It was like a scene out of a Disney movie. Just days after the Dadeville shooting that claimed the lives of four, including Dadeville senior track star Phil Dowdell and team manager KeKe Smith, the Tiger still wanted to compete in the sectional track competition.There was one goal in mind when the Dadeville track and field team left town and headed to Wetumpka High School: To be Dadeville strong.Expectations were not existent and the mood amongst the Tigers was solemn. Coach Michael Taylor was not even certain his team had the confidence in themselves.The squad slowly descended down their school bus steps at Wetumpka’s football complex after the hour long drive, and the eyes of those around them were boring holes into the gold and black. “With the way we got on and off the bus, we were worried,” Taylor said at the time. “It was bad. I knew everyone would be looking at us, and that is exactly what happened.”Taylor prayed for the Tigers and asked them what their late friend and fellow athlete Dowdell would think.“‘If Phil is here, staring down at us from heaven, what would he say?,’” Taylor told his team. “They all kind of said that Phil would tell us to win this thing for him.”From that moment on, it was all Dadeville.“Fifteen minutes later, it was like Phil and God touched all of them,” Taylor said. “They went to work.”Dadeville went on to win sectionals and qualify 20 athletes for state competition. “That was not supposed to happen,” Taylor said.
