Getting Started
So yesterday I got hooked on digging up Dewitt High football history after chatting with an old classmate who played quarterback in ’09. Wanted to surprise him with stats from his championship season.
Stumbling Around
First thing this morning, grabbed coffee and fired up my laptop. Googled “Dewitt Panthers records” expecting instant results. Total mess! Found three different sites claiming to have scores but:
- MaxPreps had only recent seasons
- Some booster club page had broken links everywhere
- Local newspaper archive wanted paid subscription
Grunt Work Time
Decided to go analog since the internet failed me. Drove straight to the high school athletic office. The secretary gave me this crusty binder labeled “Football Records 1977-2005” with coffee stains on it. Spent two hours squinting at faded newspaper clippings glued to construction paper. Felt like an archaeologist!
Lightbulb Moment
Then I remembered the public library’s local history section. Dug through microfilm machines until my eyes crossed. Scanned every fall sports section from 1988 onward. Took forever but struck gold finding playoff recaps from ’92 season everybody talks about.
Building My Own System
Back home, dumped everything into a spreadsheet:
- Made columns for year/opponent/score/notes
- Added funny details like “Coach Miller’s famous rain delay speech” in ’03
- Color-coded championship seasons in gold cells
The Payoff
Called my buddy after dinner. Dropped stats from his ’09 playoff run where he threw four touchdowns against Grand Ledge. Dude went silent for like ten seconds then yelled “HOW’D YOU FIND THAT?!”. Totally worth the headache.
Final Thoughts
Turns out nobody had the full history in one place. Felt good assembling the puzzle myself – but man, communities should protect this stuff better. Almost lost those ’80s records forever when the binder literally fell apart in my hands!