I know it’s only been a week…
By Karl Hawes
Connection Sports Editor

Yeah, I was the kid that would snoop around in the weeks leading up to Christmas because I couldn’t wait…… it’s hard to contain myself when I have anticipation boiling over.

So, with me getting my first taste of football this last week with both teams getting geared up for the season and attending media days for both schools, I want to give my very first impressions of our local teams.

First of all, let me be the first to say in print that Heritage has some sweet looking new uniforms.
I mean like an extra cup of sugar in the Kool-Aid sweet!
They are kind of a retro looking jersey, but they just pop out at you and make a nice presentation. I can’t wait to see them under the lights.
I don’t remember who said this, but “you have to look good to play good” or something like that.
Oh yeah, I just remembered, it was the great Mark Reid that said that.

Ok, next observation…..

I have always tried to keep a mental note in my head of a couple of guys that I would call if I were ever in the need of some “help” getting out of a situation.
Well, on Saturday that list was updated for me.
My two newest best friends are Jeremy Hildebrant and Joseph Newsom of the Patriots. If you haven’t seen these guys yet, don’t worry you will.
They may be two of the biggest guys in high school football this year. They are definitely two of the biggest in 1A.
Guys…..call me with your cell numbers; you will definitely be in my Favorite 5!

Next….

I watched White House practice the other day and I have to tell you, junior quarterback Trox Greenwade looked the part during practice. In my opinion, he was throwing the ball better than he did last year and looks to be poised to lead his team deep into the playoffs this year.
I know, I know, Coach Porter would tell me until I start making plays for his team, don’t start predicting what they are going to do.
So, in honor of that……Coach please do not read this next paragraph!

I will go on record right now saying that barring any major injuries, this team could be very special this year. They appeared to be loaded in their skilled positions and should have the upper classmen leadership to make a good run this year.

Nobody tell Coach Porter I said that!

The good problem to have…..

If White House has ever had two better quarterbacks in the same class as Trox Greenwade and Aussie Light, please let me know when it was. I’m sure some of you diehards out there will come up with some, but I have been around high school football for many years and it’s rare to have such quality in the same class.

Light would be a starting quarterback for a lot of other schools in the state. I have seen few high school quarterbacks in my day that has the arm strength that he does.

Next random thought…..

Am I the only one that fantasizes about what kind of team White House would have if they didn’t do that little split the county thing a few years ago?

I know we would be playing in a higher class and playing better teams, but just think about some of the talent the two schools have had in the last couple of years. You can’t tell me if they were all on the same team, it would not be as talented as or more so than bigger schools in the midstate.

Talk to you again next week and please get out and support BOTH teams when they take the field for real in just a couple of weeks.

Have a great week!

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Family travels around the world to reunite and play Patriot football

By Karl Hawes
Sports Editor
It’s not unusual for a high school football coach to inherit a player that wants to be a part of their football team, but has never played organized football before.

While it may not be too uncommon to find three players on a roster of 60 players like that, one thing is certain.

While kids have many different reasons for not playing organized football growing up, the three players that head coach Pat Brown has on his 2008 Heritage Patriots team, just may have the best reason of all.
They had never heard or seen football as we know it here in White House. Why is that?

That is because they grew up 4,000 miles away in a country that only knew what futbol is, that country being Russia.

The fact that two brothers on the team became three when a cousin joined is a great story, how they got to White House is an even better story.

In May of 2004, Debbie Smith and her husband, along with their children welcomed Jacob and Ethan along with their younger sister Yana into their family as the couple adopted the siblings from Russia.

“It was a little crazy at first,” said Preston Matthews, Patriot football player and newest brother to the siblings. “We went from five people in the house to eight in a very short time. It took a lot of time to adjust.”

That adjustment time included Preston helping Jacob and Ethan learn the basics of the American culture. The siblings knew no English when they arrived to their new home.

“We would communicate through a computer,” Matthews said. “It would translate the words for us, so we could understand what each other was saying.”

“The hardest part of being here was learning the language,” admitted Ethan Smith. “We didn’t know how to say anything in English. Preston was very helpful in our learning.”

One of the things that Preston shared with his new brothers was his love of football and encouraged them to play along side him. However, being from Russia, they didn’t know much about American football.

“In Russia there was only soccer, I couldn’t understand why they were calling it football and they were using there hands so much,” Smith conceded. “All we knew about American football was that they tackle each other, but nothing about the rules.” Once the Smith brothers learned the game, they started to share their brother’s passion for the game and worked to be better football players.

One other thing that Ethan and Jacob were passionate about was something that they couldn’t be taught in America.

That passion was for their cousin that was still in Russia. Ethan and Jacob had been in the same children’s home as their cousin Alexei, but were separated when they came to White House.

That’s when Debbie Smith’s sister, Terri Johnson came into the picture.

Johnson started the process of trying to adopt Alexei, but that effort was derailed at the start when Alexei was already slated to be adopted by an American family in Arizona.

However, Johnson’s efforts to get Alexei would prove not to go in vain as she was finally able to complete the adoption process in August of 2005.

Now, after 15 months of being apart, Alexei was able to be reunited with his cousins, but this time in White House with a family of his own.

“It was a huge surprise for me to be able to come here with them,” Alexei said. “I thought I was going to another family, but in the end I got to be here with them. That made all the ups and downs of the process worth it.”

Once Alexei joined his cousins in White House, it didn’t take them long to convince Alexei that American football was something he needed to try as well. They also had a lot of help from Alexei’s new American brother and fellow Patriot player Grant Johnson, who encouraged Alexei to give football a try.

Alexei was already a standout soccer player for Heritage and was an important part of Heritage’s run to the State Tournament earlier this year.

“I had played soccer in Russia, but I didn’t know anything about football.” Johnson admitted. “I didn’t understand the game at all when I first got here.”

However, Johnson eventually found his way to the football team and will take care of the punting duties this year for the Patriots.

Now the Patriots roster has three Russian born players on it.

Not bad for a group of guys that had never seen a football until they landed in White House.

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WHHS vs. Heritage
By Karl Hawes
For the first time in the two schools history, White House High School will face off against Heritage in a regular season varsity match-up.

The Lady Blue Devils will host Heritage on September 30th when the two teams will meet for a soccer game.

The only prior meeting between the two schools came three years ago when they faced each other in a Holiday basketball tournament. White House was victorious in that match-up.

The decision was made after Heritage head coach Carrie Cayce contacted Mike Felzien, the head coach for White House.

“I think Heritage has proved that they have a quality program, “Felzien said. “They have some great athletes there and they just keep getting more every year and getting better each year.”

Even though White House and Heritage are both in Class A/AA in soccer, the way the regions and brackets work out, they would have to both reach the State Tournament before they would ever meet each other in the regular season.

That was until Cayce and Felzien agreed to this game.

“I think it will be good for both schools to get a healthy rivalry started,” Felzien said. “We have a lot of respect for their program and look forward to playing them. I think it’s something that could bring people out that may have not otherwise come to a soccer game.”

Heritage Athletic Director Mike Petroni agrees with Felzien..

“It was eventually going to happen at some point,” Petroni said. “It should be a great gate for the game and that benefits both teams in the end. It will get some people to the game that wouldn’t have come otherwise.”

The battle of White House will be played September 30th at White House High School.