Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, September 2, 1993 TAG: 9308310325
SECTION: NEW RIVER VALLEY PREP FOOTBALL PAGE: PF-15 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: RALPH BERRIER JR. STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PEARISBURG LENGTH: Medium
If he can, the Giles Spartans will be strong up front, which means they'll be strong, period.
Giles was solid as rock chalk on the offensive line last year, when the Spartans went 9-2 and won the Mountain Empire District championship by going unbeaten in eight league games.
Ratcliffe, a 5-11, 240-pound senior tackle, wasn't a part of that fine line. He would have been had he not blown out his right knee in a trampoline accident.
Last summer, Ratcliffe was visiting his cousin and teammate, former Spartan linebacker and pass-catcher Danny Ratcliffe, when he decided to try out Danny's brand-new toy.
He climbed on, bounced up, and fell off.
"My knee buckled under me," Ratcliffe remembered. "I fell off and knocked my kneecap out of place. I got up and just popped it back in. It hurt when I popped it back into place, but that was about it."
Actually, it wasn't. Although Ratcliffe's knee-popping remedy probably brings a moist eye to grizzled veterans of the rub-some-dirt-on-it school, it didn't do a thing to relieve his medial collateral ligament. It was torn.
Surgery was required. He walked on crutches for two weeks, wore a cast for six. His junior football season was a total loss.
Never before was an offensive lineman penalized so severely for jumping offside.
"He would have been one of our better linemen last year," said Head Coach Steve Ragsdale. "He would have started both ways [on offense and defense]."
A year later, Ratcliffe is healed and has assumed his position on the football field. He spent a year rehabbing under a physical therapist's eye in Blacksburg, and he feels his knee is as strong as ever. He put the shot during spring track season and played softball during the summer.
Actually, it isn't. There's the pain of having missed out on the Spartans' success last year.
Sitting on the sidelines "was pretty rough," Ratcliffe said. "It made me want to come out and have a good season this year."
As stated earlier, if Ratcliffe returns to form, and if some young guys fill in around him, Giles will have a shot at retaining its district title. That's what most coaches around the league are saying - except Ragsdale, of course.
Mention to him that the Spartans are a juggernaut and Ragsdale shakes his head in disbelief.
There are those who believe the Spartans to be loaded with returnees from last year. Well, they're not. They're without 1,000-yard running back Matt McGuire; they're missing powerful linemen Melvin Williams and Mike Moser; they're minus other talented players such as Stevie Steele and Danny Ratcliffe.
Of course, Raypheal Milton's back.
"Ask the average fan and they'll say, `Yeah, Giles has a lot of people coming back,' " Ragsdale said, "because they're thinking about Raypheal Milton."
It's an understandable mistake, because Milton is so multi-faceted, he actually seems like several players rolled into one impeccable football package.
Combining precision passing (38-for-97, 721 yards, six touchdowns) and fleet running (1,118 yards, 10 TDs), Milton was a double-barrelled threat in the antiquated single-wing during a Sizzlin' Sophomore campaign. He is one of Timesland's most dangerous and most versatile offensive players.
And he has a twin brother.
Maurice Milton will join his brother in the backfield, giving the Spartans twin powers. Raypheal, who tossed all but three of Giles' passes last year, also has a couple of good passing targets in Peter Janney (33 catches, 218 yards, six touchdowns) and Patrick Steele (nine catches, 157 yards).
As far as defensive experience is concerned, Steele is a three-year starter at one end, and Janney is a good linebacker. No other starter is back, but the defense still will hold firm.
Ratcliffe, Chris Fields, Byron Sargent, David Greever and ends Steele and Jerry Saunders will be a wall up front. Get by them, and contend with backers Janney, Brandon Steele, Maurice Milton and J.C. Riggs. Raypheal Milton, Reggie Hoston, Marty Smith, Kevin Slusser and Bucky Burton will run in and out of the secondary.
by CNB