Act of kindness creates special bond between two Maine football teams Us News Press

WALDOBORO, Maine (WABI) – Two football teams came together with an act of kindness during a regular season football game.

One Medomak Valley family says they will never forget the impact the Hermon Hawks football team made on their son Landon.

“I saw a kid there, and I was fist pumping people. So, I decided to go over to him,” said Bruce Coulter, Hermon sophomore

What started out as a small gesture at a Friday night football game helped unify the bond between Hermon and Medomak Valley High Schools.

That fist bump created a chain reaction from the Hermon Hawks football team that made it extra special for one Medomak Valley family.

During the game, Defensive Coordinator Jason Stewart’s wife witnessed multiple Hermon football players fist bump their son, Landon, while he was on the bench.

“Kids today don’t usually do that, and it meant a lot to us because, I mean, our kids that are around him, and they learned so much from Landon, and they just accept him, and they take him in as part of the team. And they’re just, I mean, they’re obviously better kids for being around him, you know, and to see another program do the same thing was was pretty special to me and my wife,” said Stewart.

“He was surprised a little bit because I heard that he usually like runs away, but he actually gave everyone fist bumps, even gave my friend Calvin a hug,” said Coulter.

Landon is the team manager for Medomak Valley. He is also non verbal and tends to get nervous when people come up to him. But this time, to his parents surprise, Landon also interacted with the team.

“To be able to actually fist bump kids that he doesn’t know is is a big deal, so that was, you know, like I told Kyle, so that’s obviously much bigger than the game,” said Stewart.

“It’s beyond hitting, its beyond winning, it’s beyond all those things, and I think it’s just a bond of two programs that get it,” said Hermon Head Coach Kyle Gallant.

Gallant wants his team to be leaders on and off the field. He hopes the bond between these two teams inspires other football programs and athletes to embrace the lessons that go beyond the field.

“We’re using an avenue in the game of football to teach young men and women how to be productive adults. People are never going to remember a 32 to 30 loss 10 years before, but they’ll remember your character,” said Gallant.

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