How Blanchard football is giving back to elementary school on the way to state finals

BLANCHARD —Celissa Pyle expects to hear a chorus of exuberant squeals ringing throughout her kindergarten classroom on most fall Friday afternoons.

The Blanchard Elementary students become an animated bunch when the visitors arrive.

Eyes widen. Faces light up.

Kids collectively react as if Superman himself just descended upon the classroom to build Lego towers with them.

“They would literally scream for 30 minutes if I would let them,” Pyle said. “It’s just unbelievable thrill and euphoria.”

Instead of donning red capes, these celebrated guests sport Blanchard football jerseys. Towering over the pint-sized students, they do resemble superheroes, Pyle said.

But when she looks at their faces, she still sees the cherubic kindergarteners she taught years ago.

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Pyle, a Blanchard teacher for 29 years, has watched many of these players grow from students in her classroom into teenagers who have led the Lions to the Class 4A state finals.

About 16 miles southwest of Norman, the Blanchard community is rallying around the team as it strives to capture its first state championship since 2012, and some of the greatest enthusiasm comes from Blanchard Elementary. Before the third-ranked Lions clash with No. 1 Wagoner at 7 p.m. Thursday in Edmond, they will parade through their elementary hallways for a festive send-off.

It’s the grand culmination of another football season the Lions have spent giving back to their elementary school.

On each game day, before Friday night lights shone on the stadium and locker room pep talks began, the Lions made time for a meaningful step in their routine. Throughout the season, Blanchard football players volunteered in elementary and intermediate school classrooms.

They helped kindergarteners become Lego architects and artists. They read to students. Some even wiped off their serious game faces to show their silly sides, running around in bumblebee costumes and hot dog suits at pep assemblies.

Head coach Jeff Craig introduced this weekly volunteer time to Blanchard soon after he arrived from Del City in 2007. Del City had a similar tradition, he said.

The idea turned into a staple of football season in Blanchard.

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“It’s really fun, and it’s really kind of neat to see how much they want that to continue,” Craig said. “The teachers and a lot of the kids really look forward to it.”

Some elementary students are already playing youth football, so the Lions provide examples to follow.

For the high school volunteers, the classroom visits provide lighthearted breaks from the intensity of game days.

Although this Blanchard Elementary partnership started with only football players, members of the pom and cheer squads have joined, too. The Blanchard marching band also plans to attend Thursday’s elementary school send-off.

It’s a full-circle moment for junior receiver/defensive back Brayson Carter, who attended Blanchard Elementary and watched the Lions win their 2012 title when his father was on the coaching staff.

“It’s kind of a reminder of why we play and who we play for,” Carter said. “Seeing (the kids) happy when we win and sad when we lose, it’s just like, ‘Dang, we really need to win.’”

That motivation resounded in his ears during a recent elementary pep assembly, when Blanchard was preparing for the state quarterfinals against Sallisaw.

“They were like, ‘We want three more wins,’” Carter said. “They were screaming it out.”

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The Lions have delivered two. They blazed past Sallisaw, 55-28, before defeating Poteau, 26-14, in the semifinals. Next, they have to topple the undefeated reigning state champion, but the people surrounding the Lions have faith in their mission.

In a public school district with one elementary and one high school, the team spirit carries through every level of education. It’s especially strong because the Lions are intentional about connecting with their community, even if it means taking an hour or two out of a busy game day to visit classrooms and toss footballs with kids at recess.

Although the Lions aren’t playing this Friday, they’re putting a different spin on their volunteer tradition with the Thursday elementary walkthrough.

“I’ve tried to tell our community that this is what brings us all together,” Pyle said. “This is what makes us one town, one team, is that you don’t have to be a player. You don’t have to be a parent. You can just be a fan.

“Your role is just as important as the parents or the players or the band or the cheerleaders or the pom. This team depends on people that believe in them.”

In Blanchard, Oklahoma, kids start believing as early as they’re learning their ABCs and 123s.

Hallie Hart covers high school sports for The Oklahoman. Have a story idea for Hallie? She can be reached at hhart@oklahoman.com or on Twitter at@halliehart. Sign up forThe Varsity Club newsletter to access more high school coverage. Support Hallie's work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing adigital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: How Blanchard football is giving back on the way to Class 4A finals