A West Virginia high school football program that received national attention last year after its county was one of many devastated by historic flooding is once again in the national spotlight.

As WSAZ-TV reported, last football season one person complained about Clay County High School’s longstanding tradition of having the Lord’s Prayer be read aloud before football games.

This complaint resulted in Clay County school leaders banning the act altogether and instead implementing a new rule that would allow for a moment of silence during which players and fans would be allowed to use the time as they please.

The players from both Clay County and opposing Braxton County made sure to use that time to exercise their God-given right.

Before the game began, players, coaches and cheerleaders from both teams met at midfield to recite the prayer — not as rivals or adversaries, but as one.

People in the stands joined in as well.

The prayer has become closely associated with football, as it is often a staple of pregame rituals for many football teams from youth leagues to the pros.

“This is a situation that is unfortunately out of our hands,” said Clay County Schools Superintendent Joe Paxton. “The U.S. Supreme Court is the supreme law of the land.”

Paxton was referencing the district’s decision to ban the prayer because of the 1962 Supreme Court decision that barred prayer at school.

In an act of defiance, many fans arrived to the stadium wearing shirts that read, “I’m gonna pray anyway.”

Clay County High School Principal Crystal Gibson insisted that she, like many others in the stands, would be praying during the moment of silence.

“During that moment of silence, if anyone wishes to pray, by all means I wish that they would,” Gibson said. “That’s their right to do so and I’ll be doing so at that same time.” (For more from the author of “School Board Bans Pre-Game Prayer but Players Find a Way” please click HERE) http://joemiller.us/2017/09/school-board-bans-pre-game-prayer-players-find-way/