THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, December 7, 1995 TAG: 9512070488
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PAUL WHITE, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: EASTVILLE LENGTH: Long : 109 lines
It is the Eastern Shore's first championship football game in 17 years, and features defending champion Powell Valley - winner of 24 in a row - against a team the Vikings probably didn't know existed a few weeks ago.
So one could excuse Paul Custis for sounding more like a boxing promoter than the Northampton principal as he reflected on Saturday's event.
``It's like, suddenly, there's something big going on here,'' Custis said. ``And it's not just this school and these kids. It's Accomack County. It's Northampton County. It's all of us.''
Except Custis wasn't talking about the game. The ``something big'' to which he referred deals with the multiple-city, bi-county cooperation under way to make sure the Group A, Division 2 title game takes place on the Eastern Shore at all.
No field on the Eastern Shore meets Virginia High School League specifications regarding capacity. So Yellow Jackets officials are scouring a 75-mile area around the school for enough portable bleachers to bring one - Nandua High School in Onley, 25 miles north of Eastville - up to snuff.
``Panic set in Monday morning,'' Custis said. ``But a lot of people around here have really pulled together. It looks like we're going to be able to pull this thing off.''
The players, on the other hand, view the field controversy as both a thinly veiled Powell Valley psychological ploy.
``They tried to get the game moved because they don't want to come to the Eastern Shore,'' linebacker and team captain Keith Layne said. ``They're trying to take our minds off the ballgame.
``That upset a lot of our guys. But that's OK. We're going to show them how Northampton plays football.''
Vikings coach Phil Robbins scoffed at the idea that Powell Valley's protest of the Nandua site had anything to do with its location. Simply put, he said, VHSL rules call for the game to be played at a field with seats for at least 2,200 fans. Nandua fell short by about 700.
And since Robbins expects up to 1,500 Vikings fans will travel approximately 540 miles from the Southwestern tip of the state for Saturday's game, this simply wouldn't do.
``They only had 150 seats on the visitors side,'' Robbins said. ``You can't ask people to travel 12 hours and then make 'em stand up.''
Nonsense, retorted Layne.
``If they're supposed to come to our place, and they have to stand, let 'em stand,'' he said.
Custis couldn't afford such defiance when confronted with VHSL rules, though. So instead of reveling in his team's success Monday morning, Custis found himself scrambling for an alternative. Problem was, on the Eastern Shore, there was no alternative.
``We had to start looking into the Hampton and Virginia Beach area to have the game,'' Custis said. ``There was even talk of moving it to Salisbury (Md.).''
Finally, Custis hit upon the idea of portable bleachers - ``it didn't take an Einstein to figure it out'' - and, with Powell Valley agreeing to take the 1,200-seat home sideline, a deal was struck. Virginia High School League approval came the following day.
Now all they needed to do was come up with the bleachers.
``We've gotten them from Little League parks, Accomack County parks and rec, Northampton County parks and rec, you name it,'' Custis said. ``We'll get about 20 from Northampton County, another 15 from Accomack County. They're nothing special - two-by-eight boards on wooden frames. But they'll do.''
Construction of the makeshift stands began Wednesday afternoon and was overseen by someone who has an idea of how this type of thing is done - Nandua athletic director Ben Askew. Askew was on hand the last time portable bleachers were installed on this field for a football game - when now-defunct Onancock High lost to Clintwood in the 1978 title game.
``We pretty much did the same thing,'' said Askew, who at the time was a middle school teacher who kept stats for Onancock. ``We scraped together every bleacher in the county.''
Filling those bleachers could be another story, though. Powell Valley, which plays before 5,000-6,000 fans in football-crazed Big Stone Gap, seems certain to do its part. But Northampton has drawn less than 1,500 for playoff games this season, with a majority of the fans cheering for the opposition.
``We need to get creative,'' Custis said. ``We're putting out a special edition of the newsletter that will go into the hands of every student to take home to their parents. Our goal is to attract 1,000 fans.''
To the ever-confident Layne, however, just being on familiar soil is almost enough by itself.
``Keeping this game on the Eastern Shore is very important,'' he said. ``We may not be able to match their 1,500 fans, but I think the people we do get will generate enough to pull us through.'' ILLUSTRATION: ABOUT NORTHAMPTON
Location: Eastville
Town characteristics: Tiny, rural, located in one of the state's
poorest counties (Northampton). Agricultural and seafood processing
jobs formerly a town staple disappearing as corporate farming gains
momentum and processing plants continually close up.
Year school opened: 1954
Enrollment: 775
Nickname: Yellow Jackets
Team's record: 12-1
Previous football state championship game appearances: None.
Last state title, any sport: Wrestling, 1994-95
Famous alumni: Bobby Brown, major league baseball player
(Toronto, Yankees, Seattle, San Diego), 1979-85; Ace Custis,
Virginia Tech basketball player.
Notes: School placed 10th in the VHSL academic competition, 10th
in athletics. One of two Virginia schools, along with Franklin,
selected to receive state Blue Ribbon award recognizing excellence
by the Virginia state department. Has been nominated for the
national Blue Ribbon program.
by CNB