MADISON — On a somber bus ride for what should have been one of the happiest days of her life, West Jones soccer player Abbey Graham sent a text message to the rest of her Lady Mustangs teammates.
Less than 18 hours had passed since three West Jones students, ages 13, 14 and one who was celebrating her 16th birthday, and a 19-year-old Northeast Jones graduate were killed in a one-car accident on Rose Lane in the Calhoun Community.
Graham’s text read: “We need to work for one another.” The responses were similar:
“We need to win for the Lost Mustangs.”
“That kind of set the tone,” Graham said. “We had been through such much this season and we rose above it. This was another thing we needed to rise above. We played for them. We played for ourselves. We played for our fans.”
A victory in the Class 5A state championship certainly would not make up for the loss of classmates, but it could provide just a bit of happiness on one of the darkest weekends the school has seen.
And when eighth-grader Bri Carr somehow planted the ball into the back of the neck as time expired in a fourth overtime period, the Lady Mustangs could finally celebrate — with tears of both joy and heartache streaming down their faces.
“It was shocking and heartbreaking, but we told ourselves that this game is not for us, that this game is for all the people who haven’t had the opportunity to stand on the field,” goalie Abby Baravik said. “We played in their memory. Life is short and you never know what is going to happen.
“I appreciate being on this field because you never know what is going to happen. It’s been a blessing.”
West Jones won its second straight girls’ soccer championship and, hours earlier, out of joint, it was a few West Jones fans yelling loudest at the referee.
Rivals on the field, but on this day, they were one.
“People in Jones County are very competitive and it doesn’t matter whether you are on the west side, the south side or the northeast side,” Northeast Jones Principal Cooper Pope said. “We will play each other on the field as if we can’t stand one another, but when it comes to Jones County having a school and a state championship game, you will see Jones County comes together and cheers for one another. That is evident today.”
On Friday at about 2:30, a car with four occupants crested a hill on Rose Lane, struck a tree and careened down an embankment. Three teens from West Jones — Olivia and Elizabeth Wells and Ethan Heinrich — were pronounced dead at the scene. Lashé Smith, a 18-year-old Northeast graduate, died Saturday morning in the hospital.
“As a family and community, we had a gathering last night and we let the girls talk,” Sullivan said. “With this situation being as tragic as it is, the girls swallowed it and rose up and they lifted up their classmates today. They were certainly in our hearts. We honored the community and the (Free) State of Jones County today.”
The Lady Mustangs watched most of the Northeast game, then sat through the boys’ Class 4A state title match between St. Stanislaus and Kosciusko before taking to the pitch. In the entire game, WJ had two shots on goal — both ending in the back of the net. Mustang fans, usually vocal and impassioned, remained quiet throughout most of the 110 minutes of playing time.
But after Carr’s goal, they finally let loose. As medals were being placed around the girls’ necks, few, if any, had a dry eye.
Through the surreal events of the day before, battling to what surely appeared to be a third straight penalty-kick shootout, the Lady Mustangs smiled.
Pope, who had two students killed last year, said the reason principals, teachers and coaches get into the education business is not for money or fringe benefits, but because of kids. When any school in Jones County is affected, something as heart-wrenching as what happened Friday, it brings the county and its normally fiery rivalries back to earth.
“When a tragedy happens like that, it’s happening within your family,” Pope said. “It’s very difficult to handle. It brings the other students and teachers closer together because we mourn together. That’s why it is so important to hang on to your faith in the Lord and knowing that He is in control of everything.
“Sometimes situations like that bring us closer together and let’s you realize the things that are really important in life.”
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