Community basks in Dragons’ state title win
Bruce Simonton stood out in the parent huddle at Jefferson High School Monday night. As others spoke of their sons’ championship performance, a possible Dragon streak and the young talent waiting in the wings, the football dad stayed relatively mum.
Call it contentedness. Simonton preferred to bask in the enthusiasm saturating the Dragons’ annual football banquet.
“You doing OK?” a fellow parent asked.
“I’m doing real good,” Simonton said, his grin widening. “How can anyone in this town not be good?”
Well into Saturday night and early Sunday morning, he watched the recording with his son, Wesley, and several of the senior’s teammates.
Events leading to the joyous all-nighter at the Simonton home replayed as vividly, with the proud dad recalling just how many people arrived, seemingly out of nowhere, to the Class AA title game at the Georgia Dome.
The colorful sea of royal blue and red took up nearly one side of Atlanta’s massive stadium and part of the upper level, too. The school’s estimated crowd was 3,000, maybe more — at least one-third of Jefferson’s population or higher.
“I saw so many people at the Dome, I didn’t even know who they were,” Simonton said. “Everyone I’ve talked to is smiling.”
Smiling, like they can’t help it.
That’s what happens when a team breaks the long odds of history. The Dragons (14-1) won the school’s first football state championship Saturday, defeating Calhoun 31-14.
People who study these things predicted the seasoned Calhoun team would win by a couple touchdowns. Yet folks in Jefferson stood behind their Dragons, joining the players in delirium after the critical, three-overtime quarterfinal win at Memorial Stadium. Joining the players in asking — and answering — one simple question after that game: “Do you believe?”
By Monday, the statement “We Believed!” appeared on the school’s Web site, along with a picture of the JHS captains hoisting the championship football trophy.
“We are going to term this a celebration,” JHS principal Kevin Smith told the crowd gathered Monday at the team’s annual awards dinner. “In a sport when many times there is a very finite measurement, I would say you cannot measure the effort shown on the field. You cannot measure desire. You cannot measure determination, fight, togetherness and heart. If you could, the 2012 Jefferson Dragons would be off the charts.”
One by one, the signs of support dotting the community throughout the playoffs changed this week to reflect the new reality: “Congratulations Dragons!” and “2012 State Champs.”
Phone lines, meanwhile, lit up with lively chat about the game.
Chuck Carson, president of the Jefferson High School Booster Club, said the continued enthusiasm was evident, even in Athens where his children live though they attend JHS.
“That whole place is rocking up there,” Carson said. “I’m getting calls from dads who wants to talk about the game. Everybody is pumped up. It is exciting.”
Carson led the booster club in launching a T-shirt drive before the title game. Fans bought about 700 shirts in less than two days. The club could’ve sold more but ran out.
That won’t happen again, Carson said.
The booster club, which supports all the sports teams, is planning another T-shirt sale. A graphic artist has created the design, which will be advertised soon along with ordering information.
You can guess what will be printed into the fabric. More importantly, the shirt will be made with the kind of quality to last years.
“I think the whole community just about wants one,” Carson said.
Athletic director Tim Corbett’s work continued this week as he helped finalize plans for the football banquet Monday. Among the details: editing the words on the team plaques to include “state champions.”
The build-up to the game was intense. In addition to managing the team’s itinerary in coordination with coach T. McFerrin, Corbett helped the school handle the pre-sale of 2,000 tickets and also mapped out an inspirational send-off.
Parents and supporters cheered the football team Saturday as it rode in buses rolling from the field house at Memorial Stadium to Ga. Highway 11.
The caravan returned to the stadium that night, with the football team, cheerleaders, band, managers and coaches reuniting with loved ones and friends on the field, where the dream season started with win No. 1 in September.
“It was a happy scene,” Corbett said.
Over the next couple of days, the athletic director’s phone and computer started filling with photo images, which likely will be filed into the collection he has amassed over the years.
Archival shots of JHS’ past teams include the 1977 squad. Some of those players held a makeshift reunion and tailgate party outside the Georgia Dome, where they watched the Dragons ascend to the top, finally.
“You look back at all the people who’ve gone before,” Corbett said. “I’m sitting here looking at the 1950 team on my computer, they were undefeated … some of the names you recognize, people who are still names in the community, some of whom passed on, some of whom were there Saturday. You look back and not only to those people who played, but the coaching staffs who have come before, everyone has pushed for this …in a smaller sense, it did not just happen Saturday, it happened with the teams before them, too.”
For the 2012 team, especially the seniors, the championship culminated a grueling season marred by one loss. In hindsight, the pain born on Tiger Field in Commerce breathed fire into the Dragons’ cause.
At halftime, parents were having a difficult time keeping their emotions choked back. Cheer mom Mindy Greer snapped photos even as her eyes glistened. She described her daughter Magan’s feeling in the days leading up to that one moment. It was a sense no-doubt shared by every JHS student in the place.
“This game is the biggest thing in their whole lives,” Greer said.
Rec football memories of young boys befriending each other as they learned to wear pads and hit, mixed with the vast scenery of the Dome, a turf stage built for men.
“It is awesome,” said Greg Tyler, whose son Jordan played center. “Almost brings you to tears.”
There was no “almost” about it after the game.
Teammates and coaches embraced before raising their championship trophy. Later, the players lifted their helmets out of respect to JHS as the band presented the school song.
A roar of applause followed as the Dragon fans celebrated their experience, too.
“That’s what we played for. We played for our town,” said Tyler Bowen, his own voice cracking slightly with emotion. “When we needed motivation to us get through this football game, we looked up there at the crowd and we knew they were coming (here) for us. We played with all our hearts.”
“You doing OK?” a fellow parent asked.
“I’m doing real good,” Simonton said, his grin widening. “How can anyone in this town not be good?”
Well into Saturday night and early Sunday morning, he watched the recording with his son, Wesley, and several of the senior’s teammates.
Events leading to the joyous all-nighter at the Simonton home replayed as vividly, with the proud dad recalling just how many people arrived, seemingly out of nowhere, to the Class AA title game at the Georgia Dome.
The colorful sea of royal blue and red took up nearly one side of Atlanta’s massive stadium and part of the upper level, too. The school’s estimated crowd was 3,000, maybe more — at least one-third of Jefferson’s population or higher.
“I saw so many people at the Dome, I didn’t even know who they were,” Simonton said. “Everyone I’ve talked to is smiling.”
Smiling, like they can’t help it.
That’s what happens when a team breaks the long odds of history. The Dragons (14-1) won the school’s first football state championship Saturday, defeating Calhoun 31-14.
People who study these things predicted the seasoned Calhoun team would win by a couple touchdowns. Yet folks in Jefferson stood behind their Dragons, joining the players in delirium after the critical, three-overtime quarterfinal win at Memorial Stadium. Joining the players in asking — and answering — one simple question after that game: “Do you believe?”
By Monday, the statement “We Believed!” appeared on the school’s Web site, along with a picture of the JHS captains hoisting the championship football trophy.
“We are going to term this a celebration,” JHS principal Kevin Smith told the crowd gathered Monday at the team’s annual awards dinner. “In a sport when many times there is a very finite measurement, I would say you cannot measure the effort shown on the field. You cannot measure desire. You cannot measure determination, fight, togetherness and heart. If you could, the 2012 Jefferson Dragons would be off the charts.”
One by one, the signs of support dotting the community throughout the playoffs changed this week to reflect the new reality: “Congratulations Dragons!” and “2012 State Champs.”
Phone lines, meanwhile, lit up with lively chat about the game.
Chuck Carson, president of the Jefferson High School Booster Club, said the continued enthusiasm was evident, even in Athens where his children live though they attend JHS.
“That whole place is rocking up there,” Carson said. “I’m getting calls from dads who wants to talk about the game. Everybody is pumped up. It is exciting.”
Carson led the booster club in launching a T-shirt drive before the title game. Fans bought about 700 shirts in less than two days. The club could’ve sold more but ran out.
That won’t happen again, Carson said.
The booster club, which supports all the sports teams, is planning another T-shirt sale. A graphic artist has created the design, which will be advertised soon along with ordering information.
You can guess what will be printed into the fabric. More importantly, the shirt will be made with the kind of quality to last years.
“I think the whole community just about wants one,” Carson said.
Athletic director Tim Corbett’s work continued this week as he helped finalize plans for the football banquet Monday. Among the details: editing the words on the team plaques to include “state champions.”
The build-up to the game was intense. In addition to managing the team’s itinerary in coordination with coach T. McFerrin, Corbett helped the school handle the pre-sale of 2,000 tickets and also mapped out an inspirational send-off.
Parents and supporters cheered the football team Saturday as it rode in buses rolling from the field house at Memorial Stadium to Ga. Highway 11.
The caravan returned to the stadium that night, with the football team, cheerleaders, band, managers and coaches reuniting with loved ones and friends on the field, where the dream season started with win No. 1 in September.
“It was a happy scene,” Corbett said.
Over the next couple of days, the athletic director’s phone and computer started filling with photo images, which likely will be filed into the collection he has amassed over the years.
Archival shots of JHS’ past teams include the 1977 squad. Some of those players held a makeshift reunion and tailgate party outside the Georgia Dome, where they watched the Dragons ascend to the top, finally.
“You look back at all the people who’ve gone before,” Corbett said. “I’m sitting here looking at the 1950 team on my computer, they were undefeated … some of the names you recognize, people who are still names in the community, some of whom passed on, some of whom were there Saturday. You look back and not only to those people who played, but the coaching staffs who have come before, everyone has pushed for this …in a smaller sense, it did not just happen Saturday, it happened with the teams before them, too.”
For the 2012 team, especially the seniors, the championship culminated a grueling season marred by one loss. In hindsight, the pain born on Tiger Field in Commerce breathed fire into the Dragons’ cause.
At halftime, parents were having a difficult time keeping their emotions choked back. Cheer mom Mindy Greer snapped photos even as her eyes glistened. She described her daughter Magan’s feeling in the days leading up to that one moment. It was a sense no-doubt shared by every JHS student in the place.
“This game is the biggest thing in their whole lives,” Greer said.
Rec football memories of young boys befriending each other as they learned to wear pads and hit, mixed with the vast scenery of the Dome, a turf stage built for men.
“It is awesome,” said Greg Tyler, whose son Jordan played center. “Almost brings you to tears.”
There was no “almost” about it after the game.
Teammates and coaches embraced before raising their championship trophy. Later, the players lifted their helmets out of respect to JHS as the band presented the school song.
A roar of applause followed as the Dragon fans celebrated their experience, too.
“That’s what we played for. We played for our town,” said Tyler Bowen, his own voice cracking slightly with emotion. “When we needed motivation to us get through this football game, we looked up there at the crowd and we knew they were coming (here) for us. We played with all our hearts.”
Trackbacks
Trackback specific URI for this entry
No Trackbacks