THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, October 20, 1995 TAG: 9510190170
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 22 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Sports
SOURCE: BY GARY EDWARDS, CORRESPONDENT
LENGTH: Medium: 68 lines
THERE IS NOTHING Shannon Seaton enjoys more than the looks she gets from some guys when she takes off her helmet.
Well, except maybe hitting those same guys.
``My favorite thing is when I come out on the field for a game and they say, `Oh, my God, it's a girl,' '' the Salem High freshman said.
After a year of cheering for the Larkspur Salem Lions 140-pound community league tackle football team, Seaton wondered how she would do on the field instead of on the sidelines.
So she decided to find out.
Now in her second season playing for Larkspur, Seaton said the butterflies have flown and the confidence has soared.
``Last year, I was scared at first,'' she said. ``I didn't want to hit anyone, or get hit. This year, at first there was some fear, but I got out there and got into it and the boys looked smaller.
``I got out on the field and started hitting people and the fear was over.''
Seaton plays both sides of the line for the Lions - nose guard on defense and pulling guard on offense. With each down, she enjoys the contact more.
A fine all-around athlete, Seaton also plays recreation league softball. However, at 5-foot-3, she's realistic about football at the high school level. She realizes the boys will keep on growing and she'll stop.
``I don't know yet,'' Seaton said about the thought of trying out for the Sun Devils high school team. ``There's no weight limit there and the guys get pretty big.''
Seaton knows how brutal football can be. She suffered a shoulder injury during practice, but that wasn't enough to keep her out of the line-up for the season's opening game - a 12-0 victory over the Plaza Raiders. A Seaton block in that game sprang fullback George Netio for a 30-yard touchdown run with 20 seconds left.
In a recent game with the favored Cooke Redskins, Seaton began the game standing on the sidelines, fidgeting with her mouthpiece, looking eager to enter the fray. Her hair stuck out beneath her helmet just a little. So did that of a few male teammates, but Seaton's stood out because of the pastel bow under the head gear.
The game remained a scoreless tie until the final moments of the first half, when the Redskins recovered a fumble deep in Lion country and James Stephenson caught a touchdown pass on fourth-and-goal.
Seaton endured the blistering halftime talk by Gilbert and failed to break a smile when the coach called her name to start both ways for the second half. She put her mouthpiece in and stared across the field.
And she made the most of the opportunity, fighting off a Cooke blocker and making a tackle on the Redskins' first play of the second half.
Unfortunately for Seaton and her teammates, James Stephenson caught another pass for a touchdown.
Seaton's team lost that day, 12-0, and the outcome showed on the faces of her and her teammates.
Even though she's a girl playing a boys game, her feelings on winning and losing are no different. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by GARY EDWARDS
At 5-foot-3, Shannon Seaton plays on both sides of the line for the
Larkspur Salem Lions, a 140-pound community league tackle football
team.
by CNB