[Jarons]

Today, I had the opportunity to attend a state championship game for the first time. The atmosphere of the large mostly empty stadium was truly electric. I hope the I will get to attend many more in the future.
That is not the purpose of my post. I want to share the story of my boys' high school Jacksonville High School. As you may know Jacksonville, NC was one of the hardest hit areas of Hurricane Florence. The football team did not play a single game in the month of September, they did not have a single practice from early September until the first week of October. School throughout the county was out of session from September 11 until October 29. In addition many of the players suffered damage to their homes due to the hurricane.
These boys could have just given up and quit. They finished the regular season 7-1, they lost 3 games from the schedule they were not able to make up.
Fast forward to the East Region finals (semifinals). Jacksonville was playing the number one team in 3A and conference rival Havelock, with 6 Power 5 recruits. Havelock scored 14 points in the first 25 seconds of the game. Again, Jacksonville persevered and eventually won the game 41-34.
Jacksonville came up short in the state title game losing 17-14 to Charlotte Catholic.
I wrote this to share with you how a group of teenage boys overcame some of the worst adversity in their lives to not only compete but win. I hope these boys could inspire you guys in some way. I only know a handful of these boys personally but they have inspired me in a small way.
Sorry for the long post. I felt I had to share the story of 2018 Jacksonville Cardinals.

[E's Army]

Appreciate you sharing

[Westside]

That is a great story. Sometimes through hardships unforseen opportunities arise. This team more than likely learned great lessons that they can take with them and use throughout the rest of their lives. Though they came up a bit short and they are probably experiencing a bit of pain, this season will have an extra bit of meaning that they normally wouldn't have had had they not experienced the hardships brought on by the hurricane. Congrats to them on a great season.

[MayfieldCardinal]

Great Story,glad you shared thanks

[killbilly usmc]

Jacksonville is my old stomping ground. Some good memories, and friendships where made in my 2 years stationed there at Camp Lejeune.

[Spirit100]

Great share and thank you Jarons. Continued success to this team on and off the field.

Continued prayers to the region. Overcoming a hurricane is a long term process. I have family in AB and MHC and they are still working through repairs!

These young men appear to be on a great path and I'm sure have inspired the community...WELL DONE!

:Thumbs: