The Grizzlies won their 2011 football season opener against Dixie State College of St. George, Utah. Everything started well with the season… on the surface that is.

Dereck Johns, defensive tackle

Roughly half of the football team was stranded in Nowhere, Utah, thanks to a flat tire. No biggie. Wrong. The flat tire caused a seven hour delay. Most people have meltdowns when they are faced with a seven hour delay of any kind while traveling, much less asked to perform at their highest possible level in a football game within 24 hours.

 

I caught up with Dereck Johns, Senior defensive tackle to rehash the day that was the “Football Fiasco”

 

DA= Me, Daniel Allsup

 

DJ= Dereck Johns

 

 

DA: Alright so when did the team leave Alamosa?

 

DJ: Six in the morning.

 

DA: What time were you supposed to arrive at Dixie State?

 

DJ: Around eight o’clock.

 

 

 

DA: So the bus breaks down…

 

DJ: Yeah, the bus got a flat and we were stranded on the side of the road. Which we thought would be a short amount of time. We were required to get off the bus, the bus was put on a jack. So an hour or so went by and our first guy came to help., and had no clue what he was doing.

 

DA: Where did this guy come from?

 

DJ: Not sure, they just called a repair guy, and he did not help us out at all.

 

DA: What city were you near?

 

DJ: We were nowhere, we had no cell reception. We had one little tree, if you stuck your cell phone in the middle of it you could get one bar if you had Verizon. That was the only way.

 

DA: Were you stranded in Colorado or Utah?

*not the actual flat tire

 

DJ: Right on the border into Utah.

 

DA: First hour passes, what happens?

 

DJ: Obviously with a big group of us, were getting a little antsy. Then three hours passes, were starting to get hungry, agitated. Coach was telling us to keep our cool and we did.

 

DA: During this time everyone’s running down their ipod batteries, right?

 

DJ: Yeah everyone’s phones, and laptops are dying. So you know that’s when things get a little hostile.

 

DA: So collectively the team is hostile, hungry and everyone’s device is dead.

 

DJ: But, we had what little snacks we brought.

 

DA: And so three hours go by….

 

DJ: And the guy is still messing around with the tire. He had the idea of taking the tire off the rim and putting it on another rim, which no one thought would work, and it didn’t.

 

DA: No spare?

 

DJ: There was one but the screwdriver he had to take it off did not fit, or it was too tight. So the had me and a few others try to rip it off, and we couldn’t even get it either.

 

DA: So is this around lunch time?

 

DJ: Actually it’s more like dinner time.

 

DA: What was lunch?

 

DJ: Golden Corral, and we were expecting to go again to Golden Corral for dinner, so not very many of us brought snacks, since we planned on eating two buffets that day. Some of the players that made it ahead thought it would be funny to send us pictures of steak and shrimp. (The daily promotion at Golden Corral)

 

DA: Then its getting dark?

 

DJ: Yeah about four, five hours into it, it starts to get dark.

 

DA: What are you doing on the side of the road, playing cards?

 

DJ: I remember one of the players, took his shirt off and wrapped it around his head, luckily it wasn’t too hot. We had one big five gallon jug of water, which we were all sharing. We were not allowed on the bus though since it was on the jack still.

 

DA: How many people total was there on this bus?

 

DJ: Like 40 people. There’s a big bus and a little bus that we take. We were on the big bus so we had more people. The little bus just kept going, which is the defense bus. I’m on the defense but their bus was kind of crowded so a few of us moved to the big bus to have more room. So the defense got there safely in time, and went to bed on time.

 

DA: You immediately regret that decision.

 

DJ: Absolutely.

 

DA: So three, four, five, six, seven hours go by….

 

DJ: Another guy shows up, because the bus company finally called someone else. This guy shows up about 30 minutes after he’s called.

 

DA: And he just knocks it out real quick.

DJ: No, it still takes him about an hour. So a total of seven hours…… and we’re ready to go.

 

DA: So no dinner then?

 

DJ: We actually stopped in a Denny’s around 11:30 at night in some small town in the middle of Utah. We all only got a “Grand Slam Breakfast”, wasn’t enough so we had to stop later at a gas station for more.

 

DA: This is the day before a game that’s turning into the morning of the game, and you guys check in around 3:30 AM into your hotel.

 

DJ: Yeah we weren’t sure what it would be like in the morning, kind of hoping we would get to sleep in. We all still got up around eight, and ate breakfast with the players that did make it their on time.

 

DA: What time was the game?

 

DJ: 6PM

 

DA: No problem though, you guys win 24-14. How was the game for you, lack of sleep play a role?

 

DJ: “That couldn’t be our excuse,” is what coach told us. We just focused on what we could do at that point in time, and catch up on sleep on the way back.

 

———————————————–

 

DA: What are your thoughts on the new stadium, Rex Field?

 

DJ: I love it, one of the best in division two football.

 

DA: You’ve played at a few different colleges, right?

 

DJ: I’ve been to Fort Hayes and Glendale Community College.

 

DA: So how does it compare?

 

DJ: It blows everything out of the water. That’s what I’m here for, to play football and go to school. I’m happy with where I am.

 

DA: What do you think atmosphere will be for the opener?

 

DJ: We need to come ready to play. We’re going to have a lot of fans there. We just need to show up and show them why they’re here to watch us.

 

To have a full summary of the “Football Fiasco” I’ve made a timeline. (all times are subject to extreme approximation and hyperbole)

 

Depart from Alamosa, Colorado 6:00 AM

Lunch somewhere in Colorado 11:00 AM

Tire flattens 1:00 PM

(Mass hysteria, distress and possibly hallucinations for a dreaded seven hours.)

On the road again 8:00 PM

Denny’s stop, for an under-portioned “Grand Slam Breakfast” 11:00 PM

Arrive at the hotel in St. George, Utah 300 AM (NEXT DAY!)

Wake up at 8:00 AM

Game time 6:00 PM

Head back home, with a “W”