THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, August 28, 1994 TAG: 9408310648
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: R23 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Football Special '94
SOURCE: BY JULIE GOODRICH, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 53 lines
If you ask a football coach in the preseason to evaluate his team's talent or its chances of winning games, the likelihood is that you'll get some kind of vague, noncommittal response like, ``It's too early to tell,'' or, ``We'll just have to wait and see what happens once the season starts.''
Usually, those types of responses are simply brush-offs. But when Mickey Toll, the first-year head coach at Atlantic Shores, says he doesn't know what he has, he really means it.
Mystery is one thing the Seahawks have going for them this year. Atlantic Shores didn't field a varsity team in 1993, so Toll has had to assemble a squad from scratch.
If nothing else, the experiment will be interesting. Especially since Micah Clymer, Atlantic Shores' starting quarterback, never played the position until this year.
``He's going to make some big plays for us this year,'' Toll said. ``His strength is his pure athleticism. I think he will be the surprise of the conference.''
The Seahawks lost one of their better players during practice when a doctor said wide receiver/defensive back Jonathan Keese had to sit out a year because of bad knees. Toll has only 19 players (four of whom have never played football before) to work with, so by necessity they'll play on both sides of the ball.
Clymer also will see time at defensive back. Junior Stephen Hopkins, a transfer from First Colonial, is the big man on the team at 6-foot-4 and 278 pounds. He will play on both the offensive and defensive lines.
Seniors Nathan and Joel Oates, transfers from Indian River, team up on defense as middle linebackers and on offense at fullback and tight end, respectively.
Toll also looks for a strong season from junior tailback D.J. Jordan.
``He's got a great ability to make the big play,'' Toll said. ``He might carry the ball for just 3-4 yards 10 times in a row, but he can break one for big yardage at any time.''
More than just teaching his players the basics of football, Toll is also focusing on instilling a team mentality.
``We're trying to get them to understand that you have to take practice seriously and sacrifice for the team, always trying to do your best,'' he said. ``We want them to believe that they always have the ability to win, no matter what the circumstances.'' by CNB