A small town toasts victory
Nebraska small towns take their high school football seriously. And when their beloved team wins a state title like little Bruning-Davenport did on Thursday, there’s a serious party. More state football coverage in Prep Extra
By BRIAN CHRISTOPHERSON | Lincoln Journal Star
You were of no use to the townspeople of Bruning and Davenport this past week unless: A) You had a morsel of wisdom to share about the upcoming game, surely the biggest football game ever to be played or B) You shot a deer.
“This last weekend, if you were not talking football, you were probably looking at someone’s pickup with a big buck in the back,” said Kirk Kennel, a resident of Davenport who sells seed corn for a living.
Now, deer season is a sacred thing to some men. As Kennel opined: “Shopping the day after Thanksgiving is to women what the opening day of deer season is to men. You just lay out your guns and plan your attack.”
But if deer season has a rival in the small southern Nebraska towns of Bruning and Davenport, it is football season.
That much was evident at Sidetrack Tavern on Thursday afternoon.
Farmers dominated the joint, smiling as though fertilizer prices had suddenly been cut in half.
The Bruning-Davenport Storm had just completed a perfect eight-man football season and won a Class D-2 state championship. A 34-12 victory over Sargent at Memorial Stadium gave the school its first football state title.
Before trekking home to continue a party that had no curfew, about 40 townspeople toasted the victory at Sidetrack, which sits a couple of blocks from the stadium.
“It means everything,” said Bruning resident Bruce Houchin between sips of a victory beer.
Added fellow townswoman Jill Catlett: “It’s one of those things where you could die and be happy right now.”
There is a special bond between a small town and its football team.
Look no further than the fire truck escort the Bruning-Davenport team received out of town Thursday morning.
In towns of only 400 people, everyone personally knows the quarterback, not to mention the cornerback, tight end, running back, head coach and waterboy.
You don’t just root for the quarterback because you want your team to win. You root for him because you knew him when he was in diapers, saw him in braces and will probably attend his wedding.
And while each year the faces of players may change, the names stay the same.
Davenport resident Randall Pearson has a nephew on this year’s team. But come to think of it, he also had a nephew on the 1989 team, the only other Bruning-Davenport squad to make it to a state final.
Ask anyone in Bruning or Davenport about that game, and they will remember details like it was played last weekend.
It was cold. It was at East Butler. We couldn’t stop the Makovicka boys.
“When it comes to (Bruning-Davenport) football, people are walking dictionaries around here,” Houchin said.
With so much interest in the football team, it was tough to stay sane if you lived in either of the two towns this week.
“Chaos. Everything was just chaotic,” said Catlett, who substitutes at the high school. “Everything was about football, and there was always a ‘what if.’”
What if they actually do it this time?
The idea of them doing it was so exciting to Kennel that he pulled some strings to have Sidetrack specially open to Bruning-Davenport fans before and after the game.
Kennel, who has worked at Sidetrack on busy football weekends for 11 years, wasn’t sure if anyone would come early in the morning as he stood alone before an empty bar.
But by afternoon, friendly faces kept appearing, and he happily slid them beers.
“There was no point in working today,” Kennel said. “It ain’t like anyone was gonna come in.”
The only question was: Did anyone actually stay home Thursday?
“I doubt it,” said Matt Bohling of Davenport.
“It’s a ghost town. You probably could have walked away with it.”
Reach Brian Christopherson at 473-7438 or bchristopherson@journalstar.com.
By BRIAN CHRISTOPHERSON | Lincoln Journal Star
You were of no use to the townspeople of Bruning and Davenport this past week unless: A) You had a morsel of wisdom to share about the upcoming game, surely the biggest football game ever to be played or B) You shot a deer.
“This last weekend, if you were not talking football, you were probably looking at someone’s pickup with a big buck in the back,” said Kirk Kennel, a resident of Davenport who sells seed corn for a living.
Now, deer season is a sacred thing to some men. As Kennel opined: “Shopping the day after Thanksgiving is to women what the opening day of deer season is to men. You just lay out your guns and plan your attack.”
But if deer season has a rival in the small southern Nebraska towns of Bruning and Davenport, it is football season.
That much was evident at Sidetrack Tavern on Thursday afternoon.
Farmers dominated the joint, smiling as though fertilizer prices had suddenly been cut in half.
The Bruning-Davenport Storm had just completed a perfect eight-man football season and won a Class D-2 state championship. A 34-12 victory over Sargent at Memorial Stadium gave the school its first football state title.
Before trekking home to continue a party that had no curfew, about 40 townspeople toasted the victory at Sidetrack, which sits a couple of blocks from the stadium.
“It means everything,” said Bruning resident Bruce Houchin between sips of a victory beer.
Added fellow townswoman Jill Catlett: “It’s one of those things where you could die and be happy right now.”
There is a special bond between a small town and its football team.
Look no further than the fire truck escort the Bruning-Davenport team received out of town Thursday morning.
In towns of only 400 people, everyone personally knows the quarterback, not to mention the cornerback, tight end, running back, head coach and waterboy.
You don’t just root for the quarterback because you want your team to win. You root for him because you knew him when he was in diapers, saw him in braces and will probably attend his wedding.
And while each year the faces of players may change, the names stay the same.
Davenport resident Randall Pearson has a nephew on this year’s team. But come to think of it, he also had a nephew on the 1989 team, the only other Bruning-Davenport squad to make it to a state final.
Ask anyone in Bruning or Davenport about that game, and they will remember details like it was played last weekend.
It was cold. It was at East Butler. We couldn’t stop the Makovicka boys.
“When it comes to (Bruning-Davenport) football, people are walking dictionaries around here,” Houchin said.
With so much interest in the football team, it was tough to stay sane if you lived in either of the two towns this week.
“Chaos. Everything was just chaotic,” said Catlett, who substitutes at the high school. “Everything was about football, and there was always a ‘what if.’”
What if they actually do it this time?
The idea of them doing it was so exciting to Kennel that he pulled some strings to have Sidetrack specially open to Bruning-Davenport fans before and after the game.
Kennel, who has worked at Sidetrack on busy football weekends for 11 years, wasn’t sure if anyone would come early in the morning as he stood alone before an empty bar.
But by afternoon, friendly faces kept appearing, and he happily slid them beers.
“There was no point in working today,” Kennel said. “It ain’t like anyone was gonna come in.”
The only question was: Did anyone actually stay home Thursday?
“I doubt it,” said Matt Bohling of Davenport.
“It’s a ghost town. You probably could have walked away with it.”
Reach Brian Christopherson at 473-7438 or bchristopherson@journalstar.com.
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