For 12 years, Danny Birch has climbed into the press box at Kellner Field in Grafton, opened his briefcase, and gotten to work tracking every first down, every touchdown, and every tackle for the Grafton High School football te am.Birch is a volunteer statistician for the Black Hawks, the defending state champions, and he has no plans to stop."It starts with love, and the love of the game is what keeps me coming back," Birch said. "It gets in your blood. It's really something that you have to have deep passion for the game. I love to see all these kids grow up."Watch TMJ4 News reporter Alex Gaul's story on Danny Birch in the video below: The man behind the numbers: Grafton's volunteer statistician reflects on 12 seasons of Friday night lightsFour of Birch's six children played football on the same field where he now keeps the stats. Though they have since graduated, Birch remains a fixture in the press box every fall Friday night.The numbers that fans see posted online begin on paper across Birch's three separate stat sheets, one each for offense, defense and special teams. It is a process he has refined over more than a decade."It is a learned skill. I've spent a lot of years that I've done it," Birch said. Birch was in the press box at Camp Randall Stadium last November when the Black Hawks clinched their first state title since the 1980s."I was more the spotter for the stadium announcer at Camp Randall," Birch said. "It was a lot of fun just to be there with, you know, the kids that had played with, some of them played with my son."As memorable as the championship was, Birch said most of his favorite moments have come right at Kellner Field."I did see a lot of other great plays out here. There's too many to remember," Birch said. "I just want to do it because I don't know where I'd be on Friday nights. It's where I wanna be."Now, with another season underway, Birch is back in his familiar spot stat sheets in hand, ready to document whatever comes next.This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.Its about time to watch on your time. Stream local news and weather 24/7 by searching for TMJ4 on your device.Available for download on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, and more.Report a typo or error // Submit a news tip ...read more read less