[6/5/04]As a child, Chase Sones was more into horses than pigskin.

He loved to ride the animals, and hadn’t even watched a football game before stepping into Warren Central’s fieldhouse as a wide-eyed eighth-grader.

Sones learned the game quickly, though, and became a trusted hand in the Viking football machine. Now, with his days at WC over and a bright future at Mississippi State ahead, Sones is representing the Vikings one last time at today’s Mississippi-Alabama All-Star game in Mobile.

He won’t be suiting up, though. He’ll be helping other players do it as one of two equipment managers for the Mississippi squad.

“It’s a little easier down here. Everything is abbreviated,” said Sones, the only Warren County representative at this year’s all-star game. “All of the administration stuff is taken care of by the administrative coaches. It runs a lot smoother here than at Warren Central.”

Sones had no experience with football when former WC coach Robert Morgan pulled him aside after class one day and asked him to be a team manager.

Sones had never played football, never tried out, and never even watched a game. Still, it was a way to get out of a few classes at the end of the day and a new hobby to try when he had gotten tired of the horses.

“It was an exit strategy for the horses,” Sones said with a laugh. “I had never given it a moment’s thought.”

It didn’t take long for Sones to excel at his new trade. He learned the ropes from several outstanding managers who preceded him, and will join them in the equipment room at Mississippi State next year.

By his senior year at WC, Sones was in charge of nearly the entire operation. From packing for road trips to issuing gear, he kept the team running smoothly.

“When we got to a game, (equipment) was already there,” WC coach Curtis Brewer said. “We never checked on him … I don’t believe we would entrust it to someone we didn’t think was responsible enough to handle it. He was.”

Strangely, Sones’ efforts over the years have earned him an unusual place in WC history.

Safety Jason Williams, who will play in the Bernard Blackwell Classic in July, is Morgan’s last all-star. But it’s Sones, the hardworking equipment manager, who will be the coach’s final representative in the Mississippi-Alabama game.

“It’s kind of ironic, but I guess it ends my career on a good note,” Sones said.