Community providing 'overwhelming' support for Mainland football on state championship run

DAYTONA BEACH — As the mayor of Daytona Beach since 2012, Derrick Henry has given many speeches.

With a career in politics, he can’t identify his best or most important.

But he can clearly remember the one he gave on Thursday, Dec. 11, 2003, in front of a group of Mainland High School football players who would battle for a Class 5A state championship the next day.

“One of the proudest moments of my career was being able to speak to the football team the night before the championship game,” Henry said. “That was a monumental moment in the history of the school and the community.”

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Indeed. The Buccaneers went on to defeat Naples 24-13 the following day. Orlando Sentinel writer Jerry Brewer wrote, “ . . . an entire county discovered football superiority Friday night.”

And since, the fan base has waited. Until now.

Nineteen years later, the Bucs are set to play for a state championship, this one against Lake Wales in the 3S classification. The game is set for a 1 p.m. kickoff on Friday in Fort Lauderdale.

After nearly two decades of being shut out of the state championship picture, the Daytona community is backing the Bucs.

Coach Travis Roland said that several area businesses, including Fat Boi Gourmet Potatoes, BJs Restaurant and Brewhouse, Bethune Grill and Nothing Bundt Cakes in Ormond Beach have reached out to feed the team before Friday’s game.

Roland said that while stomachs are full, hearts are overflowing.

“This is like getting a hug, when people are feeding you,” Roland said. “We’ve had quite a few people do some great things for us. It’s amazing and overwhelming at the same time.

“Mainland and Daytona could be like some of these South Georgia schools where the city loves it and pushes it. This has that South Georgia, Texas feel. The county and community are taking care of the kids and it’s elevating everything they do.”

Roland's sister Tamika, and some of the team moms known as BLOCK, are asking those in the community to consider sponsoring a player by donating snacks, pillows or blankets for the four-hour-plus bus rides, toiletries, encouraging letters or notes, or other personalized items. Those interested can contact Roland at 386-681-7118 or BLOCK leader Krystal Frazier at 386-589-8728.

Henry asked for funds and donations at this week’s Daytona Beach City Commission meeting in an effort to pay for buses, food and overnight accommodations for students and chaperones to make the trip and support the team. Also on the docket were plans to decorate the school with signs for each player, a possible spot in Saturday’s Christmas parade and a welcoming ceremony, win or lose, when the team returns. Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood said the Volusia Sheriff's Foundation is set to make a $3,500 donation to the cause as well.

“I think it’s a monumental opportunity for the community to remind these young people how much we applaud and support them when they do great things,” Henry added.

More than wins on the field, Henry said this team has been a shining example of overcoming adversity.

“It means a great deal for these young men and this coaching staff and the school to respond to the COVID challenge the world faced in this way,” Henry said. “You have to remember, a lot of these young men missed [the 2020] football season, playing Pop Warner or high school ball. It required them to remain dedicated and committed to a sport they love and we are proud of them.”

Volusia sheriff backs the Bucs

Certainly, the team’s run has also been a boost to an area that needed one after Hurricanes Ian and Nicole both battered the coastline this fall, just a little over a month apart. For days, videos of buildings collapsing, photos of beach erosion and interviews with displaced citizens were plastered on national news channels and many of the people most affected are still scrambling.

Through it all, the Bucs kept winning. In a way, Mainland has been the calm after the storm and for Chitwood, drawing hope from athletics is just one aspect of this team’s run that reaches further than wins and losses.

“I know I was lucky in life, I had good parents, good grandparents and I didn’t grow up behind the eight ball like some of these kids have,” Chitwood said. “But a lot of kids that grew up like me are dead, or in prison, and sports was the vehicle that taught structure. It’s amazing. You don’t have to be a star on a team to make it in life, but the values of teamwork, ethics and morals and support and expectation and accountability put on you, those things you carry for the rest of your life.

“No matter what Mainland does, coming off of two hurricanes with the economy and all the things going on, when they come home, those guys will get the best pizza and wings in Volusia County and their sheriff is going to foot the bill.”

Chitwood has gotten involved on social media as well, tweeting a video congratulating and encouraging the team and has engaged in some friendly banter with Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd. Chitwood added that he expected a video response from Judd and the Lake Wales side and planned to push it across social media platforms as well.

"I know mayors and governors do it and I thought, 'Is it appropriate for sheriffs to do it? Why the hell not?' " Chitwood said. "We're going to shine a light on how important this game is."

Different roles, same pride

While Chitwood didn’t arrive in Daytona Beach until 2006, both Roland and Henry have fond memories of the 2003 squad, though both find themselves in different positions now. Roland was a captain and defensive catalyst on that team, setting a single-season school record with 217 tackles, one that still stands. Henry, also a Mainland graduate in the Class of 1991, was a teacher and an administrator at the school at the time, as well as Mainland’s boys basketball coach.

Yet, with time comes age and with age, perspective. Roland deflected credit, distributing it instead to his assistants and players and with another game to go, largely avoided talk of legacy and broader meaning.

Henry was more open, speaking about what the school has meant to him. While he recognizes and embraces that his standing at Mainland and in the community has changed, he said his support is unwavering, though delivered through different channels these days.

“Buccaneer sports and the school in general mean a great deal to me, I bleed blue and gold,” Henry, who will attend Friday’s contest, said. “I’m in a different role now, it’s very different. I was on campus then and I was engaged deeply as a teacher, coach and administrator during the time those kids were developing.

"This one is different now. I’m the mayor and I’ll try to support the kids to make sure they have the resources needed and the school has what they need. But the glee is just the same. Mainland is an infectious place that generates a sense of pride, unity and togetherness that really is unrivaled at any place that I’ve been.”

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Mainland High School football supported by Daytona Beach, Volusia