Hewett had his own style

In the late summer of 1984, I arrived at Dresden High School for football picture day. I arrived at the school and asked then-assistant coach Jeff Kelley if he was Lion football coach Scott Hewett.

“No, he’s the big guy in that office in there,” he said, pointing me in the right direction.

I walk in and introduce myself while Scott was trying to spin four or five plates in the air at the same time. It was picture day, after all, and kids were addressing the coach with myriad issues, e.g., “I can’t find my helmet,” or perhaps, “Where are my shoes?” or the oldie but goodie, “I don’t know where my pants are.”

Hewett was handling the chaos with calm and confidence. He even greeted me with a smile and engaged in conversation while the tempest around him continued. A couple of days later, I returned to the school to show Hewett the picture.

He identified each kid, spelling each of their names. I was introduced to guys like “Peanut,” “Popeye,” “Buck,” and “Jimbo.” He was having a hard time figuring out who the last guy was. He drew a blank for a minute or two, then snapped off an abrupt laugh.

With his trademark corn-pone personality that made him so approachable, Hewett said, “Oh, that’s me!”

Hewett had recently shaved his beard and didn’t recognize himself.

That was Scott. A charming guy with a quick wit and a talent to motivate his football players to big things.

I learned Thursday that Hewett died after battling a short illness.

I remember covering a rare weekend practice and several of the kids said they wouldn’t be back in time for the Sunday film session because their church had a function that involved eating. Many of the kids begged for Hewett’s indulgence.

“I guess it will be okay. Just bring me a piece of pie,” he said with a smile to all the kids who individually addressed him about the church function.

His teams had some landmark seasons and victories.

I recall the 20-0 victory over Lake County in 1986. Lake County had won the state championship just two years earlier, so beating the Falcons was a feather in the cap. He left the scoreboard on all night so passes by might take notice of the victory.

In the season opener that same year, Dresden beat Martin-Westview 28-0 at Rotary Field. Dresden hadn’t had much success against the Chargers, so Hewett’s crew found that victory satisfying.

During that 1986 season, state-ranked Dresden faced a tough schedule. It lost to state-ranked McKenzie 3-0. Then it lost 21-7 to Greenfield, who was ranked No. 3 in the state at the time. But Dresden seemed to shake off those losses and host a home game in the opening round of the Class A playoffs.

The Lions beat Old Hickory Academy (now USJ) 8-0 in a monsoon, then traveled to Bolton a week later to win 26-0 (Bolton is now a 5A school), then had to come home and face Collinwood. The Trojans defeated the Lions 27-0 that night. The Lions couldn’t get any momentum during that quarterfinal game.

In 1992, one of the games I covered was at Hollow Rock-Bruceton, one of Dresden’s principal rivals in the district. Dresden, up 28-14, scored on a pick-six late in the game. During the fervor on the sideline, an ebullient Hewett excitedly yelled, “Let’s go for two. Let’s stick it to them.”

I remember assistant coach Craig Rogers vehemently trying to change Hewett’s mind: “No, no, coach, we may have to play them again.”

Cooler heads prevailed, Dresden converted the TD with a kick and Dresden won the district by a 35-14 count.

The celebration was short-lived. The newly-minted, No. 1-ranked Dresden Lions visited West Carroll, who had won maybe two games all year. It was evident that Dresden wasn’t really up for the game and there were a few bad calls that went against the Lions as the War Eagles won 20-0.

After the game, an angry Hewett repeated over and over, assessing his team’s loss, “Good is as good does.”

I loved Hewett’s candor.

During sports banquets, Hewett’s remarks always were classic. His home-spun humor brought smiles to the faces of parents and players in attendance as he chronicled his team’s season.

Hewett might have been an early iteration of a player’s coach. He demanded the kids work hard, but did so without shouting or berating, unless he really had to. The kids responded to that. And anyone who played for Hewett knew that if he had an issue, he could address Hewett.

If you wore the Dresden uniform, Hewett took care of you.

He turned the whistle, headsets and keys to the locker room over the Craig Rogers in the mid 1990s, as I recall, but several years later, was asked to coach the team again.

By 2011, Hewett had guided Dresden to the state quarterfinals where it beat Memphis-Westwood 32-12 at Crump Stadium. A week later, the Lions beat Adamsville 35-19 in the state semifinals, but bowed to Friendship Christian in the state championship game, 34-0.

But Hewett was responsible for the two longest treks through the playoffs in school history, 1986 and 2011.

Dresden had some great teams and great players during his time and won some great games, but I’ll remember his friendly, engaging demeanor whose office door always was open for me.

My prayers go out to Hewett’s family and the Dresden community. He will be sorely missed.

Jim Steele is a correspondent for Richardson Media Group and may be reached on X @steelesports or via email at pressbox1@gmail.com.