Apalachee High School welcomed Wildcats fans back to its home stadium on Friday night for its first football game at the school since August.
The October 4 game against the Jackson County Panthers came just a month after the school canceled several games following the September shooting at the school that killed four and injured 13.
AHS Assistant Principal and Athletic Director Ralph Neeley shared that students and faculty alike saw the game as a step toward the healing process.
“It's nice to be back,” Neeley said. “It's comforting to be back. The excitement is awesome. Our volleyball girls and our softball girls had a game at four o'clock down in Covington and still made it back in time for the football game because they wanted to be here. Our students have been great. This is a big part of their life.”
Just before kickoff, both teams honored victims Richard Aspinwall, Christian Angulo, Christina Irimie and Mason Shermerhorn with a moment of silence. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson also appeared with the team before the game.
After the Sept. 4 tragedy, AHS temporarily closed its doors to give students and faculty a chance to process and grieve. The high school initially began its “gradual reopening” on Sept. 23 with a half-day schedule that will remain in place until Oct. 14. Neeley said while the transition has had challenges, AHS is doing what it can to give students a sense of normalcy.
“Our kids want to be in the building, and they wanted to be in the building very quickly after our incident, and their feeling was correct and right, but I don't know how accurate it was,” Neeley said. “And so stepping back into the building for a lot of our kids was tough, you know, they wanted to be there, but it was tough, and I'm proud of them because they wanted to tackle those fears and struggles head-on. “It's been a lot of ups and downs–expected ups and downs– but it's been good for our kids to try to get back into a routine. They need that. Adults need that, too.”
The Panthers beat the Wildcats with a score of 25-6. despite the loss, Apalachee Head Coach Mike Hancock said he was proud of his team’s strength throughout the game.
“It's the tale of two halves,” Hancock explained. “First half, we gave up three big pass plays, and offense was struggling a little bit, and then we came out in the second half, and defense got a big stop, offense started moving the football. Football's a game of momentum, and we played with a lot better momentum. That's the best 24 minutes we played in a long time...I'm proud of their effort and just that resiliency. We talked about playing with grit, and they were resilient, and they played with guts tonight.”
Appalachee’s next game is scheduled for Oct. 18 at home against Alcovy High School. On Oct. 25, the team will play at Habersham Central High School and Loganville High School on Nov. 8.
