Armwood Hawks preparing to fly high

Posted Aug 25, 2011 by Katherine Smith

Updated Aug 25, 2011 at 12:10 PM

Armwood’s game against Las Vegas’ Bishop Gorman High isn’t the only first for the program.

It’s the first game outside of Florida for the Hawks, but it also will include the first airplane ride for many players.

Armwood senior linebacker Eric Striker, who verbally committed to the University of Oklahoma earlier this summer, offered some advice for his teammates who have never flown before.

“I told them not to watch the movie “We Are Marshall,’’ ‘’ said Striker, in reference to the film about 75 members of the 1970 Marshall University football program that perished in a plane crash. “I told them to get ready for their ears popping and just float.’’

Callahan said of the 54 players, 35 have never flown and 10 have never stayed in a hotel. First time flights are one of several logistical problems Callahan is dealing with on this trip and that is why he reached out to other coaches who have been through experience, including Lakeland’s Bill Castle and Plant’s Robert Weiner.

“The first thing I told Sean was don’t do what we did,” Weiner said. “We lost the game.”