Herington players rally for win after learning of coach's death

Just from the sound of assistant coach Pat Baalmann’s voice, Dylan Geissert knew something was wrong.

And Herington’s senior quarterback knew it had nothing to do with how the Railers had played in digging a 10-0 first-half hole Friday night at West Franklin. He was right.

The tone of Baalmann’s voice said it all. It wasn’t disappointment, it was heartbreak. Moments before heading to the halftime locker room, Baalmann found out that Herington head coach Bud Peterson had passed away.

“We knew right away something was wrong because Pat sounded different,” Geissert said. “As soon as he told us, right away some of us started crying. Pat had to remind us that we still had another half to play and that Coach would have wanted us to play like we played for him and not give up because of what happened.”

Somehow the Railers put aside their shock and hurt and rallied. The defense found strength and shut out West Franklin in the second half. The offense rediscovered its punch and scored three touchdowns as Herington rallied around their fallen leader for a 21-10 victory.

Geissert threw a pair of touchdown passes and ran for a third score, leading the emotional comeback.

“This is a big, strong group of guys who have come together and started believing in themselves,” said Baalmann, who served as Herington’s head coach on Friday and has been named the interim head coach for the remainder of the season. “After being down at halftime and getting the bad news, to come back and get a win like that is a major confidence boost for these kids. Not many teams out there have to go through something like this.

“Bud was such a big deal to this program.”

Peterson was 61 years old when he died Friday. He had checked himself into the hospital early last week with pneumonia symptoms, yet seemed to be optimistic about his recovery and in good spirits when reached Tuesday for comment about Geissert’s performance in the Railers’ season opener when he threw for 400 yards and five touchdowns.

In fact, on Tuesday Peterson said he hoped to be out of the hospital by Thursday because he “wasn’t going to miss Friday’s game.” But during the week, his condition took a turn for the worse and he had to be air-lifted to a Wichita hospital on Wednesday evening.

“I went and saw him in the hospital on Tuesday and we were going over some things on offense and defense and stuff,” Baalmann said. “He wanted me to take control of the team when he was gone. The next day, he was worse. We found out at the end of practice on Wednesday, they were taking him to Wichita.

“I got to see him one last time and he said to me, ‘Go get ’em.’ The last thing I said to him was I loved him, get better and don’t worry about us.”

Baalmann now finds himself in as tough a spot as his players. A 30-year-old Herington native, Baalmann had never coached before until joining Peterson’s staff this year.

In fact, he might never have entered coaching had he not met Peterson, who grew up and lived in nearby Burdick and had coaching stops at Norwich, Remington, Kingman and Centre before coming to Herington.

The bulk of Peterson’s 40 years were spent at Centre, where he guided the program to the 1997 Eight-Man Division I state title. He retired from Centre but couldn’t stay out of football and spent four years serving as an assistant coach at Council Grove before taking over at Herington last year.

Yet even with all that experience and a career record of 164-109, Peterson always sought input. Before each game last season, he would stop in at The Spot and Dining Car — a Herington restaurant owned and run by Baalmann — and chat football.

“It all started with him coming into my restaurant on Friday mornings, game day, and talking football with me,” Baalmann said. “They were struggling and I just gave him some different ideas. Next thing I know, it’s April and he’s back down here asking me to help him coach.

“He taught me a lot — just the small conversations here and there, they add up.”

Now both Baalmann and the Railers will try to move on. Peterson’s funeral will be at 10 a.m. Wednesday at Centre High School, and then the team’s attention will turn toward Friday’s home clash with Council Grove.

The 2-0 start has given the Railers’ hope of turning around a program that has struggled for the bulk of the past decade. After going 5-5 in 2002, Herington posted just eight wins from 2003-2010, enduring five straight 1-8 seasons before last year’s winless campaign.

The season-opening win ended a 15-game losing streak and the Railers have their sights set on the program’s first playoff berth since 2002.

“That was his goal — making the playoffs this year,” Geissert said. “He expected us to win these games. We just have to keep doing what he would have expected out of us and keep going. We know that he wouldn’t have wanted us to slow down. He loved the game so much.”