Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, October 28, 1993 TAG: 9310290216
SECTION: HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS PAGE: S-15 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB TEITLEBAUM
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
For the past few years, the Western District has been the showpiece of Group AAA football in western Virginia. Because of Pulaski County's Group AAA Division 6 state title last year, the Roanoke Valley District began eating away at the Western District's hold on bragging rights for this end of the state.
Still, the Western District had a 12-8 lead on the Roanoke Valley District in games between the two leagues last year.
This fall, the RVD is getting better. With one game left (Franklin County vs. Albemarle), the Western has won 10 of 19.
Three weeks ago, Franklin County might not have been given a chance to beat Albemarle. The Eagles, though, are starting to earn some respect with two straight victories after losing 23 games in a row.
In their last loss three weeks ago, Franklin County was beaten 51-14 at Pulaski County. That was expected, but the Eagles showed something that night when they took the opening kickoff and drove for a score. The Cougars, ranked 15th nationally by USA Today last week, hadn't given up a game's first score this year.
Now the RVD looks like it will have a race to the wire. Pulaski County still is the heavy favorite, but Patrick Henry is looming on the horizon. The Patriots have won five in a row and have given up only two touchdowns in that time.
First, PH must get by Franklin County this Friday at Victory Stadium. What appeared to be a non-game two weeks ago now looks competitive. The Patriots can't afford to look ahead to the next week's game against Pulaski County.
Give Franklin County coach Horace Green credit for fighting through the bad times. He and athletic director Jerry Little have reorganized the county's sandlot programs, and there's a bright future for the Eagles.
As for PH, give Ed Scott credit, for he, too, has been through some tough times. Two losses and a sideline collision with a player going out of bounds left him battered and bruised after the first two weeks of the season. Scott and PH both appear to have recovered.
\ VHSL MEETINGS: There was mostly good news from the Virginia High School League meetings last week.
The best news in the VHSL is that it soon might be run by 48 people instead of hundreds, as now is the case, with each school getting one vote on every issue.
The VHSL passed the first reading that takes the organization from a legislative form of government (equal representation for each member school) to an executive type (representation by representatives from different groups or regions).
This might not have passed the first reading had it not been for a proposal from the Roanoke Valley District that increased the executive body from 27 to 48 people. The big addition was doubling the number of principals to two for each of the 12 regions.
With eight superintendents being on the original makeup of the proposed executive board, there were more people involved in running the VHSL who didn't really work with the students every day.
"This is not a knock on superintendents," said Pulaski County athletic director Ron Kanipe. "But if you make a decision concerning kids and what they deal with, you need somebody who [works] with them day to day. Without reducing the superintendent's number, we made the change and put 70 percent of the people on the committee who work with kids day to day."
The other good news from last week's VHSL meetings is that a committee will be formed to study all the classifications in the state. This is in place of a quick fix that would have balanced Group AA by sending the Battlefield District to Region I from Region II and placing the Blue Ridge District, against its wishes, in Region IV.
The committee will consider changing the numbers for each classification so that schools with 900 or more move to Group AAA and schools with 400 or more shift to Group AA.
They'll also look at making schools play within their classification according to their size instead of permitting them to move up if they wish.
One thing this committee won't do is get rid of the long mileage schools in this part of the state must travel within a region. It's the lack of population density that spreads out the regions and districts in the western part of the state.
The other good proposal is a committee to study disbursements from the playoffs to the teams. At long last, teams might get more travel money to make long trips for the state playoff games.
The only possible bad news, depending on one's view, came as Group AA and A members turned down moving fall girls' basketball to the winter.
Moving all girls' basketball to the winter would have doubled the number of teams, meaning both genders would have received less newspaper coverage because newspaper space won't expand.
From a practical point of view, all three classifications need to play girls' basketball at the same time.
I think Radford girls' coach Brenda King, who was for moving to winter basketball after she formerly coached boys' basketball, put it best.
Said King: "If I had a preference, I'd be for it and we'd play a doubleheader with the boys [in the winter]. The enthusiasm would be like Friday nights when I coached the boys. But I'm fine with it [the way it is]. I just dwell on the good things, and the good things are that we have our own officials and our own gym space."
\ STATISTICAL NIGHTMARES: Consider this for odd statistics:
Marcus Cardwell of North Cross has scored 116 points, the most by any Timesland football player.
There are 41 Timesland schools playing football, and Cardwell has outscored 15 teams - more than one third - by himself.
Timesland's best scoring duet is Magna Vista's Evan Penn (110 points) and Rodney Redd (52) for 162 points. Together, they've outscored 24 teams - more than one half - and equaled what Christiansburg has scored as a team.
It gets better. Try Giles' trio Raypheal Milton (76 points), Peter Janney (72) and Maurice Milton (57) for 205 points to help Giles rank as Timesland's most prolific machine with 335 points.
This trio has outscored all but eight schools in Timesland. Besides Giles, the threesome trails Magna Vista (277), Pulaski County (274), North Cross (266), George Wythe (233), Narrows (217), Martinsville (212) and Bath County (206).
With two games left against Grayson County and Shawsville, Giles seems a cinch to top 400 points. The Spartans are averaging nearly 42 points a game and need to score only 33.5 the last two weeks.
by CNB