Longwell hears nothing but praise after Wayne Christian's first-ever football game

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on September 14, 2015 1:48 PM

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rcoggins@newsargus.com

The enthusiasm buzzed throughout the campus last Thursday.

In just a few hours, Wayne Christian would play its first-ever 8-man football game.

As kickoff approached, the Eagles appeared a little nervous as they put on their dark blue jerseys and blue pants, laced up their cleats and buckled their helmets. They walked out of the locker room to cheers and headed toward the field.

Once they stepped onto the field, they paused for a team picture. The players held a bright green banner with #GibbyStrong written in blue letters. Their classmate Will Gibson had been diagnosed with lymphoma on Aug. 14 and was undergoing his second round of aggressive chemotherapy.

Second, individual shots were taken.

"It's been amazing ... crazy," ninth-grader Will White said.

The whistle blew.

"Let me have your captains," one referee bellowed.

Wayne Christian captains -- Jaxon Bauer, Gavin Wiley and White -- met with Bethel Christian's captains and head referee Steve Smith at midfield. BC won the coin toss and chose to start on defense.

The Eagles' fans -- who either sat in lounge chairs or camped out on the bleachers -- cheered in earnest and never stopped encouraging their players throughout the historic affair.

"Let's go Eagles!"

*

Wayne Christian resuscitated independent school football in Wayne County that ended more than three decades ago.

But, as expected, Eagles athletics director Roger Longwell met some resistance when he initially proposed fielding a football team nearly five years ago. He organized a parent meeting last year, which drew about 20 parents. Longwell said at least 50 boys had registered to play.

Longwell had hoped to play a varsity schedule. But with so many underclassmen -- two 9th-graders, nine 8th-graders and two 6-graders on the team -- he realized his best bet was to start at the JV level. He talked with football coaches at Lawrence Academy, Bethel Christian and Community Christian. They all agreed he was making the right decision.

"Hopefully, we'll grow into varsity next year," Longwell said.

The Eagles petitioned and were accepted into the Carolina Colonial Conference. They'll compete against not only BC, but 10 other schools -- Cary Christian, Halifax Academy, Hobgood Academy, Lawrence Academy, Southampton (Va.), Northeast, Community, Grace Christian, Parrott and Rocky Mount Academy. All of those schools started as 11-man programs.

Wayne Christian will play a seven-game schedule this year. Longwell asked the CCC if all of those contests could be on the road to help alleviate expenses. But when the schedule was released, the Eagles had four home games.

"The decision was if we can make it happen, let's make it happen," Longwell said.

Longwell dipped into $13,000 worth of donations from various sources to purchase home uniforms, goal posts and other equipment.

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But who would coach the Eagles?

Little did Longwell know that he already had a veteran football player on his staff -- varsity boys' basketball coach Victor Young. The Goldsboro High alum enjoyed a stellar campaign on the gridiron, but opted to showcase his basketball talents at the University of Mount Olive.

"Coach Longwell came to me six months ago and asked me about coaching football ... but said it was 8-man," Young said. "Growing up here, I knew nothing about 8-man football. I looked up 8-man football on YouTube and it's literally been my best friend for the last six months."

Young calls the offense. Scott Pender handles the defense. Plus, the duo has three parents who volunteer to help in any capacity, especially to encourage the players on and off the field.

The staff has experienced challenges in practice. With just 13 players, they've concentrated on running offensive plays since they don't have enough players to run a first-team defense. Their first live contact was in their season opener against Bethel Christian. Young and Pender each said both the offensive and defensive units played well, and that they'll get better as they go along.

"Oh man, football ... it's tough," Young said. "It's easy to come out here with it 90 degrees, you're running sprints and you think 'you know what, this is not for me.' But they've stuck in there, fought through it and they're happy.

"They're mentally tough. They're all going to get better. They all work extremely hard. I'm proud of them."

*

Longwell watched the Eagles' first-ever game from different parts of the field.

He heard nothing but positive comments as he walked up and down behind the parents, who were lined up two rows deep in lounge chairs. They commented on the school making history, cheered for a particular player and participated in the cheerleaders' chants.

"I really, really loved it," Longwell said. "It thrilled me to see all these fans. There were nothing but good words, not one bad comment. That's exciting in my heart. It came to reality tonight."

Wayne Christian couldn't overcome five turnovers and fell victim to the fatigue factor in its 34-point loss to the Trojans. Will White, a transfer from Georgia, scored the Eagles' first-ever - and lone touchdown - in the second quarter.

As the score grew in BC's favor, the parents continued to show their support in a positive fashion. Young glanced behind him on occasion and saw parents take pictures to freeze every possible moment in time.

He couldn't have been more proud to be part of a historic day.

"Guys, did you see all of these people who came out here to support you tonight?" Young said to the team in his post-game speech.

A few of the players smiled.

"We made history," Young said. "These guys -- win, lose or draw -- whenever they come back, when they're 40 or 50 years old, they'll be able to say they're the first team to ever play football at Wayne Christian. So that's the most important thing from tonight."