SCOTT DETROW, HOST:
The start of high school football season is always a big deal in Texas. But when the Tivy Antlers in Kerrville played this weekend, it took on extra significance as part of the community's healing from the devastating flash flooding in July. Texas Public Radio's David Martin Davies reports.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: I need to purchase tickets.
REBECCA CRIDER: All right. How many you want?
DAVID MARTIN DAVIES, BYLINE: At the Kerrville Independent School District Tivy Antler Stadium, Rebecca Crider has been selling tickets for the last 25 years. But this night's game is different.
CRIDER: I feel honored to be in the presence of all those involved in the rescues, and I'm glad they were here.
DAVIES: This is the first varsity game since the big flood, and it's being played to salute the first responders who showed up when disaster hit, which included a flyover of National Guard Black Hawk helicopters.
(SOUNDBITE OF HELICOPTERS FLYING OVERHEAD)
UNIDENTIFIED ANNOUNCER #1: We are proud to salute our first responder honorary captains for this first varsity football game.
(CHEERING)
UNIDENTIFIED ANNOUNCER #1: These people represent the bravery and commitment that keep our hill country community safe.
DAVIES: In the early morning hours of July 4, a stalled cluster of thunderstorms dumped over a foot of rain that funneled into the Guadalupe River. It rose catastrophically - almost 30 feet. Without warning, a wall of water smashed into holiday vacationers and summer camps. At least 135 people were killed. At Camp Mystic, a Christian girls summer camp, 27 lost their lives.
SKYLER DERRINGTON: (Singing) Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah.
DAVIES: On Friday night, a survivor of Camp Mystic, 12-year-old Skyler Derrington, sang her own rendition of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah."
UNIDENTIFIED ANNOUNCER #2: KISD Heroes - their willingness to put other safety above their own.
DAVIES: School bus drivers were also being recognized for their bravery. During the flood, they became first responders and came to the rescue of children trapped by the flood waters. That morning, Kerrville High School principal Rick Sralla organized a convoy of 10 school buses.
RICK SRALLA: Very difficult driving, very difficult terrain, mud, all those kind of things - and we arrived at the camps. The camps were doing a good job of keeping the kids in kind of a triage session. But we arrived, and there were kids in their pajamas with their stuffed animals.
DAVIES: Sralla said he sees his own students dealing with the trauma of that day.
SRALLA: We didn't know their stories when it was happening, but after a while, you know, they surface, and we help those needs. We've got lots of help for all of our children, all of our family, all of our community members.
DAVIES: Sralla said part of that healing is football, which is more than a game. Before kickoff in the locker room, head coach Curtis Neill addressed his players.
CURTIS NEILL: When we get out there, support one another. There's going to be great things that happen. There's going to be some things where we're going to have some setbacks, adversity. It's going to hit us square in the mouth. We got to hold on to one another. We got to support one another. And we just got to regroup and go. It's that simple. Everybody got it?
UNIDENTIFIED FOOTBALL PLAYERS: Yes, sir.
UNIDENTIFED ANNOUNCER #3: Touchdown, Tivys.
DAVIES: The Antlers took to the field against the Del Rio Rams. They gave their community something to cheer about - winning the game 40 to 21. For NPR News, I'm David Martin Davies in Kerrville, Texas. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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