High School football and baseball teams help fight flooding in Decatur County

Decatur County schools are closed through Friday due to a state of emergency caused by flooding, but that didn't stop Riverside High School student athletes from stepping up to help their community.

About 30 football and baseball players joined their coaches Monday at the Decatur County Highway Department to fill sandbags. The bags will be used throughout the community to protect properties and roads on the cusp of continued flooding.

"I'm happy to be here, happy to help the community, because I know there's a bunch of families that have lost a bunch of stuff due to the water," Riverside High School senior Stone Frost said. Frost plays basketball, football and baseball at Riverside, and his father and uncle, both coaches, helped organize the event.

"Anything I can do to help keep the water out of whoever's house or off the roads so people are safe, it really means a lot to me," Frost said.

Decatur County is under flood warning until further notice due to major flooding brought on by heavy rains over the past week. At 2 p.m. Monday, while Frost and his teammates filled sandbags, the water level was at 377.1 feet. Flood stage for the area is 365 feet, and the flooding is expected to crest at 378.7 feet on Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service.

The student athletes were there as volunteers with special permission from the Decatur County Director of Schools and Riverside High School principal.

"Technically during a state of emergency, you're really not supposed to have organized activities, but this is a dire need for the community," Riverside Football Coach Johnnie Frost said.

Johnnie said the student athletes' goal was to fill up to 3,000 bags with sand to provide a service to the community that has served them so well over the years.

"The community does so much for us ... it's the least that we can do just to come out here and help do what we can," said Cole Reddix, junior baseball and football player.

Decatur County EMA Director Andrew Sparks said the bags will be given to community members whose properties might be just on the verge of flooding.

"There's a lot of places where sandbags won't help at all, but since the river's getting so high, there's a lot of places where it's going to be right there at the cutoff, where maybe some sandbags might be able to keep [water] from actually making it into a residence or across a highway," Sparks said.

Eric Quinn, baseball and assistant football coach at Riverside, said the water levels near the river are higher than he's ever seen them. He knows school employees that live in the flooded areas. When he got the phone call asking if the baseball team would be interested in helping fill sandbags, he immediately shared the volunteer opportunity with the students.

"We have no idea where this is going, but we know it's going to somebody who needs it," Quinn said.

Johnnie Frost said this exercise is also a good opportunity for the student athletes to keep up their strength conditioning while not at school and log some volunteer hours. But first and foremost, "it's about the community," Frost said.

"We don't want recognition," he said. "These athletes, they give it in the classroom, they give it at practice, they give it during the games and now they're giving back to the community."

Reach Cassandra Stephenson at ckstephens@jacksonsun.com or at (731) 694-7261. Follow Cassandra on Twitter at @CStephenson731.

GET THE APP: Download the Jackson Sun app to your mobile device!

WANT MORE LOCAL NEWS? You can get an unlimited digital subscription to the Jackson Sun for 99 cents a month in the first three months.