By JESSA PEASE / Staff Writer

PELHAM— When the Pelham Panthers faced off against the Hueytown Golden Gophers Oct. 2, they had a special team captain cheering them on for the night.

Gabe Griffin, the 10-year-old face of the Hope for Gabe Foundation, participated in the game as the honorary team captain in his No. 43 Pelham jersey, and Griffin even tossed the coin on the 50-yard line before the game.

“He’s had an absolute blast,” said Gabe Griffin’s father Scott during halftime. “He was so excited to get out here on the field. He asked if he could suit up and play. He was like, ‘Will I be able to play?’”

The Griffins, who are from Chelsea, attended the game as part of AT&T’s “It Can Wait” Challenge between Hueytown and Pelham. Prior to meeting on the football field, the schools participated in a competition to see which school could secure the most public pledges to never text and drive.

The challenge is a part of the AT&T Alabama safe driving campaign. Each team chose a charity— Pelham’s being the Hope for Gabe Foundation— and the winning school received a $2,000 check to the charity of their choice while the second place school received $1,000.

“I thought it was a great idea to do a competition that we could contribute some money to charity,” said Pelham High School Principal Jason Yohn.

During the school day leading up to the game, AT&T-Alabama also brought their “It Can Wait” driving simulator to Pelham High School to demonstrate the dangers of distractive driving to its students.

The Hope for Gabe Foundation revolves around the redheaded Gabe Griffin, who has a rare and deadly muscle-wasting disorder called Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy.

“He’s been so excited,” Scott Griffin said.  “The fact that Pelham High School and the principal has stepped up to help raise awareness for Gabe and Duchenne, (when) this isn’t even our school district, it touches your heart… There are so many good people out there that want to help raise awareness. It’s amazing.”

At halftime, the Griffins were presented a $1,000 check. Hueytown beat Pelham with 780 public pledges against Pelham’s 662.

Scott Griffin said he believes they are $1,000 closer to finding a cure for Gabe. When they founded Hope for Gabe Foundation, he said they wanted to raise money for awareness and to help fund research.

The Hope for Gabe Foundation has helped fund a few trials to date, and this donation will go toward funding more trials in the future.

“I will tell you, we are very, very close to a successful treatment for Gabe, and not too far down the road, I believe a cure,” he said. “Unfortunately, it takes money to make that research happen, and that’s just our part of this in this journey to help with this research.”

For more information, visit Hopeforgabe.org.