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GRAPEVINE — The spirit line was longer. The crowd was bigger. The star power attention-grabbing. There were television and film crews seemingly all over the place.
But the second edition of Gainesville State School vs. Grapevine Faith had one trait in common with the first.It was sincere.An overflow crowd of about 4,000 fans turned out to cheer for both teams Friday night at Faith. The pregame spirit line they formed for Gainesville State’s Tornadoes was 150 yards long, twisting around in both end zones. Wade Phillips, Jason Witten, Jon Kitna and Disney star Cody Linley were here cheering.The biggest difference between last year’s game and this year’s game was that this one was planned.The home-team treatment that the players from Gainesville State, a maximum-security correctional facility, received last year — the spirit tunnel, the tear-through sign, the cheerleaders and fans on their sideline rooting for them by name — unexpectedly became a national story.That night all began with an e-mail from Faith coach Kris Hogan to Faith parents the Monday before the game.The stories from last year’s game have inspired untold numbers to encourage others, to deliver hope to those who desperately need it, to consider that if a Texas high school football field can be a place where unconditional love can be offered — and received — then any place can.But this year’s game was planned for the past year. Still, Hogan said after his team’s 28-22 victory, the reason for the sincerity felt Friday is the same as for last year’s game."Programs and structure do not make things like this happen," he said. "People do."Football players painted two tornados alongside their Lions head at midfield. "GSS" was painted in one end zone in black and white, the Tornadoes’ colors. Fans held signs individualized for each of the 15 players. A "Hands and Feet Drive" collected socks and gloves for Gainesville State.But what mattered most was the same element that made last year’s game so memorable: It came from — and hit — the heart.And that is something the Tornadoes have been experiencing more at their games since playing Faith last season.Gainesville State coach Walt Scott said it has been an incredible month to end his team’s 1-8 season, citing the encouragement his players have been given in games against Nolan Catholic, Plano John Paul II, Addison Trinity Christian and — to bring the year full circle — Faith."It helps these guys think that they’re something other than the discards of society," Scott said. "Hopefully, this will get one or two more of them going in the right direction, get them to be taxpaying citizens, good parents themselves, and do something productive in their lives."As testimony to the impact these types of nights on a football field can make, consider the night’s bookend moments involving Mack White.A year ago, White was a student-manager on the Gainesville State sideline. Now he lives with a Faith family that is helping him transition back into the free world.White tossed the coin at midfield before the game.After the game, when the teams huddled together at midfield, Gainesville State’s white jerseys mixed in with Faith’s red, Hogan addressed the Gainesville State players."I hope it’s obvious that we love having you guys at Faith," Hogan told them. He told the players they have coaches who believe in them.Then he brought up the example being set by their friend, Mack White."You can get out, go the right way, take responsibility, do the right thing and be anything you want to be in this country," Hogan said.He concluded by asking Gainesville State players if they believe what he said."Yes, sir," they replied.David Thomas, 817-390-7760
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