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Coffeetown Reunion: A Wild 2020

Wes_Blankenshipby: Wes Blankenship12/16/21Wes_nship
coffeetown-football-reunion-a-wild-2020-season
Photo by Brett Carlsen/Getty Images

The first year I put Coffeetown high school football clips on the internet was already uncertain enough.

My career in local news had come to an end. My wife and I had our first baby on the way. It was late fall in 2019, and I didn’t seriously expect to find my next job in sports media until the start of 2020 at the earliest.

Then we had a baby. Then Covid-19 happened.

I was watching NBA coverage on ESPN on March 11, when the pandemic first truly made itself felt in the U.S. Rudy Gobert tested positive. Games got canceled before they were finished. Even Tom Hanks had this new mystery illness.

In the weeks that followed, it became clear to me that a job in sports media might not be open right away.

In the months that followed, it became clear that, well, nothing was clear.

I moved on from chasing that sports media dream and happily accepted an offer with a creative messaging / consulting agency. If news and entertainment didn’t have opportunities to put my writing skills to good use, I was gracious and thankful that someone did.

All the while, my Twitter account’s notifications stayed aglow with a constant inquiry:

“You bringing Coffeetown back?”

A part of me was ready to put that idea on the shelf, and focus fully on my new path. Another part of me wondered if a bunch of comical videos about high school football would be the right move in this Covid-19 landscape.

Many schools and players couldn’t even suit up for their seasons.

Seniors in all sports, not just football, had to miss out on invaluable opportunities and unforgettable memories with their friends and teammates.

Who was I to make light of that?

After enough positive feedback from the people who still had a sense of humor on Twitter, I decided I didn’t need to overthink this one.

Once I learned enough about Zoom to be dangerous, I even flexed some new production improvements.

Each Coffeetown football broadcast now had a more authentic press box background

I ditched the standard-issue Apple headphone mic for a real microphone and some grainy audio filters in Final Cut Pro.

Coffeetown was cookin’ with gas. Or concession stand canola oil. Take your pick.

Now, it was about more than just TikTok one-liners. I felt like this team had a story to tell.

After exorcising its demons against a Briarton team that rode a poor officiating call to a postseason win (based on a real loss that my Collins Hill Eagles took at Roswell High in 2006. We still aren’t over it.), Coffeetown was on a mission.

The Brick Valley game gave me an opportunity to put Coffeetown in the elements and describe a rain game. I also needed to put a sturdy fullback on the roster, and thankfully, Wolf Witherspoon earned a spot.

Nacho Davis also serves as a cautionary reminder: defensive players should never underestimate good ball security after a turnover. Even if you don’t turn it back over, bear crawls are always a possibility at practice next week.

In real sports, the Braves had just lost a bone-crusher of a NLCS against the Dodgers in the MLB bubble.

I am a massive Braves fan. The loss gave me a chance to channel some of that pain into creative energy. Anyone hurting alongside me in the Coffeetown high school football fanbase met T-Bone Stone soon after.

I mentioned in the 2019 Coffeetown reunion piece that Lewis Grizzard indirectly influenced the decision for me to make these videos.

Some other brilliantly humorous and off-the-wall minds also show up in these characters and circumstances.

Jerry Clower’s stand-up routines about larger-than-life individuals from his hometown gave my clips some lively direction.

I also grew up reading Louis Sachar’s ‘Wayside School’ series in which a bunch of students find themselves in impossible situations, against a backdrop that still feels strangely realistic.

That’s how you get a guy like T-Bone Stone, or a wild boar on a football field.

I was yet to really acknowledge the reality we lived in at that time, about masks and everything.

It was already a pretty divisive issue, if you’re fortunate enough to not remember. I took a chance with Mousepad Palmer’s ingenuity to turn a mousepad into a county-mandated mask.

You can’t keep a talent like that off the football field.

You also can’t keep wild boars off of it, as Ashley Holt learned.

In the first “season” I did, Ashley got in trouble for dipping Peach Skoal in the locker room (also based on a real high school experience. I won’t mention my buddy’s name, but his mom almost fainted when she caught him).

I hated to see Ashley’s journey as a leader come to an end in such grisly fashion.

Without it, he wouldn’t have gotten a sweet touch-up on that Grave Digger tattoo. And we might not have met Reptile Henderson.

Poor Ashley Holt. Can’t even get any rest at the hospital as he tries to recover from the wild boar that ended his high school football career.

Luckily, redemption was in good hands with a wild card like Reptile.

With the Covid rules made official by the governor, all Coffeetown had to do was win against Birchgate for its regular season finale against Coalboro to count as the state championship.

Shoutout to Coffeetown football’s big boys on that goal line stand, presented by Ernie’s Taxidermy.

They got it stuffed.

Coffeetown high school football now had a ton of hype leading up to the game against the Coalboro Cobras. With an undefeated season and a state championship on the line, some local media personalities started to take notice.

The obvious concern in circumstances like this, especially when a volatile freshman like Reptile Henderson is at the helm: How will the team stay focused and keep its eyes on the prize? Would this recognition distract them from their goals?

If Paul Finebaum was involved, you know the naysayers would come out of the woodwork to point out that Coffeetown hadn’t played anybody.

The state championship game broadcast began with some electric news. The boar that gashed Ashley Holt’s leg had been captured. Coach Swansea slaughtered it at practice to get the team’s attention.

If they weren’t ready for the challenge now, they never would be.

Coach’s motivation took hold in the first half, before a blown lead in the second half. If Coffeetown has a theme, though, it’s that I’ll never miss the opportunity to use some wordplay to give a player a great nickname.

If Coffeetown football has two themes, then the second one is ‘redemption.’

And the Bartrez-Toddler Moss combo brought this uncertain season full-circle.

No asterisks, either.

Countless people reached out in my direct messages, or in replies, and told me how thankful they were for these clips. Coffeetown’s high school football team came back for a 2020 season when real football couldn’t, in so many unfortunate instances.

I didn’t picture this series of videos as anything more than it was in 2019. It still flatters me that it could be a bright spot in the midst of such a dark year for the people who chose to view it that way.

Speaking of uncertainty, this year’s Coffeetown team faced its fair share. And it still is, I guess. Stay tuned for the 2021 reunion, part three, tomorrow.