THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, December 9, 1994 TAG: 9412070155
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 11 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Cover Story
SOURCE: BY JULIE GOODRICH, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 64 lines
After a 7-0 loss to non-conference opponent Lake Taylor in the third game of the season, Indian River's playoff hopes took a beating.
After all, the Braves had yet to open their schedule in the Southeastern District, one of the toughest districts in the state, and already they had a loss.
After losing 22 players and eight starters off last year's Division 6, Eastern Region champion team, Indian River faced the unenviable task of building another winner out of the ashes.
``Other schools go 6-4 and feel like it's a good year,'' said All-Region lineman Shawn Greene, one of three senior captains. ``But at Indian River we expect to go 10-0 and challenge for the district every year.''
The Braves narrowly avoided an upset at home with a 6-0 victory over Wilson, then notched the school's biggest win of the regular season with a 14-13 decision over top-ranked, defending state champion Norcom.
Indian River dropped contests with Deep Creek and Western Branch to finish the season 7-3, but made the playoffs on the strength of its power rating.
There was just one problem. After the game against the Bruins, senior running back Shawndell Joyner left the team in a dispute with the coaches - and with him went nearly 63 percent of Indian River's rushing yards.
``We knew we had to work harder to be as good a team without Shawndell as we were with him,'' said Greene.
It was up to the seniors, along with sophomore quarterback James Boyd, to pick up the slack.
After dispatching Green Run 30-9 in the Eastern Region semifinals, the Braves edged Kempsville 20-17 to earn their second straight trip to the state semifinals.
Last year, Indian River lost 24-7 to Pulaski, the 1992 state champion, in the semifinals. This year, the oppon-ent was different, but the outcome was the same.
George Washington-Danville scored first and held a 10-7 lead at the half. The Braves tied the game in the fourth quarter on a 30-yard field goal by Sophan Pith, but the Eagles went ahead for good and advanced to the Division 6 final on Jacob Scism's 34-yard field goal with seven seconds left in the game.
For 15 seniors - captains Greene, Jeremy Bridges and Quintae McLean, Kahlil Johnson, Milton Hall, Morgan Jackson, Antonio Person, Sam Hardy, Stefan Saunders, Dennis Campbell, Kareem Coleman, Dewayne Burgess, Kirk Jackson, Corey Twine and David Mashaw - it was the end of a season where the Braves accomplished more than most people thought they would.
``It was just a great game, but it's hard to lose like that,'' said Bridges, an All-Region selection at tight end. ``It's hard to lose when you've come this far, because we were looking forward to a lot. But we'll take what happened here and learn from it.'' MEMO: [For a related story, see page 10 of The Clipper for this date.]
ILLUSTRATION: L. TODD SPENCER
Kareem Coleman gets a hug from a friend after the Indian River loss
to George Washington-Danville in state semifinals.
by CNB