APPOMATTOX COUNTY (WSLS 10) - This weekend, the Appomattox High School football team will attempt to do something it has never done before: win a state championship, but this year, the team's season and this title are about much more than football for the school and the community.
The football season in Appomattox began with a slogan: The Power of One.
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After a string of tragedies, including the death of two Appomattox High School students, team members say that simple phrase has brought an entire town together in hope.
Coach Doug Smith says he and the team came up with the slogan that has become a rallying cry for the Appomattox community before the season.
Before September, when two Appomattox High School students took their own lives.
"As the tragedies happened here in Appomattox, I think people were just looking for something positive, and they could see it here on Friday nights," said Smith.
When the community felt at its darkest, a curious thing began happening: the football team won.
And won.
And won.
"It's a great feeling for us, the team, the community, and the whole Appomattox, because if not, we wouldn't know if we would be able to get over these tragedies," said quarterback Matt Page.
Suddenly, the community had something to hope for in the form of its talented high school athletes.
"These guys have been given the job of curer or healer of the community. That's not something they asked for, but that's what they've been tasked with, and they've handled it very well," said Appomattox High School Principal Poldi Moreno.
Take a drive around the small town of Appomattox, and you'll see that healing first-hand, on signs and in front of businesses.
"The power of one means that we are all united. We're altogether, we stand together. It's not each individual teammate or each individual family, it's one community as a whole," said Kathy Harris, who works at the Appomattox Drug Store.
Now, as the Raiders prepare for their biggest challenge yet facing the Clarke County Eagles, team members say this Saturday, they'll be thinking about more than what's on the field.
"It's not just about the football team, we care about the whole community, and pretty much this whole area too, we just want to, it's just not about us, and we just want to help lives and touch lives," said wide receiver Buster Henderson.
The teachers here at Appomattox have also helped these players succeed.
This year, each team member has their own sponsor who shows up to every game wearing their number.
The Raiders take the field for the championship this Saturday at Salem City Stadium at 4:30 p.m.