Follow Hudson football coach Ron Wright's journey on ground, in air from Stow's Senior Night to Explorers' game in Mentor (video, slideshow)

By Scott Patsko, Northeast Ohio Media Group
on October 26, 2013 3:28 AM, updated October 26, 2013 5:19 AM

Using a police escort, a plane and a lead-footed friend, Hudson football coach Ron Wright made his way Friday night from son Kyle's pre-game Senior Night ceremony at Stow to Hudson's big game 46 miles away in Mentor. Wright, who arrived in Mentor toward the end of the first quarter, allowed Northeast Ohio Media Group reporter Scott Patsko along for the ride. On the plane were Wright, the pilot and Patsko.

STOW and MENTOR, Ohio – The whole thing took 35 seconds.

Ron and Pam Wright waited at the center of Stow's football field. Son, Kyle, jogged over to meet them. Their names were announced. They started walking.

Twenty-five steps straight ahead. Stop and smile. Twelve steps to the left. Stop and smile.

As Senior Nights go, it was pretty standard stuff. For the Wrights, it was anything but. For the first time in Kyle's high school career, Ron was at his game on a Friday night without being the opposing coach. After missing most of Kyle's varsity career, Ron decided over the summer that he would be at Senior Night. And that was that.

But on this night, Ron's team – undefeated and fifth-ranked Hudson - was warming up in Mentor in preparation for one of the most anticipated games of the season, against the 7-1 and No. 4 Cardinals.

How could Ron get to his game on time? He couldn't. But, with a little help, he could get there as quickly as possible.

This is the story of how he did it.

6:18 p.m.

With a pat on the back and a wave, Ron parts ways with Pam and Kyle at the 40-yard line of Stow's football field. The photos all taken and his Senior Night commitments done, Ron shakes hands with some of the Stow coaches, then heads for the parking lot.

Stow's Senior Night ceremony was bumped up about 15 minutes in the days leading up to the game, and instead of an alphabetical line of seniors, football players were announced according to jersey number. Lucky for Ron, Kyle is No. 3. The Wrights were the first ones introduced.

Television cameras orbit Ron as he makes his way through an enormous inflatable Bulldog head and toward the parking lot.  He has done more interviews in the past few days than any week of his career. But then, it's not every day a high school football coach decides to miss the beginning of such a big game, even if it is for perhaps the best reason. Add a plane ride to the equation and you get a media frenzy.

Ron is gracious to the media members around him, thanking them for showing interest and wishing everybody a safe night.

"This whole thing has kind of been blown out of proportion," Ron says as drives his Dodge Caravan behind a Stow police escort and out of the stadium parking lot. "But I appreciate everybody helping to make it happen."

When people in Hudson learned of Ron's plans, they remembered school photographer Ken Klemencic is a pilot. Klemencic made a call to Akron's American Winds Flight Academy, where he learned to fly, and asked for a favor. Driving to Mentor would take at least an hour, and traffic can be unpredictable. The flight would take 20 minutes in the air.

Hudson football coach Ron Wright, right, and his wife Pam escort their son, Stow football player Kyle Wright, during Senior Night festivities at Stow on Friday. Ron then jetted to a regional airport for a flight to get to his team's big game in Mentor. (Lisa DeJong, The Plain Dealer)

6:25 p.m.

The trip to the Kent State University Airport is quick, thanks to the police escort. A hand waves from the police cruiser as it drives away. Ron parks next to a gate, not far from a white Cessna 172.

"I guess this is the place," says Ron, walking toward a small building next to a hangar. Inside the building, pilot Brad Russell is waiting.

"Are you ready to go?" asks Russell.

"Are you the man?" Ron asks.

"I am the man. We're all set out here and ready to go."


Ron's been in small planes before, mostly during his career as a college football coach, which included a stint on Dean Pees' staff at Kent State (That's why the Wrights live in Stow). 

"But I've never been in one this small," he says.

The plane has four seats, two in front, two in back. Behind that there is a small space big enough for a duffel bag. Ron squeezes into the passenger seat and buckles his seat belt. Russell says something about how Ron can push the window out in case of emergency, then shuts the door.

After a few checklist items, Russell tries to get the plane started. Chugga, chugga, chugga. The propeller starts to twirl, but stops. Russell tries again. And again. Ron's 2003 Dodge Caravan, which at one point was option A for making the 46-mile ride to Mentor, is surely smirking in the parking lot.

Russell tries again. Finally, the plane comes to life.

"I flew in from Akron and it was like a five-minute flight," says Russell. "Just when you get her going, you stop her. It takes a minute to get her going again."

After slowly making its way to the runway, then waiting for another plane to get out of the way, Russell gets the Cessna into the air.

6:43 p.m.

"It's going to be a little bumpy on the way up," says Russell. He's not lying. The wings take turns dipping on the way to an altitude of 1,800 feet. Russell veers to the left, and the football field Ron stood on about 20 minutes earlier can be seen below.

"How fast are we going?" Ron asks.

"One hundred-sixteen knots," says Russell. "About 105 miles per hour. We're moving pretty good."

"Oh. I don't want to say anything about my weight, but I was wondering if I'd slow us down," says Ron, who is as big as some of his linemen.

"Oh, don't worry," says Russell with a laugh, "we have bigger planes."

It's 6:50 p.m. when the Cessna makes its way over Twinsburg. Ron asks for the time, but nobody brings up football. Instead, talk turns to airplane fuel. Then Russell mentions this plane isn't even the smallest one he flies.

"We have one that we call the Smart Car of the Sky," he says.

Russell makes contact with Lost Nation Municipal Airport in Willoughby. Soon, blinking runway lights are visible. Russell points out Mentor's Jerome T. Osborne Stadium.

"I was thinking we should do a flyover and really announce your arrival," says Russell.

Ron laughs. "Yeah, I had people telling me, 'Hey, you should just fly over and jump out. Just jump.'"

7:03 p.m.

Ron doesn't know it, but the same minute the Cessna touches down in Willoughby, Mentor kicker Mike Muzic is kicking off to start the game with Hudson. As if in response to that, the trip switches to fast forward.

Ron exits the plane and Russell hands him his bag. Greg Palumbo, Ron's ride to Mentor, waits by a doorway to the hangar. At first, the parade, which includes more television media, is walking fast through the hangar, which has about half a dozen planes in it.

But then Palumbo begins to jog, then Ron begins to jog. Everybody goes through another doorway, through a lobby, then out into the parking lot where Palumbo's Honda Pilot is waiting.

Ron thanks the cameramen for coming, then hops into the Pilot. It's 7:08 p.m.

There's no police escort this time. But that's OK. Palumbo's treatment of the speed limit is more as a suggestion than a hard-and-fast rule.

7:14 p.m.

Ron finds the game on the radio. It's scoreless with 6:40 left in the first quarter.

"We had a touchdown called back," Ron says, scrolling through text messages on his phone.

On the radio, the play-by-play describes the beginning of a Mentor drive. Ron lets out a grunt when the Cardinals get a first down. For obvious reasons, this is the first time Ron has heard one of his team's games on the radio.

"Both of these teams should be very prepared for each other," says a commentator on the radio. "They see the same thing every day in practice. So you should be prepared."

"But they play against each other because they've got 11 vs. 11 (in practice)," Ron says, referring to Mentor. "Some of our guys, not our offensive line, but some of our guys are playing both ways."

It's 7:19 p.m. when Palumbo turns onto Munson Road. Jerome T. Osborne Stadium comes into view on the left. The stands are packed. The players move in a swarm from right to left. The scoreboard lights are bright at the far end of the field.

As the Pilot drives behind the visitor's stands, Ron and Palumbo scour the fencing for an opening, but they don't see anything promising.

7:21 p.m.

"I have the Hudson coach in here!" Palumbo shouts to an officer, who clears away a road cone, allowing Palumbo to drive to the stadium's main entrance.

Meanwhile, on the field, Mentor's Alex Matthews scores the game's first touchdown on a 1-yard run.

At 7:24 p.m. Hudson's head coach walks through the entrance gate and into the stadium.

"I need to change," says Ron. "Where is the locker room?"

Ron quickly finds the locker room, but when he pulls on the door marked "VISITORS," it won't open.

"Locked," he says.

He goes around a corner and tries another door. Locked. Another corner. Another door. Locked.

Finally, he ducks into the men's restroom and emerges two minutes later, still in the same outfit but ready to officially bring an end to his journey.

He walks through a gate and heads across the back of the end zone, toward the visitor's side of the stadium. He watches the players on the field. On the scoreboard, Mentor leads, 7-0. The clock ticks down toward 4:00 to go in the first quarter.

When he gets to the far side of the end zone, members of the band sitting in the stands see Ron.

The cheers begin. Ron acknowledges the band by shaking his fists.

Thirty seconds later, his headset on, Ron takes his place on the sideline in front of the Explorers.

9:44 p.m.

Hudson lost, 38-14. The recaps will say the Explorers had their chances. They'll also say Mentor's defense made sure those chances weren't successful.

While Ron talked to the media about his team's first defeat of the season, he pointed out that his late arrival had little to do with it. His assistant coaches call the plays, anyway, he said. They're more than capable of handling things in his absence.

Back in Stow, Kyle's team reportedly clinched a playoff spot by beating Elyria. 

Years from now, maybe Kyle will remember that, maybe he won't. But it's a good bet he'll always remember what happened before the game.

Thirty-five seconds. That's all it took.

And when it was over, it didn't really matter what happened between Hudson and Mentor.

Ron had already won.


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