Aug. 24, 2009

Unique Sand Rock ritual salutes senior players

By Scott Wright

SAND ROCK — Last week, coaches and their wives held one of the few football-related events in Sand Rock where players pass plates of food instead of the pigskin.

For nearly a decade, head coach Russell Jacoway and his wife, Yvonne, have invited the senior members of the football team into their home to share a meal and enjoy a few minutes of camaraderie. Before long, the beginning of another season will start the slow slide into fall.

“We've been doing this for about eight or nine years,” Jacoway says as he stands in his home office in front of a wall of photos and awards collected over a three-decade coaching career. “Before that we used to take the players to either Auburn or Alabama to tour the athletic facilities.”

Jacoway, a Collinsville native, has held only one head coaching job. Twenty-six years and one state championship later, he still paces the same sideline. His Wildcats won the Class A title in 1985 in only his third season “on the mountain.” Twelve years later, he came within one game of winning another blue trophy.

Perhaps it's that kind of dedication and consistency that allows 17-year-olds to commiserate with their football coach after a two-hour practice in the hot, August sun.

“We sit around and talk, have some good food, and then head out to the porch,” Jacoway says. “It's a lot of fun.”
A few minutes after 6 p.m., the practice field has been cleared and the bodies have re-gathered a couple miles away. Most of the players have already arrived as Jacoway and his special guest for the evening pull up the long, gravel drive.
Players and coaches, about 25 in all, have already chosen seats in the living room or around the dining table. ESPN blares as Mrs. Jacoway darts back-and-forth. It's easy to tell she teaches home economics at Sand Rock, because she definitely knows her way around the kitchen.

The boys play board games or watch TV as the talking head makes it official: Brett Favre has joined the Vikings. The assistant coaches and their wives are inside helping out, too – most of them, anyway.
“Coach Rowland and his wife are on their way,” Jacoway shouts to his players. “They're bringing the coleslaw so we'll wait on them before we eat.”

The seniors head up the line when it finally forms, prepared to dig into piles of pork barbecue, potato salad, and fresh vegetables. Assistant coaches quickly gather around the guest of honor, former Cherokee County High School head coach Bobby Joe Johnson.
The coaches soon begin swapping war stories: one former player's three-point stance was hilarious; passing clinics aren't productive for defensive players; sometimes coaches shouldn't backtalk the referees, lest they be asked to leave the field.
Iced tea flows as the laughter rolls through the house. Meanwhile, a couple of offensive linemen are putting a little too much strain on the front porch swing.

“Wham!”
“Pulled the hook right out of the ceiling,” Jacoway says, looking up and shaking his head. “Let's take the chain off the other side so we can still sit on it after dinner.”
After a dessert of homemade cakes and fresh watermelon, Jacoway gathers his team on the porch. As he has since the first senior cookout, Johnson, a member of the Alabama High School Sports Hall of Fame and Cherokee County Sports Hall of Fame, settles into the chair everyone else is already facing and holds court.
“I'll talk about football first. Then we'll talk about life and a little bit of everything,” Johnson says as a grin begins to form. “Then we'll shoot the bull.”
An hour later, there has been much more laughter. With stories told and the bull thoroughly shot, the gathering breaks up. As darkness nears and thunder rolls in the distance, the players file back through the house to thank their hosts and say goodbye.

Their one night of food and fun will have to last all season. Thursday night at 7 p.m. on Bruce Field in Cedar Bluff, Jacoway's seniors will lead their teammates onto the field and get to work.