News-Sentinel, The (Fort Wayne, IN)

November 4, 2000

SNIDER WINS SECTIONAL, THANKS TO SOME HELP FROM UNLIKELY HEROES A SLENDER GIRL AND
A SLOW-FOOTED BOY MADE THE DIFFERENCE.
REGGIE HAYES, RHAYES@NEWS-SENTINEL.COM

This story is for all the girls who were told they couldn't play a boys' game.
It's also for all the big and heavy boys who never had the chance to score a
touchdown.

It's not about bitter revenge, but of sweet rewards. This is a tale of two
outsiders who seized their football moments. Theirs were separate moments - as
different as a thin girl and a beefy boy - but intertwined nonetheless.

Lindsey Deason, a 145-pound soccer player who boldly entered the testosterone-
filled world of high school football, prepared for her moment all season. Greg
Wagner, a 275-pound lifetime lineman, had only a few seconds to identify and act
upon his.

They each played a pivotal role in Snider's 24-21 win over Homestead in the Class
5A sectional championship Friday night at Homestead.

It's not a stretch to say both were inspiring.

Let's start at the end, where Deason hears the call she's been waiting for since
August. The score is 21-21. The fourth-quarter clock is dwindling. A few ticks
over five minutes remain. Snider's drive has stalled. Coach Russ Isaacs barks for
the field-goal unit.

Deason has been warming up the entire game. Or all season, depending on how you
look at it.

``They told me since I started this that there would be a game that came down to
that,'' Deason said. ``It's been in the back of my mind ever since I started in
the summer.''

``In the third quarter, there was 18 seconds left and I looked up at the clock and
I just knew it was going to come down to a field goal,'' she said. ``At that
point, I started preparing myself for what I'd have to do.''

Deason trots onto the field, her hair tucked in her helmet, her mind telling her
heart to get out of her throat. Not only must she line up for the possible game-
winning field-goal, but it's a 34-yard attempt, longer than she has ever made
outside of practice.

The pressure's hardly new. Deason is the first girl to play football at tradition-
rich Snider and probably the first girl to play high school football at any Fort
Wayne school. She proved her ability, kicking four field goals, making 43 of 44
extra points and earning All-Summit Athletic Conference honors.

This particular scenario is new, however. Game in the balance. Season on the line.

``I knew it was going to have to be a strong kick,'' she said. ``Other than that,
I tried to clear everything - the game, the score, everything - and just try to
put it through.''
You know the happy ending.

She puts it through.

``This season has been great,'' Deason said. ``I couldn't have asked for anything
better.''

Wagner, on the other hand, has been asking for a break all season. He's been
pestering Snider running back coach Terry Burton to give him a shot at fullback,
to put him in the full-house formation and let him run the football.

Wagner's request was partly in jest. He has been a lineman since sixth grade, the
preordained locale for the strongest and heaviest boys on the football team.
``I've always been a hog,'' he said.

He knows the big boys' burden: Clear the way so the skilled players can run to the
end zone, soak up the cheers and read their names in the newspaper. Wagner knows
Burton isn't going to turn him into Refrigerator Perry, even for a day. ``He
usually looks at me and walks away,'' Wagner said.

So how sweet it is, then, that the most bizarre play of the game, and maybe the
season, ends with Wagner carrying the ball into the end zone.

Here's the play: Wagner's on defense with about 15 seconds left in the first half.
The score is 14-14. Homestead's Mike Rhinehart, the Purdue-bound quarterback,
throws a pass which ricochets off his receiver's hands and is intercepted by
Brandon Logan. Logan cuts across field and fumbles. Snider's Will Billingsley
picks up Logan's fumble.

``Then this Homestead guy came through and was tackling him, and I just pulled the
ball out and took off,'' Wagner said. ``(Billingsley) was going down, he had it in
his arms and I pulled it out.''

Wagner takes off down the sidelines, his No. 77 representing hordes of No. 77s
before him and more yet to come. He covers 41 yards at an earthshaking rate that
could conceivably have been measured by sundial. But no one catches him. Snider
has the halftime lead and the momentum, and linemen everywhere have a moment to
gloat.

``I was kind of worried, you know,'' Wagner said. ``I was thinking, `Where are
those fast guys at?' ''

It's a good question. The fast guys usually get all the breaks.

But this game, and this story, is one for the outsiders. This is for the girls who
were told to get lost and the boys who were told to recognize their limitations.

Sports heroes, we're reminded again, come in all shapes and sizes.

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