BATESBURG, S.C. — Jim Wiszowaty left his restaurant, Wiz’s, about 3 p.m. Wednesday and headed for Batesburg-Leesville High School.
There was a funeral to attend — something that has become a dreaded trend for this small South Carolina community of 6,000, located about 20 miles west of Columbia.
The latest funeral was for Darris Morris, who was shot in the chest and killed Friday night at Catawba College. Morris was one of the town’s favorite sons, a star athlete and friend to everyone who knew him — which, in a village this size, is everyone.
Wiszowaty, also the town’s mayor, joined more than 1,000 people who crammed into the Panther gymnasium. Another of the onlookers was a saddened — almost depressed — football coach, Phil Strickland.
“This is the fourth football player that we’ve buried since 1997,” lamented Strickland, the head coach since 1992. “I won’t call it a curse, but it’s like we’re getting singled out an awful lot. It’s getting old.”
Only two weeks ago, a similar scene overwhelmed this community. Tsoma Smith, who suffered from sickle cell anemia, died at home. Doctors had finally let Smith play football during his senior year.
Two other players died in car accidents.
“It’s tough to cope,” Strickland said, “because we grow so close to these kids. We spend more time with them than their parents.”
Strickland was devastated when he heard about Morris, an all-South Atlantic Conference linebacker who helped Catawba to the national semifinals and an 11-2 record. He hurt mostly for Morris’ mother, Cleavie.
“They were buds,” he sighed. “Darris wasn’t afraid to show affection like a lot of kids. He’d hug and kiss her all the time.”
Morris’ mother had plenty of family members to lean on. A total of 170 chairs were placed in front of the open casket just for the Morris family.
Included were two sisters, his grandparents, a brother-in-law, a niece, seven uncles, 13 aunts, seven great-uncles and 13 great-aunts.
“I didn’t realize how many people were in the extended family,” marveled school principal Pat Padgett.
Morris’ other extended family — Catawba College — also made an impressive showing. Around 120 football players and at least 100 more students and Indian fans, traveled the 212 hours from Salisbury.
Several of the football players even spent the night with Morris’ mother on Tuesday.
“She’s got a bunch of sons now,” said David Bennett, who left Catawba after last season to become the head football coach at Division 1-AA Coastal Carolina.
Several speakers made stirring tributes, including Ross Cary, Morris’ basketball coach at Batesburg-Leesville, and Bennett, who so moved those in attendance that they applauded him as he walked back to his seat.
“D-Mo taught us to enjoy every day of life,” said Bennett, who also visited the family’s small home on Plumber Street. “If we learned anything from D-Mo, it was to love.
“It’s a sad day to lose him. But it’s a day to celebrate his life.”
Wiszowaty added, “It’s a sad state of affairs around here today. Here’s a young boy that had made a life for himself and all of a sudden to be shot down ... well, that’s a tragic situation for our community. We’re very close-knit here. Everybody’s dedicated to football. And Darris was a popular kid in town.
“You just have to let the Good Lord work his magic and hopefully, everything will work out in the end. We’re going to do everything we can to help the family through this.”
Everyone had a D-Mo story, from his high school buddies to former coaches to former players.
One former Catawba Indian, Dyran Peake, now a graduate assistant football coach at Duke, said he was preparing himself for a Saturday morning staff meeting when he checked his messages and heard the voice of Catawba coach Chip Hester, telling him the news.
“I just dropped the phone,” Peake said. “That’s one of my brothers. We went through so many good times together. Even when we argued, the next day, he’d be knocking on my door, yelling, ‘Peake, let’s go eat breakfast.’ He was a good man.”
J.D. Davis, a West Rowan graduate and current Catawba assistant, remembers the first day he saw Morris in camp.
“Somebody said, ‘That’s the guy who is going to replace All-American Maurice Miller,’” recalled Davis, with a smile of his own. “I said, ‘This lanky kid?’
“I remember him always having so much confidence on the field. He’d come off, saying, ‘I made plays, Dog! I made plays!’ He’d be smiling. He always played with a smile.”
Which made Peake’s final words so prophetic.
“If God would allow Darris to speak to us one more time in this gym today, he’d say, ‘Y’all stop crying, man. What’s wrong with y’all? I’m all right.’ And then, he’d smile.”
It’s Darris Morris’ big smile that will always be remembered in this little town.
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