Story and photos by Zachary Crain
LEXINGTON, North Carolina — On Sept. 23, a hive of Yellow Jackets donning blue and orange swarmed the turf field at Philpott Memorial Stadium.
It was the Lexington Senior High football team’s first win in more than two years. A program that has produced NFL players and countless Division I athletes, has 12 state championship signs lining its press box and once held one of North Carolina’s most impressive football pedigrees had just won its first game in 1,113 days.
Put in other terms, the Yellow Jackets had just snapped a 29-game losing streak — the longest in the state — via a 19-12 win over North Davidson.
“Just to see the joy on those kids’ faces on the football field, to the fans in the stands,” athletic director Trevei Foreman said. “It just brought back everything it meant to be a Yellow Jacket.”
A week later, the Yellow Jackets won again, this time with a commanding 16-point victory over conference rival West Davidson.
“Winning cures everything,” first year head coach Charles Morman said in March. “The big thing is getting kids to believe that they can win.”
In Morman’s first year at the helm, Lexington did not make the state high school playoffs, win its conference or do much to garner the attention of programs of fans outside of the Triad.
Next fall, the Yellow Jackets are set to return their quarterback, leading rusher and receiver — all of whom have two years left at the high school level — and key members of their defensive core. With the football spring development period set to begin in April, there is a sense of hope around Lexington that hasn’t been present in recent years.
But for a community that produced the likes of Joe McIntosh, the second all-time leading rusher at N.C. State, and eight-year NFL tight end Deems May, this past fall showed signs of what could be again for Lexington.
“The community, when you look back on things, you appreciate things more so when they’re gone,” said Charles England Jr., who has spent decades coaching at Lexington.
‘Be somebody’
In 1967, Dunbar — Lexington’s all-Black high school — closed, and Lexington Senior High was integrated.
For the nine years before its closing, Charles England Sr. had established a football powerhouse at Dunbar, winning three consecutive state championships. England Sr. came to Lexington along and joined the Yellow Jackets’ staff as an assistant.
Together with an advanced knowledge of the passing game, he also introduced Lexington to a simple motto: “Be somebody.”
“A little boy was in his backyard, and he was listening to his mother talk to the neighbor,” England Jr. said. “And his mother told the neighbor, ‘I’ve got five children, and I’d love to see one of them further their education after high school and be somebody.”
That little boy was England Sr., who had already become somebody well before he stepped foot on Lexington’s campus. The grandchild of enslaved people, England Sr. earned a degree from Shaw University, spent time as a pitcher in the Negro Leagues, earned a master’s from NYU and amassed a 134-34 record as a high school football coach.
Integration and the addition of England Sr. to the staff pushed Lexington to elevate its role as a state powerhouse, winning back-to-back state championships in 1985 and 1986 and advancing to four title games in a 10-year span.
More than 50 years since he first walked the sideline for the Yellow Jackets, England Sr.’s motto, “Be somebody” is painted in orange letters atop a field house in Lexington’s stadium and an elementary school in the district was named in his honor following his death in 1999.
During the Yellow Jackets’ decades of dominance, which England Jr. described as the program’s “heyday era,” Philpott Memorial was the place to be on Friday nights in the furniture town.
“People worked hard all week,” England Jr. said. “The two programs were strong before integration, and when they came together, it got even stronger. People lived for Friday nights… right here in this community, it gave people something to do.”
But Lexington’s gridiron success wouldn’t last forever. In the 1990s, England Jr. said, suburbanization and a loss of industry led to Lexington high’s numbers dwindling. The younger England followed in his father’s footsteps in joining the Lexington staff in the early 1990s, but a gradual decline ensued.
Since 2004, the Yellow Jackets have posted just six winning seasons and failed to return to a state title game since winning the 1986 crown. The decades of struggle came to a head in 2021, when Lexington ended the season winning just once in its previous 25 contests.
A cultural reset was necessary, and one came in the form of Charles Morman.
‘Happier to be here’
In Morman’s first game as Lexington’s head coach, the stands at Philpott Stadium were as full as they had been in quite some time.
The program was unveiling a new turf field, restarted its junior varsity program for the first time in two years and the seeds of a football renaissance seemed to be planted as Lexington alum and former NFL player Joe McIntosh looked on. That August evening ended in a 42-0 thrashing at the hands of eventual playoff qualifiers Central Davidson.
The Yellow Jackets suffered another defeat the next week, the week after that and a pair more by mid-September. All told, Lexington went into week six with an 0-5 record and having been outscored by its opponents 205-20.
Despite looking to be on the path to another winless season, Lexington ended week six with a victory and a group of fans standing on the field in celebration.
“When we went to school that next Monday, it was probably one of the best days of school I ever had,” said junior lineman Cameron Eubanks. “That really pushed us forward and showed us that we really could be something.”
Despite losing out following its back-to-back wins, those close to the program agree that the foundation for improvement was established last fall. The Yellow Jackets’ 2022 roster had just eight seniors and the JV program posted a 3-7 record in its first campaign in two years.
Morman said he tried to instill a simple virtue in his team: maintaining a consistently strong work ethic.
By the end of the year, Morman said, players wanted to come back and practice even after the season was over and Lexington had long since been eliminated from any postseason possibilities — a mentality he said he hasn’t seen in the program for a long time.
“People have a positive outlook on everything we’re doing,” Eubanks said. “I feel like everybody is just happier to be here.”
To England Jr., Morman displays the qualities of the coach that Lexington needs to rebuild.
“He believes in the kids, he’s in the community,” he said. “They know, ‘Coach Morman’s going to help us, Coach Morman’s going to reach out.”
Even with the progress that has been made, Lexington has obstacles to overcome before a return to past glory can be considered.
Department of Education data from the 2021-22 school year reported nearly 99 percent of the school’s students to be on free lunch. In district s with high poverty rates, athletics funding can be difficult to come across. The JV program is still only a year old — meaning many current players missed out on key development years — and high school football has only gotten more competitive across the state during the Yellow Jackets’ years of struggle.
But a return to success, Morman said, would be impactful for a community which was once known for its success on the gridiron.
“It would mean a lot for the community,” he said. “We’re working and we’re looking to bring that Yellow Jacket pride back.”
