Former Plainsmen coming back to Deti Stadium as Scottsbluff coaches
When Derek Deaver was a youngster, all he wanted to do was be a Laramie Plainsmen football player.
He remembers those days vividly -- white helmets, yellow pants, black high top cleats. Five o’clock couldn’t come soon enough; that’s when the Plainsmen first went out on Deti Stadium to warm up.
“Laramie had such a great run and growing up there, it was a big deal being a Laramie High Plainsmen,” Deaver said. “Ever since I was 6-years-old, I went to Deti Stadium and watched games and played catch in the end zone. That’s all I ever wanted to do.”
Deaver said that Laramie High School football is his No. 1 fond memory of his time growing up in Laramie.
“You’re totally engrossed. Just being a Laramie kid, every Friday night, you couldn’t wait for the Plainsmen to be home,” Deaver said. “I got to suit up and then I got to actually experience it.”
On Friday, Deaver, a 1980 LHS graduate, along with fellow Laramie alumnus Joe Benson (1983) and Mark Moran (1980), will try to beat the Plainsmen as coaches for Scottsbluff, Neb., as the Bearcats take on Laramie with a 7 p.m. kickoff at Deti Stadium.
Friday’s contest is actually not the first time the coaching trio have returned to Deti Stadium -- the two teams last played in 1995. The two schools are on a two-year contract -- Laramie will go to Scottsbluff next season. Playing again makes sense, Deaver said, because the two communities are only about 2½ hours apart.
“We just came back from McCook (Neb.) last weekend and that was a five-hour drive. We went to Holdrege (Neb.) two weeks ago and that was 6½ hours. This is a short trip for us,” Deaver said.
Deaver and Benson are now the program’s co-head coaches. Deaver and Moran are 1980 LHS graduates and Benson is a 1983 graduate. Both were just assistants back in the 1995 season.
“It was exciting to go back and Laramie was awful good, so we knew we had our hands full,” Deaver said. “It was 13 years ago, so it is now sinking in, especially with Joe and I being co-head coaches. It will be neat going to back to Deti Stadium and relive some of the memories.”
Back in the day, Deaver was a running back and defensive back (that’s as complicated as the John Deti teams got), Moran was a tight end and defensive end and Benson was a defensive end, tight end and kicker.
All three were in the middle of Plainsmen glory days.
“My senior year, we were 8-1. We lost to Cheyenne Central, which went on to win state championships in football, track and basketball with Terrance Johnson, Tony Turner and Brick Cegelski. I don’t think we ever beat them from 7th grade to 12th grade,” Deaver said. “Our junior year, we lost the state championship to Rock Springs. I think Joe’s class lost just one game too, when Sheridan had that great run.”
Deaver said the Plainsmen program is just in a little funk and he believes Bob Knapton will bring it back to prominence.
“Sometimes you have a little run where the talent goes down and now the game of football has totally changed from the old T formation days,” he said. “I think he (Knapton) can get it back and I would like to see him get it back. I just hope it starts after this week.”
While Laramie is their hometown, Scottsbluff is home for Deaver (24 years), Benson (21 years) and Moran (19 years).
“I thought I would be here for a couple of years, get some experience and get back to Wyoming, even try to get back to Laramie,” said Deaver, a marketing teacher at Scottsbluff High School. “ It’s just one of those things that it worked out great here. I ended up raising my family and I have a great job.”
Deaver said he and Benson never really had aspirations of being head coaches, but did so when longtime head coach Gary Hartman retired and they wanted to maintain continuity in the program. Deaver remains the team’s offensive coordinator, Benson the defensive coordinator and Moran is the special teams coach, along with coaching running backs and defensive backs.
“It’s not about the head coach, it’s about the kids, anyway,” Deaver said.
As co-head coaches, Deaver said they reached an agreement: Benson gets the credit when the Bearcats win, Deaver takes the blame when they lose.
“Last year we were 5-5; he was 5-0 and I was 0-5,” Deaver said with a laugh.
He remembers those days vividly -- white helmets, yellow pants, black high top cleats. Five o’clock couldn’t come soon enough; that’s when the Plainsmen first went out on Deti Stadium to warm up.
“Laramie had such a great run and growing up there, it was a big deal being a Laramie High Plainsmen,” Deaver said. “Ever since I was 6-years-old, I went to Deti Stadium and watched games and played catch in the end zone. That’s all I ever wanted to do.”
Deaver said that Laramie High School football is his No. 1 fond memory of his time growing up in Laramie.
“You’re totally engrossed. Just being a Laramie kid, every Friday night, you couldn’t wait for the Plainsmen to be home,” Deaver said. “I got to suit up and then I got to actually experience it.”
On Friday, Deaver, a 1980 LHS graduate, along with fellow Laramie alumnus Joe Benson (1983) and Mark Moran (1980), will try to beat the Plainsmen as coaches for Scottsbluff, Neb., as the Bearcats take on Laramie with a 7 p.m. kickoff at Deti Stadium.
Friday’s contest is actually not the first time the coaching trio have returned to Deti Stadium -- the two teams last played in 1995. The two schools are on a two-year contract -- Laramie will go to Scottsbluff next season. Playing again makes sense, Deaver said, because the two communities are only about 2½ hours apart.
“We just came back from McCook (Neb.) last weekend and that was a five-hour drive. We went to Holdrege (Neb.) two weeks ago and that was 6½ hours. This is a short trip for us,” Deaver said.
Deaver and Benson are now the program’s co-head coaches. Deaver and Moran are 1980 LHS graduates and Benson is a 1983 graduate. Both were just assistants back in the 1995 season.
“It was exciting to go back and Laramie was awful good, so we knew we had our hands full,” Deaver said. “It was 13 years ago, so it is now sinking in, especially with Joe and I being co-head coaches. It will be neat going to back to Deti Stadium and relive some of the memories.”
Back in the day, Deaver was a running back and defensive back (that’s as complicated as the John Deti teams got), Moran was a tight end and defensive end and Benson was a defensive end, tight end and kicker.
All three were in the middle of Plainsmen glory days.
“My senior year, we were 8-1. We lost to Cheyenne Central, which went on to win state championships in football, track and basketball with Terrance Johnson, Tony Turner and Brick Cegelski. I don’t think we ever beat them from 7th grade to 12th grade,” Deaver said. “Our junior year, we lost the state championship to Rock Springs. I think Joe’s class lost just one game too, when Sheridan had that great run.”
Deaver said the Plainsmen program is just in a little funk and he believes Bob Knapton will bring it back to prominence.
“Sometimes you have a little run where the talent goes down and now the game of football has totally changed from the old T formation days,” he said. “I think he (Knapton) can get it back and I would like to see him get it back. I just hope it starts after this week.”
While Laramie is their hometown, Scottsbluff is home for Deaver (24 years), Benson (21 years) and Moran (19 years).
“I thought I would be here for a couple of years, get some experience and get back to Wyoming, even try to get back to Laramie,” said Deaver, a marketing teacher at Scottsbluff High School. “ It’s just one of those things that it worked out great here. I ended up raising my family and I have a great job.”
Deaver said he and Benson never really had aspirations of being head coaches, but did so when longtime head coach Gary Hartman retired and they wanted to maintain continuity in the program. Deaver remains the team’s offensive coordinator, Benson the defensive coordinator and Moran is the special teams coach, along with coaching running backs and defensive backs.
“It’s not about the head coach, it’s about the kids, anyway,” Deaver said.
As co-head coaches, Deaver said they reached an agreement: Benson gets the credit when the Bearcats win, Deaver takes the blame when they lose.
“Last year we were 5-5; he was 5-0 and I was 0-5,” Deaver said with a laugh.
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