#Remember3: Fort Bend Marshall still playing for Drew Conley a year after passing

HOUSTON - A year ago today, the Fort Bend Marshall football program was shaken at its core.

The players woke up and arrived at school with the news of one of their teammates, Drew Conley, passing away during the night due to a gunshot wound to the leg.

That news came just days before Fort Bend Marshall would play in the Class 5A Division II State Semifinals against Calallen. The Buffs would win that game 19-17 and advance to the program's first-ever state title game. Fort Bend Marshall honored drew at that game with his No. 3 jersey displayed on the sidelines inside AT&T Stadium and afterwards having a silver medal draped around the black coat hanger it was on.

The Buffs would not forget their fallen teammate and a year later, Fort Bend Marshall still hasn't forgotten.

This week, Fort Bend Marshall for a second-straight season will play in the State Semifinals, this time against Boerne Champion, on Saturday at Texas A&M's Kyle Field. Heading into this week, Coach James Williams says the team is remembering Drew a year later.

"Drew is definitely still part of this program and always will be," Williams said. "Our goal is to finish the mission. We still Remember 3. We still talk about Drew and had a good talk about him yesterday and on Monday. We're going to celebrate Drew today on this unfortunate anniversary of his passing.

"Drew's a part of this program. We love Drew and we have not forgotten."

A year later, the lesson learned from a tragic event such as this is clear - team is family.

On the day of Conley's passing, Williams reflected saying members of the team didn't want to go home. They wanted to stay together to practice and do what they had to do and get through it together.

"You can't get over situations like that alone," Williams said. "This team is a family and they love each other. They have to go through it together, the good and the bad."

Today, Williams said they team will have some time to remember, honor and pray about Drew, including telling stories and then having a great practice for him.

When asked about his favorite Drew Conley story, Williams couldn't pick just one but shared what he loved the most about him.

"Drew's smile always brightened a room," Williams said. "Drew was one of those guys that had that good energy. He was always a positive person on this team."