Greeted near The Grove

Several hundred Northwestern fans were at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium in Oxford, Miss., last Saturday to cheer the Demons against the Ole Miss Rebels. No doubt most of them enjoyed tailgating in the fabled Grove, one of the great traditions in college sports.

The Grove is a tree-shrouded area around the stadium where tailgating reaches extravagant levels, complete with fine china under some tents. So I’m told – I had to work and never got out there.

But I was able to bump into a few former Demon football players on the field before the game, and in the stands and even the press box.

Talented tailback Danny Alexander (1991-94), who lives near Oxford and is in the real estate business, brought his nearly teenage daughter and her young friend to the game. They make it back to Natchitoches nearly every year. She was wearing a Demon football camp T-shirt.

Rugged offensive guard Bo Milton (1990-91) brought a buddy to the game. Bo is coaching and his Brookhaven (Miss.) Academy team enters the playoffs with just one loss.

Quarterback and Graduate N Club Hall of Famer Butch Ballard sat with his brothers and nephews in the stands. Butch (1974-75), who sparkled in his debut as color analyst on the Demon Sports Network two weeks ago (not coincidentally, the Demons won!) will be back in the booth for the final two games vs. McNeese and SFA. He made one of the longer trips to Oxford, coming from his home in Huntsville, Texas.

Surely Kent Willoughby wins the honors for the longest trip by a former Demon player to attend Saturday’s game. Willoughby was an end for coach Jack Clayton’s teams, lettering all three years (1960-62) when you could only play three years. He lined up alongside Pro Football Hall of Famer Jackie Smith and other Demon standouts like Corwyn Aldredge Sr.

Willoughby now lives in the Denver area, where he is a ski instructor and a rabid mountain climber. Those are pretty extreme avocations for a fellow who coached football in south Louisiana at Terrebone High School after graduating from Northwestern. He spent 30 years in education, mostly in administration, and was a fascinating guest at halftime on the Demon Sports Network broadcast.

While running through the list of former players, I’m sure I missed a few in Oxford (including the omnipresent combination of David and Stuart Wright, along with Britt Brittain), but two must be mentioned – both also with south Louisiana ties. Of course, that’s Ole Miss head coach Ed “Be-Be” Orgeron and his South Lafourche High School and Demon football buddy, Bryan Arceneaux.

Orgeron lettered on the defensive line from 1980-83, and was voted permanent team captain in 1983, receiving one of the first Joe Delaney Memorial Leadership Awards. He then coached two years under Sam Goodwin.

Arceneaux lettered on the D-line from 1981-84, helping the Demons win the Gulf Star Conference title his senior year, and he also helped coach after his playing days ended.

Both those colorful characters are also still helping the Demons. Orgeron asked Ole Miss to play NSU and give the Demons a two-year contract, resulting in a reported $650,000 lift to the athletic budget over two seasons. Arceneaux hosts the Demon coaching staff each summer on a deep sea fishing expedition out of Grand Isle and is one of Coach Scott Stoker’s close friends and confidantes.