South Davidson football coach Mike Crowell dies

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School officials and coaches were to meet with the players at 6 p.m. Sunday at the school

“To me, when something like this happens, you’re just numb to it, for one,” said South assistant football coach Ronnie Haneline. “I’m numb right now. Coach Crowell, if you will, is a fixture pretty much, at South Davidson. It’s going to be tough not to see that.”

Crowell, a 1978 graduate of Denton High School, was in his fifth year as head football coach. He was South’s longtime wrestling coach, having led the Wildcats to the 1-A dual team state championship.

“Mike Crowell, he was the epitome of what we do,” said West Davidson football coach Dale Barnes. “He gave everything he had to the kids of South Davidson High School. “My mind’s blown right now.”

Crowell, who played college baseball at Pfeiffer, was a coach at South for nearly 30 years.

“He was an assistant coach my senior year,” Haneline said.