Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, October 28, 1993 TAG: 9310280165
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-7 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: RAY COX STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RADFORD LENGTH: Medium
Norman Lineburg has prospered for these many years as Radford High football coach because he's about as far from flimsy as you can get.
Still, there are things he sees occasionally in the course of his duties that leave him shaken.
One of them is the pregame behavior of one of his defensive tackles, senior Todd Pontius.
"I've got to tell you that he scares me sometimes," Lineburg said.
Lineburg declines to go into much detail about this conduct.
"Sometimes, it's just uncivilized," he said.
By all accounts, Pontius, a three-year starter, is an expert at the art of self and team motivation. However, the levels of ferocity that he is able to elevate to are apparently something to behold. Even he has to admit that occasionally he gets carried away.
"I threw a trash can once," was all he'd allow.
Whatever it takes, Pontius is ready to play football when the time comes. The latest evidence is his performance last week in the 16-12 victory over Carroll County. Pontius was in the middle of some key defensive stands as Radford ran its lifetime record against the Cavaliers to 25-0.
Pontius had four solo tackles and five assists then frowned darkly because he did not consider that up to his usual standards. Lineburg disagreed.
Nonetheless, if Pontius was the sort who would offer alibis, he had a good one. Just don't let him show you what it is; you couldn't handle it.
To put this as delicately as possible, sometime in the early going, Pontius hurt his right knee. He doesn't know what happened. Rarely does he remember any details about games, perhaps because of the frenzy he'd worked himself into.
In any event, somebody kicked or wrenched, or stomped on, or jerked his knee to the extent that it swelled to several times it's normal size before game's end. The resultant bruising coursed in hideously huge streaks and purple pools up the back of his thigh.
Did that stop him? Of course not.
"I consider it my responsibility on the football field to hit people as hard as I possibly can," he said.
Perhaps by now you have developed the picture of an armored barbarian, but that is far from the truth. Pontius is bright and cultured and has been for three years the leader of the pregame prayer. He's an honored singer in the school choir, a piccolo player in the symphonic band, and a hard-nosed (we must assume) member of the forensics team. His college options include Virginia, North Carolina and Indiana.
Ivy League schools have contacted him about playing football, but they don't give athletic scholarships and that's a problem for him.
Before he gets where he's going, though, he can reflect on quite a football career at Radford. His emotions have run the gamut as he's played on one of the best teams in school history (the 1991 team that lost to Jefferson Forest in the Group AA Division 3 semifinals) and one of the worst (last year's 1-9 disaster). Now he's a leader of a considerably improved team that is playing its last in Group AA.
"The night of the Blacksburg game I was bawling my eyes out before the game," he said. "I just couldn't believe that was the last time we were going to play them."
More often than not, the tears have been in the eyes of his opponents.
Other performances of note:
Pulaski County's Brian Redd had 156 yards rushing and scored two TD's in a 24-0 victory over William Fleming.
Narrows' Whitey Blankenship ran for 146 yards and two TD's in a 32-0 victory over Auburn.
Peter Janney of Giles rushed for 93 yards and scored twice and Raypheal Milton had 126 yards total offense, passed for one touchdown and scored another in a 34-16 victory over Bland County.
Blacksburg's Tony Wheeler rushed for 66 yards and a TD and led a defense that shut out previously high-powered Christiansburg 23-0.
by CNB