Pulaski shows collective strength for community

The texts started rolling into Jerad Marsh’s phone late in the afternoon on June 14.

Each one had a similar message for the Pulaski football coach – “We want to help.”

A tornado with 90-mph winds had touched down in Pulaski on that day, uprooting trees and damaging buildings.

The players on the Pulaski football team canceled their weightlifting session the next morning to instead do their part to help clean up and uplift the community that had privately raised the funds needed to build a new outdoor athletic facility at the school the year before.

“The community gives so much to us, so we can give back to them,” Pulaski senior Andrew Egnarski said.

One small act of kindness can go a long way.

The Red Raiders have continued to prove that in embodying everything that is great about high school athletics.

Before taking the field for its first game this year, Pulaski made a handoff that would be more important than any it could make out of its Single Wing offense when it presented a check to the American Legion to cover the costs for a veteran to go on an Old Glory Honor Flight.

“It was really humbling,” Pulaski senior Kendall Karcz said about the team’s fundraising effort.

“We know that they are always working to donate money to us. They’re also volunteering and setting stuff up, so we just try to give back in any way we can. Once we found out this opportunity, we thought that’s something we can do.”

The Red Raiders have a stable of backs that are helping the team average 340 rushing yards per game to lead the Fox River Classic Conference this season.

Karcz showed what his team could really do when running a chainsaw the day after the storm in June to assist in the clean-up efforts, which brought the squad closer together as the players spread throughout town to lend a helping hand.

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“They do stuff and aren’t looking for much out of it,” Marsh said. “They do it because they know it’s right. The things we talk about a lot are servitude, humility, gratitude. Those are things we talk about that seems to resonate with our guys.

“There’s an accountability to do what the community is asking us to do. Now, there is a face to that community for our guys. Now, when you clean up people’s yards and you go around after a tornado and talk to people, it’s Kenny that lives on the corner or it’s Don that lives on St. Augustine or Joe that lives by the park. That connection has brought something more to our program. You’re playing for something that is not always about the Friday night lights. It’s what can you do to give back.”

Pulaski is hosting Ashwaubenon today in a game that will be crucial to the playoff hopes for both squads.

The Jaguars have a potent passing attack and the key to containing it is no different than what the Red Raiders were doing during the summer when they were refilling coolers of water for their fundraising effort or raking up broken branches at a cemetery following the tornado.

“It’s definitely going to come down to communication,” Egnarski said. “We have a whole bunch of different types of coverages, and it’s going to be loud out there, so we just have to be able to communicate with each other.”

The Red Raiders are relaying that message across to the youth players in their program by speaking with them and passing on the value of teamwork.

“It’s always special to be them,” Karcz said. “They look up to you like you’re a superstar.”

In reality, high school athletes can be just that in helping to build strong foundations for their communities.