As the Wall Hawks varsity football team won games this year, one proud parent was there chronicling the season in pictures. Click on any picture for a larger image.
The Wall Hawks are advancing towards a state championship. If they win the Dec. 9 (at 7 p.m.) game against Mineola at the Waco ISD Stadium, they’ll face either Malakoff or Yoakum in the 3A state championship a week later.
Above: Can you see the football? (Contributed/Rodney Fleming)
Rodney Fleming is a former city councilman for the City of San Angelo and co-owner of the San Angelo real estate brokerage Angelo Home Team with his wife Leslee. Together, the couple has three children attending Wall High School in the 9th, 11th, and 12th grades.
Above: Fleming's stepson, #79 Matt Nelson. (Contributed/Rodney Fleming)
Rodney’s stepson, Matt Nelson, is a senior on the Wall Hawks football team and like all Wall parents, his stepdad and mom can’t be prouder of him. Matt is a guard, with number 79 on his jersey.
Rodney didn’t take up photography until his time was concluding on city council about two years ago. Since then, he has used the 2016 Wall Hawks season as his preferred subject, chronicling the season from the non-conference loss in Monahans way back in August and through the exciting games of the Hawks’ underdog playoff season.
Above: Wall High School assistant coach James Walling and linebacker Lucas Garcia at the Dec. 2 championship game. (Contributed/Rodney Fleming)
Above: Wall running back Thomas Halfmann. (Contributed/Rodney Fleming)
Friday, in a very wet Shotwell Stadium in Abilene, the underdog Hawks defeated the undefeated Brock Eagles. The game ended Brock’s 29-game winning streak. Fleming was there to capture it all in a personal and close-up way.
Above: Wall head coach Houston Guy with Marty Weishuhn (#1). (Contributed/Rodney Fleming)
Fleming’s photos capture more than football highlights. Interspersed in the action shots are still images representing a reverence to God, country, and good sportsmanship. Fleming explained this, using what he saw in Friday’s Class 3A Division I Region I championship football game, as an example.
Above: Wall running back Tymber Carr. (Contributed/Rodney Fleming)
Above: Wall running back Thomas Halfmann. (Contributed/Rodney Fleming)
“The boys on both sides were playing the most important game of their young lives and yet they helped each other up after every play and played with respect for each other. It was a very clean game,” Fleming said.
Above: Brock Eagles running back Matt Gray. (Contributed/Rodney Fleming)
Above: A locker room moment. (Contributed/Rodney Fleming)
Above: Prayer in public school transcends football rivalries with Wall (green) and Brock (white). From the Dec. 2, 2016 3A D1 championship game. (Contributed/Rodney Fleming)
Above: Brock Eagle Kobe Trought and Wall Hawk Casey Braden at the end of the championship game Dec. 2, 2016. (Contributed/Rodney Fleming)
For those unfamiliar with Wall Hawk Football and its tiny farming community just east of San Angelo, what Fleming has captured are pictures of life that many argue is disappearing from America’s landscape.
Fleming uses a Canon EOS 70D SLR Camera with a variety of lenses. You can view more from the Wall Hawks’ season at the public Facebook group, Wall Hawk Sports.
Above: The Wall Hawks Pledge Allegiance. (Contributed/Rodney Fleming)
Above: The 2016 Wall Hawks Varsity Football Team. (Contributed/Rodney Fleming)
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