DATE: Friday, September 19, 1997            TAG: 9709190899

SECTION: SPORTS                  PAGE: C1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY ROBIN BRINKLEY, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: NORFOLK                           LENGTH:   89 lines

BIG TIME FOR BOOKERS COACH LARRY STEPNEY HAS MADE FOOTBALL MATTER AT BOOKER T. WASHINGTON

How big is tonight's football game against No. 2 Indian River for Booker T. Washington?

The third-ranked Fighting Bookers haven't started 3-0 since . . . well, since before they joined the Virginia High School League in 1969.

That's as far as back as The Virginian-Pilot's records go, and long enough for Roy Ebron, Wilson Washington, Bruce Smith, Pernell Whitaker and Michael Evans to grace the school with their athletic gifts.

Unfortunately for the Bookers, only Smith played football.

Booker T. Washington has posted just five winning seasons and won only two football championships since joining the Eastern District.

Two of the winning seasons and one championship came in the past four seasons under coach Larry Stepney. It would be three winning seasons and two championships had the Bookers not forfeited five victories for using an ineligible player in 1995.

Stepney, a former star at Norview in his sixth season as a head coach, walked the halls selling cookies to pay for his team's pregame meal the day after the forfeits were announced.

The bottom line: He wasn't giving up on something he believed in and neither should anyone else.

The Bookers are 10-4 since that day and Stepney no longer has to sell cookies. The Bookers still eat their pregame meal together, but last year the school began picking up the tab.

``When I first got here kids just weren't interested in playing football,'' Stepney said. ``Coach (Barry) Hamler was here and basketball was king.''

Stepney used Bo Jackson - who was winding down his career as an NFL running back and major league baseball player - as an example to kids that they could play more than one sport well. It worked.

The number of football players in the program doubled almost immediately - and so did the number of victories. The Bookers went from 2-8 in 1991 - Cal Davidson's last season - to 4-6 in 1992 and 1993.

The big breakthrough occurred in 1994 when the two Mikes transferred in - Mike Beverly from Norfolk Academy and Mike Basnight from North Carolina. Skilled and experienced, they led the Bookers to a 6-5 record and the district championship.

``We knew we had a good nucleus,'' Stepney said. ``What we were missing was a quarterback and Mike Beverly stepped right in.''

Beverly passed for more than 1,000 yards and he and Basnight are among seven former Bookers starting on the college level.

Beverly's timely arrival allowed Dominique Perry to get a year of seasoning on the junior varsity. He's now in his third season as the starting quarterback and one of the team captains.

Perry came to Booker T. Washington hoping to play basketball, but found a home - literally - in football.

When his mother suffered a fatal heart attack two years ago he wanted to drop out of school, but Stepney counseled him against it.

``He's like my second daddy,'' Perry said of Stepney. ``All of the players love him. If you have a problem he'll come to your house. If you need something he'll give you his last.''

The Bookers are one big family, Stepney says, a family under God.

When Stepney interviewed for the job with then-principal Thomas Newby, he was asked why he thought he could turn around the program.

``I told Dr. Newby I'm bringing the greatest head coach of all with me,'' Stepney said. ``God Almighty.''

The Bookers pray before and after all practices and meetings.

``If they want to fire me for it, so be it,'' he said. ``God put me in this job and he'll find me another one.''

There is more than just divine intervention to Stepney's success. The coaching staff has been together for five years and Stepney and defensive coordinator Romeo Lambert worked together previously at Norview and Norfolk State.

They preach defense first, and cornerstones of that philosophy are quickness and pressure. It's no fluke the Bookers rank first in total defense and first in scoring defense in South Hampton Roads.

The team struggled to score last season, but when Stepney has the weapons he isn't afraid to use them. Three years ago the Bookers annihilated Norview 60-20 to clinch a playoff bid.

That was their first step toward respectability. Another step came two weeks ago when they knocked off perennial Southeastern District power Deep Creek 15-6.

A victory over Indian River would signal the Bookers have arrived as a potential No. 1 team in South Hampton Roads. But that's for others to decide, not Stepney.

``We're just trying to gain some more respect,'' he said.

And trying to go 3-0. ILLUSTRATION: LAWRENCE JACKSON COLOR PHOTOS/The Virginian-Pilot

Larry Stepney starred...

The Bookers...

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