by Curtis Hayes, Director of Communications

Louisburg College’s annual Homecoming on Main celebration begins October 25^th and culminates with a Hurricanes football battle October 27^th at noon.

Riding high after two undefeated seasons, the 4-2 Hurricanes have had an up-and-down season, marked by injuries and Hurricanes of the natural disaster type. Hurricanes Florence and Michael interfered with the team’s game and training schedules.

In typical Hurricanes fashion, however, the team came together and has been playing and carrying themselves in the “Hurricane Way.” With three games left on the schedule, they hope to enter the season’s red zone on a high note during the homecoming game against Hocking College.   

What exactly is the Hurricane Way you may wonder? Hurricanes football team captains Paul Sherrill (offense, on the right in the photo) and Marco Depaz (defense, on the left in the photo) explained what it means.

Sherrill, who is an offensive tackle from Mt. Pleasant, said the Hurricane Way means “being accountable for your actions at all times. It means doing what you gotta do at the time you gotta do it.”

Depaz, who is a linebacker from Sanford, said the Hurricane Way also means “Doing things the right way. Treating people with respect. And, focusing on becoming better men in addition to being better football players.”

Louisburg College Head Football Coach Trevor Highfield (center in the photo) said the Hurricane Way is also centered around these words and phrases: competitive maturity, situational awareness, maximizing opportunities and interrelated.

“Being able to have the correct response to certain stimuli under stressful situations,” he said. “This is something that happens through conditioning, not naturally.”

Highfield said that everything, every little thing, is extremely important.

“How we act in the classroom. How we act in the dining hall. How we act in the weight room. Everything matters,” Highfield said. “I also teach health, and I liken it to the different phases of your health. They’re all interrelated. I believe every aspect of an individual’s life is interrelated.”

In short, the Hurricane Way means having integrity. It means doing the right thing even when only God is watching. It means having personal security in the knowledge that you are doing things the right way, so you don’t need to worry about being caught. It means having the right priorities in life. And it means sharing the vision of the team, rather than pursuing your own tunnel-vision priorities. When every part of your life is done right, it all comes together the Hurricane Way.

But maybe most all, the Hurricane Way means joining together as a family. Just like alumni will join together as a family for Homecoming on Main.

THE LOCKER ROOM PROJECT

Even before the season began, this year’s football team was exhibiting the characteristics of belonging to a family when they took responsibility, worked together and helped upgrade their locker room into a complete athletic facility.

“The locker room didn’t resemble us a program,” Sherrill said.

The College was fortunate to receive funding from a donor for the locker room project. The players worked with members of the facilities team to transform it.

“We’re extremely thankful to the facilities team for the work they put into it over the summer,” Highfield said. “It’s created a new sense of pride within our program, but there’s nothing that’s changed in terms of our attitude or our attention to detail in the locker room. Does it help and make things nicer? Absolutely!”

The room upgrades are an example of the team living the Hurricane Way.

“The team did a ton of work,” Highfield added. “It made me feel good to see them work on it, but we’re a family, and that is one of the things that differentiates us from a lot of other college football programs. We truly are a family, and when a family needs something done, we do it. And, they had fun doing it.”

During Saturday’s Homecoming game, the team will once again join together for the benefit of the unit, rather than the individual. Hopefully, the stands will be full of cheering Hurricanes fans who are fortunate to have a team that walks the talk and lives the Hurricane Way, on and off the field.