THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, September 11, 1995 TAG: 9509110147
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C5 EDITION: FINAL
DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE LENGTH: Short : 44 lines
Maybe Aaron Sparrow should take part in a few pregame contact drills before the Spartans' next game.
Sparrow, Norfolk State's standout quarterback, has not gotten off to the best of starts in the first two games of his senior season. Although he's thrown five touchdowns, he's also been intercepted seven times - four in a 41-22 loss to Virginia State and three in a 27-12 victory over Bowie State Saturday at Indian River High School.
The seventh interception put Sparrow over the edge. On third-and-6 from the Bulldogs 19 late in the third quarter, Sparrow saw Ronald Boone cutting to the right corner and was thinking touchdown. He attempted to thread a pass just beyond the reach of Bowie State defensive back Malcolm Preston. But Sparrow underthrew the pass and Preston picked it off.
After dodging Boone, Preston headed up his left sideline. As he got to the Bowie State 20, it appeared, judging from the ferocious hit, that a Norfolk State linebacker had bolted onto the field.
It was Sparrow, who at 6-foot-1 and 210 pounds can easily be mistaken for a linebacker. He leveled Preston with a hit that could be heard from all corners of the field.
``I just got tired of it,'' said Sparrow, who appeared none the worse although Norfolk State's training staff examined him carefully once he reached the sideline. ``I needed to let out a little frustration.''
Like a knock to the side of a jukebox when a record skips, it seemed to do the trick. And the 45 rpm playing might as well have been ``Happy Days Are Here Again.''
Sparrow completed his last nine pass attempts for 97 yards following the interception, including a 17-yard scoring strike to Darius Blount and a 9-yarder to Boone.
He finished the day 20 of 36 for 243 yards and three touchdowns.
Said Norfolk State coach Darnell Moore: ``I'd like it better if it didn't take something like that to get him going.''
RICH RADFORD by CNB