Richfield moving forward

RICHFIELD — For those familiar with the Richfield High football program, and anyone else with a keen eye, the reminders are everywhere about how the 2006 season changed everything for so many people.

On the school's new press box, the extra large No. 44 and 13 painted on the facade are a tribute to former players Tyson Ogden and Kade Winkle, who died in a violent car accident the week before last season began.

In addition to Richfield's players wearing T-shirts and wristbands throughout the upcoming season, their coach, Seth Giddings, also planted two small pine trees in their honor next to the south end zone scoreboard.

Ogden, who would've been a senior this season and arguably the team's best player, will also serve as Richfield's fifth team captain.

Those reminders are a celebration of life. It's the two other living reminders that make it impossible to forget how tragic the accident on state Route 50 east of Scipio really was.

Every time Jake Robinson makes a big play on offense or whenever he and fellow senior Luke Johnson make a big play on defense, those who know will be reminded how Robinson and Johnson survived the violent crash simply because they were in the front seat when their car was broadsided by a semitrailer-truck.

They'll also be reminded about the sadness, the grief and the pain they both feel every hour of every day.

"For three or four months, it was on my mind constantly. I couldn't quit thinking about it," said Robinson, who played sparingly the rest of the 2006 season because of a neck and back injury. "I still think about it about every hour."

With the beginning of the football season, the memories have intensified.

Robinson's a quiet kid, according to teammates and coach Giddings, and even though he's not an emotional kid, teammate Tyler Tuttle said "he seems to handle it pretty well."

Football might be what Robinson and Johnson need more than anything.

Heading into the 2007 season, where he's slated to start at defensive back, Johnson is as recovered as he's going to be, even though his scar tissue is still rather painful. Mentally, being on the field from Week 1 this season should help Johnson experience more of the celebration-of-life moments for Ogden and Winkle that he was denied last year because of his injury.