One Last Fisher Field Moment

And so this is your moment, Antonio Castillo. And you too, Thomas Balestri.

And Kevin Messmore. And Aristeo Gonzalez. And Nathan Nibert. And Nathan Cornell.

This is your moment, each and every one of you listed on the Warsaw football roster.

This is your moment to shine under the Fisher Field lights one last time during the regular season, and maybe ever, depending on your tournament success next week and the Fridays to follow.

For 24 of you, this is your senior night, this contest against the rival Concord Minutemen, and you will remember it for the rest of your days.

The plan is for the Tigers to start playing varsity football games on the campus of Warsaw Community High School next season. It'll be complete with a new weight room, spacious locker rooms, a large press box (my personal favorite) and all the amenities.

But before you, as a reader, get upset that I didn't mention the new auditorium and performing arts center and upgrades to the caferteria and whatever else they have planned, take a deep breath.

That's not what this piece is about.

This isn't about whether or not they should be building the new stadium.

This is a toast to one more magical autumn Friday night under the lights at Fisher Field. A toast to one more classic Northern Lakes Conference battle near the shores of Winona Lake.

This isn't about budgets and bids and all that political stuff, this is about everything that is great about high school sports and how they prepare one for the real world.

I, for one, am a big believer in high school sports and extra-curricular activities.

This is about realizing dreams, seeing hard work pay off, and boys becoming men.

If not tonight, maybe in five, 10, 20 years maybe Balestri and Castillo and Co. will realize what a special night this is, the last time the varsity football team will play at Fisher Field, and also their senior night.

Ok, so it's not like they're closing down Wrigley Field or renovating Fenway Park, but to those who have grown up in the Lake City and have gone to football games or played for the Tigers, Fisher Field is a Friday night staple.

Varsity games have been played there since the 1960s, and starting next year it looks like Fisher Field will host just middle school games.

Regular season games have been won and lost, as have conference championships and sectional games, on its grass surface.

I hope that along the way life lessons have been learned on that field as well.

I hope that when Ron Henry calls through the public address system to rise for the playing of the National Anthem that someone sees that No. 77 flag and remembers David Fribley.

Remembers the way he gave everything he had when he stepped onto Fisher Field, and then gave his life on a battlefield far from home.

That's what I'm going to remember about Fisher Field, the teenagers that played there on Friday nights and then turned into men and accomplished great things.

Guys like Fribley. And Jeff Grose, who later chose basketball but played quarterback as a sophomre and then came back to Warsaw as a teacher.

Guys like Allen Danko and Doug Light, who wore the orange and black for the Tigers and now wear the blue uniform for the Warsaw Police Department, keeping our streets and neighborhoods safe.

And so tonight is senior night again, and 20-something of them will be introduced with their parents. And it's the last time the varsity team will play on that field.

Tonight is your night Castillo, Balestri, grasp the opportunity that looks you in the eye and grip it like a football on a touchdown run.

Don't fumble it away. Don't let it slip through your hands.

Take it to the house and score.

Score one last Fisher Field victory for yourself and for all those who wore the orange and black before you.

This is your moment, two more hours of Fisher Field greatness.

Two hours that you'll take with you for a lifetime.

Make it worth remembering.