Local students to celebrate the game with meal, worship

Cape Bible Chapel will host "Celebrate the Game" at 6 p.m. today for area high school students to highlight Thursday's rivalry football game between Central High School and Jackson High School.

Students and adults can gather for a meal, worship and a speech by four-year Murray State University quarterback Stewart Childress, who now works with on-campus ministry at Southeast Missouri State University.

The event basically pulls the energy of the game and uses it to teach sportsmanship and citizenship, student pastor Patrick Tankersley said.

"There's not as much energy now as when I was a kid," he said about the rivalry between schools.

Tankersley said there is music, worship and always a football element at the celebration.

"It elevates the event," he said. The message piggybacks on the enthusiasm attached to the game, but also stresses "some things are greater than football."