At West Virginia’s Clay County High School, the high school football team had long observed the tradition of a prayer being said over the stadium loudspeaker before each game. One disgruntled fan complained about the prayer to the school board.

All it takes is one person.

The school district capitulated and decided that the prayer would be scrapped this season in favor of a moment of silence. Clay County High School’s principal, Crystal Gibson, remarked of the directive:

“During that moment of silence, if anyone wishes to pray … by all means I wish that they would. That’s their right to do so, and I’ll be doing so at that same time.”

That wasn’t good enough for the football players and many of their fans.

Clay County played their first home game on September 1st. When the moment of silence was announced, the players rushed to the middle of the field, where they were met by their opponents, Braxton County High School. The players took a knee and prayed The Lord’s Prayer together.

Many in the crowd, some sporting “I’m gonna pray anyway” t-shirts, joined along in the prayer.

Principal Gibson succinctly summed up the sentiment:

“Most of the people in the community, I do believe, support prayer.”

There were prayers that day, despite the attempt to stop it. Victories can be won.

Sometimes, all it takes is one team.