He's top in his class, football team captain. Ritter senior leads by example

He’s top in his class, football team captain. Ritter senior leads by example — with heavy heart.

Posted by Admin October 30, 2024 Football

INDIANAPOLIS — There has not been a lot of winning on the football field during Harley Campbell’s four seasons at Cardinal Ritter. One win in 2021. One more in 2022. Then an improvement to 4-7 last year in Levar Johnson’s first season as coach and 3-6 so far this year (with some tough luck in close games) going into Friday’s sectional semifinal against juggernaut Lutheran.

The black-and-white results on the scoreboard will ultimately judge how far the season goes for Ritter, life is a little more gray. Because there is no other way to classify Harley Campbell than as the ultimate winner.

“Hands down, the hardest worker I know,” said Andrew Barber, his close friend since second grade.

Campbell is quiet, matter of fact. Barber, a 6-1, 275-pound senior offensive lineman, is something of his opposite: Easy going, quick to make friends. “We call him a robot sometimes,” Barber joked of his friend. “But he’s always been there for me, pushing me to get better. And I’m always pushing him to speak up.”

That work ethic, though, is what defines Campbell. It has vaulted him to No. 1 his class academically (4.63 grade-point average) and captain of the football team. Much of what he learned about what it means to be accountable and how to work was ingrained into him by his father, Tom Campbell. But in November of 2020, several months before Harley was to enter high school, he lost his dad.

It was heartbreaking for Harley and his mother, Cheryl, and older sister, Stella, then a sophomore at Ritter. Tom, at age 59, was diagnosed with cancer in October of 2020. The cancer had already spread to multiple areas of his body. The next month, Campbell caught COVID, which accelerated his already dire health issues.

He died Nov. 17, 2020.

“It happened very fast,” Harley said. “We didn’t know anything was really wrong until he was breathing heavy and didn’t want to get out of bed. He didn’t seem like he was all there. So, we called the ambulance and they took him to the hospital. Turns out, they found out he had COVID and was already dying. He had organ failure and died that night.”

Because of the circumstances, there was little time for Harley and his family to say goodbye. Tom Campbell worked as a salesman for Wurth Service Supply and was a member of St. Christopher Catholic Church, where his kids went to school. The funeral was delayed for three weeks due to Tom’s COVID diagnosis.

That time in quarantine allowed for some healing. Stella, a four-sport athlete at Ritter and also a standout in the classroom, is now a sophomore at Taylor University.

“I’m very close with my family,” Harley said. “From time to time we talked about it; how to live without him. I would say for both of us, it was easier in the fact that both of us have been busy. There is nothing to get worried about. We just keep doing things.”

Tom was an active part of his kids’ lives, enjoying their successes in sports. Barber often rode along with Tom and Harley for rides to football practices and games.

“When I heard about the news that he died, I told Harley I’d be there for him,” Barber said. “He’s more than a teammate to me; he’s my best friend. I’ve been there since Day 1 for him. Every touchdown he’s scored since then, I always say, ‘Your dad is jumping for you in heaven right now.’”

The Ritter football seniors, a group that includes Campbell, Barber and lineman Sam Duncan, entered the program at a difficult time. Former coach Ty Hunt stepped down after the 2020 season and Brad Purcell was hired. Purcell came from Maconaquah but had previous experience coaching as an assistant Bishop Chatard, Guerin Catholic and Scecina. But Ritter’s participation numbers were low during the 2021 and ’22 seasons, which yielded just a 2-18 record combined.

In Week 3 of 2022, Ritter had to cancel a game against Brebeuf Jesuit due to a low number of available players. It was a stunning story considering the program had won its fifth state championship in 2016.

“Winning two games in two years kind of wears you down,” Barber said. “I was thinking about not even playing my junior year. You put so much time into something and not getting anything out of it and seeing teammates who should be leading you, not leading you takes a toll on your mind.”

But those current seniors who stuck it out saw progress last year. Johnson, who had coached with Purcell at Guerin Catholic and agreed to come on as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach in 2022, was hired as the coach going into the 2023 season when Purcell resigned.

Though an influx of young talent was a big reason for Ritter’s improvement to a 4-7 season last year, so too was the quiet leadership of Campbell, a middle linebacker. He finished the season second on the team with 78 tackles.

“I love it,” Johnson said. “Harley, Andrew Barber, Sam Duncan … I’ve been watching them play since they were freshmen. It’s been a progression. They get beat up in practice, during games. They get older, get better. By the end of the year, Harley will have played in 45 of 46 games. He was 170 pounds as a freshman and he’s 195 pounds now.”

Johnson picked Campbell as a captain “because he deserves it.” Though the 3-6 record is not what Ritter was hoping for this season, the Raiders have lost two games by one point and another in overtime. Campbell has 56 tackles and has been playing his best football in the last few weeks, Johnson said.

“He’s the center of our defense,” Johnson said. “He’s a quiet kid but guys really respect him. He can go wherever he wants academically. The football part of it is cool but if (he doesn’t play in college), he’ll be on a full ride academically wherever he wants to go.”

Harley has plans to major in chemical engineering in college, though he has not settled on a school. Now that he is nearing the finish line of high school and about to embark on a new journey in college, he often reflects on those lessons his father taught him.

“(When he died) it opened my eyes to what he was trying to teach me when I was younger,” Harley said. “Like, ‘Focus on school,’ or ‘When you are playing sports, try your best all the time.’”

Let the scoreboard show: Harley Campbell is a winner.

Call Star reporter Kyle Neddenriep at (317) 444-6649.