Tom Archdeacon

October 23, 2008

DAYTON — The University of Dayton football team has given up less than one sack per game this season, but the other night Flyers quarterback Rob Florian — no matter which way he turned, twisted or stretched — found himself hemmed in by two guys from the other team.

Colin Wilson and Zack York of the Monroe Hornets pressed Florian far more than any defender from Davidson, Drake or Central State has been able to do this year.

But then that's what "Tuesday Night Lights" are all about.

Most Tuesday nights of the season, the Flyers invite area youth league teams to join their practices at Welcome Stadium. That's how the Monroe sixth-grade team and the Black Eagles, a flag football team of 7- to 9-year-olds from the Kettering YMCA, found themselves side by side with the college guys Tuesday night, Oct. 21.

"Coach (Rick) Chamberlin gives them a pep talk and then they go on the field and warm up with the team," said Stacey Ferranti, a UD junior who's interning with the athletic department. "It's an opportunity for them to be a part of our family and have fun, too."

And did they ever.

The Hornets — with their gold pants and blue jerseys over their pads — arrived before anyone else, and as soon as they stepped onto the plush, new artificial turf at Welcome, they acted, well, like kids.

Somersaults into the end zone, zig-zagging sprints across the field, whoops, hollers and lots of laughter.

The younger Kettering kids, who play on a grass field next to the YMCA, arrived next and were in awe.

"Most of these kids have never been on turf," said their coach, Scott Saad, a UD middle linebacker himself once. "This is a big thing for them to be inside a college stadium."

They were part of the Flyers fold, as well, said Chamberlin.

"Tonight, you guys aren't just Monroe Hornets or Black Eagles," the coach said in his from-the-heart talk. "You're in our place. You're part of our team. You're Dayton Flyers."

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