
DATE: Friday, November 14, 1997             TAG: 9711140907

SECTION: SPORTS                  PAGE: C1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY ROBIN BRINKLEY, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:   78 lines

PLAYING DIRTY: RAIN LEAVES FIELDS MUDDY, TONIGHT'S GAMES IN JEOPARDY.

So who changed the rule making it mandatory that football be played in the mud?

For the fifth consecutive weekend measurable rainfall is in the forecast - about an inch, according to the National Weather Service - placing tonight's Eastern Region playoff games in jeopardy.

If the games are postponed, they will be made up at 7:30 p.m. Saturday.

That should provide some comfort to the quarterbacks and receivers, who would have a dry ball to throw and catch. But it will be small consolation for running backs such as Churchland's Chatame Ward and Western Branch's Keith Burnell, who depend on dry turf to make their cuts.

``I'm not going to question God about the weather, but it hampers your running game,'' said Booker T. Washington coach Larry Stepney, whose team faces Churchland at Norview's Chittum Field.

``The offensive line can't push off and drive. The defense can play more of a catching defense because they don't get to penetrate the way we want them to so we can block down on them.''

Two sites already have been changed because the fields were deemed unplayable. The Kecoughtan-Tallwood game was moved from First Colonial to Kellam and the Green Run-Hampton game from Darling Stadium to Todd Field.

Todd is in excellent shape for this time of year, said Gary Silvey, of Newport News Public Schools.

``We've put down Quick Dry (a super absorbent to help soak up the water) and covered the middle with plastic,'' he said. ``The middle is a little chewed up, but the field drains well.''

The best of the rest is Oscar Smith, where Kellam and Western Branch will play.

``It's soft, but not muddy,'' athletic director Bill Myers said. ``We reseeded with rye in September and then put down another 150 pounds after the Western Branch game on Oct. 17.''

That was the night of a torrential downpour that left huge puddles on the field.

``It was hard to keep your traction,'' said Western Branch wingback Rashad Cook. ``On a field like that, you have to run a little slower and know how to make your cuts. You cut on the inside of your foot and not the outside.''

There is little else a team can do to combat slippery conditions. Players once could wear longer cleats that provided better traction, but those were outlawed several years ago.

``We wear the longest available now, three-eighths of an inch,'' Johnston said.

Knee-high waders could be the footwear of choice at Norview and Kellam.

``Our field is bad,'' Norview coach David Heath said. ``There is not a lot of grass and a lot of mud.''

Kellam has long been considered the premier field in the Beach District, but five weeks of rain have left it looking more suitable for fiddler crabs than football players.

``The field is in the worst condition it's been in in the last 15 or 20 years,'' Kellam athletic director Roy Ammons said. ``It's basically bare in the middle with water in places.''

It's easy to blame the rain - nearly five inches have fallen in the past five weeks - for the sloppy field conditions. But some of the damage could have been avoided with better maintenance, said Norfolk Tides head groundskeeper Kenny Manger.

``Some of these fields are played on so much that they've opened up to the point that water isn't allowed to make its natural flow,'' he said. ``The ones with puddles in the middle probably need to be top dressed and resodded.''

Covering the fields with tarps or at least applying an absorbent like Turface or Stay Dry also would help, Manger said.

That works well in Newport News, where one stadium serves the entire city. But it's a problem elsewhere.

``I don't put down Stay Dry,'' Myers said. ``I can't afford it.'' ILLUSTRATION: NHAT MEYER/file photo

For the fifth straight weekend, rain is threatening high school

football games, leaving schools scrambling to keep their fields dry.

NHAT MEYER/file color photo

Rain has been forecast every weekend since a storm left teams wading

through puddles on Oct. 17.