DATE: Saturday, October 18, 1997            TAG: 9710180609

SECTION: SPORTS                  PAGE: C6   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY PAUL WHITE, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: NORFOLK                           LENGTH:   82 lines

YOUNG SPARTANS LEARNING BY DOING AGAINST HAMPTON TODAY, 18 OF 22 NORFOLK STATE STARTERS LIKELY WILL BE UNDERCLASSMEN.

Norfolk State linebacker Matt Armstrong began the season as a fourth-team fullback. Receiver Charles Burnette occasionally drops passes because he's used to throwing the ball, not catching it. And center Mike Thinner is a walk-on who will snap the ball in a college game for the first time today.

They're all true freshmen, greener at the college game than the jerseys they wear at Dick Price Stadium. But they're also the best the Spartans have at their respective positions, and they'll be counted on - make that expected - to produce like seasoned vets today when Norfolk State hosts Hampton in the ninth annual ``Battle of the Bay.''

``In the beginning, the coaches were real patient with us,'' said freshman offensive lineman LaShaun Mack, who started the Spartans' first six games but will sit out today with a pinched nerve in his neck. ``But their patience has pretty much run out. They say we're not freshmen anymore, that the stuff should be second-hand by now.''

Now, a lot of teams have to trot out the occasional inexperienced player. But at times this season, it has seemed like that's all the Spartans have. Starting wideout Tyrone Sellers is a redshirt freshman. Running back Kondwani Johnson, a transfer from the University of Missouri, missed all of last season with an injury. Tight end Scott Bess played behind All-CIAA performer Ronald Boone last year and didn't catch a pass.

In all, thanks to a combination of a talented senior class last year and some academic casualties over the summer, 18 of the 22 players expected to start for the Spartans today are underclassmen, most of them with little or no college playing time.

``The problem with inexperience,'' Norfolk State coach Darnell Moore said, ``is it often translates into mistakes of inexperience.''

It sure has for Moore's Spartans. That this group has talent is undeniable. Burnette leads the MEAC with 34 receptions, while Sellers has caught a conference-high six touchdown passes. Johnson leads the team in rushing, albeit with a modest 3.1 yards-per-carry average. And former fullback Armstrong made a spectacular interception of a screen pass last week against South Carolina State and returned it 22 yards for a touchdown.

But mistakes, both mental and physical, have simply killed this team. No MEAC team has thrown more interceptions. The Spartans (2-4) are a minus-seven in turnover-takeaway ratio. And they lose more than 100 yards a game to penalties.

Simply put, some of the Spartans were not ready to handle such extensive roles so early in their careers. For example, Burnette may have 34 catches, but he'd probably have at least 44 if he'd done a better job of hanging onto the ball early in the season.

``I played quarterback in high school,'' he said. ``I haven't played receiver since seventh grade.''

Mack, who could overpower pass rushers as a 285-pounder in high school, said he lost 15 pounds during the Spartans' conditioning-heavy two-a-days in the August heat.

Last week he had the arduous task of containing South Carolina State lineman Chartric Darby, the preseason MEAC defensive player of the year. Darby overwhelmed Mack's unsuccessful attempts at finesse blocking and wreaked havoc in the Spartans' backfield all day. Mack said Darby's going to be an All-American; the Bulldog's chances will be enhanced if voters get a look at last week's film.

``He hurt my pride,'' Mack said.

And then there is Thinner, the 5-9, 290-pound center who was only a second-team All-Peninsula District pick at Heritage High last year and was dismissed as too short by most colleges.

``Coach Moore was one of the few who would even give me a chance,'' he said.

But while he walked on at Norfolk State fully expecting to be redshirted, Thinner treated every practice like a game and quickly gained the attention of the coaching staff. And his dedication was rewarded earlier this week when Moore tabbed Thinner as his starting center.

Today, Hampton's two interior linemen will each have nine inches of height and considerable experience on Thinner.

Moore said he believes this entire group will be special, and a smile creases his face when he talks about how virtually the entire team will return next year.

Problem is, Hampton's here now. Will the young Spartans finally put it all together?

``This team is so young, I feel we can't do anything but get better,'' Armstrong said.

There's no time like the present.

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