Homecoming Week

Mike Cast / Leader Staff

As Ronan high school geared up for its homecoming week, senior quarterback Mike Fisher received a visit from the Leader.

"Please, Mike," I begged. "Just a quick photo shoot and interview!"

Fisher, whose throwing arm has made him a small celebrity amongst local newspaper sports reporters across the valley, or should I say county, has had to spend a fair share of time getting us to leave him alone.

Fortunately, he agreed to answer a couple of questions and let me shoot the photo.

As I watched the minutes tick by at the Ronan practice, I wondered if Fisher was ever going to show.

Head Coach Jim Benn informed me that I shouldn't worry, Fisher would be out. He was just getting ready.

He's preparing his interview, I thought nervously. But Benn said that wasn't it.

"He's just in there combing his hair," Benn said.

That's a celebrity for you. So vain.

All jokes aside, Fisher was chosen because Homecoming brings out the spirit in a high school, and the Chiefs have brought that spirit home this year with their best start in years.

Among the team leaders, Benn, my most trusted and reliable source, singled out Fisher.

"If you're going to do a feature story, do it on Mike. He's our leader," he said.

I do what the coach says, so when Fisher finally showed up I made a mental note not to mess it up.

Fisher is originally from Carrolton, TX, heart of football country, which some scientists may say is the reason there is football in his blood.

He is an only child, growing up with footballs instead of siblings. This has worked out because chucking a little brother some 40 yards down an open field is a sure-fire way to upset Mom and Dad. And if he spent his whole life grounded, Fisher never would have become a football star in the first place.

Luckily, that's not the way things turned out.

"I've played ever since I can remember," Fisher said.

From the days of peewee football when he was just a helmet on cleats, Fisher has grown up and led his team to some big wins against Montana's finest and helped bring great football back to Ronan.

And he won't stop there, and with speed like his, why would he?

"I definitely look to compete in state, get into the playoffs and give some teams some games … a huge step for us from where we came from," Fisher said.

Fisher also wants to play college ball, mentioning schools from the University of Washington to the University of Michigan that might have some interest 'd0 but don't tell anybody.

He doesn't know where he'll end up.

"It's up for grabs right now," he said.

One of Fisher's most noble traits is that he's a Broncos fan, because the Broncos are themselves so incredibly noble.

"John Elway is the inspiration for the number seven … and for my birthday, Aug. 7 … it has some meaning," Fisher.

I felt a tear welling up in my eye. But I shook it off, quickly, asking Fisher what he likes to do off the field.

"Riding four-wheelers and motorcycles," he said.

Yikes - talk about sending the coach into a cold sweat. But Fisher explained further.

"But not really during the season," he said.

Fisher mentioned a particularly vivid account of a crash he once had, making this already queasy reporter just a little bit more queasy.

"I had a bad crash … fractured my tibia and tore my ACL … I had to have reconstructive surgery," he said.

Changing the topic from snapping tendons and human sewing, we moved onto the Homecoming dance.

"Yeah, I'll probably go. I usually go to those things. It's my last year," he said.

It is indeed, and the team will be losing not only an athlete, but someone who Benn describes as a person who leads by example.

"He has the ability to make plays happen. He plays the game with passion. When he makes mistakes he makes them honestly," Benn said.

Fisher leaves it all on the field when he plays, leaves it all on the dirt when he rides and leaves it all on the snow when he boards. And coming up on his senior Homecoming, Fisher will leave it all on his final year in high school.

But Fisher has his faults, according to good friend and teammate junior safety Cameron Neiss, happy to get in his shot at Fisher.

"He says lines from Superbad all of the time," Neiss said.

Annoying habits or not, Fisher says that he has a lot of friends. When he's not on the field, you can find him hanging out with guys on the team, spending one more year together before they head their separate ways.}