When Javontae’ Hopkins steps on the field, he hopes to bless Port Arthur Memorial with his hands and pick off passes.

Memorial won’t get to play a game until Sept. 22 and hasn’t practiced since Tropical Storm Harvey flooded the city, so right now, the junior safety — along with five other teammates, is blessing residents with helping hands.

“To be honest, we weren’t worried about practice,” Hopkins said. “After the storm hit, some of us were blessed enough to have a house to go to.”

Hopkins sent a group text to teammates who were available to help him go to a number of homes and help with moving furniture and removing carpets in the wake of Harvey’s destruction. For the past five days, senior cornerback Greg Laday, junior center Vernis Calhoun, junior kicker Jaime Rodriguez, junior defensive back Jacob Washington and junior wide receiver Terrance Lee have helped with 18 homes.

“It feels good to help people,” Calhoun said. “My house didn’t get destroyed, so I came out to help those who were affected.”

Titans coach Kenny Harrison said defensive linemen Braydon Williams and Malik Blake also have volunteered around Port Arthur with yard work. Harrison hopes to have the entire team do volunteer service during the season.

Hopkins and his mother were lucky that Harvey’s flooding didn’t do much damage to their home, but it did enough to force them to go to a shelter at the old Edison Middle School in Port Arthur.

“When we got there, they were shipping everybody to TJ,” Butler-Hopkins said, referencing Thomas Jefferson Middle School.

When he and his mom left Edison, they swept the water out of their home and still had a home to go to.

It was Thursday when the teammates started their volunteer work, doing as many as six houses in one day.

Tuesday afternoon, they moved furniture out of the home of David and Gloria Haynes, which had gotten 5 inches of flooding. The couple is staying in a Lake Charles hotel with the assistance of friends until they receive Federal Emergency Management Agency help.

“It’s a blessing,” said David Haynes, who rebuilt his house six years ago. “I’d be out here doing the same thing [as the teammates], but we’ve been in Lake Charles.”

The Titans’ first two games, at home against Dallas Bishop Dunne and at Houston Westside, have been canceled, but they’ll get to scrimmage Saturday morning at Channelview. A time for the scrimmage has yet to be announced.

They’ll be off for Week 3 and play Beaumont Central at the Thomas Center on Sept. 22.
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I.C. Murrell: 549-8541. Twitter: @ICMurrellPANews

**This version ADDS a volunteer that helped with Hopkins**