photo by Dan Brown

D.J. Weathers trots onto the field before the Berkeley home opener against Stratford on Aug 27.

Whenever Berkeley lines up against Summerville, it’s always a big game.

Throughout the years the series has produced some epic battles, but according to Stags coach Jerry Brown, tonight just won’t be the same.

“It’s always a big game whenever Berkeley plays Summerville, Brown said. “Only this time it’s a small thing, winning or losing, compared to the reality life puts at our feet.”

When the Stags and Green Wave hooked up at the end of last October it was the last time the Stags lost. However avenging the sole blemish on Berkeley’s 2009 record doesn’t seem as important as it did at the onset of this season.

“Life has a way of putting the small things in perspective,” Brown said. “When you have lost one of your own, winning or losing a football game doesn’t seem to matter so much anymore.”

The Stags, as well as the entire Berkeley High School and Moncks Corner communities, are still reeling from the death of rising star running back D.J. Weathers, who died Aug. 28 in a single-car accident on Black Tom Road off Highway 17A.

The team spent this week preparing for what will be the toughest game in many of these kids’ young lives for reasons not involving any playbook or anticipated matchup. But Brown and his staff are staying the course.

“We’re keeping to our routine, trying to keep things as normal as they possibly can be at a time like this,” Brown said. “There are no X’s and O’s to help you prepare for something like this.”

Brown added that in tragic times like these players should draw strength from each other.

“We aren’t letting anyone go off alone,” he said. “We are keeping everyone together where we can draw from each other for strength and comfort.”

The veteran coach, on Monday, revisited one of his recurring points of emphasis, spiritual character.

“We can’t expect to begin preparing for a game 10 minutes before kickoff and expect to be prepared,” Brown said. “How can you expect to be spiritually prepared in the event of tragedy and hardship if you (only) prepare 10 minutes before something like this happens? We preach spiritual character to you guys so you are ready and you are prepared.”

“There is no death in God’s eyes,” Brown added. “God doesn’t plan for death.”

For athletes such as linebacker Hunter Shepherd, who played on the same football and baseball teams as Weathers throughout their Park and Rec years, the void left by the accident is deep and goes beyond the football field.

“D.J. was like a brother to me,” Shepherd said. “He was there with me all the way since we were both knee high. We played football and baseball all the way up and shared the same goals. … I told him I loved him every day. We’d hug when we saw each other. We brought out the best in each other on the field. That’s the way D.J. was.”

His loss brings with it the need for not just strategical adjustments, but also emotional adjustments. While it’s a very difficult thing handle, members of the team have drawn comfort from their friend’s memory.

“As a team this week we’re sticking together, walking to class together, or giving each other hugs when we see each other. We’re doing like Coach Brown said and drawing strength and comfort from each other.”

When Shepherd steps onto the field Friday night his best friend won’t be there on the other side of the ball, but Shepherd says he’ll still be with him in spirit.  

“As a team, we love the game of football and we love DJ,” he said. “We find comfort stepping onto the football field because that’s where D.J. loved to be.”

Nothing can give a greater testimony as to the character of a man than how his family and friends remember him and in Moncks Corner Weathers is remembered for his athletic accomplishments and so much more.

“D.J. was one of those kids who had an elegant soul,” said Shepherd’s mother, Allison Shepherd. “God needed an angel and that’s the only reason I can see why He took D.J.”

As for the team, the Stags have a singular goal, another ring for D.J.

“We’re going all the way to Columbia because that was D.J.’s goal,” said quarterback Tevin Bradshaw. “We’re bringing a ring back for D.J.”

The Stags will wear a memorial sticker on their helmets with the initials DJW and the number 5 for the remainder of the season. A moment of silence prior to tonight’s kickoff will also be observed in D.J.’s memory.

When the Stags return home on Sept. 10, the team will have another short ceremony prior to the game in honor of Weathers.

“There will be some ribbons handed out before the game, and of course the team will have his number 5 jersey there on the bench with them,” Brown said.

Tonight the Stags tee it up, this time for D.J.

Tomorrow, they will attend D.J.’s funeral, scheduled for 11 p.m. in the Berkeley High School auditorium. Graveside services will follow.

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