Lanett High football players visit W.O. Lance students

Published 5:08 pm Friday, September 28, 2018

LANETT — Children participating in the W.O. Lance Elementary School breakfast program were thrilled to receive a visit Friday morning from 15 members of the No. 1-rated Lanett High Panthers. The players had breakfast with them and signed lots of autographs.

The good feeling about the get together went both ways.

Panther players were most pleased to know they have 605 fans a short distance up South 8th Avenue from Lanett High.

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“This is great,” said starting quarterback Kristian “Ken Ken” Story. “It’s so good to see all these smiling faces and know they support us.”

Both children and adults were a bit awestruck to see how big some of the players are. The group included twins Cameron and Zameron Boozer, both in the six-foot-eight range and six-foot-seven wide receiver/linebacker Tifton “Dee” Dobbs. Ken Ken and linemen Kane Brumbaugh and A.J. Jackson are pretty big guys, too, not to mention six-foot-four Oregon commitment Trikweze Bridges.

“At five-foot-four I feel like I’m in The Land of the Giants,” said Child Nutrition Program Director Laura Hartley.

Hartley thanked Coach Clifford Story on getting the players to come by for a 7 a.m. breakfast.

“They look up to them in more ways than one,” she said. “They especially like the autographs. They can put that sheet with their names on it on the wall in their rooms. They have a big game tonight (versus Handley). We appreciate so much their coming by this morning and to interact with our students.”

Between 300 and 350 students at W.O. Lance participate in the breakfast program.

“It is so important to be getting healthy meals every day,” Hartley said. “In some cases, the two healthy meals students receive here each day may be the only healthy meals they receive each day. We are in a community that does a good job of taking care of kids.”