It's one thing to believe you have support; it's another to see it and feel it.
That's what the Myrtle Beach Seahawks football team got to do Friday before loading onto buses headed to Columbia for today's Class AAA state championship game.
The school band led the squad on the team's 20-minute Seahawk Walk through hundreds of community members and students from throughout the school system. The walk began in the school bus parking area, went around the tennis courts where Myrtle Beach Middle School children waited, continued behind the elementary, primary and intermediate schools through Doug Shaw Memorial Stadium, and ended where players loaded onto two buses at 33rd Avenue North and Oak Street.
"It's real nice that they're diehard fans and they've got everybody's back, no matter what," said T.J. Jones, a 6-foot-4, 260-pound junior tackle who will be responsible for blocking South Pointe star defensive end Jadeveon Clowney today. "It shows how many fans we have and how much they love us."
Tawana Wilson, mother of junior defensive back Daquarius Wilson, was among the supporters.
"We definitely need to support them," she said. "The Seahawks have always had a big fan base. They've come a long way. They've played hard all year and this is a winning team. For them to be making it back for the third year in a row, we want to be out here to support them for all the hard work they've put in over the years. There's definitely a lot of pride there."
Austin Fowler, a student at the fourth- and fifth-grade Myrtle Beach Intermediate School, where students lined the final leg of the walk, created a sign that had Myrtle Beach beating South Pointe 64-10. The school had a period for the students to create signs for the walk.
"That's what I'm hoping," Fowler said of his predicted score.
Steve McElveen, father of junior special teams player and lineman Shay McElveen, took the morning off work from Tire Town to attend the parade, then bought 10 tickets to the game. "They're for his mom, me, my sister, her husband - anybody that wants to go I'll buy tickets for," McElveen said. "We're going to have a crowd. It's going to be great. Everybody is real excited."
Former Seahawks head coach Scott Earley began the team sendoff procedure prior to the 2008 state championship as a drive-through in buses, and Mickey Wilson made it a walk-through in his first season as head coach last year.
"I think Mickey has made it more personable for the players, the community and the [grade-school] kids - they get to see them, slap hands with them and cheer, and I think everybody feels a part of the program," said Myrtle Beach athletic director Doug Terry.
"I think it went as well as it could have gone. I think it just shows the overall community support and how closely knit this community is. In comparison to the last three years I think we had more community people out there than we've had in the past, which is a big plus."
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