why they didn't dip into the budget
(10:21):
a little bit and try to license the tune to
Thunderstruck by ac DC and go.
Speaker 2 (10:27):
Find that truck.
Speaker 1 (10:30):
I mean, that's that just would have been so cool.
I probably would have been the only one who enjoyed it.
But anyways, we'll circle back here to Skydrone twelve that
found the sinkholes in the field. And this is this
truly is a shame for these players. They don't have
a home field advantage, didn't make the playoffs. These players
got to do something. So if you're listening up there,
(10:52):
in Rhode Island or near Rhode Island, and there's any
way you want to spread the news, let me know
to think there's some sort of GoFundMe that they can
do two point eight million dollars bond to make this field.
Then they can't even put one out there that doesn't
have holes in it. They're practicing on a nearby field
(11:15):
that's only fifty yards long. If you haven't been to
a football game lately, it's still one hundred yards. It's
not fifty. We're asking when will this field be fixed.
What they basically said was you're a freshman, so don't
worry about it. Grover told Target twelve that was Charles Grover.
I guess one of the players. He said, as a junior.
(11:36):
I might go to another school committee meeting maybe next year.
Tell them I'm a senior. Maybe next time it'll get done.
I feel for these people. This story is from twenty nineteen.
Renovations put Cato Field at the top of its class.
From the Valley Breeze, Well, now it sounds like a
stiff Valley Breeze is just going to blow holes into
(11:57):
its sad good luck to you, skitch you at high
school there's a lot of shady contractors out there in
shady developers and builders all over the place, and it
seems like high school football fields are not immune to that.
Speaker 2 (12:12):
All right.
Speaker 1 (12:12):
And finally, man, y'all tag me in some great radio
calls each week, but this one really made the cut
in a spectacular way. This is out of the Greenwood
Dog Pound in Arkansas, a Sully nominee featuring Steve Sullivan
and Tim Radio Tim Terry twenty eighteen Sully Award winner.
(12:35):
And from what I gathered, that is the best radio
call in high school football, or at least they give
one out. They give a Soley out to the best
call in high school football. And I want to thank
Jared Hammond for tagging me at West Underscore in Ship
and at Go Coffeetown in this post here on X
(12:57):
here's the video, here's the call, y'all give it a listen. Man,
this I'm a pretty tough critic, and I really has
to be the best to make Go Fight win. But
this whole show was inspired by fictional high school football
radio broadcast and this is a real one. These guys
are real. Here we go.
Speaker 2 (13:19):
Main in motion from left to right. Play action they're
gonna throw the flat dadies go on away back guy
go honey, Dade many made it live yards a big Sex.
(13:40):
Let's get it on. I love that.
Speaker 1 (13:43):
Let's get it home. And I love the five four
three two one. That's a great touch on a radio call.
Let's see you this was Greenwood in Arkansas. Uh, let's
see who actually got the pick six. I want to
give that kid some credit to But great call there
from the radio crew, because that right there is what
this show is all about. Greenwood, by the way, twelve
(14:04):
and oh on the pick six there According to the
Max Preps roster, here that was Brady Mackey and you
hear him say, go Mackey, listen to it again? Can
I restart it? Here's let's listen to it again.
Speaker 2 (14:22):
Here we go, man in motion from left to right,
play action. They're gonna throw the flag is go away.
Speaker 1 (14:34):
If I do saying, Becky.
Speaker 2 (14:41):
Brady bive Yards a big Sex. Let's get it on.
Speaker 1 (14:49):
And that's in the six to A state semi finals
for Arkansas this week. Who does green Wood have the
dog Pound? The dog Pound up next in the state
PL playoffs. After a twelve to zero season, they beat
Pulaski Academy in that call there fifty six twenty six.
Good grief. They haven't scored less than thirty five points
(15:12):
all season. That was their low forty nine forty nine,
fifty five sixty one. The dog Pound is here to
play son, all right. LRCA Little Rock Christian, Little Rock Christian,
pretty stout themselves here, putting up a lot of points too.
(15:32):
They are ten and two and they'll have to take
on the dog Pound. I gotta tell you, I don't
like their chances. If Mackie's out there stalking, getting picked
six is like that eighty five yards. Thank y'all for
sending that in round of applause. To Jared Hammond for sharing,
I encourage you to do the same thing. We're getting
thin here on how many weeks are left in any
(15:54):
given states high school football playoff tournament. So keep an
eye out, keeping her out for those Coffeetown caliber calls
that we want to send in here. And I might
have just come up with a name for that segment,
Coffeetown caliber calls. As we continue here on this go
fight win trajectory, all right. Coming up next, a legendary
(16:14):
high school football mascot out of the state of Illinois.
That will twist your brain, all right, I do it
every now and then. Done a few good ones here,
the Martians, the Gobblers. Want to celebrate the Gobblers. You know,
we celebrated them again on Thanksgiving. I told my family
(16:35):
about how special the Gobbler is to me, and you know,
certainly because of this show, the Gobblers, the Quero Gobblers
out of Texas. Well, how about the New Berlin, Illinois Pretzels.
What do you know about that? Well, this is from
Saturday Eveningpost dot com. They have a list here and
(16:55):
I'll include it, include a link to it so y'all
can feast on it as well. Well. But the New
Berlin Pretzels in New Berlin, Illinois, they don't know how
they got their name. And a lot of these legendary
mascots don't really know. It's a murky past in history.
How did it happen? A school yearbook from the early
(17:17):
nineteen fifties includes four different stories about how the mascot
came to be. Superintendent Jill Larson says, so take your pick,
what do you believe. I'll read them out and give
you the options, and I'll tell you which one I
believe is more likely. One version suggests that school board
members were drinking beer and eating pretzels when they chose
(17:38):
the name That's my Clubhouse Leader. Another theory is that
the board members were sitting around a table with their
arms crossed in frustration because they couldn't pick a name
or revisit that one.
Speaker 2 (17:53):
Yet.
Speaker 1 (17:53):
Another rumor is that a basketball player decades ago had
an unusual free throw shot that involve all lots of
arm twisting. Not buying that one? All right? So it
says all right? The school yearbook includes four different stories,
but that's only three. Larson says, there was a time
(18:18):
that people wanted to change the mascot, and they asked
the kids if it was outdated. Overwhelmingly, the students stood
up back in the day for their mascots, showing the
pride and dedication they have for their school. And I
can guarantee you you would never get rid of it. Now,
everybody loves being a pretzel. How about that pretzel pride.
(18:39):
It's definitely the first option these administrators were getting the hammered,
and the second option where they said they were crossing
their arms because they were frustrated that's the cover up story.
But here's how it went. I mean, this is Illinois.
They like to have their SuDS up there. They're definitely
(19:00):
and around talking about how funny the DFA had mascot
called the Pretzels, and that's what they became. That's what
I'm believing. Regardless of what the yearbook says the annual,
it's probably because the administrators were having some beer having
some pretzels, they thought it'd be hilarious. They submitted it,
(19:23):
it passed, and.
Speaker 2 (19:25):
Here we are.
Speaker 1 (19:27):
However, many years later, and the Pretzels have stuck. I
tell you, these pretzels are making me thirsty coming up.
Even though the Pretzels did not make the playoffs this
year in Illinois, rough season for the Pretzel Crew. We
got a batch of names of high school football teams
that did make the state playoffs. And when they are combined,
(19:51):
it's a combination that is better than pretzels and beer.
All right, y'all. So I love scouring state playoff brackets
from around the country. AI can't do that. Show me
an app where AI does that. This isn't Sports illustrated.
This is real hard elbow grease sweat of my brow work.
(20:11):
I'm on MaxPreps dot com. I'm looking at every state,
every bracket for these names. And what this is is
the best matchup names in high school football playoffs across
the country. Games where when the names are combined, they
tell a story. They spur something in my brain that
(20:32):
I can't explain, but I will just work through it
audibly here with you. So the first one I found
out of the commonwealth state of Virginia. We're getting deeper
and deeper in the state playoffs and these names just
continue to deliver. We've got James Madison taking on Freedom
and Freedom. How did Freedom get there? How did Freedom
(20:55):
get to the Virginia State semifinals which will be played
on December second at two PA. Well, they had to
beat Battlefield Freedom. If you've seen the movie Brave Heart,
is earned on the battlefield or it can be taken. Well,
Freedom defeated the Battlefield fifty to seven. So who does
(21:18):
Freedom get to play as a reward of their victory
over the Battlefield? Well, Freedom has to play James Madison.
And this isn't JMU which is taking college football by
storm this season. This is James Madison, the high school Well,
when you look at you know, American history, James Madison
(21:42):
was one of the signers of the Constitution. He promoted
the Constitution of the United States and the Bill of Rights.
That's I don't know how to feel about this. James
Madison at the biggest proponent of freedom perhaps in our
nation's history, certainly one of the top five fellows. Or
(22:04):
you know, there's people in general to fight for freedom.
Now James Madison has to take on freedom himself. Well,
let me tell you how James Madison would handle this.
A happy union of these states is a wonder, their
constitution a miracle, their example, the hope of liberty throughout
the world. And now you've got to take on liberty.
(22:26):
You got to fight freedom. One of the all time
great matchups in the history of this country. I will
be paying close attention to see how this goes. I
don't know if this if high school football exists without
James Madison. Do you think we're still playing high school
football if we don't have a Constitution of Bill of Wrights,
if we didn't beat the British. Good luck James Madison.
(22:48):
All right, how about elsewhere in the United States? Out
of South Dakota, well, South Dakota is a state that,
you know, not necessarily known for its for its high
school football. But we did have a match up here
in South Dakota that didn't go the way that you
thought it might go. Winter High School, Yeah, that's right.
(23:13):
There's a high school called Winter and Winter started out
the playoffs pretty strong. One seed. Of course, it's Winter
w I N N E R not Winter Winter. Top
seed winner took down Parker thirty six to nothing in
the South Dakota eleven B playoff bracket. Then top seed
(23:34):
winner yet again shuts out Ron Colly twenty eight to nothing.
Winner's rolling. But what happens well in the semi final matchup?
Elk point Jefferson beat Winter, and how do you beat Winter?
(23:57):
I'm flummixed at the result. Twenty one sixteen elk point
Jefferson beats Winner. Doesn't seem like it should be allowed.
What do you do now? If you're a winner? Do
you change your name? Do you put an almost in
front of the name? I uh, I think you got
to earn that name, right. You can't just be calling
yourself winner if you lost? And then elk point Jefferson
(24:20):
went on and actually lost to Hot Springs so winner
lost to the loser out of the state of Oregon.
Now this is a very unique problem. But in the
first round of the four to a Oregon playoff brackets OSAA,
Cascade played Tillamook. And here in my house, we occasionally
(24:43):
will splurge and we'll get the Tillamook cheese. Well, when
I put the Tillamook in my daughter's cheese grits and
fire them up in the microwave, don't don't even say anything,
all right, I can feel your Southern rage and judge
here as I tell you, I microwave instant cheese grits
(25:03):
for my daughter. You come cook for and tell me
how easy it is. Well, the toughest part is often
cleaning the bowl of grits. I like to hand wash things,
like to take care of it myself, but sometimes you
got to throw it in that dishwasher. You're in a pinch,
in a pinch for time you gotta take her to
school the other kids crying. Well, Cascade occasionally will do
(25:28):
its best to take on that Tilimook cheese that's stuck
to the side of the bowl of cheese grits, but
it doesn't always pan out very well. And I was
stunned to see in the organ playoffs a matchup that
does typically does not bode well for Cascade in our household,
(25:50):
taking on that Tillamook cheese, it is rich and creamy,
but when you melt it and it dries up and
gets sticky again, the dishwasher doesn't all always do the
best job well. In the Oregon State playoffs, guess what
happened Upset of the century as Cascade took down Tillamook
thirty two to eight. Now Scapoose beat Cascade in the
(26:14):
following round, So a little bit of a bummer there,
as a Cascade really just spent every single bit of
its energy in that dishwasher of a game and didn't
have enough to take down Scapoose. But congratulations to Cascade
winning a battle that does not oftentimes win in our household. Hey,
(26:39):
thank y'all for sitting through this show. I want to
hear more about what's going on in your high school
football team in town, even beyond your state playoff run.
Maybe you didn't make the playoffs, but you got a
call from earlier on in the year that you want
to share with me, or a story that's evergreen in
your heart from when you played high school football. Send
it to me at go Coffeetown on X at West
(27:04):
underscore in ship on x Instagram there for you as well,
hit like and subscribe. Let's keep talking about high school football,
high school sports, and all the things that make these
high school communities great with real people congregating, laughing, commiserating,
making memories that they'll never forget. As Go Fight Win
(27:27):
continues on this old dusty road, and we'll see if
we can't line up a few more guests here. Coming
out of the holiday break and heading towards a brand
new year of twenty twenty four. What does it hold?
What is happening? And so many of these teams who
came up short, they've got new hope, they've got new life,
(27:48):
the changing of the calendar, a whole new set of
coaching cliches and radio calls. Oh wait, y'all, have a
fantastic weekend. We'll be back here as every episode of
Go Fight wind drops on Thursdays and we continue to
find the best stories, all the high school football stories
(28:08):
you love, I love, They're right here. See you
Host
Wes Blankenship
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