Mike Wade worked from morning until mid-afternoon Friday, sometimes in pouring rain, with a handful of booster-club buddies shaping up the Big Orange Jungle for Parkview’s opening game.
It’s about a six-hour job to set up tents and concession stands and to hang banners — two of them stretching 60 feet down light poles — for one of Georgia’s most famous high school football venues.
Wade hasn’t missed a Parkview game in 14 years. He has seen four champions and a 46-game winning streak at this Lilburn school. His son, Dustin, was the starting quarterback on the 2001 team whose star was Jeff Francoeur.
“It really hasn’t changed a lot,” Wade said. “We just haven’t had so many wins. There are new faces, but the attitude and community support hasn’t faded at all.”
But the fact remains, the king of Georgia football for much of the decade is down.
The Orange Jungle wasn’t as full Friday night as it was for almost every game of the winning streak from 2000 to 2003, but it was a healthy crowd on hand for the opener against Collins Hill that included eight wig-wearing students painted in orange with blue letters on their chests.
In years past, this might have been a walkover, but nothing comes as easy as it once did for Parkview. Most schools would be happy with making the playoffs each year, but for the past three, coach Cecil Flowe’s Panthers haven’t made it out of the first round.
“Nothing lasts forever,” said Flowe, who became Parkview’s coach in 1993 and brought the program to national prominence.
In 2005, Sports Illustrated named Parkview one of the top 10 sports schools in the country. The football team was the centerpiece. Through 2005 under Flowe, the Panthers’ record was 160-28.
“It was a great environment and a great group of kids, just a special time,” Flowe said. “They had the strength of numbers and people hungry to win a state champions. We went through a few groups that were not as hungry. It’s not that they didn’t try.”
Flowe points to a number of reasons why Parkview is merely good these days.
It’s no longer one of the bigger schools in Gwinnett, as the county’s growth has moved to the north.
The giant linemen that characterized the program don’t populate the student body the way they once did. The multi-sport stars such as Francoeur that made Parkview an all-sports power aren’t as common as they once were. More and more athletes are specializing in their sports.
As Parkview is changing, so is Flowe. Parkview once was the symbol of straight-ahead, power football with tough running teams and defenses.
On Friday against Gwinnett County-rival Collins Hill, Parkview frequently lined up in the shotgun and tried to pass on its first seven plays behind a nice-throwing quarterback named Kalik Barnes.
“Do we have the same size kids playing football now as 10 years ago? No. Does that mean we can’t be successful? No. But it means fitting our offense to our style of player,” Flowe said. “It runs in cycles. We’re cycling back into having some big kids again.”
But they’re young. Only three of Parkview’s 23 linemen are seniors.
This year’s Parkview team is expected to be a playoff team, but not a threat on the state level.
Meanwhile, Parkview still has a sparkle about it. Softball players were selling T-shirts titled “75 State Titles,” recognizing the school’s tradition in sports and academics.
The school’s girls soccer and boys track teams were honored for their 2009 state championships. About a dozen signs along Cole Road honor one state champion or another.
“We’ve still got good coaches, good community support and a good group of kids,” Wade said. “I’m sure we’ll win it again sooner or later. I don’t know if it will be this year or the next. But I think we’ll win it again.”
Produced by Georgia High School Football Daily
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