Red & gold caps football season

Garth Meyer, Gazette Reporter | Nov 09, 20170

On Monday, Oct. 30, three days after the last game of a second consecutive winless football season, the St. John/Endicott/LaCrosse players returned to the practice field.

They divided up, choosing sides – red and gold – by schoolyard pick, as coach Ken Gering handed out old Eagles jerseys from the equipment room.

He set a hand clock to four 12-minute quarters.

The kids ran their own plays, decided their own positions.

“All I did was ref,” said Gering.

One of life's simple joys is playing with the boys.

Afterwards the players went to the school cafeteria where teacher Roger Beck had pizzas ready, brought in by Gering.

The red and gold game started three years ago as a new tradition by the coach.

“The first year was a little rough, they weren't quite sure what to expect,” Gering said.

This fall Dustin Fox was a senior captain, a tight end/wide receiver, joining the high school program as a sophomore after his friends Chase (Schluneger) and Levi (Bailey) convinced him.

“I was really glad they did,” Fox said.

His career concluded with the red and gold game.

“It was fun, it was a nice ending. I enjoyed it. It felt like competiveness, bragging rights,” he said. “My team, the gold team won.”

“I really liked it,” said sophomore quarterback Trey Fleming. “The one last big bang we had. The one last thing we could do with our whole team.”

Next year starts in 10 months.