BY NOAH GRIFFITH
FOR THE OBSERVER
LOACHAPOKA — Just moments before Loachapoka High School football star Javion Gary left practice on Aug. 8, he was running up and down the sidelines shouting to his teammates to help the team elevate their energy. Little did they know, that was his last time on the field.
Not long after he left practice that day, Gary was shot and killed in an incident near a basketball court on Union Camp Road in Notasulga. Gary, 16, was preparing for his junior year playing middle linebacker, but now the team has to forge a path forward without its defensive captain.
“A lot of our guys want to lead by action because they’re afraid to speak out and hold guys accountable, like they’re afraid people will look at them different, but Gary didn’t care,” said defensive coordinator Tellis Stone. “He would hold everybody to a higher standard. He was the vocal guy, you know, and we just — haven’t been able to replace him. I don’t think he will be replaceable.”
Gary was a leader, but his coaches also described him as a “class clown.” He was a guy who knew how to make anyone laugh and could light up any room.
First-year head coach Branden Hall said he got onto Gary for being late to practice one day, to which the linebacker replied that his teacher held him late. The next day, he came sprinting in to practice minutes early. Hall asked him why he was running — after all, he was three minutes early. Gary said, “Yeah coach, I ain’t gonna be late no more, but I gotta poop.”
“He was just a funny guy,” Hall added. “I miss that joker, man, but he’s in a better place now.”
As hard as the sudden loss of their beloved teammate has been, it has brought the guys closer with one another but also with the community. A few days after the loss of Gary, the Church of the Highlands reached out and invited the team to their “Men’s Night.” The Dadeville football team also stopped by and signed a card for Loachapoka, and Lee-Scott brought their neighboring team a meal the day before playing them on Friday.
That’s how Loachapoka is making it through this tragedy. They are leaning on each other, those around them and fighting adversity with faith.
“It’s a tough situation, but they’ve found a way to come together, through our faith, and lean on one another,” Hall said. “They’re not taking things for granted like they were previously.”
The loss has been especially hard on Loachapoka quarterback K.J. Carter, who grew up as a close friend of Gary’s as a well as his teammate at the Opelika Dawg Pound Youth League. Carter, also a junior, was gearing up for his first high school season as his best friend’s teammate, as he spent the past few years at Powhatan High School in Virginia while living with his mom.
Although he didn’t get to play alongside Gary, Carter provided a spark with two touchdowns for the Indians in their season opener against Lee-Scott Academy. Despite a 21-12 loss to the Warriors, Loachapoaka felt relieved to play under the lights again after its week one matchup with Notasulga was cancelled because of the shooting that resulted in the arrest of two Notasulga football players corresponding to Gary’s murder and an injury to another Loachapoka student.
Like the rest of the team, Carter realizes there’s nothing left to do but honor his best friend’s legacy by continuing to play with passion. He said the best way to do that would be to win the state championship for him.
Hall and his new-look staff want to help the team win for Gary, but they also have the task of helping the players recover emotionally. That’s a task that Hall labeled as “uncharted waters” — it’s something that there’s simply no manual for. However, guest speakers and helping hands from local churches and community members have helped the new staff navigate those tough emotions.
“The mark of a man is: how do you respond to negative things?” Stone responded when asked what the coaches are telling the team to get them ready to play after a tragedy. “You can sit there and wallow in it all day and not move forward, or you can look at the situation and let it be a learning lesson because that could’ve been any one of you guys.
“You never know when it’s your last day to be a part of this team. Only one person knows that, and that’s the guy up above. So come in here every single day like it’s your last.”
No matter what happens on the field, though, one thing is certain. Loachapoka is dedicating this season to Gary and the No. 18 he wore.
Offensive coordinator Daniel Byrd helped craft the hashtag #chopfor18, and the team breaks it down on “18” and “family” each day at practice. The players also have “#18” engraved on the back of their helmets this year.
Anthony Bryant, Loachapoka linebackers coach and founder of the Opelika Dawg Pound where Gary and Carter grew up playing, was a key figure in raising Gary and is also the father of his best friend, the quarterback. Bryant echoed the sentiment that Gary will fill the hearts of the Loachapoka team, but the tragedy of his loss will give the team a higher purpose to fight — or chop — this season.
This one is for 18.
“It’s hard because you miss his presence. You miss his life and his energy,” Bryant said. “This season is dedicated to him, so we’ve just gotta keep his memory alive… It’s going to be hard, but hey, God doesn’t make mistakes.”
