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Jerry Harris was already a scared-to-death rookie in his first football practice as a freshman at Bowling Green in the fall of 1961. Then things got worse.

Legendary coach Doyt Perry summoned the freshmen players to essentially serve as new meat for the hungry varsity squad that had been practicing for a week in the hot August sun.

The 6-foot-1, 215-pound Harris lined up at defensive end, resting on one knee as he waited for the varsity huddle to break. Suddenly, the first player he lined up against at Bowling Green was Bob Reynolds, "a modern-day Adonis, 6-5, 275- pounds, 32-inch waist."

"Bob would go on to have an incredible career with the St. Louis Cardinals, being named All-Pro for seven or eight consecutive years," Harris said.

Harris had faced some tough obstacles in his stellar career at Miamisburg, but the lopsided confrontation with the studly Reynolds was the first of many lessons in college that served him well as a high school coach for 35 years.

Harris, a 1961 Miamisburg graduate, recounted those lessons recently when he was one of three former players honored at the 35th annual Viking Bowl, a reunion of players, coaches and longtime supporters of Miamisburg Football. Richard Scheu, a 1960 graduate, and the late Neil Zink, a 1951 graduate, were also recognized.

Facing steep odds was nothing new to Harris when he entered Bowling Green. He had been one of only three seniors on a Viking team that faced four teams ranked in the top 10 in Ohio.

The Vikings met up against Franklin, led by quarterback Bob Timberlake, who became an All-American at Michigan and played for a year with the New York Giants. Troy had the vaunted "T-Guns," quarterback Tommy Myers and running back Tommy Vaughn, who both became college All-Americans and played with the Detroit Lions. Undefeated Colonel White fielded perhaps its finest team ever. And Fairmont, a perennial powerhouse in the 1960s, featured All-Ohio running back Tony Trent.

Not surprisingly, the Vikings suffered through a 2-8 season with wins to open and close the campaign. Still, Harris made his mark as an AP All-Ohio third-team selection who earned a full scholarship to BG with the help of Hank Schneider, Miamisburg's Hall of Fame coach.

Big Bob Reynolds and others indirectly started molding Harris into the coach he became.

"Four years at BGSU taught me a very valuable lesson that would have an impact on my future career," he said. "I learned that, for most of us, somebody else is always bigger, faster, stronger, smarter. In athletics, this could happen in junior high school. For most of us, it occurs in high school; for a lesser number, in college.

"I was just 'good enough' to be there, but certainly not a gifted athlete. I learned what it was like to practice hard and yet not be good enough. This experience would be invaluable to me as a high school football coach for the next 35 years.

"When you realize that there are many more talented athletes than yourself — and you are sitting on the bench — you begin to self-analyze," he said. "Specifically, you ask yourself, 'If I would have worked harder, could I have had greater success?' This single thought I carried with me throughout my coaching career. I vowed that the athletes that I coached would not be burdened with the same thought, that they would know that they had worked, that they had been pushed, encouraged at a much higher level than I ever had."

Harris left college in January of his senior year and joined the Peace Corps. After four months of intense training in Tucson, Arizona, he spent an incredible two years in Venezuela.

He returned to Bowling Green to earn his degree. He also met and soon married Elaine Perrine. The Harrises, who have two daughters, Lindsay and Alison, will celebrate their 40th anniversary in February.

Former Viking captain returns

Dick Scheu, who joined Harris for the Viking Bowl, was a captain of the football team. He was also the leading hitter for the baseball team.

Scheu continued his football career for four years at Otterbein College. He also played baseball for two years.

Scheu, who served as a captain his senior year, earned a degree in business administration and economics. He also earned an MBA at the University of Dayton.

He retired from General Motors in 2001 after more than 37 years with the worldwide financial staff in the U.S. and Europe.

He and his wife, Susan, who just celebrated their 42nd anniversary, live in Powell, Ohio, just off the first fairway of Kinsale Golf Course. They have three children and five grandchildren.

Neil Zink played football four years at Miamisburg, including the Miami Valley League championship years of 1948 and '50.

Zink started at end as a junior and was a speedy running back as a senior.

Contact this columnist at (937) 847-8435 or d_lamb@msn