Erwin Football Team Provides Hurricane Relief

Erwin football players move donation boxes out of the field house on Friday.

By Tim Reaves
BCS Communications Department

Clyde A. Erwin High School football coaches put in the hours on Friday.

After the varsity team posted a win at an away game, Coach Rodney Pruett and eight assistant coaches drove a supply convoy to Carteret County in eastern North Carolina, where Hurricane Florence caused widespread damage. Their destination was East Carteret High School in Beaufort, a school that was inundated with floodwaters and had to be closed for more than two weeks.

The Warriors football family “adopted” the East Carteret Mariners and held a donation drive for badly needed items. Several student athletes loaded a U-Haul on Friday morning with diapers, tarps, cleaning items, and more. After the game that evening, Pruett and the other coaches drove through the night to reach the coast. They spent the following day distributing the supplies.

“We’re just going down there to see how we can help out,” Pruett said. “We talk about service and leadership here. We have a saying, ‘don’t talk about it; be about it.’”

Andy Cooper, a nose guard and a senior this year, said football is a brotherhood.

“It brings us all together,” he said. “Me and my teammates, a lot of us grew up together. And It’s probably the same with this team six hours away. Whenever someone needs help, you gotta help them out.”

Special thanks to the following businesses and community members who provided donations and time, including Martina’s Family’s Thrift Store and U-Haul, ACE Hardware, Biltmore Church, Pleasant Hill Baptist Church, Mes Ami Salon & Boutique, George’s Mini Mart, Bobby and Linda Payne, and the rest of the Erwin football family.

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