Midway and the south of the river area have always been a community rich in family tradition. Many of the kids today at Midway are 3rd generation students. Names like Woody, Collier, Davidson, Gordon, are just a few of the families with deep roots in the Midway community. But over the last decade, there has been another family name that has emerged as one deep in Midway tradition.
Anyone scanning the player roster this year may ask themselves where the Campbell kids are. For only the 2nd time in a decade, Rusty and Dottie Campbell do not have a son playing football for the Green Waves.
For nearly an entire decade, the Campbell name has been synonymous with MHS Football. Now that he is free on Friday nights, SORSN reached out to Mr. Campbell for an interview.
SORSN: Tell us about the Campbell family football roster.
Rusty: Other than the 2002 year, Dottie and I have had a son playing for MHS for the past 10 years.
Joe Played 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999
Jake played 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001
We did not have one playing 2002.
Matt Played 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2006.
SORSN: The Campbell family has not only been apart of recent history, but also Midway’s early years. Your dad was once the head football coach for the Waves. Did your dad ever tell any stories from those days that you can recall? Any players that he used to talk about?
Rusty: Yes, he has told a lot of stories about coaching at Midway. He can name everyone that played for him. He has told stories about Brad Gordon, Paul Collier, Alton Lingerfelt, Wimp Thompson, Joe Parks, Sam Gray, Jimmy Shipwash, Wayne Waldroup, just to name a few.
I remember a couple. Wimp Thompson was the kicker and had gone out to the coin toss to decide who gets the ball. Dad told him that if we win the toss we want the ball. So Midway kicked off to start the game, and then the start of the third quarter Midway was kicking off again. Dad called time-out and asked the ref what was going on. He told Dad that Midway had won the toss but Wimp had elected to kick. When dad asked Wimp about it, he just said “I like to kick Coach.”
Another story was that the team was heading up into the mountain to play Crossville but when they left they only had ten players. They stopped at Coach Branson’s dads station (the junction) and picked up Joe Parks, who was no longer in school, as their 11th man. Dad said “Joe was a heck of an athlete”.
SORSN: Is there a greater thrill than seeing your kids take the field?
Rusty: Maybe when they were born. It would run a close race.
SORSN: Now I’m going to put you on the spot by asking for a favorite football memory from each of your boys.
Rusty:
Joe – Catching two screen passes at Rockwood and lumbering through would be tacklers (All in slow-Joe motion).
Jake – Seeing (two warriors) Jake and Lucas Collier helping each other off the field after beating Oneida. I also liked watching Shane Gordon get a hold of Jake’s shirt tail when he was pulling and follow him through the hole.
Matt – #1 The sack at the end of the Rockwood game to put them out of field goal range. #2 Just getting to watch him play for the only three games his senior year before his injury. Matt was one of the best LB’s I have seen in High School football.
SORSN: What are some of your favorite memories of Midway football that don’t involve your kids?
Rusty: I had just moved to Midway from Kingston. I went down to watch a game for the first time at MHS. The game was already going on. I walked up on the fence behind the team just in time to see coach Wheaton sling a Coke up against the fence where I stood. My pants got wet, no big deal, but I will never forget the look on Coach Wheaton’s face. I was intimidated.
SORSN: Was there, or perhaps is there still, any trash talk among the brothers as to who was the better football player?
Rusty: No, Joe and Jake played together; Joe had to get on to Jake to keep him from fighting during nearly every game.
SORSN: What do you think your kids have taken from their experience as Midway athletes? In your opinion, will it affect the rest of their lives? If so, how?
Rusty: Memories and friends (Teammates, Coaches, and Teachers).
Yes, definitely it has and will have a huge impact on the rest of their lives. A coach is for Life. It may be an assistant coach that has such an impact but they all definitely impact the kids for life. Joe and Jake will still go see Coach Branson, Coach Ruffner, and Coach Moser for advice.
Matt goes to Coach Ruffner and Coach Moser to see what he can help with and later, he will need advice that I can’t give him and Matt will go see one of them.
A coach has as much of an impact on a student as his parents and sometimes even more. And that includes all sports. Players will always come back to see their coach, and a lot of times needing advice. There is more to coaching than X’s and 0’s.
SORSN: Your daughter, Michele, is at MHS. Have you asked her to suit up to help extend the Campbell streak?
Rusty: I asked her if she wanted to learn how to kick and punt. Dottie let me know real quick the answer to that. She has been helping paint the field before game day though. Michele did make a lot of tackles during this past years powder puff game.
SORSN: What’s the hardest hit you ever saw one of your kids take? Did it hurt you more than it did them? Did you ever wish they didn’t play the game?
Rusty: Joe made it on the sports news Hardest Hits segment one Friday night where he was the one getting hit. We were playing South Pitt. We had just punted the football and Eddie Moore had fielded it, (Moore went on to play LB for UT). Joe was with-in an arms length of Moore when Moore cut, and when Joe cut he was blind sided at full speed by a big tackle. I was filming so I did not see the hit, I just seen him disappear from the lens. A couple of folks in the stands told me that Joe just got hit, I looked up and he was attempting to get up but was struggling. He came to the sideline and sat out a play, which was unlike him, and then he went back in. That night on Channel 12 they showed the hit. It was bad. It didn’t hurt me as bad, but almost.
Matt’s knee injury hurt me worse than anything in sports, including when I played. But I am glad he got to play as long as he did. However, I never once wished they did not play.
SORSN: Now that it’s over, could you imagine them NOT playing football at Midway?
Rusty: Dottie and I both will say Midway was the only place to raise our kids. Our kids are who they are because of the Midway community.
SORSN: Many may not have actually seen you at the games because you were always perched a top the press box filming the game for Coach Moser. How many years did you film the games? Have any stories that you would like to share from being atop the press box?
Rusty: I started filming games I think in 1994 for coach Branson, so I filmed for 12 years for MHS. I guess until this year I was the only person that had ever filmed for Coach Moser, even when he was coaching junior high. I was actually filming little league since Joe was 7 years old with a big VHS Panasonic that sat on your shoulder. I used it all those years until last year. Coach Moser bought one of them little new cameras last year and had me film with it. I hated it.
In the quarter finals up at Cloudland in 2001 they had a double-decker press box. I got into some name calling with one of their assistant coaches which were up above us. He started it though! In fact there were a few times I would get into it with the other team’s coaches or fans. But Coach Gordon, being always calm, would keep me out of trouble.
SORSN: I know from peering through my own camera taking pictures that it’s tough to follow the game and see what all is happening. Were you able to enjoy the game while filming? Did you do it to take the edge off watching your kids?
Rusty: You are correct; you cannot watch the game while filming. I would always get a copy that night or the next day so I could watch the game. NO, most folks that sat around me knew I was kinda edgy anyway.
SORSN: Ever been to the Highland Games and visited the tent for “Clan Campbell”? Do you think it’s a coincidence that the most prominent color in the Clan Campbell tartan is GREEN?
Rusty: No but I always wanted to go. I think Green is very appropriate. I don’t think the boys would look good in a kilt though.
SORSN: From 1996 to 2006, how many Midway football games did you see? Perhaps it would be easier to count how many games you missed.
Rusty: I never missed a game or a scrimmage. I would like to do it all over again too.
SORSN: What could the school, or the county, or even the state do to improve the scholar-athletes experience at schools like MHS?
Rusty: All schools should have a web site as good as SORSN. It is awesome to be able to go on there and see the highlights, the archives and see pictures from last week’s game. The community and the county need to back SORSN to keep it going, always.
SORSN: Thanks Mr. Campbell, your check is in the mail.
SORSN: Do you look forward to seeing your grandkids play at MHS?
Rusty: I sure do. I hope Coach MO and Coach Gordon are still there to coach them and I can bring their pictures up on SORSN.
Thank you for your time Mr. Campbell. We know that your wife, Dottie, has been sick recently and you have been with her. We pray for her recovery.