'We are Team O': Oxford Wildcats pay tribute to fallen classmates in spirited return

Oxford — As the sun was setting Friday on Wildcats Stadium on this picture-perfect late summer evening, something else had arisen, something not seen much around this northern Oakland County town over the nine months since that awful day when everything changed.

Yes, there were more tears, lots of them. There were hugs. There was still so much pain.

But, on this night, there also were smiles, there was laughter.

There was joy.

"The essence of athletics is team, and so that is what we are here: We are Team O," said Dacia Beazley, principal of Oxford High School. "We are one, especially at Oxford High School.

"We are pulling together, and the community wraps their arms around us."

The community did just that Friday night, packing the bleachers more than an hour before the Oxford varsity football team played its first game at home since the Nov. 30 school shooting that left four students dead, seven other people injured, and an entire community forever scarred.

It also was Oxford's first home varsity football game without Tate Myre, the team's star running back from last season, who was one of the students killed — just weeks after he had helped lead Oxford to the postseason. He was 16. He wore No. 42. His number was etched in four spots inside the stadium, paint still fresh, behind the goal post closest to the school, on the lawn where hundreds of overflow fans sat Friday night, and in two spots smack dab in the middle of the field, on both sides of the "O" logo. Oxford now has 42-yard markers.

The Myre family, father Buck, mother Sheri and brothers Ty and Trent, participated in the opening coin toss, along with Oxford's team captains, while many Myre friends and family watched from the sidelines, some with Kleenex in hand, several wiping away tears. Buck, a first-year assistant coach with the team, flipped the coin, Oxford won the toss and deferred to Birmingham Groves — whose coaching staff, by the way, was wearing "Oxford Strong" on their polo shirts — and the game was on.

But Friday night was about so much more than just a game.

The outcome meant little. The gathering meant everything.

"The Oxford community is continuing to recover from the unimaginable events of Nov. 30," said JR Lafnear, Oxford's public-address announcer and the school's bowling coach, during a moving pregame tribute, honoring four "Forever Wildcats."

"The young lives of Hana St. Juliana, Madisyn Baldwin, Justin Shilling and Tate Myre were tragically taken from us far too soon. They were classmates, they were our teammates, they were our friends and our family. We will continue to heal. We miss them dearly and will never forget who they were and what they stood for."

During a separate pregame tribute video to Myre, now considered the "Forever Captain" in Oxford, Lafnear said: "No. 42 was reserved for the very best. Tater was the very best."

A moment of silence followed. There weren't many more silent moments the rest of the evening.

More than 2,000 fans pre-bought tickets for Friday night's game, and the final attendance figure was much larger than that, more than 5,400 — almost everyone, young, old and everywhere in between, decked out in some form of navy blue and gold, some version of "Oxford Strong," or some tribute to Myre, whose family recently launched the 42 Strong foundation.

More than two hours before the scheduled kickoff, the school's main parking lot already was nearly full of cars, one RV, and even some grills. If you're looking for a sense of normalcy, and these folks are, tailgating for football is just that (long bathroom lines are a close second; Friday in Oxford had those, too). There was shrimp being cooked, and hot dogs and burgers. There were little kids tossing a football on the grass.

There was togetherness.

"I really think this will serve as a catalyst in the recovery process for everyone involved," said Tony DeMare, Oxford's athletic director.

"I hope so," said Zach Line, Oxford's head football coach.

More than an hour before the scheduled kickoff, the home stands, which seat a few thousand, were packed with family, friends and alumni on the left, then a 145-member marching band — it was their first home game since the tragedy, too — and then, on the end, a standing, smiling, rowdy student section, with several gold-painted-chest young men in the front row honoring Myre.

Down below, the 19-member dance team, four hearts in their hair ribbons and those four hearts on patches on their jerseys, a tribute to four lost friends.

Next to them, the 28-member cheerleading team, No. 42 painted on their cheeks, and in their hair ribbons, "STAND TOGETHER" on the back of their gold shirts.

"I'm excited to show," said cheerleader Emma Kawala, 16, a junior, "how strong of a community we are."

TM42 and four hearts also were on the back of the Oxford players' gold helmets and the back of the coaches' gray hats. On the end of the home team's bench hung a navy blue No. 42 jersey — which, hours later, would be raised high and carried off the field by his teammates, at the front of the line.

There were other harsh reminders of what Oxford went through Nov. 30, too, including a worn "No Media: Respect Our Privacy" sign that remains at the parking lot's front entrance — though dozens of media members were welcomed this week, including Bally Sports Detroit, which broadcast the game, and ESPN, which was on campus all week, to tell the story how this town of 22,000 and school system of 6,000 was making another small, but significant step toward healing. There also were strict security measures in place at the main gate, including metal detectors and X-ray machines. There were Oakland County sheriff's deputies patrolling the grounds. The security measures mirror the in-school changes for this school year.

Oxford wants the community to feel safe and be safe, Beazley said. But, on Friday, she also wanted the community to let loose — which it did, fans waving gold rally towels and delivering many roaring ovations before, during and after the game, perhaps none louder than when the 51 players sprinted through the mouth of the giant inflatable wildcat and onto the field, Metallica's "Enter Sandman" blaring, TM42 and the four hearts emblazoned on the gold flag whipping in the wind at the front of the stampede.

Moments later, kickoff quickly approaching, the band played "Sweet Caroline," the crowd eagerly jumping in on the fan-participation chorus of "So Good! So Good! So Good!"

"It's definitely a different feel today," said Trey Townsend, 20, an Oakland University basketball player and Oxford alumnus who knows the Myre family, and whose videography highlights of Myre from last season were included in the pregame tribute video. "We're all rooting for Oxford here, even if you don't know everyone, you all are supporting the same cause.

"It's good to see, the good vibes."

Oxford won, 17-14, with the help of a late fourth-quarter interception.

It was caught right around the 42.

tpaul@detroitnews.com

Twitter: @tonypaul1984