To E.J. Gaines’ football coach, Ryan Schartz, big players win big awards.
That’s why one of the best players in the history of Fort Osage High School is the winner of The Examiner’s Defensive Player of the Year Award.
“Big players make big plays,” Schartz would often say, “and no one made more big plays than E.J. He was something else this season.”
When Dalton Krysa, the state’s all-time leading rusher for big class football graduated a year ago, the Indians were in need of a running back.
Even though Gaines hadn’t played the position since his freshman year, he stepped in and rushed for 1,468 yards and scored 20 touchdowns.
But it was his defensive prowess from the cornerback position that earned him a scholarship to the University of Missouri and the reputation of a shutdown corner who saw little action in many contests.
“Everyone was afraid to throw at him,” Schartz said. “If they did, he made them pay.”
In a 29-6 Class 5 sectional win over Park Hill, the Trojans threw at Gaines three times.
He batted away one ball and picked off two others.
“At last,” the all-state cornerback said after that game. “Maybe now the coaches will get off my back about me being the only guy in the secondary to not have a pick.”
Gaines was laughing when he made that comment.
“I can’t believe they threw at him – twice,” Schartz said. “No one has thrown in his direction all year. You know that old saying, ‘Big-time players make big-time plays in big-time games’? Well, that was E.J. tonight.”
Gaines followed that performance with another sterling effort against Schartz’s alma mater, Raymore-Peculiar.
Gaines scored three touchdowns rushed for 168 yards and did not allow a pass to be completed on his side of the field as the Indians dominated the Panthers 30-19.
“I’ve never seen a player who could take over a game on both sides of the ball,” Schartz said. “That’s what made him so special. Man, are we ever going to miss him.”
And the young man who could arguably be called the finest all-around player in the history of Fort Osage football, feels the same way.
“We weren’t very good when I was in middle school,” said Gaines, when asked to talk about the Fort Osage team that was riding a 19-game losing streak when Gaines was in middle school. “I know we went a couple of years without a win, then Coach Schartz and his staff came and everything changed.”
Schartz, The Examiner’s 2009 Coach of the Year, turned the Indians into one of the most successful teams in the state. They went undefeated during the 2009 regular season and made it to the state championship game, where they lost 34-19 to Webster Groves.
But now, that loss is a distant memory and Gaines can look back at his senior year and smile.
“Sure that loss still hurts,” Gaines said, “but we did so many good things. To win an honor like The Examiner’s (Defensive) Player of the Year Award is very special. It means a lot to me and it means I worked with great coaches and had great teammates.
“People ask me all the time what I will remember the most about this past season and it’s kind of funny, but I will remember the bus ride back to school after you ran the story of our Pop Warner football team that had Ed (Pearl and four other Fort Osage teammates) on it.
“We took that photo with all the guys who are now with the Indians, who played on that Pop Warner championship team and Ed and I were talking on the bus ride back to school, and it got me thinking about how much I love football and how much I love the guys I played with.
“You look at Ed today and see a big athletic guy who plays quarterback. But back on that Pop Warner Indians team we called Ed ‘Train Wreck,’ because he was so clumsy. I think he played the line.
“He’d be out on the playground and walk into the building. I mean, the guy has gotten so much better. We talked about that on the bus, and we just laughed and it made me realize why I love football.
“Winning is great, but the friendships you make the bond you have with your teammate and coaches are the most important things.”
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To E.J. Gaines’ football coach, Ryan Schartz, big players win big awards.
That’s why one of the best players in the history of Fort Osage High School is the winner of The Examiner’s Defensive Player of the Year Award.
“Big players make big plays,” Schartz would often say, “and no one made more big plays than E.J. He was something else this season.”
When Dalton Krysa, the state’s all-time leading rusher for big class football graduated a year ago, the Indians were in need of a running back.
Even though Gaines hadn’t played the position since his freshman year, he stepped in and rushed for 1,468 yards and scored 20 touchdowns.
But it was his defensive prowess from the cornerback position that earned him a scholarship to the University of Missouri and the reputation of a shutdown corner who saw little action in many contests.
“Everyone was afraid to throw at him,” Schartz said. “If they did, he made them pay.”
In a 29-6 Class 5 sectional win over Park Hill, the Trojans threw at Gaines three times.
He batted away one ball and picked off two others.
“At last,” the all-state cornerback said after that game. “Maybe now the coaches will get off my back about me being the only guy in the secondary to not have a pick.”
Gaines was laughing when he made that comment.
“I can’t believe they threw at him – twice,” Schartz said. “No one has thrown in his direction all year. You know that old saying, ‘Big-time players make big-time plays in big-time games’? Well, that was E.J. tonight.”
Gaines followed that performance with another sterling effort against Schartz’s alma mater, Raymore-Peculiar.
Gaines scored three touchdowns rushed for 168 yards and did not allow a pass to be completed on his side of the field as the Indians dominated the Panthers 30-19.
“I’ve never seen a player who could take over a game on both sides of the ball,” Schartz said. “That’s what made him so special. Man, are we ever going to miss him.”
And the young man who could arguably be called the finest all-around player in the history of Fort Osage football, feels the same way.
“We weren’t very good when I was in middle school,” said Gaines, when asked to talk about the Fort Osage team that was riding a 19-game losing streak when Gaines was in middle school. “I know we went a couple of years without a win, then Coach Schartz and his staff came and everything changed.”
Schartz, The Examiner’s 2009 Coach of the Year, turned the Indians into one of the most successful teams in the state. They went undefeated during the 2009 regular season and made it to the state championship game, where they lost 34-19 to Webster Groves.
But now, that loss is a distant memory and Gaines can look back at his senior year and smile.
“Sure that loss still hurts,” Gaines said, “but we did so many good things. To win an honor like The Examiner’s (Defensive) Player of the Year Award is very special. It means a lot to me and it means I worked with great coaches and had great teammates.
“People ask me all the time what I will remember the most about this past season and it’s kind of funny, but I will remember the bus ride back to school after you ran the story of our Pop Warner football team that had Ed (Pearl and four other Fort Osage teammates) on it.
“We took that photo with all the guys who are now with the Indians, who played on that Pop Warner championship team and Ed and I were talking on the bus ride back to school, and it got me thinking about how much I love football and how much I love the guys I played with.
“You look at Ed today and see a big athletic guy who plays quarterback. But back on that Pop Warner Indians team we called Ed ‘Train Wreck,’ because he was so clumsy. I think he played the line.
“He’d be out on the playground and walk into the building. I mean, the guy has gotten so much better. We talked about that on the bus, and we just laughed and it made me realize why I love football.
“Winning is great, but the friendships you make the bond you have with your teammate and coaches are the most important things.”
