Bishop McGuinness football team prepares for season opener after tragic loss of teammate

The Bishop McGuinness football team is preparing for its season opener while mourning the loss of one of its players. Senior Zach Tawwater drowned in Grand Lake during the Fourth of July holiday.

Head coach Ryan Stringer says that despite their sadness, the team wants to honor Zach's life every time they step on the field.

“We miss him,” said Coach Stringer, Bishop McGuinness.

Every meeting and drill during practice this week was different than usual. Tawwater is missing from the Bishop McGinness football team this year after he died in July.

“Zach was a fantastic young man, very intelligent, and as everyone knows, he wanted to go to Dartmouth to play football,” Coach Stringer said. “It was just a really unfortunate situation.”

Investigators say Tawwater was swimming with friends in Grand Lake when he jumped from the roof of a dock and never resurfaced.

“It was really difficult for them to come out of their shell a little bit in the weeks that followed,” coach Stringer said of the team. “But over time they've gotten back to their normal selves, even though they know it's never going to be normal again.”

Instead, the team is practicing a new normal.

“Every day is a new day; some days are good, some days are hard,” coach Stringer said.

But every day is an opportunity to remember the teammates who wear armbands and the determined quarterback Damon Cochran.

“We've been through a lot,” said Bishop McGuinness quarterback Damon Cochran. “Our team is very strong because we have something to play for.”

For Tawwater, in the squad, in the game and in prayer.

“They've come together and it's one of the things they want to honor Zach,” Coach Stringer said. “We love him, we know he's watching over us and these guys, for sure.”

Bishop McGuiness's season opening game will be at home against Deer Creek on August 30th.