High Island Football Will Be Back

The High Island football stadium has been a symbol of the coastal community's beating from Hurricane Humberto... and now the team that's supposed to be playing on that field tonight is trying to be the town's symbol for recovery.

When Hurricane Humberto roared ashore Thursday morning... High Island was one of its first targets.

The high school's football stadium was one of the storm's most notable victims.

"He told me we don't have any lights, that all four poles were snapped," said first year High Island Head Coach, Paul Colton, "I thought they would be laid over like the ground gave way or something like that, I had no idea, you could tell, that's some high winds."

Those winds also took out the stadium's old scoreboard... along with the team's Friday night plans.

Colton said, "A few of 'em came by the house, a lot of them were kind of, like shocked look on their face, you know, they've never been through this."

"I was very shocked, High Island hadn't looked like this in forever," said junior Tiler George.

Junior Colt Hughes said, "It ain't good, wanted to play tonight but ain't happenin'."

What 'is' happening is that the team has taken it's new found free-time and spread themselves across the coastal community to help with the town's recovery.

Colton said, "I've seen them driving around, I'll see them in other neighbors' yards helping, they've been at my house, helping me try to clean up my place, they're really pitching in."

"It's just how everybody is around here, once we get things stowed away at our houses, you go help someone else," said sophomore Lynn Harris.

Which could prove to be tougher than what these players face on a Friday night. Officials estimate the amount of debris left by Humberto could fill one and a half fields like this one... three feet deep.

High Island coaches and players say what has happened to their community off and on their field will not hinder this season's success, but only make it stronger.

Colton said, "In a different way, it kind of helps us, I mean sometimes adversity pulls you together, you know, everybody's in it together and everybody's suffering the same kind of problems and we're gonna come through this."

And soon return to the field as the fighting cardinals instead of a recovering community.

The varsity football team plans to pick up the season again next Friday. The High Island school district plans to reopen for classes starting Monday.