One team, one family, one town: Paradise reunites over Friday Night Lights

Johnny Cash's "God's Gonna Cut You Down" bellowed from the public address speakers. The packed crowd roared, hooted and wept their approval at the traditional entry to all Paradise varsity home games.




Just as they were taught on the gridiron as young boys in the Bobcats' junior program.

"I played on older teams as a 7- and 8-year-old and got the crap beaten out of me on the field until I learned, you're going to fight back," senior tackle Elijah Gould said. "You're not going to roll over. That's what football is around here."

To reinforce the point, a stark, weighted silver plaque was made especially for this night with the inscription "C.M.F. 11-8-18." It was placed strategically at the top of the stadium for each of the players to slap before marching down the stairs. C.M.F stands for "Crazy Mountain Folk," a cleaned up version of how the Paradise residents identify and take pride in. They wear it on T-shirts and display it on signs about town.

On this night, however, they just needed the Bobcats — the 35 in uniform and 13 seniors from the 2018 team whose 8-2 season was cut short by the fire on the eve of the playoffs. Carrying American flags to honor first responders and victims, the 2018 seniors, wearing street clothes, led the charge down the bleachers.

By the time they hit the field, players were in a lather, flailing fists, screaming to the sky, embracing as if they had won the championship. The lottery. The Super Bowl.

"It was even better than I thought it would be," senior tackle Kasten Ortiz said. "I had chills going up my spine thinking about it the day before, but the feeling of actually getting to the field and playing was magical."

Said senior running back Lukas Hartley: "It really felt like I was dreaming out there. It didn't seem real. We had waited so long and worked so hard to get to this point." Hartley was so excited, he vomited twice on the field in the first quarter and had to be taken out. He later scored on an 11-yard touchdown as the Bobcats took a 21-0 first-quarter lead, and later still sprinted to the end zone on a 23-yard second-quarter run.

This game clearly stretched beyond the 100-yard long by 53-yard wide field. This was evident by the overflow crowd of 5,000 fans, more than double the normal capacity at Om Wraith Field. Families clad in green and gold, many in face paint, filled just beyond the end zones. They sat in lawn chairs and on blankets.
On this night, anyway, these were tears of joy and relief, intertwined with handshakes, embraces, smiles and laughter. This was a community reuniting. Reconnecting. Recharging.  

"This is the beginning of the healing," said Paradise offensive coordinator Andy Hopper, a larger-than-life figure who constantly offers a mountain of levity, passion and humor. "Now we can get back to some normal." Even with throngs of media — more than 40 were credentialed including an ESPN crew that will continue to follow the team throughout the season — and the big crowd, life on campus is beginning to get back to the way it was before the fire, students said.

Sophia Scribner is a senior varsity basketball and volleyball player and sports medicine student who helps tape up and mend the football team. She said getting back to school the week leading up to the game, and playing sports, has helped mend her both physically and emotionally.

"There were a lot of ups and downs (after the fire) and sports really got me distracted and helped me feel a lot better," she said. "It's given me a lot of relief that I can come back with all my teammates. With those relationships, I haven't been feeling so lonely."


"Yes!" the players responded immediately.

"Is all that hard work worth it?"

"Yes, sir!"



"Look around you," he said. "There's a hell of a lot of smiling faces out there. You did that! You did that! You brought some love back here."