Playing for Aunt Karen

When Ronan senior Jack Humphreys took the field last Friday, he

did it for a reason

The Ronan Chiefs had one extra fan last Friday night during their 40-8 victory over Troy.

For senior cornerback Jack Humphreys, the day of the game was the four-year anniversary of his Aunt Karen passing away from cancer. Karen Osborne was the best friend of Laura, Jack's mother, and had been so since she was a kid back in England.

"She was there for me since the day I was born," Humphreys said. "Literally she was the first person to see me alive except for my mom and doctors."

Every year, Humphreys said, it seemed like the Chiefs would have a game on Sept. 9. Every time that would happen, he would get emotional about it. This year, Humphreys decided to dedicate the game in honor of her.

"Before the game I had [Ronan senior] Marcus [Hungerford] write R.I.P 9-9-07 on my tape so every time something was going wrong or I missed a tackle or anything I could look down there and remember why I was doing this, who I was playing this game for," he said.

Like a lot of football players in the state of Montana, Humphreys plays on both sides of the ball, a running back and defensive back, and last Friday he found two ways to celebrate the life of his aunt.

In the first quarter of the game, with Ronan up 20-0, Humphreys got a handoff and took it five yards for the touchdown.

"The touchdown run was something I needed to do," he said. "Our offensive line has been doing great this year so when I got put into the game, I trusted that they were going to get a push and get me in there."

After scoring the touchdown, Humphreys looked down at his wrist where his teammate had written an important reminder.

He pointed toward the sky.

"I knew she was up there looking down on me with her smile and she was happy," Humphreys said.

But the night wasn't over for Humphreys. Later in the second quarter while on defense, another opportunity presented itself.

"Our defensive line got some good pressure on the quarterback and he scrambled around and kind of threw the ball up for grabs," Humphreys said. "As soon as that ball was released, I knew there was no way the wide out was going to get up and catch it so I dropped back a little and went up and got it."

Teammate Robert Faoa threw a great block, and you've seen this one before folks, Humphreys was off to the races for a pick six. For 90 emotional yards.

"It was my first pick six ever and coming on that day made it even more special," Humphreys said. "When I scored I started to cry on the field. When I got over to the sideline, everyone was coming up and patted me on the butt but I just broke down even more. I looked up to the sky and said ‘that was for you, Karen.'"

It was the last touchdown scored by the Chiefs in the game, but for Humphreys and his family it was more than important than just seven points.

Humphreys had posted on his Facebook wall before the game, "Four years ago today the earth lost the most wonderful person in the world. R.I.P Aunt Karen. This games for you."

Later Jack would find out from his mother that the posting brought tears to her eyes.

"I can't tell you how proud I am of him," Laura said. "He may put on this hard guy exterior but when it comes to family he is so caring. It was very special to me for him to do that, and even more so when I sent a message to Paul [Karen's husband] and told him what he did. I am so proud of him."