Photo by Bill Cherry Heathwood Hall athletic director Jeff Whalen and Eliza Nixon Inevitably, Friday nights find Heathwood Hall Episcopal School athletic director Jeff Whalen in what he calls “game management mode,” which means quietly prowling the football sidelines dressed in his shorts and golf shirt, multi–tasking.

“During games, I’m keeping a low profile, watching the coaches, watching the crowd, watching what’s going on the field and watching my boys (Morgan, a receiver, and Mac, a quarterback) play,” Whalen said.

All that changed October 2, when a nervous, business suit–clad Whalen was front and center during halftime homecoming ceremonies, walking junior student Eliza Nixon onto the field as her escort.

In order to understand what took Whalen from the sideline to the 50–yard line, one must delve into Heathwood Hall homecoming tradition.

Each Highlander senior football player chooses a female student as his homecoming court representative and that young lady is escorted onto the field during halftime by her father or designated father–figure. This year, Morgan, one of 19 senior football players on the team, asked his good friend, Eliza, to be his representative.

Nixon, in turn, asked the senior Whalen to be her escort, not as an athletic director or coach, but as a parent, a gesture that Kara Sproles Mock called “a typical show of Eliza’s kindness.”

“Eliza is a very kind– hearted student, and her actions show that,” said Mock, the school’s director of marketing and communications. “We hope that all of our students would endeavor to be so thoughtful.”

“I realized that this would be the last year that Coach Whalen would be at our homecoming as a parent,” said Nixon. “With all boys, he has never been able to serve as a homecoming escort. So, I asked him.”

Whalen, the school’s AD for the past 12 years, and the father of five boys, J.D. (Class of 2005), Tyler (‘07), Brett (‘08) and senior twins Morgan and Mac, said he never thought he would have the chance to fill this particular role.

“I’ve done a lot of things, but I’ve never walked onto the field with a young lady as her escort,” Whalen said on Friday, prior to his homecoming debut. “I just hope I don’t embarrass her or fall down or something like that.”

Whalen also said that he would be quickly shedding his suit right after the ceremonies to get “back to business as usual.”

“I can’t stay in a suit all night,” Whalen said. “I’ll be back in my usual shorts and golf shirt right after it’s all over.”

But none of that came to pass during, or after, the Highlanders’ contest against a tough Augusta Christian team.

First, there were no stumbling or falling incidents, a relieved Whalen reported after the fact.

“It was a very nice ceremony and I was truly honored to be Eliza’s escort,” he said. “I think I was more nervous than she was, but it all worked out.”

But, Whalen added, there was also no costume change, and that had everything to do with plain old football superstition.

“We scored first to go up 6–0, and then Augusta Christian scored the next 17 straight points,” he said. “Once I put on the suit, we started playing much better, so I needed to keep the same clothes on.”

Whether or not the suit made the difference, the Highlanders, barely ahead at halftime by a score of 17-14, outlasted the Lions and escaped with a 27-20 victory to keep their perfect season intact.

Mac was 14-for-28, passing for 242 yards and four touchdowns, Morgan was the leading receiver with seven receptions for 114 yards, and Jeff did his escort proud at halftime.

A perfect night.