Trojans, Bears plan 'white-out' to honor football player killed in crash

Almost to the hour at kickoff, six days will have passed since the season changed for Peach County, since the lives of many of its football players and students changed.

That was when a GMC SUV with four senior Peach County students and football players rolled over on Moseley Road in Byron, about 10 miles from Anderson Stadium. Senior Raekwon Smith died at the scene, and classmate Randolph Williams suffered a serious back injury. Eric Robinson suffered a concussion and E’Juan McKeller bruises.

Football might be considered an escape from such a jarring tragedy, but the reality of the devastating blow will be inescapable when Peach County welcomes Houston County in the Trojans’ season opener at 8 p.m. on Friday.

“There was a lot of questions whether we were going to play the game or not,” Houston County linebacker Mack McCullough said. “That’s something we really respect them for, to keep going in this game.”

Peach County head coach Chad Campbell has prevented his players from talking to the media about what happened, in hopes a focus on football will help with the mourning process. To be sure, Houston County will face an emotional team intent on honoring the deceased as well as the injured.

Peach County players will have decals on their helmets, and towels with the four jersey numbers will hang on the sideline. Houston County’s band will wear yellow ribbons, and it’s a “white out” game for both fan bases.

Such tragedies are thankfully rare, but there is a game that will be played. Campbell has never been attached to such a situation, and neither has his team. And Houston County must follow its expressions of sympathy with the mentality of trying to win a football game. After kickoff, both teams playing hard is the strongest tribute they can show for the victims of the accident.

The Bears have no doubt been able to focus on the task at hand, but how the Trojans will execute is anybody’s guess. But the Bears know what the Trojans can do.

“They’re fast, physical, like they always have been,” Houston County offensive lineman Tucker Coody said.

Added McCullough, “Lots and lots of speed. They have a lot more speed than Mary Persons did.”

What Houston County does know is that it’s facing a program that scrimmages Northside and has beaten bigger programs in the past three seasons like Warner Robins, Perry and Baldwin. The Trojans are 27-8 the past three seasons.

There’s no secret about Houston County, which opened the season with a 26-14 win over Mary Persons eight days ago. Houston County is ranked first in GHSA Class 6A, and beating the Bulldogs by only 12 raised eyebrows.

So Campbell knows that the Bears will have worked hard to sharpen things even more.

“You have no room for error,” he said. “They’re as good a team as there is on the schedule.”

The Trojans have a tough schedule that includes Warner Robins next week and Mary Persons on Sept. 16 in the final non-region game.

“We have to play very well and not make mistakes,” Campbell said. “Our intention is to go in, be prepared, play as good as we can play and let the chips fall where they may.”

Houston County quarterback Jake Fromm completed 78.3 percent of his passes last week for 414 yards and four touchdowns, all to Amari Colbert.

“How many times are you gonna face somebody like that?” Campbell said. “You don’t have opportunities to face as good as what he is. When he’s on, he’s everything he’s made out to be.”

Of course, Peach County faced future Alabama quarterback Blake Sims of Gainesville in the 2009 Class 3A championship game and won 13-12 to cap a perfect season. Fromm isn’t Sims, so the heat is on Peach County’s linebackers and defensive backs.

“A lot of passing,” said Peach County defensive back Shamarcus Redding, who saw Mary Persons have some success in the second half. “They started switching the coverages and stuff. (Fromm) already has who he’s throwing to. If you lock that down, he’s gonna have to find somebody else.”

The Bears were shut out in the second half last week, which isn’t as rare as it might seem. It happened twice last season, albeit in a 50-6 win over Greenrbrier and a 34-3 win over Grovetown. Last week, Mary Persons suffered multiple turnovers inside the Houston County 30 and failed to score with a first-and-goal and some time at the end of the first half.

That was all a wake-up call for the Bears.

“They came out with their ‘A’ game,” Coody said of the Bulldogs’ second half. “We were lucky to get out of there.”

It has no doubt been a long and short week for the Trojans, waiting for a game to unleash some emotions.

“We want to get that rope,” Campbell said. “We want everybody get on and hold tight.”

This story was originally published August 25, 2016 at 6:03 PM with the headline "Trojans, Bears plan 'white-out' to honor football player killed in crash."