They call him R.J. Bayer. Why R.J.?

“My given name is Richard James, after my grandpa, but my family always teases me they call me R.J. because I probably wouldn’t know how to spell Richard. I just roll my eyes at that.”

And just like that you get a taste of the kid’s great sense of humor.

Opposing teams have also been getting a taste of the Howells-Dodge senior’s spectacular play on the football field this season, much of which is a year overdue, if you ask him.

“Last year was a crazy season anyway, with COVID and all, but it was really crazy for me, personally,” reports the 6-2, 195-pound tight end and defensive end. And he’s right. After all, he suffered a bout of mono before the second game of the 2020 season and missed four games, then upon his returned he suffered a severe ankle sprain and missed some more time.

R.J.’s all healthy now and his play shows it, as he’s competing at an all-state level while helping the Jaguars to a 7-0 start to the season, a No. 2 state ranking in Class D-1, and the No. 6 slot in the wild card standings.

“We are playing really well so far this season, but that goes back to two years ago when a lot of us were just getting our feet wet on varsity, especially me, Levi (Belina) and Blake (Sindelar),” he recalls. “We maybe were building last season but we learned a lot and I think you see us putting that to good use this season.”

BTW, at Howells-Dodge going 7-3 and winning a playoff game is a rebuilding season. But I digress.

As for having R.J. on the team, H-D head coach Mike Speirs loves his positive impact on the team’s play, and it’s team chemsitry.

“R.J. has been a lot of fun to coach. He has a great positive attitude and is such a hard worker that it makes practice fun,” says Coach Speirs. “As a coach, you know you are going to get his very best effort whether it is in practice or a game.”

Some of R.J.’s great effort has led to a couple of monumental moments, in particular, during the first few weeks of the season. The first was his team’s epic first quarter goal line stand that basically saved the win over Cross County, the second was his team’s 44-6 lashing of unbeaten Stanton back in Week 6. All part of the 2021 Howells-Dodge revenge tour, if you will.

“Both those teams beat us last year, so we had a chip on our shoulder going into those games,” says R. J. “Our offensive defensive lines really came to play against Stanton and we controlled that game all the way. We knew it was a big game, we were energized, and we played at a high level from the very beginning.

“That goal line stand was insane, especially doing it at home, and it helped us gain some momentum early. When we were up 40-14 we thought, here we go, but then they came back like great teams do, so we had to pick it up,” he remembers. “Winning that game (40-38) was fantastic.”

That goal line stand, that defensive effort, is all part and parcel of what makes playing for the Jaguars so enjoyable for R.J. He appreciates the great tradition Howells-Dodge defense has built over the years. “There are a lot of guys in the stands each week who were stars on the defense, and we want to do our part to keep that tradition alive.”

One of those guys used to be R.J.’s father, Ryan Richard Bayer, who died last year after a three-year battle with brain cancer. Ryan Bayer was the fullback and linebacker on Coach Speirs’ first team at Howells.

“We are a football family and Coach Speirs likes to give me crap about my my mom and dad in high school,” says R.J. “He thinks he’s funny.” Ouch.

Born in Norfolk, R.J. and his family lived in Battle Creek until moving to the family farm located 10 miles north of Howells back in 2004. “It’s pretty great living out there but traffic at the (Highway) 32/15 intersection can get to be a little much.”

R.J. and his family call it The Funny Farm because they have a variety of animals on campus, among them a pot bellied pig who seems to have fallen in with the family dog. He and his brother Jestin, who is a rising junior linebacker on the Howells-Dodge team, share a cattle herd, and he also has a younger brother and sister.

An outstanding student with a 3.8 GPA - “our entire family is pretty serious about our grades, mom and dad wanted it that way” - R.J. is a member of the National Honor Society and president of the school’s FFA chapter. He is also an artist of some note.

“I don’t know where it came from, but I like to pencil draw. Neither of my parents are artistic, but I like it,” he says. Upon his high school graduation he plans to attend NCC-Norfolk, get his ag degree, then transfer to a four-year schcool.

R.J is also an outstanding baskeball player, part of a Howells-Dodge team which held a fourth-quarter lead in last year’s D-1 state title game before losing in overtime. “Nobody saw us coming,” says R.J. “We started 0-4 but then we got hot and beat some teams to get to state, and once we were there we just didn’t stop. Even though we lost getting to play two games at PBA (Pinnacle Bank Arena) was a dream come true.

“Our plan is to finish it next season.”

Which is also part of the plan for Howells-Dodge football, which is also nothing new.

“We are a driven team in every game we play, and our motto is ‘Who Wants It More,’ and I like to think that is always us. It will need to be to get where we want to go.”