BATESBURG, S.C. — Funerals in high school gyms aren’t standard operating procedure, but Batesburg-Leesville High School principal Pat Padgett is certain the one held for fallen Catawba College football star Darris Morris on Wednesday was fitting.
“You ask yourself if it’s the right thing, having the funeral in the school gym,” said Padgett, a slim 50ish administrator with a friendly manner and a cautious smile. “But we felt it was the thing to do.
“This school is so important to this community. And sports, especially football, are so important. Sports draw this whole town together.”
Those in this quiet crossroads community halfway between Augusta, Ga., and Columbia, S.C., knew the affable young Morris as “Darris.” They joined hands yesterday with those who later got to know him at Catawba as “D-Mo.” Together — rich and poor, black and white, young and old — they said farewell to a budding athletic legend in an atmosphere rich with athletic tradition.
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Batesburg-Leesville’s gym is one of those ancient ones that doubles as the school auditorium.
On that auditorium stage, mere yards behind Morris’ casket stood the school’s makeshift weight room — brimming with the sturdy steel that Morris once hoisted.
Suspended just a few dozen feet above Morris and his grieving family were the upturned basketball rims he once joyfully dunked on.
And just outside the gym’s entrance, hovering like silent sentries, hung the massive photographs of the school’s three modern state championship football teams.
Everyone agreed the setting couldn’t have been more appropriate.
It felt right that the folks who filled the 1,000-seat Batesburg-Leesville gym that Morris loved with such passion, could not only mourn him, but also quietly remember and silently applaud his feats.
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Padgett received the horrific news concerning one of B-L’s favorite sons on Saturday morning.
A stunned B-L teacher, who had gotten the word from a tearful student, informed the principal. As the long weekend dragged on, phone lines heated up in this village of 6,000.
By Monday morning, everyone knew.
“We held a moment of silence for Darris Monday morning,” said Padgett. “It was a sad day here. I can only imagine the grief Catawba is dealing with. With the size of that school, I’m sure everyone knew him.”
Morris graduated from B-L in 1998, so there’s been a complete student turnover since his departure.
“Our students still knew of him, even if they didn’t know him personally,” said Padgett. “But the impact on the student body hasn’t been that huge.
“The ones really hurting are our faculty. There hasn’t been much changeover among our teachers and coaches, and they all recall Darris. He was a nice kid, well thought of, with many friends. I know it’s a cliche to say this when there’s a tragedy, but in Darris’ case, it’s true.”
Padgett knew Morris better than most. He’s worn many hats at B-L over the past 14 years and was the defensive line coach on the perennially powerful Panthers football team when Morris was coming along.
“Darris played jayvee football his first two years, but his great love at that point was basketball,” said Padgett. “He was 6-5 then, but wasn’t built anything like he later became at Catawba.
“We weren’t sure prior to his junior year if he was even coming out for football. When he did come out, we were cautious, didn’t want him to get hurt. We put him at defensive back and receiver trying to keep him away from contact. That’s what you do with the tall, thin kids.
“But at those positions he was a duck out of water.”
Padgett said after several weeks of watching the stringbean struggle, he had nearly written off Morris. But just before opening night, the coaches decided to put Morris back on the defensive line, where he’d played in jayvees.
“The transformation was sudden and amazing,” said Padgett. “He made a difference. Just like that, he was one of the most aggressive kids we had. Oh, would he hit ya.”
By the end of his junior year, Morris was a star. By the end of his senior year, he was representing B-L in the state’s North-South All-Star Game and was headed for Catawba.
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Sue Padgett, no relation to the principal, is a handy-person type who has picked up after the football team for the last nine years. She remembers Morris fondly.
“I look at all those football boys as mine,” she said. “But Darris? He had that big ol’ smile and was always just as sweet as can be. When something happens to a boy like that, it’s hard. You miss ’em.”
The red-eyed, blue-shirted principal remembers the last time he saw Morris alive. As he scoops up discarded milk cartons from the cafeteria floor, Padgett points out a table just a few feet away.
“Darris was sitting right there,” Padgett said. “He was home on a break and anytime he was, he’d always come by the school. He was smiling that day and in wonderful spirits. Just really satisfied with how he was doing.
“Our head football coach Phil Strickland always kept us abreast of Darris’ accomplishments, and we were all pulling for him. We were hearing the NFL was in the realm of possibility. But the big thing was we knew Darris was going to graduate from Catawba and be a successful.”
But now this.
B-L’s been hit by more than its share of tragedy. Its star running back was killed in an auto crash during Morris’ senior season. The school knows how to recover, so given time, it will move past this latest numbing incident.
“We’ll get over the shock,” vowed Padgett. “But Darris’ death is such a waste. It’s just an unbelievable waste.”
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Contact Mike London at 704-797-4259 or mlondon@salisburypost.com
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