News from September 2007:

299 and counting

Page County embraces role as spoiler as Rams try to give Proctor milestone victory

By Craig Juer
(Daily Sports Reporter)

STRASBURG — As far as the teams involved are concerned, the Strasburg Rams are simply going for win number four.

The Page County Panthers (1-1) have made it abundantly clear they're not heading to Strasburg tonight for a milestone ceremony.

"We know it's going to be an exceptionally large crowd with a lot of alumni coming back, but we're going to look over at that crowd of alumni thinking, 'We'd like to spoil your party,'" said first-year Panthers coach Frank Comer, referring to the possibility of Strasburg head coach Glenn Proctor's 300th career victory. "That's what we're hunting. That's the opportunity we're looking at: to take something away, and let him and [Stonewall Jackson Coach Dick] Krol decide it next week."

Proctor, who was inducted into the Virginia High School Hall of Fame in 2002, needs just one win (299-165-7) to join Mike Smith of Hampton (381-55-2), Norm Lineburg of Radford (315-160-9) and Chippie Chappell of Lunenburg Central (304-68-3) as the state's only active coaches in the 300-win club (a fifth former coach, Eddie Dean of Madison County, won 308 games).

Wednesday morning, Proctor downplayed the resonance of the milestone in typical fashion, suggesting he thought the Panthers might not even be aware of it.

The scene at Page County's practice that day, however, illustrated a different truth.

"Who [cares] about Proctor's 300th?" a player bellowed to his teammates as they huddled on the field before breaking for the locker rooms. "I ain't going to be 300!"

Of course, the Panthers are well aware of the impending feat, and such a statement serves notice that they do appreciate its significance.

"We know what we're heading into. It's coach Proctor's 300th win, they're 3-0, they beat three AA schools. Strong tradition of football," Comer said. "They're climbing back out of the hole, but I know one thing coach has always done up there is he's got them believing in themselves.

"Here that's sort of what I've tried to do in my first year."

It's obvious from the coaches' assessments who the favorite is. Comer, following underdog protocol, played up his team's strengths.

"We're country boys that love to play football, and we will," he said. "We'll come up and smack you in the mouth.

"We're big."

Proctor, by contrast, was singing his opponents' praises.

"I think that they've got the best quarterback, wide receivers and defensive backs that we have faced this year," he said. "We don't defend the pass very good, and one of the reasons we don't is because our kids don't see it a whole lot in practice. And right now, that's a bit of an Achilles' heel for us."

Proctor wasn't merely blowing smoke, however. Sophomore Panthers quarterback Dakota Wolf drew raves from both sides.

"He not only can throw, he can run," Comer said. "He understands reads, progressions. He knows defenses well. He's sort of the kind of kid where if something's not right in the huddle, he can straighten it out himself. He's going to be a good one before he leaves here."

Proctor echoed Comer's sentiments about the Panthers' size. He pulled a roster out from among some play diagrams and pointed out a few of the impressive numbers in the height and weight columns .

"6-7, 233 ... 6-6, 207 ... 6-2, 296 ... 6-6, 261," he marveled. "I don't see where you get kids like that, I honestly don't."

According to Rams captain Phil Ramsey, that's nothing new for Strasburg, which is accustomed to playing bigger teams.

"Page County's about like everyone else — they're about twice our size," he said. "They're big up there and they're tough and strong. But we're just a little bit quicker than them it seems — I mean, that's been our strength all season. You think about Page County, you think big."

Proctor said the main effect of a size differential is to create a mismatch late in the game, when the smaller team starts to feel tired from struggling against the added resistance. To prevent that from being a factor, Proctor said, the Rams will need to seize control of the game early.

"When they push on you, and you push, and you push, and you push, when you start to get late in the third quarter, that really takes a toll on you," he said. "We need to try to do something early with these guys. I do not want to get into a survival kind of thing in the second half."

Last year, it was the Rams' speed that seemed to wear out the Panthers in Strasburg's 29-12 victory. The Panthers fumbled three times and were done in by Josh Kibler's 184 yards rushing and four touchdowns.

But, perhaps appropriately, Comer gives little weight to past accomplishments.

"We've told them for the last two weeks they put their pants on just like we do. And these kids at Strasburg are not responsible for 296 of [Proctor's] wins. These kids are responsible for three of his wins," Comer pointed out. "They have to prove themselves to the Panthers. We're not going to walk out on that field and lay down