The news about the tragic death of 17-year-old Hopkinsville High School football player Jayvon Quarles left a somber tone with Owensboro High School, who was schedule to scrimmage Hopkinsville High School Friday night.
The game has since been cancelled, and OHS is playing another team instead. @OHSsports tweeted Thursday Night “Our thoughts and prayers are with the entire Hopkinsville High School community…”
OHS student Tatum Helm was trying to think of an idea to show support. “When people began to find out the news of our scrimmage being cancelled, and why it had been cancelled, everyone had the immediate reaction of ‘What if that was one of our student/teammate/friend?” Helm said.
Tatum happens to be in charge of OHS’s student social media accounts.
“After reading multiple tweets and news articles about what had happened, my heart ached for the community of Hopkinsville. Fridays are typically all out red and black days to show the immense amount of school spirit OHS has, but I felt we needed to show empathy towards Hopkinsville High,” she said. That’s when she had the idea to ask OHS students to wear orange, which is Hopkinsville High’s team color.
After permission from her advisor, Tatum went to work on Twitter, asking OHS students to wear orange in support of Jayvon.
“Showing up to school today and seeing all of the orange being worn was amazing,” Tatum said. “It was great to see one high school family supporting another in such a tragic incident.”
