By RITA SAVARD, Sun Staff
Lowell Sun

GROTON -- For four years, Jake Manning walked the halls of Groton-Dunstable High School wearing the Ayer High Panther logo.

No one held it against the star quarterback. After all, the two schools share the same football team.

Now Manning is sporting a new look -- a Groton-Dunstable Youth Football jersey. A high school senior, Manning will never score a touchdown wearing a Crusaders uniform, but with more than 110 kids registered in Groton-Dunstable's first youth football league, the 18-year-old Dunstable resident predicts a future full of Friday night lights for his successors.

"A lot of people want to see football at the high school sooner rather than later," said Manning, who dedicated his senior project to turning the dream into reality. Senior projects are a graduation requirement, calling on each student to research and take action on their chosen topic.

By contacting other schools and interviewing coaches, Manning brainstormed some unique approaches for promotions and fundraising campaigns. The senior wanted to put one question to rest: Could Groton-Dunstable High have its own football team?

If townspeople from Groton and Dunstable get involved, Manning says bringing football to the high school could be as likely as his beloved Patriots winning another Super Bowl -- a sure thing.

"If people want to see football in the community, they really need to support youth football," said Manning, who this fall was selected as a Sun All-Star for his standout quarterback season at Ayer. "My experience at Ayer was awesome. But it is kind of weird in the hallways, when you see soccer or basketball players walking around in Crusader shirts and (the football players) are wearing Panthers jackets."

When Manning started playing football for the Panthers during freshman year, he was one of 16 students from Groton-Dunstable who had a parent drive him to the Ayer field for practice every day after school. Last fall, the number of players had climbed to 25 and a school bus was provided to get them to Ayer.

In the past three years, according to Groton-Dunstable Athletic Director Dan Twomey, interest in football has steadily gained momentum. After conducting an in-school survey, Twomey found students overwhelmingly supported the idea. Twomey presented the concept of a Crusaders football team to the School Committee in January, who extended their support but added that funding from the school district's thin operating budget was not an option. The money for a start-up team, at the youth and high school level, costs around $75,000. Twomey is hoping to raise the funds through public and private donations.

"For us to pursue football at the high school level, there needed to be a youth football or feeder program," said Twomey. "It really comes down to the need and want of the students."

The number of students who flooded the roster on registration day speaks volumes, according to David Howes, president of the newly formed Groton-Dunstable Youth Football and Cheerleading Association.

"We're on our way to a successful first season," said Howes. "We had over 100 kids register, enough for one team in each division."

There were also 22 sign-ups for cheerleading, which Howes predicted will gain in popularity once kids see others in action this fall.

"Jake and his teammates are the top underlying reasons why starting this now is so important," said Howes. "Being involved in the game helped them develop into the well-rounded kids that they are. These are the kind of kids you want to model the program after."

From investigating adequate field space to locker rooms, Manning made a detailed list of what was needed. His suggestions to help sustain a football program are part of the spirit that eventually will help manifest a real team, Howes said. Ideas with staying power include getting a local supermarket to raffle off a cart full of groceries, with ticket sales feeding program costs, and persuading a local restaurant to offer up a dish called the Crusader, with one dollar from each order going to football.

With enough local support, Manning believes his younger brother, Matt, who is currently in seventh grade, could someday walk the halls of Groton-Dunstable in a Crusaders shirt. This year, Matt will be throwing the pigskin in the new youth football league.

"It's about creating a feeling that people want to be a part of," Manning said. "Adults, kids, everybody getting together, all having the common link of seeing a football program come to life."