THE BIG GAME / PATRICK HENRY-CRAWFORD : Before Game Wasn’t Right Time to Diet

Although Crawford High’s mistakes kept it off the scoreboard in its opener at Sweetwater last week, Chuck Faucette, Crawford’s first-year football coach, still held hope when he looked up late in the third quarter and saw his team was trailing by only 7-0.

Maybe things were too tight, because at that point, Crawford players started going down with muscle cramps. Not just one or two players, but more than a quarter of the team.

“At one point we almost ran out of people,” Faucette said. “We (the coaches) had to run out onto the field and say, ‘You can’t come out, son, there’s nobody else to go into the game.’ ”

Sure enough, Sweetwater began taking advantage of Crawford’s misfortune and tucked away a 20-0 victory.

So early this week, Faucette tried to figure out how to prevent the same thing from happening when the Colts play at Patrick Henry tonight at 7:30. The quirk is that the home team is busing in. Crawford also plays its home games at Patrick Henry.

What Faucette came up with was the idea of a team pregame meal. It seems few of Crawford’s players ate before the opener, fearing food would not mix with the butterflies. The lack of sustenance, Faucette reasoned, contributed to the muscle cramps.

The meal might help, but Faucette knows the main factor was sheer fatigue. He brought only 23 players with him to Sweetwater, six of whom had to leave because of cramps. This week, there may be 25 (including quarterback Phil Parker, who missed the Sweetwater game because of an injured knee), but that’s roughly half the 44 to 50 players Patrick Henry Coach Jerry Varner will suit.

Beyond fatigue and cramps, Faucette must also concern himself with Patrick Henry quarterback Luke Lowrey. He was the county’s second-best passer last year with an average of 212.6 yards per game. Last week, Lowrey was 13 for 20 for 217 yards and two touchdowns in a 14-0 victory over Granite Hills.

The Colts will defend Patrick Henry’s passing attack not with a strong rush but with a speedy secondary. Strong safety Chris LeChance (11 tackles, 10 solo, against Sweetwater) and cornerbacks Lamont Horton and James Hester will try to keep Lowrey from hooking up with tight end David Paul and wide receivers Brent Dulin and Eddie Jabbour.