A highly anticipated game between Winston-Salem State University and Virginia Union on Saturday raises many questions.
Do the Rams have what it takes to knock off the two-time defending CIAA champions?
Will quarterback Daylin Lee continue his hot streak?
Will Winston-Salem State’s cheerleaders revive a sideline stunt that generated millions of video views on social media last month?
NeSheila Washington, the coach of the school’s cheerleading squad, isn’t tipping her hand on what Saturday’s sideline performance will look like, but she concedes that the stunt, a simulation of a football play, could be back by popular demand.
“I have a strange suspicion that this will become a tradition for Powerhouse,” Washington said, referring to the name of the school’s cheerleading squad.
‘Football, I love it’
The stunt featured senior Sydney Sharpe tucking a football under her arm and marching downfield while held aloft by several members of Powerhouse. She stiff-arms several oncoming cheerleader tacklers, who fall backward into the arms of teammates.
Sharpe eventually dodges two more tacklers and crosses into the end zone for a touchdown.
Powerhouse didn’t invent the football simulation stunt, but when cheerleaders saw a clip of another squad doing it, they decided to add it to their repertoire, with one key change.
In the clip they saw, a cheerleader threw the ball through the outstretched arms of the goalpost.
Sharpe immediately called that out. No one would intentionally throw the ball through the goalpost, she said.
Her father, Derrick Sharpe, is the football coach at Parkland High School.
She knows her stuff.
“Football, I love it,” Sharpe said.
Sometimes her eyes wander to the field, and she has to remind herself to stay focused on cheering.
A four-year member of the Powerhouse, Sharpe is usually part of the crew that supports an airborne cheerleader during stunts, which are the more athletic and entertaining moves that cheerleaders often perform.
Sharpe has had a goal of being in the air for at least one stunt before graduation.
Given her love of football, the simulation stunt was a perfect fit, Washington said.
“She comes from a football family, so it was like, ‘You’re going in the air.’ We had to make sure her dad was proud,” Washington said.
Powerhouse practiced the stunt a few times. On Sept. 20 against Virginia State, it was showtime.
Sharpe’s mom, Sherrell, sitting in the stands with her husband, Derrick, hit the play button on her phone as Sydney was lifted in the air.
Just a few seconds into the stunt, Powerhouse began to feel a buzz in the stadium.
“Sometimes, the crowd catches onto us late, but this was immediate. You saw football players looking back like, ‘Hey, what’s happening?'” Washington said.
Meanwhile, Sharpe, up in the air for the first time, exuded confidence.
“It was like, ‘OK, I have no choice but to do this and have fun,'” she said.
The execution was flawless.
Video blew up
Soon after Sydney Sharpe crossed the goal line, her mom posted the video to her Facebook and Instagram pages. From there, social media did its thing, spreading this fun and joyful stunt around the globe.
About two hours after the game, the number of views had reached 10,000 and was still growing. As of Wednesday, Sherrell Sharpe reported she had 3.7 million views on her Facebook page and 2.5 million on her Instagram page. Other platforms, with her permission, picked up the post, amounting to an additional 12 million views.
Powerhouse members said the reaction to its latest viral moment was unexpected.
“I’m really surprised how much it blew up,” said Aneya Spears, the head cheer captain.
Washington is happy for the exposure that it brings to her alma mater.
“You’ll see in the comments, ‘What school is this?'” Washington said. “That warms my heart. It’s keeping Winston-Salem State on the map.”
It also raises the bar a little higher for Powerhouse.
“Once you do something good,” she said, “you have to live up to it.”
lodonnell@wsjournal.com
336-727-7420
@lisaodonnellWSJ
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