Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First

Jock Talk

I guess the Fall Sport season is over for the Kimball High Athletes and it ended at Scottsbluff High School this past Monday evening when the Lady Longhorn Volleyball Team lost 3 sets to Bridgeport in sub-district Tournament play.

The Kimball ladies looked good in the first set and appeared they were going to win as they got out to some nice leads, but after scoring 22 points and still on top by 5 points, the momentum switched and Kimball lost 22-25. In the second set, the Lady Longhorns played like, “What just happened” and they never did get untracked as they fell 12-25. They tried to come back in the 3rd set but got out-played with Bridgeport winning in 3 sets and taking the third and deciding set 15-25.

One positive note is there are only 2 seniors on the team and it will be hard to replace Hannah Biesecker and Justine Heeg, but everyone else is back.

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The Winter Sports schedule already kicked in with the Kimball Junior High wrestlers taking to the mats at the Kimball Tournament this past Tuesday. The Junior High girl’s basketball teams open their season this coming Tuesday (Nov. 7) at home with Pine Bluffs and game time is 3:30pm.

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I got a letter from one of my all time favorite Kimball High athletes this past week and thank you Mr. Dean Haines for thinking of me. Dean informed me that he was home recently to attend the class reunion of the 1966 and 1967 classes and it just didn’t work out for us to meet up. I was pretty much still sitting around home trying to heal up from my back surgery.

Dean, “The Flea” was the quarterback for those two undefeated football seasons, and also in attendance were a couple of his backfield teammates in Henry Jennings who played at Nebraska, and Steve Johnson who played at Wyoming. I saw Henry at last year’s reunion as these two classes choose to reunion together. I haven’t seen Johnson since he graduated, I don’t think. John Perkins we lost some time back to an early death but the score clock at Keith Staehr Field is dedicated to his memory and he was also a member of that fabled back field. I loved this group of guys and still do. Dean always sends me some clippings from the Observer and did again this past week. One of them was a story I wrote when he scored 24 points to lead the Kimball junior high basketball team to a 45-33 win over Scottsbluff. He was trying to point out that a story that showed a win was by a 5th grade team over Scottsbluff was a first, and it was, by a 5th grade team, so I am right Mr. Dean.

Dean also questioned if I played with the class of 1957 football team that was in the 60 years ago column, but no, I did not. I graduated with that awesome class of 1953. Thanks also from my lovely wife of 59 years for the picture and story your cut out of the Observer while you were home when she was crowned the very first Farmer’s Day Queen way back in 1957.

Dean also offered me free room at his living quarters in New Orleans if I ever decide to come that way. You never know!

 
 
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