The Veterans Memorial Football Statdium may look bare now, but soon that will all change.
"We're going to play with a lot of emotion and channel that into our game," Floyd White, Edison High football player said.
As Edison High School and Clovis West take it to the field tonight, both teams have 2 things in common; hope of winning and playing the game with a fellow football player in mind, Marquis Sutton.
"It's not just us, everybody that knew him is hurting," White said.
Floyd White is Sutton's fellow team mate and he says while dealing with Sutton's death has been hard for everyone on campus, seeing the community come together means more than words can express.
"That's great, everyone should have a memory of him on their helmets, " White said.
Sutton's family and friends turned to facebook to spread the word about Friday's game.
"We're putting it in God's hands and using Marquis's life and taking the positive from it," Coach Ricky Manning said.
Football players at Edison High plan on wearing Sutton's jersey number 21 on their helmets at tonight's game and those in the stands have been given a request.
"His family wanted us to wear white, they requested us to wear white in honor of him," Princess Jacildone, fellow classmate said.
Coach Ricky Manning says it's been an emotional rollercoaster leading up to tonight's game.
"The guys are getting a lot better, but i'm pretty sure emotions will resurface," Manning said.
It's no different for the opposing team.
"All of us, young and old are trying to grasp it and deal with it," Michael Parsons, coach at Clovis West said.
Sutton's friends want his family to know that they plan on keeping his spirit alive through the game he loved the most; football.
"You're still going to be playing out on the field, your spirit is still out there," Jacildone said.
Next week is Edison High's homecoming, and they're going to have a crown in memory of Marquis Sutton since he wanted to run for homecoming king this year,
