FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
            NFL                 9/6/01                                CONTACT: STEVE ALIC, NFL,
                                                                                                       212/450-2066; alics@nfl.com

NFLHS.COM GOES INSIDE HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL AT T.C. WILLIAMS
H.S. IN ALEXANDRIA, VA. AND HASTINGS H.S. IN WESTCHESTER COUNTY, N.Y.

Throughout the high school football season, NFLHS.com, the NFL’s official high school football web site, will take fans into the bright lights of Friday evenings with the programs of T.C. Williams High School in Alexandria, Va., and Hastings-on-Hudson High School in Hastings-on-Hudson, N.Y. Although the programs’ differences are many, the schools’ players are unified in one thing -- their love for the sport.

A pair of NFLHS.com writers will chronicle each program and post reports on alternating Wednesdays giving comprehensive accounts of the high school football experience in environments unique to each other. The first NFLHS.com report will be posted on Wednesday, Sept. 12 and will cover the T.C. Williams team. Hastings-on-Hudson High School will make its NFLHS.com debut on Wednesday, Sept. 19. The alternating Wednesday coverage will run through the length of the teams’ seasons.

The T.C. Williams Titans, profiled in the hit movie “Remember the Titans,” uphold a glittering history (three-time state champions) with a large enrollment of 2,030 students. However, the school has had five coaches in the last 10 years and has not had a winning season since 1990. They were 1-9 in 2000. This fall, the Titans have received an attitude adjustment under three-time Super Bowl champion Riki Ellison, who played linebacker for the San Francisco 49ers (1983-89) and Oakland Raiders (1990-92). In his first coaching job of any kind, the energy around Ellison brought 200 players to opening practices and a feeling of excitement around the school’s community.

Ellison took 60 players from the inner city to Fort Pickett in Blackstone, Va., for a week of camp at the end of August without amenities such as televisions or telephones. “The goal is giving kids opportunities who have not had opportunities,” Ellison said. “They have not had male role models, they have not had mentoring, and we’re giving them an opportunity, an open door and a window. We want to prepare them for life through the lessons of football.”

Hastings-on-Hudson High School in Westchester County, N.Y., has a modest enrollment of 455 students with hopes of repeating as a league champion. Last year, the Yellow Jackets surged to the Class D Section 1 League title with a 6-2 record for the team’s first championship since 1963.  Now the program faces a new challenge as the school’s male population grew by a handful of students to push them into the next class according to the enrollment rules. Hastings-on-Hudson will now play in Class C against much larger schools.

“We’re starting this year coming off a championship season," said Hastings’ Head Coach Joe Vaccaro. “It’s a great feeling and helps establish a positive mindset. Our challenge of course is that we are now playing in Class C which is a new level for us and which will be that much more difficult. However, I have confidence in this team that everyone will give his best effort and if you start there, anything is possible.”

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