The Friday before the VHSL Division 5 State Championship game was a busy one for the Dinwiddie Generals football team. The team had an early tip to Charlottesville, practice, and a trip to Blacksburg all on the docket. I came along for the ride.
Friday 8:00 am - Generals players load buses and are given a send-off from their fellow classmates. Students and teachers cheer and treat their football players like they’re rock stars…they deserve it.
Friday 8:15 am - Players arrive at fieldhouse and prepare to load their football gear up for the journey.
Friday 8:17 am - Coaches load mountains of snacks and cases of Gatorade and water(don’t forget the oranges and pickle juice!) into the Generals travel van as players make one last check that they have all their football equipment. Coach Billy Mills makes sure he reminds WR’s coach Adam Fischer to double check that the Generals most forgetful player, senior WR Jerrell White, has everything he needs so he can be ready to rip up Phoebus secondary.
8:30 am - One-by-one players load their personal bags on the van. Several parents quickly stop at the fieldhouse to drop off last minute items some players have left at home.
8:40 am - More packing…this time as players toss their football equipment bags to offensive line coach Buzz Edwards, who piles them in the back of the van.
8:46 am - Defensive coordinator David Davis loads Gatorade into coolers full of ice so players can stay hydrated on the bus.
9:30 am - With everything packed up, players start to load the buses. Linebackers coach Jim Henderson and coach Edwards hit the road early to stay ahead of the buses in the tighly-packed travel van.
9:50 am - Marching along to the finely tuned itinerary set by Coach Mills earlier in the week, the Generals start to pull away from the fieldhouse for their journey north to Charlottesville, where they will hold their final walk-through practice of the season at the University of Virginia’s practice facilities.
10:00 am - Whoops…apparently unfamiliar with Coach Mills’ strict adherence to his schedule, trainer John Wen has missed the team bus. The Dinwiddie buses are forced to stop and wait as he is rushed via escort to where the buses are. Luckily for Wen, he is not seated on the bus Coach Mills is riding on.
10:30 am - With Charlottesville still a little under 2 hours away, some players catch a nap on the bus. It’s easy to understand that some may have had trouble sleeping the night before with the thoughts of a State Championship on their minds.
12:04 pm - Henderson and Edwards arrive in Charlottesville on the van are shown the facilities. After the quick tour, they unload players equipment bags off the van so the players can grab them as exit the buses and enter the locker room the staff at UVA has set aside for them.
12:28 pm - The buses aren’t far behind. As they arrive, players file off and snatch up their equipment bags as they follow Coach Mills into the locker room.
12:34 pm - Players prepare for practice. Those needing taped find Wen at the front of the locker room. One of those players is senior WR/FS Terron Adams, who is going to test out his injured ankle in practice after hurting it in the 42-21 win over Liberty last week.
12:45 pm - The Generals march out to the UVA practice field. The facilities are well-kept and the field turf is a welcome site to the Generals compared to the brown grass and mud they have been practicing on for the last month or so.
1:15 pm - While it’s just a walk-thru, the Generals are crisp with full attention to detail. Special teams is up first, then the team splits up into offense and defense, and then once again by positions. The roomy accommodations in Charlottesville are a welcome site, as the defense takes full advantage of the 2 full-length fields and has an entire field to itself - much more room than it’s used to.
1:35 pm - Working on pass protection with the offensive line, Coach Mills tries to prepare them for the noise they will hear in Blacksburg on Saturday by yelling as QB Adam Morgan barks his cadence. While only one man, Mills voice booms over Morgan’s and is enough to give the lineman a good feel as to what it will be like in Lane Stadium. I even have trouble hearing Morgan and focusing on his voice as Mills yells.
2:30 pm - The offense finishes up with two 2-minute drills, or “Nascar” as the Generals like to call it. As Morgan barks out one play call, I can’t help but notice a strange call. “Red 51 Martha Stewart!” shouts Morgan to his teammates. Martha Stewart…? I must have misunderstood the call, “Martha Stewart”??
2:40 pm - Practice wraps up and the team files back into the locker room. After I sit for a minute, I turn to coach Davis and ask, “Hey, what was that ‘Martha Stewart’ call out there Adam made?” Coach Davis looks away, looks back, and gives me a second to think about it. It doesn’t help, I’m still stumped. Seeing I still have no clue, Davis turns and says, “C’mon, Lou…Martha Stewart……the JAILBREAK screen!”
3:15 pm - Back on the buses, this time to a local Golden Corral for a team meal. This one can’t be a money-maker for the restaurant…40 growing teenagers coming off a 2 hour bus ride and a football practice. Looks like Golden Corral is taking a loss on this one.
4:05 pm - Defensive backs coach Archie Tortorice chats with some of his DB’s at their table. As the skinny guys on the team, they are some of the only players with time to talk, as the bigger, beefier players continue to annihilate the buffet.
5:00 pm - Back on the buses with tired legs and full stomachs, most players catch a nap as the team departs for Blacksburg.
8:05 pm - Blacksburg is frigid as the buses pull into the team’s hotel. Groggy players unload buses, grab their personal bags, and head in. Parents and fans have set up the hotel with “Go Generals!” signs and other posters so the Generals feel at home in their temporary surroundings.
8:10 pm - Players hand over their most prized possessions, cell phones, to coaches. No distractions on this night.
8:30 pm - Room assignments are handed out, and players are now heading to the 2nd floor conference room for a team meeting and, believe it or not, more food.
8:40 pm - Somehow players are able to scarf down some pizza just hours after destroying the buffet…apparently their stomachs are bottomless. Oh, to be young again…
8:45 pm - Coach Mills says a few words about the game and shows a clip from the movie “Rocky 3″. Afterwards, players start to file to their rooms to shower and get ready for bed.
10:30 pm - Lights out for players. With a big day waiting for them tomorrow, these guys need a decent night’s rest. In just a little more than 14 hours, they will be playing for a State Championship.
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