01.27.06
Senior Football Season
Football is important to the Harris family. It is important to the State of Alabama. It is important to Saint James School. To say football is important to Lucas is an understatement. It was kinda’ understood that Lucas would go to Auburn when he graduated but Jerry and I tried to give him some exposure to life outside Alabama by sending him to Lawrenceville for a post graduate year of school. He went to Lawrenceville on a football “arrangement”. Jerry’s letter to Lawrenceville – February 1998- tells of the success of Lucas as a senior at Saint James in football.
“Lucas is the youngest of 4 children, and all have graduated from the same private school (K-12) with many of the same teachers. Expectations have always been extremely high for Lucas from this school because of the academic success of his siblings. His two older brothers have graduated from MIT and his sister is a junior at Vanderbilt. In short, he has had “tough acts to follow” academically. Lucas may have chosen athletics as an avenue to excel, to move past “the shadow” of his older siblings. If this was the intent, then he has certainly cast his own shadow.
His football team voted him permanent captain before the season started and they voted him the most valuable player at the end of the season. He was voted by the coaches the most valuable player in the Capital City Conference. The area coaches voted him the most valuable player in the tri-county Montgomery area. And, he was selected 2nd team All-State Linebacker. For the first time in 26 years his school (STJ) defeated every team in the conference and advanced to the 2nd round of the state playoffs with a 9-3 record. But the real success for Lucas was developing leadership skills that were evident in every game. ”
Some of my most vivid memories of Lucas are watching him on the football field. I will never forget him in the ACA game at ACA run down the scat-back for ACA from 50 yards away and pick him up by the shoulder and throw him down to the ground to keep him from scoring a go-ahead touchdown. It was the first game of the season and I know that one play set the tone of victory for that game and maybe for the whole season. Saint James was lead by Lucas that year in each and every game. His was voted by the Montgomery Quarterback club as “Private School Player of the Year”, which allowed us to meet and eat dinner with Daemon Craig quarterback from Auburn who was voted the “College Player of the Year”.
Jerry got Daemon and Lucas to pose for a picture as we left that night…. Lucas was proud of himself that night as were Jerry, I and Pops who got to go with us to receive this award.
