CRAWFORDVILLE, Fla. (WTXL) - The success of Wakulla athletics cannot be ignored. The War Eagles have made trips to the State Finals in softball and baseball, and won State Championships in wrestling, track and field, and weightlifting. Football is held on another level in Wakulla County, and they've always had the talent to prove it.
"When I came up, that was like a dream," remembered Ela Rozier, who suited up at quarterback for the War Eagles in the early 90's. "Playing for Wakulla, you sort of grew up wishing to play for Wakulla High School. It wasn't something that you just woke up and played, that was like a dream."
"I remember going to the games as a kid, but for some reason, I could only make it through the first quarter," laughed Sam McGrew, who graduated from Wakulla High in 2002. "Then I was up underneath the stadium, we had our little football games going on underneath there. They were playing and we were playing at the same time."
Both Rozier and McGrew, Wakulla High grads, a decade apart, but both important pieces to War Eagle history. Robert Pearce, who is now Superintendent of Wakulla County Schools, coached both Rozier and McGrew.
"Ela Rozier, in the early 90's, Ela played baseball," remembered Pearce. "He was a three sport athlete, played baseball, basketball and football."
"Sam's biggest asset was his ability to hit, tackle," said Michael Barwick, who is now the principal at Wakulla High School, but coached McGrew in middle school. "He was a pleasure to watch."
"A successful football team can make everything better," said Pearce. "There's really some truth in that."
The truth is- Wakulla is good. Five trips to the State Finals, two State Championships. Rozier went on to play baseball at Pensacola State, while McGrew suited up for Bobby Bowden at Florida State. Different paths, but both agreeing Wakulla made them who they are today.
"One thing that I got back to and what I talk to a lot of kids about a football team that I learned from my very own is love," said McGrew. "That's one thing that I can say really pushed me as an athlete was the love that I not only had for my team, my coaches, but also for my community."
"When you know that everybody is depending on you and everyone is looking for you to do good, I mean it's not really pressure," said Rozier. "It's something that you embrace here. I know that I did."
The pressure to succeed, and set the stage for future generations, whether they knew it then or not.
"The funny thing was, we never expected it!" laughed McGrew. "We were outside in the yard just playing, throwing footballs and knocking each other around and pushing each other over crying and getting back up and doing it all over again."
"I never really was a bragger with my kids as far as what I did in high school, so we run across old teachers and I'll introduce them to my kids," said Rozier. "They'll say, you know your daddy used to do this, and they're like dad?!"
"These are kids that I spent a lot of time with and I care about, and when they come back as adults and they're doing the same thing that I tried to do when I was a young coach," said Pearce. "It's really rewarding and it says a lot about what our community is built on."
It's a community built on pride- and a whole lot of winning.
