Recently, two former Owensville Dutchmen head football coaches have had plenty of reasons to celebrate.

Spending one year at the helm of the Owensville Dutchmen football program during the fall of 1979, Larry Burchett recently announced his retirement from coaching after spending the past 32 seasons as the head coach of the Midway Vikings.

“I learned a lot from a good group of kids that I got to coach in Owensville back in 1979,” Burchett said. “I had never been a head coach and it was a very good learning experience that helped me in my coaching over the last 30 years.”

In addition to his one year in orange and black, Burchett was a part of six state championships as either a player, assistant coach or head coach at Midway.

As a high school sophomore in 1968, Burchett helped the Vikings finish as the state runner-up. Winning state titles as a junior and senior in 1969 and 1970 respectively, the former Dutchmen sideline boss won four additional state titles at Midway in 1976, 1978, 1982 and 1996 as an assistant or head coach.

“Larry was very energetic and enthusiastic and had previously played and coached in a program that consistently had been a power in (Missouri Class) 1A,” former OHS Assistant Superintendent and assistant football coach Mark Leach said.

One of his assistant coaches back in 1979, Leach was joined by Randy Rader and Danny Helms.

In spite of an 0-10 record during Burchett’s lone year as Dutchmen head football coach, Leach thought the program took a step in the right direction.

“I would like to think that even though the record did not reflect success, the program grew in a positive direction under his (Burchett’s) leadership,” Leach said. “Larry always remained positive and worked very hard as head coach at Owensville.”

One of three quarterbacks on the 1979 Dutchmen football roster, John Schaefferkoetter experienced a small world moment prior to the 2011 season of Dutchmen football.

Serving on the Gasconade County R-2 Board of Education at the time, Schaefferkoetter helped hire Burchett’s son-in-law Dale Long as Owensville’s next head football coach prior to the 2011 season replacing Paul Schmanke who relocated to Eureka.

“Larry was an encourager and a positive influence to me,” Schaefferkoetter said. “He taught the game of football very well and made sure that I was a good student too.”

Amassing over 250 head-coaching victories, Burchett was inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2020 along with the Midway Vikings football program.

Friday night, former Dutchmen head football coach Paul Day won a district title with his fourth different school after Pacific’s Indians knocked off Sullivan’s Eagles 21-20 in the Missouri State High School Activities Association (MSHSAA) Class 4, District 2 championship game at Sullivan High School.

In addition to his district title Friday night as head coach of the Indian football program, Day has also claimed gridiron district titles at Owensville, Fort Zumwalt West and Vianney.

“It feels great to win another district title,” Day said following his latest win. “My guys kept playing hard all season and they went out on that field and earned that championship plaque.”

Day’s Indians will host Hillsboro’s Hawks Friday night in Class 4 Quarterfinal football action at Pacific High School with a 7 p.m., kickoff.