THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, October 14, 1994 TAG: 9410140693
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY RICH RADFORD, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE LENGTH: Medium: 88 lines
When Lorenzo Thompson took the Virginia High School League to federal court and challenged its age rule, nobody watched closer than Deep Creek's Vernon Boone.
Other than Thompson, nobody had more to gain.
Or lose.
``I read the paper every morning to see if there was anything new,'' said Boone, a 6-foot-4, 225-pound senior defensive end who will suit up tonight against Indian River in a battle for supremacy in the Southeastern District.
Thompson, a senior at Granby High, charged the VHSL with randomly granting age waivers while denying his own appeal for a waiver.
Thompson was four months too old by VHSL standards. But he had repeated two grades in elementary school to improve his reading and math skills.
Similarly, Boone was kept back in the first and second grades for speech therapy. Boone turned 19 on July 30, making him two months younger than Thompson. The VHSL cutoff date is Oct. 1. When Thompson won his case, Boone went forward with his.
Deep Creek coach Jerry Carter says Boone has undergone a transformation since receiving his waiver and rejoining the Hornets.
``His career was basically over,'' Carter said. ``It was as if his football career was on death row and was given a full pardon.
``Because of it all, Vernon has a great deal more respect for his chance to play. And he's probably the most dominant player we've had since John Meredith.''
Meredith is an All-CIAA defensive end at Hampton University.
In waiting for the VHSL to hear his appeal for a waiver, Boone missed Deep Creek's first three games. But since his return to the field, he's been a terror.
With Boone in the lineup, Deep Creek has shut out its last two opponents. They were the Hornets' first shutouts of the season.
In his first game back, a 35-0 victory over Churchland on Sept. 30, Boone came off the bench and had three sacks and nine tackles. In limited time in a 21-0 victory over Lake Taylor, Boone had one sack and seven tackles.
He had a cyst removed from the small of his back 11 days ago, the week prior to the Lake Taylor game. Despite his sterling play against Churchland, the removal of the cyst limited his practice time and kept him out of the starting lineup. ``I was having problems bending over,'' Boone said. ``Now I feel much better.''
And for the first time since last season, Boone will start tonight when the Hornets, ranked No. 2 in South Hampton Roads, travel to fourth-ranked Indian River. Game time is 6:30 p.m.
It will be a big change from what Boone did the first three weeks of the season, when he'd throw on a game jersey and lug water to his teammates during timeouts.
``It was kind of hard,'' Boone said. ``The fans kept asking `Why aren't you playing?' and `When are you coming back?' I just kept telling them `I'll be back . . . soon.' ''
Boone said that if he hadn't had a chance to play this season, he ``probably would have skipped the games. It would have been too painful to watch.''
At the height of the Thompson controversy, Boone actually drove over to Granby High to try to find Thompson and talk to him. But he could not find him.
He tried to talk to Thompson again before Deep Creek played Granby three weeks ago. It was Thompson's second game back in uniform and Boone's last game out of uniform. Again, Boone was unsuccessful.
But Boone's mother had talked to Thompson's mother on the telephone after Thompson filed his opening motions in federal court.
``I had talked to a lawyer, too, and he told me Thompson had a chance of winning his case and that it would help my case,'' Boone said. ``I was thinking about it all the time and gave some thought to going to court myself.
``If I would have had to go, I would have gone. Lorenzo's mom encouraged my mom to go through with it. It was like a door opening.''
Boone said he has a 2.5 grade-point average and harbors aspirations of playing collegiately. He will take the Scholastic Assessment Test for the first time in November.
He still wishes he'd been able to talk to Thompson.
``If I had the chance, I'd probably say, `Thank you,' '' Boone said. `` `Thank you for going up against the exemption rule.' And I'd thank his parents for standing behind him.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo
D. KEVIN ELLIOTT/Staff
Deep Creek's Vernon Boone, 19, received a waiver from the VHSL's age
limit after a successful legal challenge by a Granby player.
by CNB