It was supposed to be the end of a fairytale season. Thursday was the first time in 20 years the Iraan Braves made it to the Class 2A Division II state championship game.
But the cheerleaders on crutches and wearing neck braces showed it's a journey that's already had its nightmare.
"We didn't think we were going to be able to cheer, but we're pushing through it to be here,” said Iraan cheerleader Kiara Hodge.
On Dec. 2, their cheerleading bus was in a head on collision with a tractor trailer on Interstate 20 near Big Spring. A half-dozen cheerleaders from the tiny west Texas town suffered significant injuries. But they all survived.
Their cheerleading sponsor, Elizabeth Pope, did not. She was the only fatality.
In the weeks that followed, other cheerleading teams, including some from Dallas, took to the field in their place so that the playoff run for the Braves would have fully vocal support. Thursday morning at AT&T Stadium, some of the girls, wearing shirts that said “Liz Believed in the Braves," hobbled to the sideline for the first time since the crash for Elizabeth Pope and for their team.
"We know in our hearts that she's up there watching us and she's watching over us,” said Hodge, who was still wearing a neck brace but whose facial fractures have already begun to heal. "She was always there for us and supporting us no matter what.
“No matter how many points we were down she was always there supporting us, so that's what we're trying to do for her."
"Oh she'd be so proud of us. I know she's watching us right now,” said cheerleader Nayleah De Luna, still relying on crutches for two injured ankles.
And as the score started to look bleak, cheerleader Dhalia Butchee, also still relying on crutches, stopped and sat near the sideline to pray - not just for the game but for the entire difficult journey of the last two weeks.
"Honestly it was about everything as a whole,” she said of her third-quarter prayer. “I was just praying that God would see this through to the end."
But they did not get their happy ending. The Braves lost to the Bremond Tigers, 49-28. But as they'd already learned, painfully, loss is part of life. And all you can do is brave the next road that comes your way.
“I am,” said a tearful Butchee when asked if she was proud of the effort of the team, the cheerleaders, and the community of Iraan and the courage showed after the accident. “And I know that the crowd is so proud of our boys as well."