Saturday's high school football doubleheader brought a lot more to Rock Hill than a national television network's spotlight.

It brought out hundreds of brightly colored fans to the District Three Stadium with one common goal - to cheer for their teams.

Fans of the Hoover Buccaneers left Alabama by car and bus. Fans of the Byrnes Rebels also hit the road, but for a much shorter ride. Those supporting the Northwestern Trojans and the South Pointe Stallions did not have to travel as far.

Parental pride ran high.

Hoover High School's Justin McArthur was born with sports in his blood, said his grandparents, Queen and Pat McArthur, and his mother, Sadarya McArthur, who left Hoover on Friday to see their wide-receiver son play.

Justin McArthur's great uncle was Ted "Double Duty" Radcliffe, who was an all-star pitcher and catcher in the Negro leagues, they said

Like his great-uncle, Justin excels at baseball, too, said Sadarya McArthur. Of course, there's always an adjustment period.

When Justin started playing baseball, "when he came up to bat, he ran to second base" instead of first, cutting across the field, she said.

Now his passion is football, she said.

While some Hoover fans made their trek to Rock Hill a day in advance, others got on a bus early Saturday morning.

Sonya Carlton climbed on a fan bus at 2 a.m., but at high noon she was still going strong, fully decked out in Hoover gear and waving a homemade poster for her son, Montez Carlton.

"At first everyone was excited" on the bus, she said, "but they got more excited as we got closer," Carlton said, bobbing up and down, waving her pom pom and cheering.

A troop of dedicated Hoover students came too.

Out of a mob of orange-clad girls, Megan Lankford proudly belted out her favorite player's name: Brett Bowden, who is also her boyfriend.

Lankford and Bowden have been an item since freshman year, so she knows him pretty well. She said he gets nervous before every game.

"He doesn't really show it, but he texts me," she said.

His nerves always settle when the game starts.

He also sleeps a lot before games and likes for his mom to make him pizza rolls and chicken fingers to power up.

Next to Lankford was a line of shirtless guys, each with one letter of "Byrne down the house" painted on their chests.

"All the cool seniors get together. They paint their bodies and they support their Buccaneers," said Hoover student Mike Micahspires. "That's what we do!"

Despite trailing 7-0 with a few minutes left in the first half, Byrnes fans Cam Freeman and Ronald Wilson - also shirtless and painted blue - weren't worried.

"We're a second-half team," said Wilson.

To win the game, "The offense has gotta' move the ball," said Freeman.

Gary Willis and a guy who goes by "Pony Tail" also didn't seem worried about Byrnes. Willis' son, Brandon Willis, played for Byrnes last year and is at UCLA now.

Lucky for Willis, his job as a heavy damage collision specialist for BMW - which means he crashes cars and puts them back together all day long - is taking him to the West Coast, where he will be closer to his son.

Willis sees the Byrnes team as young and promising.

"We lost a lot of offense, but we have a lot of guys with a lot of potential," he said. They just have to "buy what the coaches are selling," he said.

Pony Tail, who used to play for Byrnes "a long time ago," called the team "my kids" and said no matter what happens to them, they'll keep fighting.

With the confidence of a proud father, Pony Tail said, "You ain't gonna' stop this program!"

For South Pointe fans, the booster club set up tents outside the stadium. There was barbeque, "air conditioning" provided by an industrial-strength fan and a flat-screen television to see the game and watch replays.

Even though their son Jacob graduated and now plays ball for Gardner Webb University, Allison McQueen and her husband, Dan, still support South Pointe.

"We enjoy the fellowship," she said, "and it's all about the kids, supporting them."

Inside the stadium, South Pointe trailed Northwestern early, but a line of dedicated South Pointe students was not giving up.

"We run Rock Hill," said Raven Joseph.

They all had on spray-painted T-shirts to show their school spirit and yelled in unison, erupting into high-pitch shrills whenever their team took an advantage.

"I like screamin', makin' shirts, and supporting my football team," Ashlyn Boular said.

"That's what I was going to say! Yeah!" Kentayshya Agurs yelled.

South Pointe's Jadeveon Clowney was one of their favorite players.

"He's my best friend," said Chelsea Thomas. "We like to crack jokes on each other."

Clowney's cousin Khali Clegg, 12, said he can't believe they're family.

"He's like the biggest person - he's big in the nation," he said, "And every time I see him he makes me smile," he said.

On Northwestern's side, in a purple shirt and hat, Paul Duke watched the game. He was an activity bus driver for the school district for six years. On Saturday he shuttled people from Northwestern to the game. He's gotten to know the coaches, the principals, and the students.

"When I retired I thought I was going to play golf five days a week and maybe go to Wal-Mart on Saturday," he said. "But then I discovered you can't golf five days a week!"

When his wife, Dorothy, encouraged him to become a bus driver for the schools, he thought the kids would drive him crazy.

"It's been the opposite!" he said. "It's been a lot of fun."

"Every once in a while you have to tell them to "Sit down!" he said.

But once he gets to know them, they pretty much know he'll treat them like he is their grandpa, he said.

Winthrop graduates, Tim and Lisa Beard have been coming to see Northwestern play for years.

Northwestern quarterback Justin Worley lives in the Beards' neighborhood, and their families know each other and go to the same church. Beard said he's enjoyed watching the players develop over time.

"It's neat seeing the kids play on Friday nights, and then go on to (play in) college and the NFL," Beard said. "That's awesome."

As a dedicated fan, Tim Beard chugged a soft drink to fight the heat. With his team trailing at half, Beard wasn't worried.

And as it turns out, he had no reason to be. Northwestern came back and scored repeatedly in the second half to beat South Pointe.

So it goes in the world of high school football.