It
wasn’t tag, it wasn’t flag and it sure wasn’t touch. This was full
contact, "hit ‘em hard and knock ‘em down" football played in
the name of community spirit and "just plain having fun."
Neither were these the usual high school teams who gathered at Bakers Field in Canton on a cold, damp Saturday night in November. The combatants that evening were 32 soldiers of the Georgia Army National Guard’s Company B, 108th Armor and alumni of Cherokee High School.
Staff Sgt. Joe Wilson was one of the Company B "Battle Dragons" who fought the gallant fight but lost to the Cherokee Warriors 28-26. He said the challenge that brought about the game happened in late October.
He and Capt. James Clements, the unit commander, were among the soldiers who attended the first anniversary of the terrorist attacks on New York and the Pentagon at Baker’s Field, Wilson said. During the event, the master of ceremonies reminded the audience that the high school’s alumni would play a game in November to benefit the high school’s football program. However, more players were needed if the game was to take place, the MC announced.
Wilson said he and Clements told the alumni their unit would be glad to meet the Warriors on the gridiron battlefield.
While the competition on the field was intense, the game wasn’t just about which team was the best, Clements said. It was more about the bond Company B can create with the community which it calls home, he said. "Canton is where members of Company B, 108th Armor and the Georgia Army National Guard live and work," Clements said. "What we did was not just play a game, but strengthen an already strong bond between the people of Canton and the Guard."