There’s no doubt that the recovery from Hurricane Harvey is tough, but a Texas tradition may help ease some of the pain: high school football.
There’s a certain buzz on the coastal bend as the week comes to a close, a buzz that one could argue the entire region needs.
Two weeks since Harvey ravaged Rockport High School, football is bringing light to a gloomy scenario.
The Rockport-Fulton Pirates are playing their first game of the year. The sounds of the game that escape from reality under the lights on a Friday night are familiar to Texans everywhere.
Life was put on pause as families sort through shredded homes, and Rockport-Fulton closed for now. No rooms fit to hold classes, and the fields in no condition for games.
“This hurricane, while tragic and traumatic for everybody, has really pulled everybody together,” Julie Pina, a Rockport alum, said.
There was uncertainty after Harvey about whether or not the teams in the area could even play this season.
“They’ve got some important decisions, but at least for a couple hours, three hours on Friday night, they ain’t gotta think about that stuff,” Tom Allen, Sinton ISD’s athletic director said.
It’s fitting that the pirates would face their neighbors with the same name to start the season. In fact several students from Rockport now attend Sinton ISD in the meantime.
Some people here say it’s too soon to focus on football but others say it’s the perfect escape. “This is something that we hope that our kids and their kids are going to draw from for the rest of their lives,” Allen explained.
For one night the fanfare replaced the frustration and smiles replaced sadness. Two teams stood on the field and accomplished what most thought wouldn’t happen.
And the score didn’t matter.
