Indiana's poorest county might lose its only football team — and its hope

Matthew VanTryon | IndyStar

Show Caption Hide Caption Crawford County football team has few players but a lot of heart Crawford County Wolfpack's football team isn't very big. The area struggles with poverty. Watch how the football team made it through the 2019 season.

Corrections & clarifications: An earlier version of this story noted the wrong date of the November meeting of the Crawford County Community Schools board. The meeting is scheduled for Nov. 19.

MARENGO — The Crawford County football team gathers on the sideline. Fifteen kids are dressed in uniform.

On the other sideline is Evansville Mater Dei. They brought half the team for the Oct. 25 matchup: 70 kids.

Seventy.

Compared with Crawford County's 15.

In Hollywood, Crawford County would pull off the upset. But the Wolfpack players know. Their coach knows. The fans know.

“This isn’t a Disney movie,” Crawford County Wolfpack coach Jeremy Reynolds would say before the game.

At one point, Mater Dei touches the ball five times and scores four times, a microcosm of what has happened all season. The Wolfpack team never really stood a chance, but they showed up anyway.

This story doesn’t end with the players triumphantly carrying Reynolds off the field. In fact, this story doesn’t have much of an ending at all. Instead, uncertainty lingers.

What happens if a football team goes away? And what if that team is the only thing that gives a small group of kids hope?

“It’s a season on the brink,” Crawford County athletic director Jerry Hanger would later say. “Where we’re going from here is still up in question.”

'We're going to win some games'

Crawford County High School is a school of 457 students in a town of 814 residents. The graduation rate trails the state average. Every student is eligible for free or reduced-cost lunches. One measure by financial news website 24/7 Wall St. ranks Crawford the poorest county in the state.

As for the football team, the program is 16-110 since its inception in 2007.

Opportunity seems as limited on the field as off.

It’s Tuesday, the second day of team camp in July. On Monday, practice started at 6 p.m. Some kids showed up at 6 p.m. Some didn’t show up at all.

“Many of the freshman didn’t think it started until today,” Reynolds says. “They just didn’t understand. We’ll have to do a lot of the same stuff we did yesterday again today. Yesterday, we started at 6. They showed up at 6. They didn’t understand. They’ve never played before. We’ll get those kids their pads.”

The team goes outside to run. It’s a scorching day. Keith Brooks, the team’s quarterback, paces the team. Most lag behind.

When it’s time to get water, there is no water, not in a traditional Gatorade cooler sense. The group trudges over to a spigot in the ground. They drink from a hose.

Later, one kid starts vomiting off to the side.

They lift weights inside, then head outside to the practice field, which is not much of a field at all but a patch of open grass with a goal post on one end. A cross country course runs through the middle.

The team is stretching, and players are bantering with Reynolds. Reynolds gives senior fullback Garrett Stout a hard time.

“Cut me some slack, coach,” Stout says. “I worked 40 hours this week.”

After a few hours, Reynolds tries to teach a few plays. The team lines up. TJ Donnelly, a senior, gets the coach’s attention.

“Coach, get another person in here,” he says, motioning to a kid next to him. “His helmet is …”

“No, we don’t have another person,” Reynolds cuts him off. “This is what we’ve got. Come hell or high water, we’re going to try to run these five plays.”

They try to run a play. The center hikes the ball well over Brooks’ head.

Friday brings a scrimmage. After a few series, Lacey Bockting, the team's only female player, who plays offense and defense, takes the field and makes a catch.

“That’s gonna piss them off,” volunteer assistant coach Jason Stoud says. “You just pissed a bunch of guys off.”

She smiles.

Reynolds approaches another player.

“How do you feel on offense?” he asks.

“I don’t know which one’s offense and which one’s defense,” the player admits.

“When Keith’s behind you, that’s offense,” Reynolds replies.

Despite the rough start, Reynolds is feeling positive.

“We’re gonna win some games,” he says to the players around him. “We’re gonna do our best to win some games.”

* * * *

This is Reynolds’ first head coaching job. He took over the program in July 2018, coming from nearby Springs Valley High School, where he was an assistant football and basketball coach.

He didn’t come in with grandiose dreams of turning the program into a perennial power. He just wanted to turn it into something that would last.

“I didn’t plan on staying here 20 years and having them name the field after me, but I wanted to get to a situation where, like a lot of small schools, they have ups and downs and are going to be fine,” he said. “That’s what I wanted for these kids.”

On the field, he struggled to be assertive and demand attention.

Off the field, he faced an uphill battle.

“You deal with two years’ worth of stuff every week,” Reynolds said. “Coaching here is like holding water in your hands. You think you’re doing good, then it all comes out.”

'If the coach can field a team . . . '

It’s the Thursday before the first game.

The starting running back hurt his calf, so his availability is questionable. The backup running back missed a practice, so he has to sit the first quarter. One wingback has to sit the first two games because of disciplinary issues, and the backup wingback has to sit out a quarter for missing a practice.

“I’ve never taken a call sheet into a game with less stuff on it,” Reynolds says.

The next night they lose 40-12 to Switzerland County.

“Am I disappointed? Sure,” Reynolds tells the team after the game. “We’re going to learn from this and get better. We’re going to build week to week. By the end of the year, we’ll be fine.”

The next week they lose 72-0 to West Washington. But that isn't the biggest problem.

It's only Week 3, and the wheels are coming off the program.

On Memorial Day, one player will spend the night in jail after getting into a fight at home and leaving. A probation violation. He also failed a drug test.

On Tuesday, 27 players will come out to practice, but three kids will quit, including two players Reynolds was going to start at running back and safety.

On Thursday, the coach will turn two players in for vaping.

Friday brings a meeting with the athletic director, superintendent, principal and Reynolds. The future of the program is in doubt. Two issues are at the forefront: safety and money.

“In reality, we’re a JV team with three legit varsity players,” Reynolds says. “I don’t want someone hurt because we’re putting people on the field not prepared to play against men.”

“We lost five kids this week,” Hanger, the athletic director, says. “What happens if we lose five kids next week?”

The school’s other athletic teams depend on the money the football team brings in. Shutting down the program would further strain an already tenuous financial situation.

In addition, canceling the rest of the varsity games would mean violating a contract and owing $500 to the opposing teams.

“If the coach can field a team,” Hanger says, “by God we’re going to put a team on the field.”

* * * *

Crawford County didn’t have a football team until 2007. But its existence has proven crucial to the financial success of the rest of the athletic department.

The only revenue the athletic department generates comes from ticket and concession sales at football and basketball games. With no football team, the department would miss upward of $10,000 a year.

What if that money were to go away?

“It’ll affect the other sports more than they know,” Hanger said. “Some of the things we’re doing — paying for bus drivers and stuff from other sports — where’s that coming from? It’s got to come from somewhere.”

Basketball season also brings in money. But once the department gets its last check in March, no more money comes in for months. The financial strain is eased in August once football season arrives.

Hanger remembers the situation before 2007.

“We really struggled and had to make basketball money last year-round,” he said. “We were a lot more conservative in our spending. We’d have to get conservative again.”

'They don't want to be the last team'

Week 4 proves to be one of the highlights — and lowlights — of the season.

After the first half of the team’s game at Rock Creek, where the team trailed 30-6, another drubbing seems imminent.

Then all hell breaks loose.

In one half, the Wolfpack score 32 points. Stout, the fullback, throws the first pass of his life in a game, a 30-yard touchdown strike to Brooks. The team's punter makes a key 20-yard run. The team's backup quarterback — a freshman — scores on fourth down inside the 5-yard line in the closing minutes.

The Wolfpack win, 38-36.

Stout calls the game "probably the best feeling of my life."

"After the game," he says, "everyone was so happy."

But even in victory, the losses mount. Brooks, the team's starting quarterback and best athlete, fractured his tibia and tore his MCL. His season is over.

Meet Matthew Brooks, the heart of Crawford County's football team Matthew Brooks, who has Down syndrome, is the heart of Crawford County's football team. He stands on the sidelines every Friday.

A 54-0 loss the next week sees four more players out for the season. One player tears his MCL. Two players tear their ACL and meniscus. Another breaks his wrist.

Nineteen players are available for the game against Springs Valley. The Wolfpack lose 64-6.

One day after practice, a player comes up to Reynolds with a football, the kind that players autograph. He wants the coach to sign it. He wants all the players to sign it. You know, just in case this season is it.

“They don’t want to be the last team,” Reynolds says. “Kids are going to look back at them and think it’s their fault. It’s not their fault."

* * * *

For many kids at the high school, the tribulations of a bad football game pale in comparison to the reality they face at home.

Crawford County’s poverty rate is higher than the state average. Unemployment rates are high. Even geography plays a role. The Hoosier National Forest is government-owned property and takes up nearly 35% of the county’s land, which limits opportunities for economic growth and development.

“Everywhere you look in Marengo, Indiana, you see rundown houses, people struggling day-to-day for their lives,” said TJ Donnelly, a senior on the team. “It’s terrible. You look around, and all you see is depressing stuff.”

Donnelly mows lawns because he can’t find a job elsewhere. His parents both commute out of the county for work. They are not alone. Sixty percent of county residents travel outside the county for employment, according to the county’s economic development commission. The nearest Walmart is in Corydon, 20 miles away from the high school.

The county is trying to make strides to develop business opportunities, but it’s not easy. Even things like internet access are a struggle.

“We have in most areas maybe 8 or 10 meg download speeds, which is really, really low,” said Jesse Belcher, who works for the economic development commission. “We’re working on trying to get some state grant money to take care of that. There’s not a lot of money in the county, so if people want to start their own business, they are heavily reliant on loans. And if everything doesn’t work out perfect, you’re taking a pretty big risk starting a business.”

The result? Kids are desperate to get out.

“It’s kind of sad to see the community is dying, but there’s nothing we can do about it unless somehow we’re able to get more jobs in the system," Donnelly said. "But I don’t see that happening.”

No pressure. No expectations.

The team lost 46-0 on senior night. The next week is fall break.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, only nine players show up to practice.

By Thursday morning, the game against North Harrison is canceled.

“We should’ve had kids ready to play on that night,” Hanger says.

The low turnout pointed to a commitment issue, and not just from players on the team.

“We had to go in the hallways and basically beg these kids to play,” Hanger says. “One of the kids we had this year, they’d only been playing football for five or six weeks, and all of the sudden we expect them to give up their fall break to come out and practice. That commitment was not there from the players we had.”

What might be the eventual nail in the coffin? Apathy, from the administration to parents to players themselves.

“I feel no pressure whatsoever, which is not always fun,” Reynolds says. “I feel like no one cares win or lose. You don’t have that pressure to win. I miss that. I feel like if I do a good job or don’t do a good job, no one cares.”

* * * *

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You can worry about the odds, or you can take your shot.

This isn’t the first time Bockting played on a football team. She played football in elementary school and enjoyed it but stopped when she got older. Last year she joined the school’s wrestling team. She was the only girl. This year she suited up for football once more.

“I knew this was my last chance, and I knew I’d regret it if I didn’t,” said Bockting, one of five seniors on the team.

She said other girls would enjoy the game, too, but are reluctant to try.

"Even if you’re the only girl out there, give it everything you’ve got,” she said. “Don’t hold back thinking you can’t do something just because you’re a female. If you try your hardest, you can do it.”

She played on offense and defense for most of the season, with her time increasing as the numbers on the team dwindled.

“When she started, she wasn’t comfortable. We’ve had to play her more than expected,” Reynolds said. “She’s all about it. She goes in there and does the best she can. I don’t know what we’d do without her, honestly. She does provide good leadership.”

Her contributions made an impact in more ways than one.

“When my daughter comes to games, she wants to know where Lacey is, what she’s doing,” Reynolds said. “That’s pretty cool. Not everyone will have that type of influence in their lives.”

They were the 5%

The end of the season is notable not for how the Wolfpack finished — 1-8 after losing 56-0 to Evansville Mater Dei — but that the team finished at all.

Occasional sobs are the only noise that interrupts Reynolds’ postgame speech on the field after the final game.

“There’s 457 kids at Crawford County High School. You guys are the 5% that aren’t scared to work, to put the effort in, to go through the halls and hear the people who aren’t willing to put the effort in and say you guys suck. Most people aren’t willing to do what you’ve done over the past three months,” he says. “Not everyone is willing to do what you 5% just did. When you leave the field, leave with your head held high.”

A season plagued by uncertainty and inconsistency brought few ups and many downs. Injuries, player departures and a lack of numbers made for challenges few expected.

But amid the turmoil, the opportunity presented by playing on the football team persisted.

“This might be the one thing these kids have,” Reynolds would say before the game. “Maybe it’s the one thing that gets them to school every day. If they go to school, maybe then can graduate and get a job.”

On the field, Stout is emotional, kneeling with tears streaming down his face. This isn’t how he wanted his senior season to go. Certainly not how he wanted it to end. But the growth he experienced has little to do with rushing yards. It’s more than that.

“I never thought I’d be a fullback or return a kickoff for a touchdown or be a team leader,” Stout says. "I’ve done all those things. I always thought of myself as a little kid somebody was taking care of. This year, I had to step up and be that leader that took over.”

The lack of on-field success, in a lot of ways, was inevitable. But the team kept showing up.

“We tried,” Stout says. “We had big hearts, just little numbers.”

* * * *

For some players, maybe being a part of this team will be an open door to opportunities that surpass anything between yard lines of a high school football game.

Stout, who works on the family farm, doesn't have specific plans for when he finishes high school, but he said he would like to own a few cows and start from there.

Bockting spends part of her school week at the Prosser Career Education Center in New Albany learning about criminal justice.

Donnelly has a reason to stay in Crawford County: His parents have signed property over to him.

As for the football program, time will tell. The school corporation is expected to bring up the team’s future in the coming months. It won’t be the first time the program is up for debate.

Reynolds said he is “100% coaching next year.” Where he coaches remains to be seen. If an opportunity arises at another school, he hasn’t ruled that out. If the program at Crawford County shutters, his decision might be made for him. But after the season he said he was “going to prepare to coach at Crawford County until I know something different.”

A season on the brink of crumbling is finished. Whether more chapters remain to be written remains to be seen.

Want to help the Crawford County High football team? Here's how.

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Follow IndyStar sports reporter Matthew VanTryon on Twitter @MVanTryon and email him story ideas at matthew.vantryon@indystar.com.

IndyStar photojournalist Mykal McEldowney contributed to this story. Contact him at 317-790-6991 or mykal.mceldowney@indystar.com. Follow him on Instagram or Twitter @mykalmphoto.