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This thread http://bluegrasspreps.com/ky-football-high/beechwood-dayton-1996-a-260200.html needas to be merged into the thread I am posting in.

Just watched the game again...this game was one of the most exciting games ever in NKY. Dan Ridder was an excellent high school football coach and is even a better man. This group of players worked hard day in and day out and always left it all on the field. They have grown up to become great men!

Fun game to watch. On that last play, I think the QB made the right decision throwing it. The guy was wide open. He just threw it low and the receiver didn't make the catch. I am not sure the QB would have made it if he ran. There were defenders close enough that they may have stopped him.

Randy and Kevin on the broadcast were great. I used to live up there and would listen to them all the time.

I was on the losing team and this was the first time I watched it. Tears running down my face. However, what this game meant to the players on both sides and to the fans was even greater. This loss became great motivation for many to become good people today. This game and Dan Ridder lead me to the path I am now on. I coach varsity sports, work with special needs children, and I raise my son how Coach Ridder raised us, Devils; play hard, play emotional, be respectful. My home life as a kid was hell and if not for him and my team mates things my be different, for the worse.

 

On a lighter note, I thought I could never befriend a Beechwood kid because of what the took from me. As life progresses you realize that it was a competition and there is a winner and a loser. I believe that is what is lost in youth sports today, that there is a winner/loser, and how we handle that and what lesson learned from the outcome molds us into people. They were they better team that night. My hatred became respect and fondness. I can honestly say a good friend of mine is a Beechwood grad and my boss on the gridiron. It is a bond we can share; he says they won and I say we were the better team/ and put the fear of death into a Dynasty.

 

Much respect to Beechwood and Coach Yeagle and love to my Coach and team mates.

Please watch when game ends Coach Yeagle sprints across field to embrace Coach Ridder. Great respect there and two of the best in Class A football.

Where is Ridder now?

Coach Dan Ridder is now the Curriculum Director and Assistant Superintendent at Bellevue (his Alma mater). He was a finalist for the Superintendent job last year at Dayton and the hiring committee dropped the ball and chose a good leader, but Coach would of been an injection of hope and love that the City and School system needed.

I was on the losing team and this was the first time I watched it. Tears running down my face. However, what this game meant to the players on both sides and to the fans was even greater. This loss became great motivation for many to become good people today. This game and Dan Ridder lead me to the path I am now on. I coach varsity sports, work with special needs children, and I raise my son how Coach Ridder raised us, Devils; play hard, play emotional, be respectful. My home life as a kid was hell and if not for him and my team mates things my be different, for the worse.

 

On a lighter note, I thought I could never befriend a Beechwood kid because of what the took from me. As life progresses you realize that it was a competition and there is a winner and a loser. I believe that is what is lost in youth sports today, that there is a winner/loser, and how we handle that and what lesson learned from the outcome molds us into people. They were they better team that night. My hatred became respect and fondness. I can honestly say a good friend of mine is a Beechwood grad and my boss on the gridiron. It is a bond we can share; he says they won and I say we were the better team/ and put the fear of death into a Dynasty.

 

Much respect to Beechwood and Coach Yeagle and love to my Coach and team mates.

Please watch when game ends Coach Yeagle sprints across field to embrace Coach Ridder. Great respect there and two of the best in Class A football.

 

Very well said and appreciate you sharing. Anyone who has played sports has been where you were on that night and can feel the emotion you shared in your post. Your story here shows the power that sports and good coaches can have on the lives of their players. Best wishes to you, your family and all those you are influencing with your work today.

I was on the losing team and this was the first time I watched it. Tears running down my face. However, what this game meant to the players on both sides and to the fans was even greater. This loss became great motivation for many to become good people today. This game and Dan Ridder lead me to the path I am now on. I coach varsity sports, work with special needs children, and I raise my son how Coach Ridder raised us, Devils; play hard, play emotional, be respectful. My home life as a kid was hell and if not for him and my team mates things my be different, for the worse.

 

On a lighter note, I thought I could never befriend a Beechwood kid because of what the took from me. As life progresses you realize that it was a competition and there is a winner and a loser. I believe that is what is lost in youth sports today, that there is a winner/loser, and how we handle that and what lesson learned from the outcome molds us into people. They were they better team that night. My hatred became respect and fondness. I can honestly say a good friend of mine is a Beechwood grad and my boss on the gridiron. It is a bond we can share; he says they won and I say we were the better team/ and put the fear of death into a Dynasty.

 

Much respect to Beechwood and Coach Yeagle and love to my Coach and team mates.

Please watch when game ends Coach Yeagle sprints across field to embrace Coach Ridder. Great respect there and two of the best in Class A football.

 

We lost to you guys twice that year, the last in the playoff game where we lost our minds and everything that our coaches taught us in terms of sticking to assignments and fundamentals. You guys kept your cool the whole game and that was a reflection on Ridder. I've known him my whole life and his family. He was very generous after beating us in that playoff game and he was very generous when we won the next season in a tight regular season affair. You know much better than I, but from knowing a lot of guys on your team, he was the PERFECT coach for the group that you guys were.

 

Don't sell yourselves short, you guys grew up winning everything from youth on up. You had that mentality, and that among all things, is what many of the kids along the river are missing right now. Skirvin, Walls, Cline, Stahl, Perry, Young, Hoffsteder...all those guys were very respectful and polite away from the field. Just a special group, when you look back. It was fun to compete against you guys.

I have to agree with Asher2012 100%. I watched this game for the first time since that night; with tears falling; just last year on YouTube (thanks again to whoever posted it) and couldn't believe how great that game was. I am not sure how much that game meant to the winning team (they did after all go on to win ANOTHER State Championship), but I surely know what it meant for the losing team... Not only for the players, but for the entire town of Dayton. I am and always will be proud of where I came from, and what we were able to do for a community as a Football team. It was amazing to see our community rally together to support a bunch of High School Football players, who fought their hearts out trying to do something that hasn't happened in that town for 30 years!

 

I will forever remember each and every one of my teammates & coaches from that team and love them all like they were my own brothers. I just recently moved back to Dayton, and still talk about our team with some of the old timers who live in my neighborhood on many Firday nightsover a few beers. Those guys were around & some played with the guys who won the title in '66; and I even see with them how special our team was in their eyes.

 

That game, along with the guys I played with motivated me to be the person I am today. I only wish my job would allow me to get back involved in the community, so I can try to pass the torch to the younger kids of Dayton. Our success started in the Pee Wee leagues, and once we got that taste, it snowballed into something special. We weren't the biggest, the fastest, the strongest... But we would fight you until the very end and played with heart. Some of the kids today don't know what that means...

 

But sometimes, like that night in 1996, heart isn't enough.

 

I don't think I ever said it (or even thought it until now), but congratulations to those Beechwood boys. They were the "dynasty"... And they won that night... But we were those tough little SoB's that almost changed everything.

I have to agree with Asher2012 100%. I watched this game for the first time since that night; with tears falling; just last year on YouTube (thanks again to whoever posted it) and couldn't believe how great that game was. I am not sure how much that game meant to the winning team (they did after all go on to win ANOTHER State Championship), but I surely know what it meant for the losing team... Not only for the players, but for the entire town of Dayton. I am and always will be proud of where I came from, and what we were able to do for a community as a Football team. It was amazing to see our community rally together to support a bunch of High School Football players, who fought their hearts out trying to do something that hasn't happened in that town for 30 years!

 

I will forever remember each and every one of my teammates & coaches from that team and love them all like they were my own brothers. I just recently moved back to Dayton, and still talk about our team with some of the old timers who live in my neighborhood on many Firday nightsover a few beers. Those guys were around & some played with the guys who won the title in '66; and I even see with them how special our team was in their eyes.

 

That game, along with the guys I played with motivated me to be the person I am today. I only wish my job would allow me to get back involved in the community, so I can try to pass the torch to the younger kids of Dayton. Our success started in the Pee Wee leagues, and once we got that taste, it snowballed into something special. We weren't the biggest, the fastest, the strongest... But we would fight you until the very end and played with heart. Some of the kids today don't know what that means...

 

But sometimes, like that night in 1996, heart isn't enough.

 

I don't think I ever said it (or even thought it until now), but congratulations to those Beechwood boys. They were the "dynasty"... And they won that night... But we were those tough little SoB's that almost changed everything.

 

Awesome 1st post. :ylsuper:

I was there! When I was younger, my dad took me to all of Beechwood's home games(Beechwood is his alma mater). Growing up I wantedto play for the Tigers so bad... Things changed, and I went to school with the good guys though.:sneaky:

Edited June 11, 201412 yr by ThrillVille Cardinal51
typo

I was there! When I was younger, my dad took me to all of Beechwood's home games(Beechwood is his alma mater). Growing up I wantedto play for the Tigers so bad... Things changed, and I went to school with the good guys though.:sneaky:

 

I always thought your dad was smarter with his decisions than you....kidding.

Where is Ridder now?

 

Now the new Principal at Bishop Brossart.

I always thought your dad was smarter with his decisions than you....kidding.

 

No. Still holds true for the most part.:lol2: