Vigil Sunday night for injured Pike County player

 By Michael A. Lough

The Sports Report

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     The town of Zebulon has a little more than 1,000 people, and Pike County High sits on Pirate Drive, just off Main Street, about a mile from the middle of town.

          It’s barely 17 miles from Upson-Lee, and a dozen miles from Lamar County, two high schools that enjoy large community support.

          The high school is the focal point of the community, similar to so many towns and boroughs in the state, so many of those other communities are supporting those in Zebulon and its surroundings as the high school deals with the life-threatening injury to junior Dylan Thomas Friday during a high school football game with Peach County.

          There will be a prayer vigil Sunday night at 6 p.m. at the high school’s track. Visitors, according to the Pike County Community Facebook page, are asked to wear red.

          Team members, the school band, and others will collect funds and other items and donations at the field house on Sunday from 1:30-2 p.m.

          Peach County head coach Chad Campbell said he and his wife will be part of a Trojan contingent attending the vigil.

          “I’ve never seen anything like that,” Campbell said. “Thank God.”

          He said there was no clearly discernible play or hit in the previous minute or two that led to Thomas collapsing in the final minutes of the third quarter.

          Campbell said reviewing video didn’t clarify too much, in part because video stops a second or two after a play’s conclusion, so one couldn’t necessarily see if Thomas was shaky after a particular play leading up to the collapse.

          He said there was a play on the previous possession where Thomas went to the turf head and shoulder first. Thomas appeared slightly unsteady at the start of the play after which he collapsed.

          Campbell said his trainer Tripp Youngblood was the first person to reach Thomas, who was conscious and helped to the sideline. Shortly thereafter, however, he lost consciousness.

          Upon Thomas’ departure from the field, officials from all sides gathered. Peach County led 42-6, and the game was called.

          Thomas was airlifted to Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta for the first of more than one surgery to relieve the swelling on his brain, a procedure that includes removing part of the patient’s skull.

          Pike County is in the same region with Peach County, Westside, Central, and Rutland, as well as Jackson and Kendrick.

          Businesses in Pike County have started raising funds to help with medical expenses. Two Facebook pages have links for fund raising.