Although the school itself might have lost almost everything, the Herbert Hoover High School football team wants the Clendenin community to know it is ready for a strong season.
The team spent the last week of practice working in the community, helping neighbors and fellow teammates clean up after the devastating late-June floods. On Monday, the first day teams were permitted to practice with pads, the Huskies got back to work on the field.
Coach Tim Meyer said walking into the fieldhouse the day after the flood struck felt like a ton of bricks had hit him right in the face.
"We just went into the fieldhouse and tore it up," senior Peyton Carey said. "That was pretty much just practice, everyone cleaning up the community and helping out."
Whether it was a teammate's home or a neighbor's, the team members quickly gathered and worked together to move couches and televisions, and help wherever they were needed.
Senior Ian Avis said people asked him, "Are we still going to have a football program?" Small towns like this run on high school football, he said. The players and coaches said they are expecting a strong season, thanks to the support from their community and donations.
Herbert Hoover High School will not reopen and a new school will be built, but the students also saw damage to their homes.
After the first round of rain on the night of the flood, Avis said he headed across town to help another family, but once he returned, his home had received 3½ feet of water.
His family got the OK to begin rebuilding on Tuesday, after moisture levels receded.
After mold care and tearing out everything down to the sub floors, every piece of flooring on the ground floor of Avis' house will need to be replaced.
But "it happens," Avis shrugged. Thankfully, he said, the structure is sound.
Teammate Colten Rollyson, also a senior, transferred to Herbert Hoover just this year from Charleston's George Washington High School.
"He finally figured out who the good team is," Avis laughed.
Rollyson said he was on his way to Myrtle Beach when 3 feet of water filled his one-story home near Clendenin Elementary.
"We didn't lose much, besides the house," he said.
The next step for his family is to tear down and rebuild the house, right where it stands.
Rollyson said he hopes to play football at Glenville State College, once he graduates next spring, and is considering studying sports medicine.
Avis said West Virginia University is a maybe for him. He wants to study medicine and become a cardiovascular surgeon, like many of his family members.
The thought of college terrifies him, Avis said, but the upcoming season does not.
The team's first game will be against Nitro on Sept. 9.
The Huskies will play at home, on their old field in Clendenin. After the flood, the field had to be sanitized through a lengthy process.
The team currently is practicing at the Elk River Soccer Club, just down the road from the football field.
While the situation is not ideal, Meyer said the team is fortunate to have the facility.
The third day of practice always is the hardest to get through, he said, but instead of facing a rough day on the field Wednesday morning, the team was greeted with what they called "Christmas morning."
The team was surprised by a mountain of donated football gear.
Players adjusted their brand-new matte-red helmets, purchased through a flood-relief fund by Riddell, and donned orange gloves and practice uniforms, given to them by the National Football League's Cleveland Browns.
From piles of orange Nike boxes, the players picked out their cleats, a collaborative donation from the University of Alabama, Florida State University and West Virginia University.
Team members waltzed around in their new cleats, helmets and gloves, ensuring the gear fit just right.
"The hard work and the great backing that we've had from all of these different donors and the community is going to inspire these boys to play harder, I think," Meyer said.
The team was able to bring the salvageable equipment to the soccer field where they are practicing, but Meyer said the hardest thing they will have to replace is the team weight room. The lifting equipment was condemned and is expensive to replace.
Still, the team feels good about the coming season.
"Something like this brings everybody together," senior quarterback Chase Stover said. "We get our minds off of things when we just come out here and practice."
He said the first few days of practice are looking good.
"Hopefully, we can get back to the playoffs just like we did last year," he said confidently.
Many of the sports teams at Herbert Hoover are practicing again.
"It's good for them to get out here and be with their friends and be normal kids," Principal Mike Kelley said. "The school, in general, has been a rallying point for the community, and the football team is a huge part of that, just like all of the other teams are, too."
Reach Jennifer Gardner at jennifer.gardner@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-5102 or follow @jennc_gardner on Twitter.