4 days ago
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Apalachee shot squad breaks losing streak
For astir four, long, challenging — adjacent traumatic years — the Apalachee Wildcats had been dreaming of this moment: cheering fans successful the stands and yet a large pb connected the field.
Before this weekend, the precocious schoolhouse shot squad successful Winder, Georgia, hadn't won a crippled since 2021, a losing streak truthful agelong that galore questioned it if it would ever end.
Earlier this summer, erstwhile CBS News archetypal met Kevin Saunders, the team's latest caput coach, helium showed helium wasn't determination to play, helium was determination to win. He spoke astir the challenges of changing a culture.
"Being a person is not casual and being a person is not ever accepted. If you privation to beryllium accepted, you merchantability crystal pick — everybody likes the feline that sells crystal cream," Saunders said. "I lone cognize however to bash it 1 mode and that's enactment hard."
Saunders was besides bringing alteration to a squad successful the aftermath of thing overmuch much challenging than a drawstring of losses connected a shot field. Eleven months ago, a shooter astatine Apalachee High School killed 2 students and 2 teachers, including Richard Aspinwall, the team's antiaircraft coordinator.
"We've got kids that ne'er played earlier that privation to beryllium a portion of thing now, and that could beryllium a reflection of what happened successful the past," Saunders said.
His players, including elder linebacker Ryan Hansen, bought into their caller coach's intensity.
"The mentality that we person to person retired present and the bosom to play it now, you person to truly privation it," Hansen said.
To woody with the trauma, Saunders brought successful Christian Guerra, a intelligence show coach.
"Some players, the mode for them to header is, 'Hey, I privation to absorption connected being connected the tract doing the champion I can.' Some, they privation to speech astir it a small spot more," Guerra said.
That's wherefore Saturday nighttime was truthful profoundly meaningful for this squad and the community. As the last seconds ticked off, the celebrations began.
"Your Apalachee Wildcats are victorious," the announcer said.
Apalachee bushed their opponents 29 to 9.
While shot won't erase the tragedy, it's present a crushed to rally — and to judge that the comeback is ever stronger than the setback.
Skyler Henry is simply a CBS News analogous based successful Atlanta. Henry was astir precocious a analogous for CBS Newspath successful Washington.
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