Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, September 2, 1993 TAG: 9308310315
SECTION: NEW RIVER VALLEY PREP FOOTBALL PAGE: PF-29 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: BOB TEITLEBAUM STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
In five seasons, the Spartans have gone 22-1 in district games, including 19 consecutive victories. The average margin has been 30.1 points, and Salem has won four consecutive titles.
The only relatively close games were a 6-0 loss to Alleghany in 1988, the year Salem dropped down from the Roanoke Valley District, and a 6-3 triple-overtime victory over Northside in 1990.
The Spartans enter the 1993 season without a plethora of stars at the skill positions. Running back Marcus Parker, one of the state's top college prospects, is hobbled by a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee and is a question mark for the year.
More distressing, Salem's numbers are down. The Spartans have been averaging about 63 players in the top three grades, but they only have 53 this year.
Considering those factors, this might be the year Salem finally is challenged in the Blue Ridge District.
"I don't know about getting Salem," says Alleghany Coach Tom McIntyre. "Teams like Salem have a winning tradition and tend to find kids who can play.
"If they don't have Parker at tailback, they'll have [Jomo] Nelson, and I'd like to have him. I told our kids that when we're better than they are, we'll beat them."
While Northside appears to have the best chance of ending the Spartans' reign, only one Blue Ridge District coach picks the Vikings to win the title.
"I think it's a possibility. I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings, but my pick is Northside," said Andy Ward, Lord Botetourt's first-year head coach.
"Northside is big on the front line," Ward added. "If they replace their quarterback [Kelly Dampeer], they have a chance. The key to Salem winning is the status of Marcus Parker.
"They have a good front line, but without Marcus and a returning quarterback, it gives them two questions [to one for Northside]."
Dampeer isn't the only player the Vikings must replace. They also lost their leading returning rusher, Steve Keaton, to an injury. Still, Northside has other running backs returning, and because of that, longtime coach Jim Hickam is going back to an old favorite of his, the wishbone offense he ditched last year.
"I think it goes without saying [Salem is vulnerable]," Hickam says. "If you lose someone like Marcus Parker, it not only hurts you physically but also psychologically as a team. Maybe this is the year that Salem starts the season with some of the same problems most of us always start with."
Hickam says his team is stronger at this point than last year's squad, which went 7-3 and made the Group AA Division 4 playoffs. Salem and Northside don't play until the final game of the regular season, and Hickam pointed out, "We all know many catastrophes befall you before you get to the final game."
William Byrd Coach Jeff Highfill, who has one of his most experienced teams in the district, isn't ready to write off the Spartans yet.
"I think Salem will still roll along," Highfill said. "They have enough stars, and you never know when Marcus will pop back up in there. They've never been a one-man team, and they have enough weapons."
Salem Coach Willis White doesn't appear concerned. He actually seems to be enjoying the challenge of preparing a football team without a lot of stars. About the closest thing the Spartans have to a marquee player is 6-foot-5 1/2 Chad Custer, a 1992 All-Group AA defensive tackle.
"We had small junior and sophomore classes, so that's why our numbers are down," White says. "I'm not concerned, because our numbers are down," White says. "I'm not concerned, because I think our quality is going to be pretty good.
"I think Northside will be the strongest it's been in years, but I think we can have a pretty fair club. Every once in a while a team comes along that you really like, and I like this one."
White knows his last few teams have been loaded with offensive talent.
"If you have a [quarterback] Tra Wilson, [wide receiver] Keith Moyer or Marcus Parker, you can score points, and people tend to disregard your defense," he says. "We've worked really hard on defense, because any time you have a new quarterback and running back, you hope your defense will be solid and take the pressure off your offense."
Northside, Byrd and Alleghany all have solid, experienced players. The Vikings have size, topped by returning defensive tackle John Huffman at 288 pounds. Alleghany has tight end/defensive end Todd Wheatley, who joins Custer as one of the state's top college prospects. And Byrd has running backs Shannon Gray, Jason Criss and Michael Poindexter, who combined for more than 2,400 yards rushing in 1992.
Ward will be rebuilding at Lord Botetourt, but there are more players on the roster than in the past.
Rockbridge County, under Jamie Talbott, has the least experience of any Blue Ridge team. Talbott, though, has a way of working miracles, as he did when tiny Natural Bridge challenged for the Pioneer District titles for two years and last season when the Wildcats were stronger than expected in their first year of Group AA football.
\ PROJECTED FINISH: 1, Salem; 2, Northside; 3, William Byrd; 4, Alleghany; 5, Lord Botetourt; 6, Rockbridge County.
by CNB