The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, September 30, 2005, Page B3, Image 11
familiar/’
faces
Crofoots ‘snap’ together, making
SEC showdown a family affair
. Jonathan Hillyard
SPORTS EDITOR
Todd J. Van Ernst /The Associated Press
*
. . . Unlike some of the aforementioned
Brothers anticipate famous football-playing families, the
emotional meeting Crofoots play a quiet but vital role in
on Auburn gridiron At USC, junior Ike Crofoot is in
his third season as the Gamecocks’
The Gramatica family to kicking. long snapper. At Auburn, where USC
The Manning family to passing. The will travel this weekend, senior Chas
^fcjMoss family to catching. And the Crofoot is one of the Tigers’ long
^Crofoot family to ... snapping? snappers.
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“Coach (Lou Holtz) asked one day
if anyone wants to try snapping,” Ike
Crofoot said this week, “and I did it
then and I’ve done it ever since.”
Ike, one year younger than his
brother Chas, came to Carolina as a
walk-on in 2003. He played
quarterback his senior year at First
Academy in Windermere, Fla., and
wanted to give major college football
a shot.
“I’d rather come here and have a
chance to play in front of these
people than go to a small school,” Ike
said.
The Gamecock snapper visited
smaller schools such as West Point,
Harvard, Yale and Princeton before
deciding he wanted to play in the
SEC. As a true freshman, he
impressed coaches and won the
starting punt-snapper job.
Chas, also a quarterback in high
school, hadn’t planned on playing
major college football until he saw the
noise his litde brother was making in
Columbia. He tried out as a walk-on
his freshman year but didn’t make the
team.
Before the 2004 season, he got a
call from one of the Auburn coaches
saying that they needed a snapper, so
Chas decided to give it another shot.
More than a year later, Chas has
started 14 games at field goal and
extra point snapper.
As a senior at First Academy, Chas
threw for 1,400 yards and 16
touchdowns, 11 of which came to
little brother Ike.
On Saturday, for the first time ever,
the two will be on opposite sides of
the field.
“I’m sure I’ll punch him in the
stomach and slap him in the face, and
he’ll do the same to me,” Chas said.
With more than 30 friends and
family members coming to the game
this weekend, the Crofoot family is
excited, but the question is, who is the
better long snapper?
“I’d say I definitely have the edge
over him (in snapping),” Chas said.
Ike didn’t seem to agree. “Nah,” he
said with a smile.
Ike and Chas are not the only
Crofoots who have mastered the art of
long snapping. Three other younger
brothers have played football and
have been long snappers.
Clayton Crofoot, 17, is a freshman
at Auburn this year and will probably
be a long snapper after Chas
graduates, Ike said. Ike and Chas said
that Clayton, at 6 feet 5 inches tall, is
probably the most athletic of the
family. Younger brothers John, 15,
and Kyle, 12, are long snappers for
their respective middle school and
Pop Warner football teams. Butch
Rowley, the Crofoots’ cousin, is set to
become Florida’s long snapper in the
next year.
The Crofoot boys’ long snapping
origins come from their father, Kroy,
a close friend of Holtz.
During a conversation years ago,
Holtz told Kroy that “there’s always a
spot on the bus for a long snapper.”
The father took it to heart and taught
his sons the very unique way of
getting to play major college football.
“He can probably teach snapping
better than anybody in the United
States,” Ike said. “Pretty much
everyone that’s wanted to work on it
he’s put into a college.”
- SETTLING OLD SCORES -
Irons finally gets chance at payback
Jonathan Hillyard
SPORTS EDITOR
When Kenny Irons left USC in
winter 2003, few Gamecock fans
thought he would be missed. A season
later, missed would be an
understatement.
The Carolina rushing game has
been almost nonexistent this year
without the suspended Cory Boyd
and the dismissed Demetris
Summers, the main reason Irons left.
“They wanted him to be that guy,
and I felt there was no room for me at
the university,” Irons said this week.
“One thing that really caught my eye
was (former running backs) coach
(Dave) Roberts really stressed my
blocking. He always said if you want to
play this position you got to be able to
block ... Demetris comes along, not
that great of a blocker, but coach was so
impressed and it kind of blew me away
and he said ‘I don’t care if he could
block as long as he can run the ball.’”
After carrying the ball only five
times for 19 yards during the 2003
season, Irons decided it was time for
him to move on.
“Me and Lou (Holtz) sat in the
office, and we talked. He said, ‘Irons,
you’re a great athlete, and we want you
to be a part of this team,”’ Irons said.
“He said ‘stay during spring ball, and if
you don’t like it, then you can leave.’”
Irons decided to pass on the offer,
and after being permitted to transfer,
the Dacula, Ga., native decided to go
to Auburn, where his brother Davis
was a cornerback.
“Coach (Tuberville) gave me a
second chance at being able to play
ball, so that’s a great thing,” Irons
said.
After sitting out a year, Irons began
the 2005 season buried in the Auburn
depth chart. The Tigers lost their
season opener to Georgia Tech, but in a
game against the Ball State Cardinals,
Irons finally got his shot. The former
Carolina back carried the ball 11 times
against Ball State, gaining 147 yards in
the first half. Last weekend against
Western Kentucky, Irons continued to
sizzle, carrying 18 times for 111 yards.
The junior is averaging 6.8 yards per
carry in 2005.
Now, he turns his attention to the
team that spurned him two years ago,
a team with a poor run defense in
danger of losing three-straight
conference games.
But Irons’ experiences at USC were
not all negative. In the past week, he
has had conversations with Gamecock
linebacker Ricardo Hurley, former
Carolina receiver Troy Williamson
and defensive tackle Stanley Doughty.
“Sometimes you wish he was still
here, but at the same time you wish
him the best,” USC linebacker Lance
Laury said. “We’re gonna have to get
after him this week, but we’ll still be
buddies after the game.”
Comments on this story? E-mail
gamecocksportsdPgwm. sc. edu
Todd J. Van trnst 11 he Associated l*ress
Former USC running back Kenny Irons will line up on the Auburn sideline.
LOSinG STREAK • COflTinUGD PROIT1B2
Mitchell. Mitchell’s high ankle sprain
will give redshirt freshman Antonio
Heffner the start at quarterback.
The only experience Heffner has in
an away game is when he took one
snap in the Georgia game and carried
the ball for a 12-yard gain.
PWith Heffner’s inexperience, crowd
1 noise could be a problem while the
team is on offense, but Spurrier does
not see it that way.
1 h doesnt matter how loud it is at
Auburn, Spurrier said. “We’re just
going to get somebody loose and see
what happens.”
Heffner has confidence in himself
and his team coming into his first
start.
“We just prepare for the game,”
Heffner said. “We know what needs
to be done, so we do it.”
Spurrier said junior wide receiver
Syvelle Newton “knows some of the
plays and might bej used in an
“Freshman year it was a little bit nerve
racking. But now you just go out there and
focus. I don’t even look at the crowd when I
run out of the tunnel.”
IKE CROFOOT
Junior long snapper
emergency.” Newton brings the same
rushing threat Heffner brings to the
quarterback position, and he knows
what it is like to play in an intimidating
environment. Last season, Newton
came into the game as quarterback at
Vanderbilt and Alabama, and he started
at Florida and Clemson.
The Gamecocks will have to be
ready to play from the moment the
game starts until the game’s end.
Auburn is 3-1 on the season and has
yet to play away from home. Their
single loss came at Georgia Tech in
their season opener. Concentration
v^ll be a key for USC. ,
“Freshman year it was a little bit
nerve-racking,” Crofoot said. “But
now you just go out there and focus. I
don’t even look at the crowd when I
run out of the tunnel. ”
With a three-game road losing
streak on the line, the Gamecocks will
be trying to win their first road game
since October of last year. A win
against Auburn would not only snap
that streak but would keep Spurrier
from losing three conference games in
a row for the first time ever.
Comments on this story? E-mail
, gamecocksports@gwm.sc.edu
Head Coach
J Tommy Tubervill
jrence
zuu<« Record
13-0 (9-0) SEC
Home Stadium
Jordan-Hare Stadium
Graphic illustration by Laura-Joyce Gough / TH B GAMECOCK