THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, October 15, 1995 TAG: 9510150222
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BOB MOLINARO
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 69 lines
Norfolk State may be catching up.
After being hammered 161-49 the last three years by Hampton University, the Spartans five-point loss Saturday reads almost like a victory. Almost.
``I'd like to think,'' said coach Darnell Moore, ``that our progress has moved that far to the positive side.''
Norfolk State could have moved all the way to the victory side had Moore's men found a way to score from the 2-yard line in the closing seconds.
With no timeouts and 19 seconds remaining, Aaron Sparrow couldn't complete a pass into the end zone.
One way or another, every Norfolk State game seems to come down to Sparrow. His arm is a luxury Norfolk State won't enjoy after this year, as the Spartans move closer to Division I-AA status.
``Football is football,'' said Moore when asked what difference the switch in 1997 to I-AA will have on the Hampton-Norfolk State rivalry. ``It will still be the `Battle of the Bay,' just Division I-AA.''
Hampton, in its first season of I-AA, is where Division II Norfolk State wants to be. But exactly what does the change in letters - Roman or not - signify for the Spartans' football program?
Not as much, one suspects, as some people think.
``I'm trying to recruit the best players I can right now,'' said Moore. ``That won't change.''
When Moore says that Norfolk State is ``a few players away from where we want to be,'' his is a lament that transcends divisions.
``I think the things that they do in Division I-AA are no more sophisticated than what we do,'' he said.
So it seems, judging from the 23-18 loss to Hampton. Earlier this season, the visitors toppled Grambling, then ranked 12th in I-AA, and No. 1 in the black college poll.
``We beat Bethune-Cookman,'' noted Moore, ``which beat Howard, and Howard beat Hampton. So there's not that much difference.''
On certain levels, football is football, one supposes, though sometimes you are left with the impression that Norfolk State football is meant to be background choreography for the school band.
Go to a Norfolk State game at Foreman Field, and you might think that the players are crashing a recital.
Must the Green and Gold play constantly? During the game? During plays? As both teams come up to the line of scrimmage, the linemen straining to hear the quarterback's signals over the brass section and drums?
As best you could tell from the press box, Hampton's band also was guilty of indulging itself, to one degree or another. Maybe the afternoon should have been billed, the Battle of the Bands.
In any case, only the Spartans musicians were penalized by the officials.
Before the start of the second half, Norfolk State's band and dancers declined to leave the field with both teams ready to play.
The zebras had no choice but to penalize Norfolk State twice - for a total of 10 yards - for delay of game.
Meanwhile, Moore fumed.
``If they won't come off the field,'' he said after the game, ``there's nothing I can do about it.''
The coach has more important things to worry about. Recruiting for Division I-AA, he believes, is ``a two- or three-year process.''
``I think,'' he added, ``from this point on'' recruiting against Hampton ``will be an even thing.''
If Saturday's game is any indication, Norfolk State's transition to I-AA will be choreographed to a familiar tune . . . while the band plays on. by CNB