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Friday, August 29, 1997

Jarrell players dedicate season to those killed by tornado

By CHIP BROWN / AP Sports Writer

JARRELL, Texas (AP) -- Jarrell quarterback Ernest Vidaure looked at the white cloth tape stuck to the back of his blue helmet.

In black marker was written: "John R., Michael R., Erik M., Ryan M., John I., Michael C. In loving memory."

Then he looked around at the fatigued, sweaty faces of his teammates on the bench and began stomping his cleats into the dried brown grass on the sidelines.

"Erik (doesn't) get to get tired anymore. Suck it up," he yelled with an intense look on his face, slapping his helmet for emphasis.

It was just a preseason scrimmage against Navarro in preparation for the season opener Sept. 5 against Bruceville-Eddy.

Maybe a couple hundred people filled the five rows of wooden bleachers on either side of the field. But it was much more than a scrimmage.

It was the first chance for Jarrell players to pay tribute to six of their teammates killed along with 21 others in a May 27 tornado.

John Ruiz and Erik Moehring would have been playing on the varsity for the first time, both contending for a starting position at wide receiver.

Michael Ruiz, John's brother, and Ryan Moehring, Erik's brother, as well as John Igo and Michael Carmona would have played on Jarrell's junior varsity.

"This year, everybody is playing as hard as we can because we have some friends who don't get to play anymore," Vidaure said.

As the winds gusted and the sky turned a wet charcoal on May 27, the Ruiz brothers stopped shooting baskets at the high school gym and returned to the family's trailer home.

With a tornado warning in effect, they did what they thought would be safe and went to the Moehrings' home, a larger, two-story structure. The Moehring home was destroyed and all four boys were killed. The Ruiz trailer home was undamaged.

Before the scrimmage kicked off, running back Matt Kitchens walked over to Vidaure and said, "The first play we run is for John (Ruiz) and Erik (Moehring)."

When Jarrell went onto the field, Kitchens said the same thing to the offensive linemen in the huddle, telling them to hold their blocks and he would make something happen.

He did, breaking up the middle for a 70-yard touchdown run on the first play.

As his teammates celebrated, Kitchens looked upward, beyond the slightly bent goal post in the south end zone and pointed his finger to the sky.

"I told John that was for him," Kitchens said. "I've been playing for John. He was a big buddy of mine, the funniest, nicest guy. It's been really hard not having him and the other guys around. They were supposed to be here."

"After the scrimmage was really tough," said Johnnie Martone, a defensive end. "I looked around and just kept expecting to see them."

Jarrell is a farm town of roughly 1,000, set on rolling prairie about 40 miles north of Austin. Locals meet regularly for lunch at Joe's Country Barbecue and buy feed for their cattle at Jarrell Farm Supply.

Slowly, the 50 or so houses that were sucked into the sky in May are being rebuilt, and the town is moving forward. Although the coaches had expected 50 or more football players this year, the junior varsity and varsity teams combined have 46.

"We are just carrying on as normally as we can," said head coach Tracy Burke. "It has impacted our players.

"These kids were very dear friends of our athletes, and we knew them as coaches. We miss them not being in practice and not seeing them around."

Jarrell Superintendent Larry Hausenfluke said he would like the media attention to end.

"We have had our memorial service," he said. "We have brought what we are calling an appropriate end to the problems caused by the tornado, which is not to say we are forgetting, but we don't want it to be the center of everything we do."

Jarrell's football team was 3-7 last year. Burke hopes the team can contend for the playoffs this year.

Vidaure said the team is considering a formal helmet sticker or jersey patch to memorialize its fallen members.

"The past few years, Jarrell really hasn't been a great football team," Vidaure said. "This season, we are lot closer and we are playing a lot more like a team.

"We are looking to shock some people. But our whole season is for the guys we lost, and they will be right there with us every step of the way."