HEATHER NOLAN
Published 12:44 pm, Saturday, October 11, 2008
PORT NECHES – Justice Lloyd takes his job seriously.
As “The Indian Spirit” for Port Neches-Groves High School, before every football game Lloyd, 18, covers his face in purple and white paint, puts on a purple and white feather headdress, grabs his coup stick and gets ready to excite the crowd.
“I hate to call myself a cheerleader, but that’s essentially what I am,” Lloyd said. “I pump everybody up.”
Friday night was what Lloyd called his most important night of the season because it was the first night he performed his “Cherokee Dance” at PN-G’s new $10.2 million stadium.
The press box wasn’t complete and the video component of the score board wasn’t working, but Indian fans still were excited about the debut.
Groves resident Angus Lunceford – who’s had four season tickets since 1956 – put The Reservation’s renovation in the same category as the time PN-G played in Texas Stadium in the ’70s.
“Everybody’s been looking forward to this” Lunceford, 72, said. “Once they finish the press box, it will really be state of the art.”
A few rows up, Doris Webb and Mary Sansom shared a box of popcorn and their thoughts on the Indians’ new field.
The two graduated from PN-G, in 1955 and 1971, respectively, and noted how nicely the field was painted.
It looked much different from Webb’s days at PN-G, where she was a member of the Indianettes, she said.
Sansom noted that the aisles now have railings, so it’s easier to walk up and down the steps. Good thing, because the rows now are steeper than in the old stadium.
After spending a few minutes on the field, Lloyd boasted about how nice the turf field felt under his feet.
Although he did admit that he was looking forward to the day a smooth surface would replace the rocky concrete surrounding the field, since that’s where he does most of his cheering.
“I don’t mind working hard,” he said. “But my feet are starting to hurt.”
