The way the Loris football team has bonded through struggles after Hurricane Florence
A midseason natural disaster could do a lot of damage to the momentum of a football season. But rather than falling apart, the Loris Lions came together.
Nobody saw that transformation from a better seat than public-address announcer and Voice of the Lions Kyle Gore.
Hurricane Florence did a number on the town of Loris and its 2,400 residents. With an estimated 18 trillion gallons of water dumped on the Carolinas by the hurricane, and rivers in South Carolina reaching record levels, it was a trying time for everyone in Loris.
Roads were closed and infrastructure was badly damaged, with some structures being entirely wiped away.
For coach Jamie Snider and the Lions football team, the break in action was incredibly difficult to deal with, as was the schedule and having to play meaningful football games on a short turnaround.
“Things were pretty bad around the school and town,” Snider said in the aftermath of the flooding. “Our field was fine, but recovering as a town is as hard as it gets. It was very tough on our players, coaches and fans.”
Loris, which started the season against a Class 5A team in St. James, then played one of the better Class 4A teams in North Myrtle Beach, returned to action against Dillon. The Lions missed out on a contest against Class 5A Carolina Forest during the hurricane break.
Playing Dillon on a Saturday, the Lions fell 47-14 but rebounded with a win at Cheraw. A loss to Aynor and a win against Marion have the Lions 2-2 in Region 6-3A play, with a huge contest on the road at Lake City awaiting them at 7:30 p.m. on Friday.
The game was originally scheduled for Sept. 28 in Week 6 but was moved to this extra week added by the South Carolina High School League for makeup games affected by Hurricane Florence.
“After the layoff and the team being apart for so long, they had to get back in sync quick,” Gore said. “First game back on our field was against Dillon, a tough team to get in sync against. (After that game) the team started jelling and has played better and better each week.”
Since entering region play, Gore has observed the defense making great improvements, which is helping Loris’ traditionally run-heavy offense stay effective.
“The defense has had a lot more success on stopping third-down conversions,” Gore said. “With them getting off the field, the offense can chew up more time. Our quarterback, Gage Conner, has been able to tuck and run to move the chains and open up the passing game.”
The top four teams in the region make the playoffs and Loris finds itself in the fourth spot going into Friday’s game. With a win, the Lions could jump to third in the region, while a loss would leave them as the final team from Region 6-3A to make the playoff field.
As the fourth team in the region, the Lions would have to travel to May River for the first round of the playoffs. The third-place team in the region would play at Wade Hampton next Friday.
“Middle season, we struggled,” Gore said. “For this team to make the playoffs speaks volumes on how dedicated they are and how they came together. They pulled out some big wins when the chips were stacked against them.”
This story was originally published November 1, 2018 at 7:07 PM.