Bulldog Pride...

The Glory Days game last Saturday was very well attended by fans who were cheering for relatives and former classmates. Some were curious as to the caliber of football that would be played and it was pretty good. The Odds team would win 13-0 in a very physical game.

Coach Mike Lynch had a good time blocking for, and against so many of the ‘youngsters’ he coached in his 30 plus years as a head coach for the Ritzville and Lind-Ritzville Broncos. Games like this don’t happen often and the reunion had to be special.

As a four-year head coach at Lind it was also special for me, as four players that I coached in the early 1990s were on hand to give their best shot at playing a game they truly loved. Mark Hollenbeck, Mike Watson, Medie Ruiz and Rigo Montejano, played significant roles as Bulldog football players. The eight-man game is different than the eleven-man variety because you can’t hide three players and an opposing coach can often find those weak links with a speedy back or receiver and the afternoon can be miserable.

In the last eight years I’ve kept in touch with Mark as he coached a couple of years, and he has worked with me on a project or two through his business. Mark played quarterback and defensive end for me for his last three years at LHS. Mark always had great quickness as a D-end and made some big plays. It was fun for him to harass the opposing QB to kind of make things even and let the other guy know what he was going through.

As a junior QB in the final game at Hunters, I made a decision to let Mark run a hurry-up offense. There was no huddle, the team went to the line and Mark called the play at the line of scrimmage and we ended up scoring in about seven plays with each play gaining positive yardage. It was fun to watch Mark look at the defense and call the play and watch our guys march down the field. Mark lives in the Tri-Cities area.

Medie Ruiz was a lot like me when he was playing for the Bulldogs. He wasn’t very big and did get bounced around quite a bit, but he knew that if you grabbed the other guy’s legs there was a real good chance they would end up on the ground.

I would have to say that Medie was as tough as sun-dried jerky. He never complained and was often very quiet but he always gave 100 percent and did his best to find a way to make a play. Rigo and Mike contacted Medie and talked him into to playing in the Glory Days game and once again did a great job and had a lot of fun with his friends. Medie lives in Moses Lake.

Mike Watson started playing for me as an eighth grader and I’m sure the highlight of that season was when we got him into a blowout Homecoming win against Sprague-Harrington. The learning experience that Mike received that season helped him to earn a spot as a starting safety his freshman year. Mike is a sharp guy and a pretty good athlete. His best sport was probably basketball but Mike was a very good all-around athlete.

Mike succeeded Mark as QB for the Bulldogs but he didn’t inherit an experienced line. Mike spent a lot of time running for his life against some of the finest 8-man football teams in the state of Washington. Mike was also a tough kid. I gave him the nickname Timex because he could take a licking and would keep on ticking. Mike lives in Corpus Christi, Texas.

Rigo Montejano was a real fun kid to coach because he was like a sponge. He would absorb what we were teaching on the football field and run with it. He loved playing defense and was a real force as a linebacker. During a game against Rosalia his sophomore year, Rigo had 25 tackles and most of those were unassisted. He was a kid I really loved to coach because he was so humble and such a hard worker.

In a game against Sprague-Harrington that same year we had a precarious lead against the Falcons when our leading rusher, Kelly Pennel injured his ankle. We kept Kelly in as a decoy and let Mike and Rigo run the ball faking a lot of handoffs to Kelly. We were able to run the clock out using this tactic, winning the game 24-12. Rigo has worked for the Corpus Christi Police for the last 10 years.

There are a lot of things that coaches have achieved by winning league and state championships. I was lucky enough to coach some great kids and have a great relationship with many of them. I’ve always maintained that it is more important to be a well-rounded person than an athlete and these four guys certainly are. They played hard with a lot of Bulldog Pride and I am extremely proud of the fine men that they’ve grown up to be.