Past coaches from Wayne Jamison to current Coach Tyler Phares have long talked about just how important players coming out for the first time their senior season are to helping the team continue its run of success.

 

The last two coaches, Phares as well as John Cole, have pointed to those first-year players occasionally turning into “unexpected weapons.”

 

It is perhaps safe to say that Jamison and all that have come after him would agree with Phares assessment there is another “weapon” annually in the arsenal. And it is a weapon most teams have access to, but the asset never becomes weaponized because a buy-in failure.

 

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the Bridgeport High School scout team. You know them, right?

 

If you are a parent or friend of those listed below, probably so. If you are not, there is a chance an entire season can go by and you may not know a thing about them, which those involved know is part of the process of being on the scout team.

 

The scout team’s job is far from glamourous. Each week, they are tasked in practice to emulate the offense and defense of the upcoming week’s foe so the starters can get a grasp of what to expect. For the group, which includes some seniors and juniors every year, it is manning up to deliver your best so your teammates can have their best shot at winning on Friday – often as you watch after taking a beating for days leading up to the game.

 

“It’s a thankless job outside of the practice field; kind of like a lineman especially when it comes to notoriety because you don’t get talked about,” said Phares. “Here is the thing. It is beyond important to us because every year I’ve been here our scout kids buy in to the team concept and, as a result, we get better every week. Without these kids, including a whole lot of sophomores, pushing, we couldn’t get better.

 

“We know how valuable they are,” Phares continued. “They may not always hear their name called during a game, but I can assure you this program doesn’t win this year or any year without them. They’re that important.”

 

There are names this year that dot the scout team that are juniors and seniors. Conor Arnett, Dylan Hinzman, Parker Vincent, Brock Vincent, Isaac Kidd, Ryan Jones, Mark Biafore, John Dotson, Grant Lively, Jack Romano, Jackson Rubenstein, and Kyler Springer are the upperclassmen who have bought in this year.

 

And there are plenty of sophomores as well. Jon Bender, Owen Gillespie, Sam Goodwin, Kaiden Hill, Tim Jeffress, Preston Kirsch, Josh Love, Cameron Martin, Jaxson Matheny, Colton Miller, Alex Moses, Jack Spatafore, Jacob Stavrakis, Noah Stumpf, Donovan Williams, and Jacob Vanscoy.

 

All of them – every last one of them – are factors in whether Bridgeport will continue its non-losing streak of 50-plus years, its playoff streak of 20-plus years, and – if they make the postseason – just how far the Indians will go.

 

“With all of the kids, there are 20 to 25 different kids rotating in there,” said Phares. “They all battle too. That’s not always been the case at every stop I’ve been to, but our scout kids don’t let up.”

 

Here is the good news. Just because you are on scout team, even as a junior or senior, that does not mean you will not see any critical action. Phares said even during his relatively short time as an assistant and now head coach he has watched plenty of scout team players develop fast and get into critical junctures of games – some even end up starting.

 

“That happens all the time because coaches see a kid battling on the scout team and might earn time on special teams. Once they start performing well on special teams, they may get some snaps in a varsity game when the game is on the line,” said Phares. “We’ve had that happen where they end up starting; even two-way starting.”

 

Phares said the talk of the importance of the scout team is far from hyperbole. In fact, he said that many times each season the practices Monday through Thursday are more daunting than the game is on a Friday night.

 

“That’s been the case on more than one occasion,” said Phares. “The beauty of it is they’re making themselves better and the team better and it is because they are not selfish. They have put team first. Putting team first still matters, and it will always matter here.”

 

While all coaches rightfully teach that team comes first, learning the lesson and living it sets some teams apart. And when team comes first, even those playing an entire contest may never see their name mentioned in the highlights – particularly in a Bridgeport offense that is almost exclusively run and a defense that does not take risks as a standard rule.

 

In other words, if you play for the Tribe, only a handful of names get mentioned each week in various news articles online or in print. Just a few names get called out during the local television broadcasts – whether you are on the scout team or a regular in the starting lineup.

 

Bridgeport has succeeded because the kids – maybe not all of the adults over the decades – learn to be fine with it.

 

“We know sometimes it’s tough on a kid wanting play and it’s tough because in those early stages there is a lot of tough love, but we let them know their importance by hyping up the scout team,” said Phares. “Their hard work drives the program.”

 

That hard work is the fuel of the BHS football program. The hope is the drive from the fuel will end at Wheeling Island Stadium.

 

Editor's Note: Top photo shows Tyler Phares with members of this year's scout team, while he addresses them prior to the start of practice this past week. Bottom photo, by Joe LaRocca, shows some practice action from early August.