Although no game was being played the scoreboard read: Panthers 33, Guests 33, Time 33:33.

The group showed up for a dedication to name the Guinea Road bridge after Cpl. Ryan McGhee, who wore No. 33 as a football player at Massaponax High School and who later died while fighting in Iraq as a U.S. Army Ranger. McGhee had already served three tours in Afghanistan before being killed while on his fourth deployment in Balad, Iraq, on May 13, 2009.

The 21-year-old was a combat operator with the 3rd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment out of Fort Benning, Ga., and earned a Bronze Star and Purple Heart. McGhee was part of a team hunting a weapons provider and suicide-bombing cell when he was killed.

After his death, hundreds attended a memorial at the school.

On Friday, 19 years after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorists attacks, family, friends, former coaches, military veterans and elected officials gathered to celebrate McGhee and dedicate the bridge in his honor.

The Interstate 95 overpass is near the school, but the dedication was held where McGhee first made a name for himself and left a lasting impression. The flag in the turf also was done in honor of McGhee.

Sherrie Black–McGhee drove with her father from Knoxville, Tenn., to take part in the ceremony for her son. She told the group she started as a mother with two “Blue Stars,” a phrase used for those who have family in the military. Ryan McGhee’s older brother Zachary serves in the National Guard.

She ended up at the high school football field only after first becoming a “Gold Star,” as the mother of a son killed in action.

“You don’t ever get over it,” she said. “You learn to live with it.”

Black–McGhee said part of living with her son’s death has been to keep his name alive, and the bridge naming is “the culmination of that.”

She chose Sept. 11 as the day for the ceremony to highlight the sacrifice of her son and many other young men who joined the military following the 2001 attacks. She said the attacks were one reason both of her sons joined the military.

Black–McGhee thanked state Sen. Bryce Reeves, R–Spotsylvania, the Spotsylvania Board of Supervisors and Massaponax football Coach Eric Ludden, among others, saying they all played key roles in having the bridge named after her son.

The Virginia Department of Transportation also gave Black–McGhee a miniature replica of the sign, which was unveiled after the ceremony on Friday.

McGhee’s former coaches and military veterans who served with him recalled stories showing the young man’s maturity, leadership, dedication and care for others.

Coach Ludden said he has met thousands of students in 37 years as a teacher and McGhee was in the top 1 percent.

McGhee arrived at the school as a transfer from Vermont who weighed at most 140 pounds, Ludden said. But that didn’t stop McGhee from telling the coach when they first met that he was going to be a starter.

Ludden said McGhee “transformed” into a “really tough guy” who played linebacker and fullback.

One of his most vivid memories was McGhee’s response to playing less in a 2005 playoff game, with the coach saying the only reason was the opponent, Halifax, liked to pass and McGhee was a run-stuffer.

Instead of being disappointed, McGhee, a senior starter, cheered and coached his teammates from the sidelines and Massaponax won the game. McGhee was back in as a starter the next week when the Panthers won to advance to the state semifinals.

Ludden said McGhee understood it wasn’t about the individual but instead, “us.”

Erik Sherry, the defensive coordinator at Massaponax when McGhee played there and now head coach at Charlottesville High School, said the same thing. He said he tells his players every year about McGhee, as an example of how to do things the right way.

“He showed his selflessness in so many ways,” he said.

Those who trained and served with McGhee described the same person, someone who loved his family and country, someone you could trust to have your back. They talked about his sacrifice, his belief in duty and honor.

Coach Ludden said their memories of McGhee “are not an embellishment” and that the bridge dedication is a fitting tribute.

“There are not many Ryan McGhees,” he said.