On October 11, 2024, the Davie County War Eagles faced off with the Mount Tabor Spartans. Despite a long-fought battle, the War Eagles came up short 52-7, with freshman Draeton Nance scoring the War Eagles’ sole touchdown. Even with this loss, there were many highs throughout the night. With the fans decked out in pink and some new faces to the band, the War Eagles had a memorable night.
After an impressive pass to Ethan Driver that left the War Eagles two yards shy of a touchdown, quarterback Draeton Nance rushed the ball to award the War Eagles six points. Senior David Patton then took the field for the point after. Not only did this kick earn the War Eagles another point on the scoreboard, but this moment also marked Patton’s return to the field. Patton had been out since his junior year due to an ACL injury but was able to return to play this past Friday to finish out his senior season.
“It’s meant a whole lot being able to come out here again,” Patton says. “That’s been the main goal ever since tearing my ACL in the first game last year to get to the point where I’d be able to play again. It stinks that I won’t be able to play wide receiver, but that’s just life at the end of the day. Leading up to this point, it’s been a lot different being out there, helping out with anything I could if that meant helping and giving tips to my position group or helping film practices and games. So after putting in all this time, it’s awesome to finally get back on the playing field.”
With losing can come two mindsets: a mindset of defeat or a mindset of how to improve. The War Eagles are determined to use this as a growing opportunity and to build resilience. Starting back on Monday, they will turn the mistakes they made into what to work on to prep for next week’s rival game against the West Forsyth Titans. Junior Elliott Gould, a strong safety, shares his perspective on how the team will move forward.
“These challenges help the team and I become better because it builds resilience and helps us adapt and improve after realizing what we are doing wrong.”
A Joyful Noise
During halftime, the band had additional members joining the drumline. The JoyFull-A Sound for the Soul marched the field with the band during halftime on Friday. The JoyFull-A Sound for the Soul is a band for differently abled people who are older than thirteen. They learned all three songs the band performs, including “Old Town Road,” “Take Me Home, Country Roads,” and “9 to 5.” After this performance, some of the members joined in the tradition of the third-quarter track show. The track show consists of the Davie High Drumline playing their cadences alongside the Dancing Boots and cheerleaders as they perform. This past Friday, the JoyFull-A Sound for the Soul performed right alongside the drumline in front of the Davie Crazies.
After the drummer wraps up their medley, cheer takes the stage front and center to play a game with the Davie Crazies. Starting this tradition on Homecoming, the cheerleaders throw huge blow-up dice into the Crazies for them to roll onto the track from the stands. Each number on the dice corresponds to a challenge for the cheerleaders to complete. With one meaning pushups, two being free stunts, three meaning to tumble, four meaning to jump, five meaning a handstand competition, and six being a crazy favorite, a pyramid. It adds an element of connection between the track and the fans who fill the stands.
While the Crazies enjoy the Pyramid, that’s not all of the cheerleader’s favorites. Senior cheerleader Sydney Tanis shares her favorite. “My favorite dice roll that happened at that game is the handstand. Even though I can’t hold it for long, it’s a fun and simple one to do that everyone enjoys!”
This game supported Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and War Eagle fans were rocking their pink. Both cheerleaders and the Dancing Boots sported pink poms and bows, while the marching band debuted new pink gloves. The Crazies theme was also pink out, encouraging all Davie High students to show up wearing as much pink as possible.
The football game was well fought, but many Davie fans still found some sort of win from the game. The team is determined to learn from past games to come out victorious this Friday against our rival, West Forsyth High School.
