THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, December 1, 1994 TAG: 9412010608
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C9 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DENISE MICHAUX, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SUFFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 75 lines
Curtis Barnes is no longer just an anonymous member of Nansemond River's defensive line.
First team All-Region and All-District selections will do that.
At 5-foot-8 and 161 pounds, Barnes hardly seemed the person to fill the shoes of all-state nose guard Percy Lassiter.
Add to that the fact that Barnes, a junior, never played football until this year and not many teams were worried about him.
``He definitely surprised a lot of teams,'' Warriors defensive coordinator Dan O'Leary said. ``They would see this guy and think he is too small to worry about, but they would look up and he was gone. He was in the backfield making tackles.''
After spending years listening to his older brother Yurell, who graduated from Nansemond River last year, and younger brothers talk about football all of the time, Barnes was tired of being left out.
``They would start talking about football and plays and stuff and I never knew what they were talking about,'' Barnes said. ``Everybody kept saying that I should go out for the team, so I finally did.''
Barnes is a standout wrestler, so athletic ability was not really a question. But understanding the game of football was.
``People would ask me what position I was going to play and I didn't even know all of the positions. I just knew the way they lined up on the field,'' Barnes said. ``Then Coach V said `I have a spot for you.' ''
Barnes thought head coach Jerry Varacallo was crazy when he told him he was going to be the nose guard.
``At first I didn't even know what that was,'' Barnes said. ``And when I told people that is where I was playing, they didn't believe me because I am so small.''
Barnes is very adept at making his size work to his advantage. Quickness and speed are the reasons he leads the team in tackles with 92 and the reason he has garnered so much attention, from other coaches and teams.
``Without my quickness, I couldn't be anything,'' Barnes said. ``When I'm on the line and see these really big guys, I think they may be bigger, but I don't think they are quicker.''
In his first game against Lakeland, which has several 230-pounders on its line, Barnes had just one thought: ``I hoped they didn't fall on me.''
That has to be in Barnes' mind as the Warriors prepare for Saturday's Group AA state semifinal meeting with Spotsylvania, which boasts a line that averages 250 pounds and has 6-7, 300-pound Division I prospect Evan Hunt.
``They told me about him,'' Barnes said. ``I'll just step in there and try to beat them to the draw and come out on top.''
All of the attention has its drawbacks. Double-teams on Barnes have become the norm of late, but, as O'Leary says: ``If he is getting double teamed then somebody else is free to make a hit, so he has still done his job.''
Barnes' job is relatively simple. ``Get into the backfield and wreak havoc,'' Varacallo said.
``He has just one area to protect,'' O'Leary said. ``When the ball is snapped he knows he has to just fly in there. Our defenses are pretty simple so it didn't take him long to figure them out. Being athletic and aggressive, he fit in right away.''
Barnes is trying hard not to think about the honors.
``At first I even had to ask what that meant,'' Barnes laughed. ``I felt really good about the fact that they had noticed me. It isn't something I really thought about but I try to go out and do my best at everything.''
The tables seemed to have turned at bit on the home front, too.
``(My brothers) ask me what they should do now.'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by MICHAEL KESTNER
``When I'm on the line and see these really big guys, I think they
may be bigger, but I don't think they are quicker,'' Curtis Barnes
says.
by CNB