Wednesday, August 28, 2002

Heavy rains, lightning cancel final FIU Football walkthrough

n final preparation for Thursday's inaugural FIU football game against Saint Peter's, head coach Don Strock lined his team up and ran them onto the field through the stadium tunnel. But just as stretching prior to the team's final walkthrough, a severe lightning storm sent players running for cover.

About 45 minutes later, Strock called it a day.

Afterwards, the head coach talked about the uniqueness of starting a brand new intercollegiate program.

"I'm a little relieved that it's only a day away," said Strock. "It's been a lot of work, but the staff has done a great job putting it all together. The players have been practicing for more than a year now with really nothing to look forward to as far as games.

"But they hung with us. Last spring, we started to see the light at the end of the tunnel and now, we're ready to go."

Strock readily admits that Saint Peter's will be a difficult task for his young Golden Panthers but insists that his team will make a good effort.

"I've told our kids a million times that if you go out and play hard for the full game, good things will happen. You can't take a couple of plays off or begin to feel sorry for yourself. Hey, there's highs and lows in every game. You have to keep it on an even keel, win, lose or draw-that's the keys to success."

A handful of FIU players will be unavailable Thursday with injuries. Diamos Demerritt (ACL), Dravien Jones (Achilles' tendon), Chaz Jiminez (knee) and Ed Leverenz (shoulder) are lost for the season, while Jermell Weaver (ACL), Titorian Freeman (hamstring) and Patrick Lewin (ankle) will not play vs. Saint Peter's.

But the Golden Panthers also got some good news with academic holds cleared on defensive back Kevin Timothee and defensive end Payton Williams. Both were expected to be starters entering camp but not having practiced for the last week, the amount of time they'll see Thursday is uncertain.

One other item of note is that running back Tori Robinson was given a clean bill of health by team trainers and has moved ahead of Rashod Smith on the depth chart at the running back position.

Athletic director Rick Mello reported that as of 3:00 p.m. Wednesday afternoon, a total of 13,733 tickets had been distributed for Thursday's game against Saint Peter's. Of those, more than 5,700 FIU students have picked up tickets for the inaugural contest.