See Memories of Harmon Field, part 1 including 4th of July rodeos in the 1940s-50s.

By Bill Herr

In football the punter often doesn't get much credit. A good punter is important because he gives his team excellent field position. One of Bluffton High School's finest punters was Don Burkholder. He played in the late ‘40s, and was two years behind my brother who graduated in 1948. So I got to see Don in action. Although I was young, I remember his booming, rainbow punts that had great distance. Many years later I got to know him well when he was a resident at Willow Ridge. I would always tell him he was the greatest punter I ever saw. He told me that the Pirates were backed up inside the ten-yard line one game and he had to punt from the end zone.

He got off a good one and it sailed over the receiver's head and stopped on the ground inside the 20-yard line at the other end of Harmon Field. The punt was over 80 yards. He said when he went back to the sideline his coach came up to him and said, "What was that?"

Former Bluffton High School quarterback John Tabler went to Bluffton College and became the quarterback for the Beavers. In a game on Harmon Field he led the Beavers down the field to the red zone inside the 20. On the next play he kept the ball and scrambled into the end zone for a touchdown. But he didn't stop after he crossed the line. He spotted a close friend and former classmate from Bluffton High School, Ray Ruggley, standing in a crowd behind the line in the end zone. John ran up to Ray and handed him the football.

Sometimes an unsung player does something memorable at practice. Conner Stewart was a friendly, quiet individual on the team who didn't get much attention. One practice Coach Schmidt ran a defensive drill. Players were in two lines. The player at the head of the offensive line would carry the ball and try to run through or around the head of the defensive line when they heard the coach blow his whistle. Conner was next up on the defense and Joe Urich was to carry the ball on offense. Joe was one of the toughest players to ever put on pads as a Pirate. He was first team NWC on both offense and defense. He won a football scholarship to Miami University in Ohio. I tackled him once in practice and it felt like I made contact with a truck. I watched as Coach Schmidt blew his whistle and Joe ran towards Conner. Conner lowered his frame and put his shoulder into Joe's midsection. Joe went down hard and the collision of the pads was so loud they probably heard it up on Main Street. Conner earned a lot of respect from the team and coaches for that tackle.

In 1991, the Pirate football team led by Coach Dennis Lee had won 13 consecutive games, and in two days they were to play Newark Catholic in the state championship game. On Thursday morning, Thanksgiving Day, they walked from the high school down to Harmon Field for their final practice. They would leave by bus for Massillon on Friday and play the game on Saturday. I was making a video of the season and I had my camcorder ready to record the walk and final practice. It had drizzled that morning and as they walked across the bridge and stopped at the gate, they said "Pirate Pride" as they always did before going into Harmon Field. The realization of the enormity of what this team had done and was about to attempt hit me and I shed tears. This confident, but humble team from the small town of Bluffton was about to make history.

A huge crowd attended the pep session and witnessed the team leaving on Friday. And although they lost to Newark Catholic, when they returned to Bluffton they were greeted by another enthusiastic crowd. It seemed as though they had won. They were labeled "The Dream Team."

"Pirate Pride is Forever" is a phrase that was born that year. The memories made by players and remembered by spectators on Harmon Field will live in our hearts and minds forever.

This may be my last column related to Bluffton High School sports. This one is personal. I will close by relating my worst Pirate moment and my favorite one. Being a farm kid and needed on the farm, my dad didn't let me go out for sports at BHS until my junior year. That year I went out for football. I didn't get into a single game, but I didn't care. I liked practices, especially playing defense in scrimmages. I loved to tackle.

On the first day of practice my senior year, Coach Pete Schmidt walked with me down to Harmon Field. He told me, "We're going to play you at linebacker this year." That made me feel good. Against Pandora during the season, the Rockets had a bruising fullback named Marvin Diller (not my classmate of the same name at BHS). He carried the ball and was about to break loose when I met him at the line of scrimmage. I lowered my head and he did too, and unfortunately for me, we met helmet to helmet. He got up but I didn't. I am one of a select few Pirate football players that lay unconscious for a time on the hallowed grass of Harmon Field.

I came to on the sideline and I heard Coach Schmidt say, "Lay him down and give him smelling salts." They did, and the bad odor of the salts I found to be second only to the odor I remember when we cleaned out the chicken coop. I shook my head to tell them I was conscious and didn't want any more of that stuff. The next Monday before practice Coach Schmidt asked me how I was. I told him I was okay but that on Saturday, I had the worst headache of my life.

In 1991 I was teaching mathematics at BHS and was a huge sports fan, especially because I always knew many of the kids in the sports. Wendy Young, representing the cheerleaders, asked me if I would give a talk at next Friday's pep session. We were undefeated and were to play Minster's football team in the regional final. I said yes and immediately felt the pressure of speaking to the student body. I wrote out my talk and memorized it by practicing it on the horses in the barn. The next Friday as students filed into the gym for the pep session, I repeatedly said to myself Philippians 4:4-7, which I have learned brings calmness to me. Wendy introduced me and I gave my talk. It went okay. That was my favorite Pirate moment. The theme of my talk was "Pirate Pride is Forever."