EDITORIAL COLUMN: Celebration continues
State
champion Eagles grow together through adversity
December
3, 2006
By RON COX
Index-Journal sports editor
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Xavier who?
All the work ex-Greenwood High School standout receiver Xavier Dye went through
to head to a four-time champion became completely and utterly for naught Friday
night when his former team claimed the Class AAAA, Division II state title.
The Eagles won their first state title since 2000 by defeating
Dye and the rest of his new team, the Byrnes Rebels, were ousted by eventual state
champion Gaffney in the AAAA, Division I semifinals.
Now, before you get too flummoxed, understand that this is not a knock against
the young man.
Even though Dye left
It’s pretty obvious the
All it cost Dye was the chance to call himself a state champion and to do so
with his hometown team … oh, that and a shiny gold medal and eventually, a big
honking ring.
So instead of having a highly touted Division I prospect on their team, this
year’s Greenwood Eagles were pretty much a ragtag group. Not many, if any,
major D-I prospects in the bunch.
But that ragtag group had one thing in common at the start of the season: They
liked each other, they really liked each other.
Corny? Yes.
Cliché? Yes.
But true? Heck yes.
“They just don’t want the season to end,” the 30-year coaching veteran said
Monday.
But every coach says their team is “like a family” or “a tight-knit squad.”
So it’s hard to differentiate coach speak from an honest assessment. But after
Friday’s outcome anyone could see what the coach meant.
But Dula said pretty much the same thing after that group of no-names handed
him his sixth state championship as a head coach.
“They like being around each other,” said the coach, who is now a perfect 6-0
in state title games. “They’re so together. It’s just the fact that they
generally love each other and they like being around each other.”
And now because of that commonality, the Eagles have yet another thing in
common: They can call themselves a state champion.
“It’s a beautiful thing to add to our name,” senior defensive lineman Craig Logan
said. “We worked so hard in the off season. Worked so hard since January to be
here. It’s just a great feeling.”
Logan and the rest of “Team Togetherness” gave the 20,000-plus fans at
Williams-Brice Stadium — of which more than 12,000 were raccous Greenwood
supporters — the best example of their somewhat hokey moniker before the
kickoff. In fact, it came before the entire Conway team was even on the field.
When the captains were called to the field for the ceremonial pregame coin
toss, the Tigers’ huddled behind their large run-through sign at one corner of
the north end zone, eagerly awaiting their chance to rushed the field.
By contrast, the Eagles had been on the field for several minutes, having
already previously broke through the cheerleader-constructed paper sign.
“Team Togetherness” made one long line behind their four captains, and as Chris
Floyd, Win French, Sam Chappell and Ixavier Higgins walked
hand-in-hand-in-hand-in-hand to the Gamecock at midfield, the rest of the team
took a few steps together onto the field: in a sign of unity.
It was similar in fashion — and eventually, in effectiveness — to the time the
New England Patriots chose to walk out of the tunnel as a team before Super
Bowl XXXVI in 2002 instead of the traditional individual player introductions.
The Eagles did something similar later Friday night. After pretty much most of
the stadium had cleared — well after the Conway fans had begrudingly departed
that stadium winless for the fourth time in six years — they gathered at the 50
for a few minutes.
One last huddle for a team that didn’t want to see its season end. A season
with plenty of adversity that brought them together.
Ron Cox is the sports editor for The Index-Journal. He can be reached at: rcox@indexjournal.com.