PHENIX CITY, Ala. – Last month, the Wisconsin-based Freedom From Religion Foundation threatened to sue an Alabama high school over its long tradition of student-led prayer before Friday night football games.

The threat convinced officials in the Lee County School System to put an end to the long running tradition, but students, parents and other fans who attended last Friday’s game against Central-Phenix City had other plans, AL.com reports.

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When it came time for the pre-game invocation, Smith Station High School officials instead held a moment of silence, and fans from both teams filled the void by reciting The Lord’s Prayer out loud in what many described as an overwhelmingly emotional experience, according to the Opelika-Auburn News.

“That was emotional,” Jennie Sanders, wife of Smith Station’s defensive line coach, told the news site. “The kids want to pray. Somebody took that away from them, which is a sad situation.”

In an Aug. 31 letter to Lee County Schools Superintendent James Edwin McCoy, FFRF’s Chris Line wrote “the Supreme Court has continually struck down school-sponsored prayer in public schools.”

“Moreover, the Supreme Court has specifically struck down invocation given over the loudspeaker at public school athletic events, even when student-led,” he wrote. “The court reasoned that because the football game was a school-sponsored event, hosting prayer was a constitutional violation.”

McCoy consulted with the school district’s attorneys, who sent a letter back to FFRF stating “McCoy has informed his principals that he expects all Lee County Schools to comply with current law with respect to prayer at football games held on Lee County Schools property.”

McCoy announced the decision to end the pregame prayers after efforts to find ways to continue the tradition were “not successful,” AL.com reports.

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Students and parents at Friday’s game spoke out against the decision.

“I feel like it shouldn’t be a privilege, but that’s how they treat it,” sophomore Carley Banker, a member of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, told the Opelika-Auburn News. “For us to not be able to say it over the intercom is awful for Lee County.”

Sophomore Kiley Coggins agrees.

“It’s not really hurting anyone,” she said. “If anyone doesn’t want to do it, they don’t have to join. It’s not pushing religion down anybody’s throats.”

Parent Melissa Reynolds told the news site she fully supports prayers on game day, as well.

“It was always prayer for the safety for the kids who were out there on the field, and safe travels for everyone who attended,” Reynolds said. “And it was something the students wanted to do. I don’t see where there’s a problem.

“One of the reasons I love Lee County so much is that they still keep God in things,” she said.

Aside from the prayer led by fans on Friday, others in the community are also taking action to push back at the FFRF’s attempt to snub out their religious liberties.

Mike Green, owner of Green’s propane gas and longtime donor to the Smith Station football program, is sending his own message with a large sponsored ad to run across the top of the school’s scoreboard.

“My initial response was I was gonna pull all our funding,” Green told WKRG. “We’ve been funding … one of the boosters for the football program and other sports at Smiths Station for over 50 years when my grandparents started it.”

Instead, Green said he decided to expand the ad Green’s Propane Gas sponsors on the scoreboard to include The Lord’s Prayer.

The move required Green to purchase advertising space for both halves of the scoreboard, which requires an additional $5,000 sponsorship.

“Decided I was just gonna put the Lord’s Prayer on there and made a post” on the crowdfunding site GoFundMe to raise the $5,000, he said.

“I don’t think we should be silent,” Green said. “I think we should have our voice heard.”

Green said he supported fans who recited the prayer on Friday. He launched to GoFundMe page for The Lord’s Prayer on Thursday, and had already raised $4,050 of the $5,000 goal by Tuesday morning.