A Hero Comes Home to Vassar
October 17, 2012
By Alex Leveille and Tyler Langley
Vassar High School seniors
(Editor's note: Nothing short of incredible describes the story of U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Travis Mills. He is continuing a successful recovery from losing all four limbs after stepping on an improvised explosive device while on patrol in April during his third tour of duty in Afghanistan. His story turned a national spotlight on Vassar, a town of 2,700 people located in Michigan's thumb. Mills was an athletic standout for the Vulcans before graduating in 2005, and returned for Homecoming earlier this month. Vassar seniors Alex Leveille and Tyler Langley give us the story and explain its impact from a student point of view.)
Homecoming is about many things to high school students. But this year it got a whole lot bigger when word got out that Travis Mills, paratrooper of the 82nd Airborne, was coming home.
When the students at Vassar learned that Travis was coming back for Homecoming, everyone was excited to see him. A couple of students said they were really happy they would finally be able to meet the hero they heard all about.
“Seeing and meeting Travis was a really neat experience for me personally, so I can only imagine the effect he had on the community," said Vassar football player Brik Rupprecht, one of the team captains this fall. "When Travis showed up, you could really feel the positive energy coming from the crowd, supporting him, and the positive attitude Travis brought with him. When it came to the game, we just gave it our best for him. He told us he wanted to see a win, and that’s what we gave him. (Vassar defeated Unionville-Sebewaing that night 22-16.)”
Many things were changed to accommodate Travis’s homecoming. The Homecoming parade, of which Travis was the grand marshal, was moved to Thursday, Oct. 4 instead of Friday before the game. It was followed by a bonfire at which Travis spoke to a crowd of more than 3,000 people, thanking them for everything they have done for him and his family.
On that Friday, the day’s events included a block party sponsored by many local businesses plus Pepsi and Frito-Lay. This was a chance for the community to come together to celebrate Vassar’s Homecoming, as well as welcome Travis home. The pregame festivities included a ceremony to thank all of the area’s veterans, including Travis.
Travis then took center stage before the game to again express his sincere thanks for the community’s love and support throughout his recovery. The community continued that support with various gifts to Travis and his family to further show their love for them.
He then led a special coin toss during which both Vassar and Unionville-Sebewaing players lined up intermixed on both 45 yard-lines to show their united support for Travis. He also spoke to the Vassar team before the game, encouraging them to "play every down like it’s your last, because you never know when it’s going to be your last.”
With Travis coming back to Vassar, our town was put in the spotlight of national news, which was something new to almost all of the students in Vassar. They all had different opinions about it too. Some didn’t like the thought of being in the eye of the country, but others did. Draven Muller, a sophomore and junior varsity football player, said it was a cool thought to be recognized nationally as a town and to be associated with a hero like Travis.
Jim Baker, a former paratrooper himself and teacher at Vassar High School, said, “Travis Mills is a true representative of what a paratrooper is all about. He makes me proud that I was a member of the 82nd Airborne Division.”
Vassar Chief of Police Ben Guile said he remembers Travis when he was in high school. “Only a person like Travis would have been able to survive something like this, and be as positive as he is," Guile said. "He is very charismatic, and him coming back home to thank the community is one of the best things he could have done. This town loves him, and I never have felt any more positive energy at a parade than the one that Travis led.”
Travis came back the following Friday, Oct. 12, to speak to the students at Vassar High School. Travis, being the upbeat guy he is, kept the crowd awake and laughing the entire assembly, cracking jokes and telling the crowd about his experiences in the Afghanistan war.
He also offered advice on high school and college experiences and talked about his plans after getting out of Walter Reed Medical Center, where he's undergoing occupational therapy.
As he put it, “Hopefully the Army will want me back after I’m done at Walter Reed. I might not be able to do all of the physical stuff anymore, but I still have everything they taught me in my head.”
He also plans to go back to college and get a degree in teaching, and hopefully become a teacher and a football coach some day.
Having Travis home was great for the community and the area. He is an all-around great guy and can uplift anyone’s spirits.
Click on links below for Mills' web site and some of the national coverage of his recovery and return home.
TravisMills.org - Fox News - USA Today - Detroit News - Saginaw News
PHOTOS: (Top) Travis Mills served as the grand marshal of Vassar's Homecoming parade Oct. 5. (Middle) Mills returned to his former high school Friday to tell students about his experiences in Afghanistan. (Top photo by Vassar High senior Sarah McKenney; middle photo by English and journalism teacher Jamie Strauss.)
Champion Coaches - Including Local Legends - Unite to Restore Ravenna Glory
By
Scott DeCamp
Special for MHSAA.com
October 8, 2026
RAVENNA – Whether they want to or not, Ravenna seniors Joel Kantola and Colton Rolison hear about the glory days of Bulldogs football from their fathers.
Kantola’s dad, Brandon, watches old games from the 1994 season when he was a two-way starter on Ravenna’s first MHSAA Finals championship team.
“He can’t remember very well, but he’ll see a play and he’s like, ‘Oh, I remember doing that play!’” Joel Kantola said. “It’s one of the best things to hear something (from that era). He loves it, too.”
Rolison’s dad, Willy, shares memorable stories from back in the day when he was a dynamic running back on the Bulldogs’ 1997 Class C title squad.
“It’s just insane that he still has all these stories that I’ve never heard. He’s still bringing them up, new ones every day,” Colton Rolison said with a smile.
Three decades have passed since the 1990s heyday of Ravenna football, when the Bulldogs won three of their program’s four Finals titles. But in the small town located on the eastern edge of Muskegon County, the band is back together, one might say.
Steve Czerwon was hired in March as Ravenna’s head football coach, coming from a highly successful 13-year tenure at his Muskegon Catholic Central alma mater where he guided the Crusaders to Division 8 championships all of his first four seasons (2013-16).
One of Czerwon’s first orders of business in Ravenna was securing the commitments of legendary coaches Dusty Fairfield and Randy Helsen – architects of the Bulldogs’ championship teams in 1994, 1996, 1997 and 2003 – to bring their wisdom and serve as a link from the storied era to this current one.
They agreed, others from the old guard hopped aboard, and a couple more experienced coaches joined Czerwon’s staff. Now, entering the final third of the 2026 regular season, the Bulldogs appear to have regained a little traction despite coming off three straight losing campaigns.
Ravenna carries a 5-1 overall record and five-game winning streak into this Friday’s West Michigan Conference Rivers home game against Hesperia.
Next week, Ravenna plays at North Muskegon with at least a share of the WMC Rivers title on the line. Should the Bulldogs win this Friday, they’ll take on the Norsemen for the outright league championship.
Since the WMC expanded and split into two divisions in 2022, North Muskegon has not lost a Rivers football game. Meanwhile, Ravenna has not won a conference title since sharing one with two teams in 2001.
In their football history, the Bulldogs have as many Finals titles as they do conference championships (four), illustrating the enduring strength of the West Michigan Conference.
This pack is hungry to etch its own history: Winning a conference title and making a run in the Division 7 playoffs. But, as Helsen laid out, there’s a price to pay.
“Steve addressed the fact (with the players),” Helsen recalled. “‘You wanted these guys to come back and you wanted what they had in the ’80s through the ’90s into the 2000s, and what it’s going to take is every effort you’ve got and even take it up from where you are. If you want to leave a legacy, that’s what you have to do. These guys (have) a legacy.’”
When Helsen says “these guys,” he’s referring to Fairfield and himself, but also other connections from the days of Ravenna football prominence.
In 20 seasons as Ravenna’s head coach covering two stints – the second ending in 2010 – Fairfield sported a 164-55 record. He’s a Michigan High School Football Coaches Association Hall of Famer.
Helsen served as Ravenna’s defensive coordinator for all of those seasons, and then some. He and Fairfield are both Ravenna Athletic Hall of Famers, their plaques side-by-side on the wall of the high school’s athletic wing.
Fairfield and Helsen are both retired and they’re volunteer assistants on Czerwon’s staff. They are not at every practice, but they fill critical roles: The former works with the secondary and quarterbacks, plus he’s on the headset in the press box on game days, while the latter coaches defensive linemen.
“They have so much knowledge, and I think it really does connect the past to the current,” said Czerwon, who did his student teaching at Ravenna in the early 2000s and was a member of the Bulldogs coaching staff during their most recent state title season in 2003. “A lot of kids here, they heard from their uncles and their fathers about some really good teams that Ravenna had in the ’90s and early 2000s, and those guys are the actual link.
“I talk to Dusty daily, and he just reinforces the importance of relationships you have with the kids,” Czerwon added. “He’s second to none at that, and it reinforces to me the importance of that.”
Geoff Nelson, who was a starting lineman on Ravenna’s 1994 team, coaches the offensive line. Neil Sladick, who helped the Bulldogs win Finals titles in 1996 and 1997, works with linebackers. Mark Jacobs, who starred on Ravenna’s first Finals group in 1988, helps coach defensive backs.
Canaan Groff is Ravenna’s defensive coordinator, and Nate Smith specializes in offense. Both bring experience to the table, including as head coaches. Czerwon, Groff, Sladick, and Smith all work in Ravenna school buildings, which is an advantage for coaches.
“I think that we’re bringing back a lot of accountability. I think we don’t settle,” Nelson said about Ravenna’s coaching staff. “This has been a great group. We had to break a lot of bad habits, but they’re starting to form new habits and starting to go in the right direction.”
Ravenna got a reality check to start the season in a 33-7 loss to Division 8 top-ranked Beal City, a perennial small-school power. Czerwon admitted he may have asked too much of his players right away in terms of new schemes and such.
Since then, the Bulldogs have exhibited gradual improvement, including winning a couple of one-point games, and now they’re starting to establish an identity of physical football. That was at its peak in last week’s 28-0 win at Mason County Central, which by the way is coached by Ravenna alumnus David Smith, a former Bulldogs head coach who was a member of Class C championship teams in 1994 and 1996.
Things are moving in the right direction for Ravenna.
“There hasn’t really been a lot of drama or anything like that. We love each other. That wins games,” said Rolison, a linebacker who suffered a fractured collarbone in Week 3. Chances of a return this season are up in the air, he said.
“(The coaches have all) worked together before and nobody motivates like Dusty Fairfield – there’s not a single person out there who does,” Rolison added. “Coach Randy Helsen, he knows his stuff. He knows more than I probably ever will about football.”
According to Helsen, getting to know young people at the ground level is Fairfield’s specialty: Types of music they like, their hunting spots, etc.
In terms of accountability, everybody is responsible for that.
“We get after them if they’re not getting it done,” Helsen said. “Kids that were not getting after it five, six weeks ago and kind of rolling their eyes at me when I’m coaching them on scout defense, they’re now in the starting lineup. I said, ‘You’re getting coached by a guy that coached defense here for 27 years. I’m giving you the same coaching that our all-staters and all-conference players got.’”
Fairfield’s goal in returning was to help lay building blocks for current and future success. He believes the overall health of football in Ravenna is strong considering participation numbers from high school to youth levels, especially at a time when similarly small communities across the state are canceling varsity seasons or not fielding enough players to form junior varsity squads.
“It’s been a good experience, and it’s made me realize, you know, what we did in the past really meant something, and it made me realize how hard we worked because I’m totally invested in the team right now. It is fun with the camaraderie with not just the boys but also the coaches,” Fairfield said.
“You know, it’s my last hurrah where I get to experience what I did for a living for over 30 years. I get to experience it one more time before I, you know, go off into the sunset,” he added with a chuckle.
For families such as the Kantolas and Rolisons, things are coming full circle – and they could not be more excited. Brandon Kantola is enjoying his son’s senior season while also reminiscing about the good ol’ days.
“I think he was invested back then,” said Joel Kantola, Ravenna’s starting center, “but he’s more excited for us than I think he was back then.”
Scott DeCamp has worked more than 25 years in sports media, including 21 at MLive Media Group as a reporter and editor. He is founder and owner of DeCamp Creative Solutions. Email him at [email protected] with story ideas for Lake, Mason, Mecosta, Muskegon, Newaygo, Oceana, and Oceola counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Ravenna head coach Steve Czerwon addresses the team following a 28-14 victory over Shelby on Sept. 25. (2) Ravenna assistant coaches Randy Helsen, left, and Dusty Fairfield are pictured in the Bulldogs' locker room in August. (3) Joel Kantola, left, is a senior center for the Ravenna football team, and Colton Rolison is a senior linebacker. (4) Fairfield, left, and Czerwon look at an iPad during halftime of a 28-0 victory over Mason County Central on Friday. (Photos by Scott DeCamp.)