Apalachee High School field becomes symbol of resilience in the first home football game since the shooting

By Graham Hurley and Dalia Faheid, CNN | Photographs by Elijah Nouvelage for CNN

Winder, Georgia (CNN) — The Friday night football game at Apalachee High School began as it usually would with a cheering crowd and national anthem performance – but this game was punctured by a moment of silence that weighed heavy on the community after the violence that took place at the campus one month ago.

Football players huddled at the line of scrimmage on the same field where frightened students cried and embraced their parents after being evacuated from their school on September 4, when a student opened fire at Apalachee High School and left two of their teachers and two classmates dead.

That football field transformed from a scene of tragedy to a symbol of resilience Friday as the community packed the bleachers to watch the survivors play. Fans wearing “Chee Strong” T-shirts flooded onto the bleachers and cheerleaders chanted “Apalachee! Apalachee!”

“Tonight is us reclaiming this field and reclaiming this stadium and celebrating each other and this community and these athletes and these performers,” Apalachee High School principal Jessica Rehberg told CNN at the game.

Still, a beloved fixture of Apalachee football wasn’t there: Assistant football coach Richard Aspinwall, who was killed in the shooting.

Players honored Aspinwall with a special sticker on their helmets, while coaches, students and community members donned Apalachee’s blue and gold on Friday as they rallied behind the Wildcats in their first home football game since the tragic mass shooting sent shockwaves through the small community of Winder, Georgia, just weeks into the academic year.

That day, terrified students and teachers barricaded themselves in their classrooms before officers apprehended the shooter and escorted them onto the football field. Parents sprinted on the sides of the street toward the field to get to their children. Amid the emotional reunions at the stadium, some lowered their heads and formed a prayer circle in the end zone, standing on the letters for “Apalachee” as they prayed for the safety of their fellow classmates and teachers.

“It’s a stadium of love and reunion and family and community – the day of our tragedy and today,” Rehberg said during Friday’s game. “I will never want to relive what we went through on September 4, but the joy when people got to see each other and support each other.”

When students returned to the field Friday, signs of resilience were everywhere: “Chee Strong” could be seen around the field on banners and clothing as the community cheered Apalachee on.

Both the Wildcats and their opponents at the Friday night game – the Jackson County Panthers – kneeled as a moment of silence was called to honor the four victims of the deadliest US school shooting since March 2023 and the 49th this year. Killed in the shooting were Aspinwall, 53-year-old math teacher Cristina Irimie and two 14-year-old students, Christian Angulo and Mason Schermerhorn. Nine others were injured.

A sense of normalcy, then a reminder of tragedy

Friday night lights shone over Apalachee High School during the team’s first home game. Looking out at the crowded stadium, no one would be able to tell there was a tragedy there just one month ago.

Before the game began, the Wildcats came out of their locker room to start warming up as upbeat rap music blasted through the speakers. On the opposing team, the Jackson County Panthers wore “Apalachee Strong” T-shirts as they warmed up. And hordes of spectators began to trickle into the stadium, packing the stands an hour before kickoff. So many Apalachee fans and supporters turned out that they had to sit down on the opposing side.

It strangely looked like what a high school football game is supposed to look like, until there was a reminder that it wasn’t a normal football game.

A moment of silence preceding the game spoke louder than all the chanting, music and crowd chatter, showing the community was still grieving the four victims they had lost and the sense of safety that’s now gone. As players took a knee and looked down, the entire stadium went completely silent.

After the Apalachee choir sang their rendition of the Star-Spangled Banner, both teams burst through their banners as the crowd roared and the bands played their fight songs. And with that, rather than being somber, the mood at the stadium was electrifying and the crowd erupted in cheers every time the Wildcats had a defensive stop or offensive gain.

The Panthers struck first, then the Wildcats scored later before the game was over, and the Panthers won the game 25-6.

Among the Wildcats supporters at the game was actor Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, who had visited with members of the school’s football team late last month. He said the team was “undefeated” no matter the outcome of the game.

“These players, coaches, teachers, the entire community and ALL the students at Apalachee are the symbol of resilience, love and strength,” Johnson said in a post on X Friday.

Mike Hancock, head coach of the football team, said the goal is ultimately for students to feel a sense of normalcy again after all they’ve been through. That means getting back on the field and “playing a football game that matters,” he said.

“Our win was getting our kids back together, getting our kids on the field. Yes, with football you want to win and … get on the scoreboard, but our win that night was getting back to playing,” Hancock said about the team’s first away game since the shooting.

For the Wildcats, training began a week before classes resumed for Apalachee students on September 24. It wasn’t until last Saturday that they played their first away game since the shooting. That was a “very emotional day for our kids to get back,” said Hancock.

Football players remember Coach A’s ‘Effort, Attitude and Trust’

Richard Aspinwall, or “Coach A” as football players and some students knew him, was remembered fondly as a passionate assistant coach and a devoted father to two young girls.

On September 4, Aspinwall heard a commotion outside his room, went to see what was going on and was shot, a family friend previously told CNN.

At Friday’s game, in remembrance of the 39-year-old defensive coordinator, Apalachee students wore stickers on their helmets spelling out “EAT” – an acronym for “Effort, Attitude and Trust,” which was one of Aspinwall’s sayings.

Isaiah Hooks, a sophomore and defensive player for the football team, said Coach A always pushed him to do his best.

“He was always hard on me because I had this expectation as a player and it really felt like he was trying to hold me to that expectation,” he said.

While returning to football without the coach feels off, coming back to practice has helped the team keep their minds off the tragedy, Isaiah said.

Aspinwall worked alongside Hancock, who said students have dearly missed having Aspinwall as a mentor on the field and in the classroom. But Hancock is working to remind the team what Aspinwall has taught them throughout his two years at Apalachee.

“The way he coached and the way he built relationships with our kids, they miss that. Anytime you have a coach like that that pours into your kids, on and off the field and in the classroom, you do miss him, and you know we miss him,” Hancock said.

In the meantime, Aspinwall’s desk remains where he left it in the coaches’ office.

“As long as I’m here, that desk is going to be there, and he’ll always have a desk in our field house office,” Hancock said.

‘It’s not going to be the same’

For sophomore Michael Gordon, being back on the football field will always bring back memories of the day of the shooting.

“It’s not going to be the same,” the 15-year-old said. “But I feel the love in this community, knowing everybody’s here for me.”

In the wake of the shooting, football players in different grades have come together and checked on each other, Hancock said.

“Tragedy makes you come together,” Hancock said. “And it’s done that within our locker room.”

In a little over a week, Apalachee students will be back at school full-time after classes were scheduled for half days until October 4. After the fall break, students will transition on October 14 back to full school days, according to a news release from Apalachee High School and the Barrow County School System.

The area where the Apalachee High shooting unfolded, J Hall, will be closed for the rest of the school year. Counselors, therapy dogs and law enforcement are on campus as Apalachee – like many schools across the US – works to recover after a senseless school shooting.

Still, being back at school feels “weird,” Isaiah said. Flowers now sit at the center of the campus and posters all around the school memorialize students and teachers who never came home that school day.

“We have resilient kids, not just on the football team, but we’ve got resilient kids in our school,” Hancock said. “We’ve got resilient parents. We’ve got resilient teachers.”

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