(8-5-22) This time of the year is a time of great excitement for high school football teams around the country. But for many schools in Eastern Kentucky after devastating rains and flooding…it has put an all new look on the start of the 2022 season for them.

Two schools, Hazard and Breathitt County, have faced numerous setbacks during the flooding. But it has also opened the generosity of others in helping during this critical time….even rivals.

32 football players from Hazard High School and their coaches are staying at Eastern Kentucky University this week so they could still attend football camp this past Wednesday through Friday. Their own locker room in Perry County is flooded with water and mud, making the camp at home impossible. EKU stepped up to ease the pain by allowing them to use the school’s cafeteria, dorms and football facilities free of charge.

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Chris Hall of Hazard, Kentucky says he has been sleeping in his car since floods destroyed his community. “Photos and videos has no justice if you see these things firsthand. It’s your neighbors; you’ve been in the house. They’re your friends. You grew up in the area. You know the entire area and there’s nothing but total devastation.”

Hazard head coach Dan Howard told www.kentucky.com –

“It’s just what Eastern Kentucky people do for each other. It’s good for our boys to kind of get away right now with everything going on.”

Hazard is scheduled to open its high school football season August 19th at home against Middlesboro.

Breathitt County High School football team had its facilities significantly damaged by flooding, will be at EKU from Sunday through Tuesday.

Magoffin County is scheduled to open the season August 19th at Breathitt County.

UK head coach Mark Stoops spoke to Breathitt County head coach Kyle Moore:

“I talked to Coach Moore and extended our condolences and offered up our services. We’re collecting as many things as we can that we’re permitted to donate through football because their locker room was destroyed and all the things there. Certainly I saw certain clips of that, of their locker room and them digging themselves out of that, cleaning themselves up. I just wanted him to know that we’re here to help him and support him and donate things as we can.”

Hazard andt Breathitt County are scheduled to play on September 2nd.

WVLT-TV – You Tube Video

A phone call to a former player spurred Seymour High School football players to gather donations to send to Eastern Kentucky.

In the midst of this tragedy, including the lost of property and deaths, one thing has come from all of this…that we still have compassion for those in needs. The impact will last for a lifetime, but there is also a hope for the future. This will all put high school sports in a different perspective. Kentucky has shown us all of this during this difficult time.