Last year, it was plainly obvious to members of Jericho High School's varsity football team that there was a shortage of fan support at their games. A losing record, a protracted scoreless streak and competing fall sports combined to hurt student attendance during the weekly contests.

But this year, everybody is tuned in - quite literally - to how the Jericho Jayhawks are performing. Popular Manhattan radio station Z100, 100.3 FM, having scoured the New York area for the region's most hard-luck high-school football team, has adopted the Jayhawks in a publicity stunt that already has done wonders in raising school spirit, motivating the team and attracting more students to the games.

"It was awful last year; we had like five people going to the games," said running back-defensive end Daniel Knecht, a junior. In contrast, Knecht estimated that there were about 300 Jayhawk supporters at Jericho's most recent contest - a road game, no less - held last Saturday, September 25 against Oyster Bay. "They were cheering for us non-stop," he said.

Wide receiver-cornerback Brian Mansberger was also impressed with the showing. "We usually don't have fans go to our away games, except for our parents," he said.

"We probably had the biggest crowd I've ever seen for a Jericho football game," said first-year head football coach Scott Andrews.

Since obtaining the approval of the school district and the team, Z100 has been holding all sorts of stunts to generate local interest in the Jayhawks. The station's morning show, the "Z Morning Zoo," regularly reports on the team, and has even invited several players to be interviewed on the program. On Thursday, Sept. 16, Z100 even sponsored a pre-class pep rally for the team, led by the antics of radio personality Greg T., "The Round-Headed Frat Boy".

The story of how Z100 decided upon Jericho varies. According to one version, a local newspaper's sports reporter convinced the radio station that the Jayhawks were most in need of support. In another version, it was a former football team member who called up the station.

Either way, it was clear why Jericho was a candidate for adoption. The team had a perfect season in 1998 - it lost every game - and went into Game 2 of the 1999 season unable to score in its last 10 contests.

"We do struggle here in terms of the number of kids playing football," explained Andrews. During this time of the year, he explained, "A lot of the best athletes in school play soccer."

In a community where soccer and tennis tend to be the more popular fall sports, the Jericho Varsity Football team has had to deal with being undermanned and undersized. And because of this, they have become the prototypical underdog.

But, as the saying goes, everybody loves an underdog. Including Greg T., who attended the Saturday game versus the Oyster Bay Bay Men, wildly leading cheers and keeping the large Jericho crowd in the game. The purpose, of course, was not to jeer Oyster Bay on its own home turf. Rather, the intention was to see if, by generating some excitement, a struggling team could be sparked to victory - or at least a few points.

So when Jericho scored a touchdown and a safety against Oyster Bay for eight points, that in itself was almost a victory. It broke the 10-game scoreless streak.

As for the final score, Oyster Bay won 36-8. The Jayhawks may have lost again, but as Greg T. observed, it wasn't from a lack of perseverance.

"People told me how hard they play, and I couldn't believe it when I saw them actually out there. The kids really have heart, and they play every single down," said Greg T.

Z100 is making sure that message is broadcasted loud and clear. And don't think the students aren't listening. "They've encouraged us a lot," said Knecht.

Jericho's next football game is tomorrow at Cold Spring Harbor at 2 p.m.