'Big Red Bus' rides again Thursday

Tuesday, October 24, 2006

Almost every member of the 1996 Class 4A State champion Fort Scott High School football team has been located for a planned reunion that will be held in conjunction with the Tigers' football game versus Chanute Thursday night at Frary Field.

It appears from a list provided by a couple of people involved in organizing the reunion that only four members of the team remain to be found: Torben Zimpel, who was a senior that year, Kevin Eason, a junior, and Bill Elliott and Josh Schoemig, both sophomores.

If any of those players, or someone who knows them, happens to know where they are now, they are encouraged to contact FSHS athletic director Larry Fink, who says that all players will be announced to the crowd regardless of whether they can attend.

Not all the players can attend the reunion, partly because the game being on Thursday makes it difficult to get away. Also some of the players are now coaches themselves and need to be with their teams in whatever sport the coach.

B.J. Pruitt, a sophomore on the 1996 team who made an impact on special teams before becoming a starter the next season, is now an assistant football coach for FSHS and is looking forward to visiting with his teammates.

"It's going to be interesting to see what how has changed," Pruitt says. "It's been 10 years and there's some of these guys I haven't seen for a long time. I think that it'll be fun to see how far everyone had come and see what everyone is doing now."

According to Fink, there will be a "tailgate" of sorts in the commons area of the high school starting at 6 p.m. with some of the ladies of the class of 1997 acting as hosts. The original roster with the 1996 players and coaches will be included in the game program. At halftime, the championship trophy will be re-presented to the team.

Having a ceremony was suggested by Jack Karleskint after the Tigers' game at Coffeyville earlier this year. At halftime of that game, Field Kindley High School honored members of past undefeated teams in the 1950s and since this was the 10th anniversary of the first state championship football team, it seemed appropriate that there should be something to honor the group that became known as "The Big Red Bus."

The 1996 team was the first Fort Scott football team to win a championship on the field (a team in the 1920's was named state champion in a poll) and was the first to go undefeated, 13-0, since the 1965 Tigers went 8-0.

"Seeing how so many people followed us through the year and we go to Emporia (for the championship game) and it seemed like the whole town of Fort Scott must have shut down," Pruitt recalled. "There were sitting over there and it was awesome to see so much support. And then to be able to actually win was incredible. It was such an awesome feeling."

A list of those players who have been contacted shows that former Tigers have been spread across the country. Many still line in Fort Scott or in the general area. Others live as far away as Oregon, California and Virginia.

A section of the stadium north of the press box will be reserved for the team.

Players who wish to attend or to let everyone know where they are now and what they are doing are encouraged to contact Fink at (620) 223-0600 or lfink@usd234.org or Shanna (Foxx) Albright at (620) 421-1481 or srfoxx@excite.com.