The Boys of Fall

The Spirit of a Rural Community

Plevna, Montana

Tristan Buerkle, Weston Buerkle, and Jordan Paul reflected back as they sat on the metal bleachers. The three teenagers, dressed in jeans and cowboy boots, looked like typical Montana ranch kids, but less than an hour prior, they were decked out in football uniforms playing a hard game against Savage High School. It was their second home game of the season, with a disappointing finish for them, but as the co-captains contemplated on the past year at Plevna High School, it was easy to see that the pride in their team, coaches and community went far beyond an afternoon football game.

“If they would have told me that this is what we would end up with today, I would have said ‘no way!’,” Weston, a junior, said as he overlooked the field.

As the boys along with their coach, Jeremy Robertus, talked about the incredible story of the development of the football program and the building of a new field, they spoke with a maturity beyond their years.

The story, however, started long before the boys were even born and goes back decades before the Plevna football team practiced and played on the same ground as the beautiful new field of today.

Plevna lies in the center of Fallon County, one of Montana’s eastern-most counties which borders North Dakota. Sixty-five miles east of Miles City and twelve miles northwest of Baker, the small town on Highway 12 is a typical rural Montana town, surrounded by farms and ranches, with a population of less than 200.

In the late 70s, use of Plevna’s football field ended and over the years it returned to its natural state of native grass, unused except to hay a few bales each summer. For years, football was a pastime sport in Plevna, with the exception of several boys who commuted to Baker to participate on their high school team.

That all changed last year. With enough interest, the school started a six-man football team practicing on the old, grown-in field and hosting their home games at Ekalaka High School, 50 miles south.

“It wasn’t ideal, but it was what we could do,” Dennis Gerke, Plevna’s Principal, Superintendent and Athletic Director, said. “It never allowed them to experience the home field advantage that every team enjoys, but at least we finally had a team again.”

As the year progressed, talk emerged of what it would take to build a new football field – a daunting but well-received idea, especially by the football team.

“Logistically it seemed to be out of reach, but it’s hard to say ‘no’ when the kids flat out said they’d do whatever it took to get it done,” Bill Lane, a school board member and father of several players, said.

Given the players’ enthusiasm, Bill and several other fathers put in untold hours on the project to see it to fruition.

“We all got on board,” Tristan said proudly. “We had no idea what it would take, but we wanted it.”

A year ago in November, as the plan began unfolding, the first hurdle was the realization that one end of the field was three feet higher in elevation than the other. When a bid to level the field and prepare it came in at $265,000, the group took matters into their own hands.

“Let’s do it ourselves,” Coach Jeremy said, and that became the motto. “We couldn’t have done it without the support of the community and these kids. From the beginning, the boys have helped every step of the way. It’s their blood, sweat and tears that helped make this possible.”

Scot Buerkle, Tristan’s dad, unofficially became a project leader. An engineer for Mid-Rivers Communication, Scot’s background was just what the group needed to ensure the field was properly structured.

For the field to be leveled it took 600 yards of sand and fill, or 53 truckloads, and another 180 yards of manure for fertilizer. Area ranchers and community members volunteered thousands of hours to help. Borrowed skid steers, tractors and trucks were a common sight on the field. The football team eagerly helped through the entire process, from picking rocks to pounding fence posts, to mixing cement.

They’re such a great group of guys. I’m proud of them. We’re all proud of what we accomplished, but this team really bonded through this project.”

Coach Jeremy

“We picked rocks every day after school,” Jordan, the youngest of the three, said. “Loads of them, some as big as footballs. See the monument of them?”

The boys laughed as they pointed to a pile of rocks behind the crow’s nest.

“I didn’t think we’d ever be done picking,” Weston said.

“It kept you in shape,” Coach Jeremy laughed.

The plan was to let the field settle over the winter and hydroseed grass in the spring. Over the winter, as word spread, substantial financial contributions were made by Mid-Rivers Communication, The Bank of Baker and Blue Rock Distributing. Metal pipe was donated for the goal posts along with PVC pipe for field boundaries. Many businesses provided equipment and materials at or below cost. The spirit of the project reversed from “Can you help us with this?” to “What can I do to help?”

For many rural Montana towns, six-man football or co-op teams is the only way football can be offered, and in most instances, it takes all the eligible students playing to make up the team. Almost every boy in Plevna High School plays football, making up a young, 13-player team – some of whom had never played football before this year.

“We’re all learning,” Coach Jeremy said.

In his first year of coaching the team, he included himself in that statement, but as the boys and he visited and bantered, the respect they have for their head coach was evident. “We all get along,” Tristan continued. He is one of only two seniors playing for Plevna and has a bittersweet attitude about graduating.

“These guys are my best friends,” he said. “We’re together all the time.”

“Well, we are cousins,” Weston added, and the three of them laughed, but he quickly agreed. “We look out for each other on and off the field.”

Jeremy conferred saying that he’s never coached a group of boys he appreciates as much as he does this football team. He makes a point of checking in with his players everyday outside of practice and school to see how they are doing and give them encouragement.

Many of the boys are related, coming from families that have ranched in the area for generations.

“I’m the only one not related to someone around here,” Coach Jeremy joked.

Teasing aside, as they continued to talk about the last year, it was clear that without “all hands-on deck,” the field would not have been finished.

Spring finally arrived and the field was hydroseeded, but as summer unfolded, it was evident the seed failed to take, which meant drastic measures had to be taken.

“Turf was our only option at that time,” Scot said. “We got the school boards’ approval to put it in and they paid for it.

It was getting down to the wire, with a little over a month before our first game.”

The crew rototilled the hydroseed and reprepped the ground for sod. Then, another surprise came when four of the five expected semis, which were scheduled over two days, arrived on the first day. The crew of just over 30 diligently went to work to unload the heavy sod. As the day grew hotter, word of the additional trucks spread throughout the community and soon well over 50 volunteers were on hand, unloading, carrying and unrolling sod across the readied field.

“We planned to do it in two days,” Scot said. “But we did those four semis in one day. It took eight hours of non-stop work, but we had everyone helping. It was 100 degrees that day and everyone was exhausted. I was really worried about our crew wearing out, but they persevered to the end.”

For the next ten days, the community fire truck and ranch water trucks were used to soak the sod. Coach Jeremy, along with other fathers and community members, spent many nights making sure the field was watered down, and the sod was taking root.

Once the field was established, the goal posts constructed, the score board installed, and a crow’s nest built, Fallon County donated their fairground bleachers for the season. The crow’s nest is a point of community pride, strategically placed on the west side of the field to block the infamous Plevna winds, it not only provides prime seating and a protected room for the game to be called, but also storage and a concession stand.

With total expenditures of less than $100,000, just five weeks after the sod was laid, Plevna hosted their first home game in 48 years on a field built by the hands of the town.

Noticeably missing at the Saturday afternoon game was Plevna’s teenage girls. Just as dedicated to their sports, all the girls are needed for the volleyball team, and they were at an away game in Broadus.

As the day wound down, the three boys joined their teammates for a post-game dinner hosted by Jeremy and his wife, and the camaraderie continued as they piled plates with food and all sat together, age and class undistinguished.

“They’re such a great group of guys,” Coach Jeremy said. “I’m proud of them. We’re all proud of what we accomplished, but this team really bonded through this project.”

Soon the boys will replace their football cleats with tennis shoes, as football season gives way to basketball season – but memories of their first football season played on their new field will remain a highlight of their high school careers.

“This has taught the guys so much more than just building a field,” Jeremy said. “One day they’ll drive by and show their kids what they built when they were in high school. This field will impact families in Plevna for generations.”

“In my 42 years of teaching, administration, and coaching in schools across Montana, I’ve never seen anything like this,” Dennis added. “In a town this size, the way the entire community stepped up to get this done is unbelievable.”