ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, December 10, 1996 TAG: 9612100092
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
Giles coach Steve Ragsdale (right) is not pleased with a measurement during the Spartans' drive near the end of the second quarter while trailing 14-0. The Spartans cheerleaders' ponchos flutter in the cold wind and rain while mud-soaked players (below) warm their hands around a propane heater.
A disappointed and mud-soaked Olaah Perry heads to the field to congratulate the victors at the end of the game.
Jason Huffman, a senior from Newport, leads the crowd (top photo) in cheering for the team. Three Spartan defenders (left) stop a Powhatan ball carrier in the muddy quagmire.
By ROBERT FREIS STAFF WRITER
MIDLOTHIAN - Success is a poor test of loyalty.
On the other hand, if you are willing to drive halfway across the commonwealth, stand in a driving rainstorm and yell yourself hoarse - only to witness your team's defeat in a state championship football game - then you are a true Spartan.
A Giles County Spartan, that is.
There's no getting around the fact that Giles lost on Saturday. Previously undefeated, the football team succumbed to Powhatan County High School 20-8.
It wasn't pretty. The game was competitive until late in the fourth quarter, but it was a sloppy, chilly, sodden mess - and that was only in the stands.
In terms of fan support, however, Giles County emerged a clear winner.
Spartans came by the hundreds. Through two mountain chains, along 200 miles from Pearisburg, Pembroke and Newport, the fans journeyed to the piney woods of the lower Piedmont to support their team.
It was a long trip, dotted with ominous signs. The directions printed in last week's edition of Virginia Leader, Giles County's weekly newspaper, routed the caravan past the Confederate surrender site at Appomattox Court House.
Giles fans following U.S. 60 had to drive straight through enemy territory. Throughout Powhatan County were roadside banners exhorting its team and predicting victory over Giles.
"15 Miles To Victory!" one sign read, underscoring the fact that this Group A state championship game was being played at Midlothian High School, a "neutral" site. Midlothian is south of Richmond in Chesterfield County, the county just east of Powhatan. So while the game wasn't technically a home game for the Powhatan Indians, it was pretty close.
Distance didn't deter Giles County supporters, who were following the scent of a third state championship. They arrived early and in loud, lusty voice.
The visiting stands were full 45 minutes before the game began. Giles fans were cheering, ringing cow bells and waving banners and bandanas long before the Powhatan supporters occupied their seats on the other side of the field.
Giles fans who couldn't fit in the stands stood behind a fence that ringed the field. Some even sat on the Powhatan side.
Throughout the afternoon all present were pelted by the cold darts of a December rainstorm. Striped umbrellas and red parkas and camouflage hunting suits couldn't insulate the Giles fans from the wet and cold.
The Spartan team's white pants and jerseys were mud-stained as soon as the game began. The mucky playing field helped to stifle Giles' quickness and the chicanery of the team's trademark single-wing offense.
Powhatan's team was big and very capable, too. By halftime their lead in this mud-wrestling contest was 14-0. Less committed fans might have taken advantage of this obvious opportunity to seek shelter in their cars, perhaps even head for home.
But the stands leaked only a few people. With the second half kickoff and Giles' Chris Hutchinson's 33-yard return, the soaked Spartans roared their approval and didn't let up.
They stood and hollered every time a grimy Giles football player turned to the stands and waved his arms upward. When Giles scored a touchdown and a two-point conversion at the start of the fourth quarter, the deafening noise was gleeful and determined.
This was the game's crucial point, and the passionate Giles fans knew it. To tip the game's balance in their team's favor they stood, yelled and shook their fists.
But it slipped away. Powhatan answered the challenge by driving the ball directly down the field and scoring an insurance touchdown.
The rain fell even harder and it was all over.
Afterward, Giles' coach, Steve Ragsdale, declined to blame the loss on the weather, the field or the distance from home. "They have an excellent football team," he said of Powhatan.
The Giles fans filed out of the stadium and began the long drive home, back toward the mountains. Just before nightfall, the western horizon cleared and a brilliant layer of sunlight emerged below the clouds.
Everybody came back home to dry out and warm up over the weekend. Fans commiserated at church on Sunday or at the store or office on Monday.
"I think everybody's coming to terms with it," said Brenda Williams, a social studies teacher at Giles County High School.
LENGTH: Long : 101 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: Alan Kim. 1. Jason Huffman, a senior from Newport, leadsby CNBthe crowd (top photo) in cheering for the team. 2. Three Spartan
defenders (left) stop a Powhatan ball carrier in the muddy quagmire.
3. Giles coach Steve Ragsdale (right) is not pleased with a
measurement during the Spartan's drive near the end of the second
quarter while trailing 14-0. 4. The Spartans cheerleaders' ponchos
flutter in the cold wind and rain 5. while mud-soaked players
(below) warm their hands around a propane heater. 6. A disappointed
and mud-soaked Olaah Perry heads to the field to congratulate the
victors at the end of the game. color.