Crusading On The Gridiron
About two years ago, a former Hampton Roads football star was looking to regain a sense of gridiron glory. After playing linebacker for a state title squad at Heritage in high school, and Pennsylvania's Lafayette College to some division titles, he'd come home, and become a case worker for a local youth education group.
Still, Dion Whiterspoon missed tossing around lineman and taking down running backs and quarterbacks. He missed the cheers of the crowd, and his teammates, roaring as they heard the sound of his pads colliding with an unfortunate ball carrier.
Then Whiterspoon learned of the Virginia Crusaders, a local semipro squad. They'd gone 4-7 the year before, but that wasn't bad for their first year of existence. He headed to the West Hampton Community Center to learn more about the team that would help him take the next step in his career.
"It's all about the love of the sport," he said. "If I had an opportunity to play football, I was definitely going out for it."
Back in the familiar world of linebacking corps, Whiterspoon felt right at home - after a while.
"I was a little bit winded and out of shape," he said, "but after a few days, I started getting back into the groove of things, and running around again. The coaches gave me a little bit of responsibility as a leader. I got to call plays on defense. I got the feeling back that I had when I was in college and high school."
The feeling spread across the squad - the Crusaders kept winning, roaring into the top 20 rankings of the country.
The first year, said safety Isaac Powell, "was a stepping stone. We made it to the playoffs, and we kept stepping. We dig and dig, and that's why I keep coming back." He's been with the team since its inception.
"We never stop playing hard," Powell said. "Everybody's mindset is on winning, not fighting and bickering. It's all chemistry; we're a family."
Family togetherness was all over the board - the team roared all the way to Miami for the D-1 national championship. That's when the Crusaders' collective heart was broken by D.C. Explosion, which beat them in double overtime for the national title.
But Whiterspoon, Powell (himself a Woodside alumnus), and the rest of the team was back for this season, raring to re-start what many of them did in high school, and make it back to the top of the semipro ranks.
"This is for the love of the game," said Warwick alumnus Scorpio Brown, whose older brother Elton plays for Arizona in the NFL. "Some of the guys on our team, I played against in high school. This is like a Peninsula All-Star team."
Taking a break from quarterbacking duties at practice, Garcia Whigham discussed his hopes for his football future.
"If I can go to play arena from here, or go to college, I'll be blessed," said the former Menchville star. "(Playing quarterback) is hard, but it's fun at the same time, because there's a lot of people looking up to me. We're doing real good, and I have my team behind me."
Off near the sidelines, coach Larry Stith watched his men prepare for battle; the team's next home game is Aug. 23 against Washington, at Yorktown's Bailey Field Football Stadium on George Washington Memorial Highway.
"We just keep on moving along in a well-rounded program," Stith said. "We have a great coaching staff, and the athletes that are coming aboard are great. We have some great athletes from Warwick, Denbigh, Hampton, everywhere."
There's a certain linebacker who's glad he came back.
"Once I started playing again, I can't see myself stopping," Whiterspoon said. "I'll probably be a 50-year-old man out here. Football is life. Ever since I was a little kid, watching TV, going to the game, playing little league, I've always been around the game. I'll always be around the game, even if I'm coaching. We've got some new faces and some veterans returning, and we've been working a lot harder. There's a lot more focused mindset, and guys who want to win more."
