News from Sept. 21, 2007:

The 300 club

In front of friends, fans and family, Proctor reaches victory milestone in Strasburg win over Page County

By Craig Juer
(Daily Sports Reporter)

STRASBURG — Glenn Proctor would have preferred to continue standing behind his players, who had just won a 30-13 contest over the Page County Panthers.

Friday, that wasn't going to suffice.

The sweaty, exhausted Rams huddled on the sideline near midfield after the game, in awe of the massive crowd waiting to applaud their coach. When beckoned, Proctor bashfully stepped forward to receive two footballs: one a practice-used ball signed by everyone on the current roster, the other a display ball marked to commemorate the date and score of his 300th career victory.

A few moments later, he cited the players, parents and assistant coaches of his 44-year tenure as the ones deserving the accolades.

"It;s a tribute to all of them, is what it is," he said. "I just happened to be a guy lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time, to be the beneficiary. I'm very grateful for that, I'm grateful for the turnout of people. It's just overwhelming.'

Those who greeted him after the game spanned the story of his life, from the man who hired him at Strasburg — former principal Stanley Dellinger — to his baby granddaughter, Erica, making a surprise visit from Detroit with her parents. She lapped up some of the spotlight in his arms as photographers snapped away.

Also greeting Proctor was the man he had just beaten, Frank Comer, who had contributed twice to Proctor's cache of wins -- once as a player for Page in 1978 and again Friday in his third game as a head coach.

Comer had approached Proctor looking for a job fresh out of Elon College, and Proctor recalled that meeting when the two met again Friday.

"He was in phys-ed, and we didn't have an opening," Proctor said. "Boy, I wanted to hire him in the worst kind of way."

The story stunned Comer.

"When he hit me with that tonight, I was like, 'Wow,'" Comer said.

The Rams won by the same margin as last year's 29-12 final, and in much the same fashion: Strasburg (4-0) nickel-and-dimed the Panthers with the run early before breaking a few big plays against the weary defense later.

"We're the ultimate 'team' team," Proctor said. "We had a lot of kids that played really, really well; it'd be hard to single anyone out."

The Rams scored first on an 11-play, 78-yard drive that chewed up 5:32 of game clock in the first quarter. Sophomore quarterback Kaleb McKelvey lofted a 9-yard pass to Justin Shaw on a bootleg with 28 seconds left in the first quarter.

Their second scoring drive, a nine-yard project that resulted in a field goal to close out the half, also came mostly on short-yardage plays. But after the intermission, the Rams answered Page’s first touchdown drive with a 72-yard touchdown run — right up the gut -- by Michael Prince, making it 16-7.

"Huge," Proctor said of the play. "We knew that we wanted to not ever lose the momentum."

Josh Kibler ducked and weaved 12 yards to cap a 12-play drive with a touchdown as the third quarter wound down, then answered a Dakota Wolf touchdown run with an 11-yard score in the fourth to make it 30-13. Kibler's second score was set up by a 41-yard scamper by Tanner Orndorff.

"I could tell that they were winded a little bit," linebacker Justin Sager said of the Panthers (1-2).

Four different players rushed for 50 yards or more for the Rams, who racked up 384 on the ground. Kibler led the team with 146 yards on 19 carries.

"It really helps to get Josh out of there, because he’s mostly keyed with Page," said sophomore Colin Barnes, who carried 10 times for 72 yards. "Everybody that we've played -- he’s gotten keyed."

Defensively, Proctor used a Cover-4 scheme to limit Wolf, Page's strong-armed quarterback, to just seven passing attempts.

"He knew we were going to throw," Comer said.

As exciting as the moment was, players and coaches alike expressed relief that the epic milestone had been achieved.

"I'm just so glad it's over," Proctor said. "It's really a stressful kind of thing."

With the next two games scheduled on the road, the players felt pressure to deliver Friday.

"A lot of people had already given us the win. I mean there's '300' signs all over the school, they're making us sign the ball before it," senior captain Phil Ramsey said. "I think after this win, we can kind of relax and play our game without as much pressure."

* Contact Craig Juer at cjuer@nvdaily.com