Season Pass

by Dennis Cox

Many of our readers have been asking “what happened to that semi-pro football team up at McFall?” Having heard zilch about the team since April and realizing I’ve dropped the ball on this, I finally started asking the same question of the right people.

Indeed, there was a semi-pro football team in Gentry County, if only for a little while. The “Dakota Lawdawgs,” as they were called, played one game in McFall, beating a team out of Springfield, then lost to an Omaha team a couple of weeks ago in Omaha. The team, a combination of Missouri and South Dakota players, was supposed to continue play in McFall but the field just isn’t suitable and former manager, Robert Nichols, no longer runs the team. Now the team has moved its base to Princeton, according to a recent story in The Albany Ledger. Or has it?

It seems the Princeton R-5 school board approved a request from the “Grand River Hawks” to let the team use Princeton’s practice field for its home games with the stipulation that the Hawks show proof of liability insurance and provide signed waivers from players stating that they have their own insurance. Furthermore, the team cannot use any of the school’s buildings, locker rooms, concessions or any other facilities.

“We approved their request back in the July board meeting, but we haven’t heard another word out of them,” Mike Parnell, R-5 principal, told me on Tuesday.

Reportedly the team features a pair of former Princeton players, Kyle and Brett Berndt, and some former North Mercer athletes who had not previously played organized football.

Princeton’s limited generosity comes after the South Harrison board of education, this past spring, turned down a request by the team to use the Bethany football field. The team’s original coach has since “flown the coop,” more than one source has told me.