By Thomas Sellers Jr.
The strength of Collierville’s growth has been credited to government leaders, public safety officials and school administration.
On Sept. 23, those men and women stepped into their roles as community leaders helping to protect those shot and under fire at the Kroger on Byhalia Road. Despite the timely response and measures taken to protect lives, Olivia King passed away from her injuries.
With real life interrupting the 5-0 season of the Collierville Dragons, Head Coach Joe Rocconi saw the next wave of leadership in the Town of Collierville with his players who are a part of the Class of 2022.
The Dragon seniors rallied their teammates the following night for the Region 8-6A showdown against the Whitehaven Tigers in Collierville. The 28-6 win over the Tigers not only kept the perfect alive but inspired a community to proceed forward.
“I thought that was the turning point for our season,” Rocconi said. “Coach (Rodney) Saulsberry has done an outstanding job over there with that program with several State titles. They have really been the program in this area and will still be one of the top programs for a long, long time. They’ve earned that.
“They have been the point to where everybody wants to get to,” he continued. “That was a huge turning point for our season. We were confident going into it but of course you win a game like that and your confidence goes sky high. That’s what it did for us. Ironically that was the same week the tragedy at Kroger. It was tough for our guys to put your mind focused on one thing. And they did that. And we gave the town something to cheer about that specific week.”
The Dragons went on to achieve the school’s second ever 10-0 season, the first since 1971. And that undefeated regular season earned Collierville the 2021 West 10 Media Power 10 Championship.
“Always wonderful to get honored and get recognized,” Rocconi said. “On behalf of our whole football team and staff, we proudly accept this and thank you for it.”
The 2021 Dragons join the 2020 Bartlett Panthers, 2019 Houston Mustangs and 2017-18 Germantown Red Devils as Power 10 winners.
Rocconi’s past teams took on all those past winners. What brought Collierville to the ranks of champions was the maturity cultivated by his 12th graders.
“The best senior class, no disrespect to 18 other senior classes that I’ve had and I’ve had some great ones,” he noted. “But overall the best group of leaders I had in one class. Also I think it leads to a great group of athletes as well. Probably not the most athletic senior class I ever had but the best group of leaders and character I’ve had in a senior class. That’s what made the difference this year.”
Rocconi said his seniors developed a culture among the players he feels will last for several years. But the 2021 Doomsday Dragons Defense might be a once in a lifetime group.
“I’ll go back to last spring, we couldn’t play offensively,” Rocconi recalled. “Us coaches have talked about it, we had a hard time running a play against our defense and really I was deflated, ‘Man we might not be able to score a point this year.’
“Then we realized when we get to July and August, ‘Man we have a pretty good defense,’” he continued. “It made our offense better and had them ready to go.”
Collierville won its first two games over Raleigh-Egypt and Douglass by a combined 115-0. After only giving up a total of 12 points to White Station and Center Hill, the Dragons dominated Cordova 45-7.
Then the Tigers were held scoreless on offense with Whitehaven only scoring on a pick-six. Rival Germantown went down 22-0 giving the Dragons an impressive road win.
Houston managed 10 points against Doomsday while the Dragon offense tallied 28 points. Bartlett was the next to taste defeat by the hands of Collierville 35-6.
The regular season concluded at Arlington with the Dragons burning the Tigers 45-14. Walking off the field that night, Rocconi knew the magnitude of the moment.
“Everybody sets out to win every game,” he said. “Our seniors wanted it more. Like we weren’t just happy with beating Whitehaven. Even though it was a great accomplishment we wanted more. So when we had that chance for that 10th win, yes we were excited, very honored and blessed.”
A few weeks prior Rocconi felt blessed to go home to his family. He gave his loved ones a tighter hug after the mass shooting at his neighborhood Kroger.
“I had to collect myself that day,” he recalled. “I’ve been a Collierville resident since 1990. I went to middle school here. I went to high school here. I shop at that Kroger just like everybody else here. I needed some time myself to realize just what was going on.
“When it first happened we didn’t know how severe it really was,” Rocconi added. “We talked about it and prayed about it before practice. Then we practiced. Then we realized how it was after the fact. We talked about it more. The talk was about it was more than just football.”
The 2021 Collierville Dragons helped make Collierville stronger. The Whitehaven win gave the players a chance to contribute to the recovery of Collierville.
“We wanted to get our community’s mind off of it for at least two hours,” he said. “We knew it couldn’t be erased. Our guys focused on it and I think because of the mentality of our seniors we went out there kind of fresh. No pressure and our play showed it that night.”
Now the 2021 Dragons have been added to the legacy of the Power 10 Championship and the seniors left an impressive standard for future Collierville Football teams.
“I’ve been telling (the underclassmen), they have a very accurate blueprint on how to do things,” he said. “Same token we have bigger goals than losing in the Second Round. I am not downplaying our regular season. What we did was awesome.
“We want to do that every single year and we’ve kind of set a tone with that,” Rocconi concluded. “We’ve raised the expectations of our program. It’s time to not only keep it where it is but to keep it climbing and growing.”
