SACCO: Another thing done together

They even helped each other out on their own personal signing day.

That’s how close the bond between Waynesboro’s Jacob Lipscomb and Chaz Crews is.

Lipscomb, sounding more like a doctor-to-be than a collegiate lineman in waiting, was dressed in a black shirt and orange tie to match the colors of West Virginia Wesleyan and Crews, wearing a white tie and a baby blue shirt for Glenville State.

But what else do you expect from two guys who fight in the trench wars on a football field? Two guys who are usually face first on the ground while the running back, using the hole they opened up for him, scampers off to pay dirt and for-a-minute glory.

Nobody ever said life on the line was fun-filled stroll through the park, it’s more like walking up Afton with a 20-pound rock strapped to your back — in that situation good friends can always come in handy.

But it’s in those tough, underappreciated circumstances where friendships are born and brothers are made — not through bloodlines, but through a common goal.  So, when Crews realized he didn’t have a shirt-and-tie combo that matched his future college team, finding the ensemble on short notice wasn’t a problem.

“For me, it was easy,” Crews said as he pointed toward Lipscomb. “Because he had it.”

Lipscomb laughed. The whole room laughed, actually. Then Lipscomb told all who were there why he chose the Bobcats.

“You’ll always know what school is best for you when you feel it in your heart,” he said. “I felt it there. That’s where I wanted to make home and where I want to spend the next four years of my life.”

The pair’s colors didn’t match, but their intentions were the same.

After the hubbub of Wednesday’s big-time Division I signings, the two Little Giants squeezed themselves, 12 family members and a few school administrators in a too-small-office and put their signatures to play for the two West Virginia Division II schools. Just like most things, they signed the papers together, almost in unison. Just like most things, while they’ll be apart, they’ll both be in the same conference.

Even how close they’ll be played a role in their decision, another reason why Chaz is heading to Glenville.

“It’s suited me, being small and every thing right there and together,” he said. “And not being far away from him helped out seeing how we’re best friends and all.”

Crews’ mother, Dana Van Fossen, is a single mom and has been sick for the past two years. A surgery, she said, “didn’t go so well,” and as she left the office at high school, she walked with a weak limp. Looking tired. Looking spent. Crews picked up the slack, she said, when she got sick.

She looked back at her son when asked if she was proud he was heading off to college.

“Oh, yes,” she said. “Very proud.”

She spoke softly.

Part of it had to be emotions. As Crews signed his letter, his mother rubbed his knee, smiled and leaned in close to whisper something in his ear.

“She said when I leave for college she’s going to have a nervous breakdown,” Crews said as he shot a glance out the door and toward his mother. “Me and my mom are really close. I’m going to miss her. She’s a good person.”

The two pals stayed in the room as it cleared out. There were more questions to answer.

They did that together as well.