Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, November 25, 1993 TAG: 9311240086
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV20 EDITION: HOLIDAY
SOURCE: RAY COX
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Some, however, are more blessed than others.
To wit:
At one point in Pulaski County High's 21-13 Group AAA Division 6 Northwestern Region victory over Hylton, Jeff Berkley, the Cougars' linebacker, fell to his hands and knees and pressed his nose inches from the verdant pasture of Dobson Stadium.
What is he doing, wondered several sideline observers?
Could he be making sure officials were giving the Bulldogs the proper spot for the football?
Is he practicing his submarine move?
Perhaps he's preparing for 25 quick pushups to stay loose?
No, the unfortunate Berkley had just lost a contact lens. And he'd done it in a sector where the likes of teammates Larry Newcomb and Randy Dunnigan, a collective 522 pounds of brawn, had recently be stampeding.
Berkley wasn't down more than a minute and a half before he plucked the errant lens from the greensward.
Clearly, Pulaski County will earn anything it gets from this point forth, but it must be comforting for the faithful that Berkley's recovery means the Cougars can believe in miracles.
The Giles football defense may be the most dangerous briar patch they've had over there since way back in the early 1980s.
When the Spartans laid it on Chilhowie 33-0 last week in the opening of the Group A Division 2 Region C playoffs, that was their second shutout of the year. Giles sent the Warriors into reverse to the tune of 30 yards rushing for the game and only four first downs. Furthermore, Chilhowie managed only 14 of its 52 passing yards after halftime.
And to heap misery on agony, Giles vacumed up four turnovers (the Spartans had none of their own).
Chilhowie boss Mike Sturgill, the former honcho at Shawsville, would have had a more enjoyable evening eating scorched popcorn.
Carroll County has edged into the football playoffs three times in school history. The Cavaliers have also been booted out on the their keisters thrice.
Blacksburg applied the toe on two of those occasions, but that shouldn't surprise anybody. The Indians have a 22-game winning streak on the Cavaliers that dates back to 1973.
The three teams that Floyd County executed in the Region C girls tournament leaked basketballs like the Titanic leaked brine.
In succession, the gunslinging Buffaloes forced 32 turnovers out of James River, 34 out of Rural Retreat, and 36 out of Glenvar.
Awful hard to win a basketball game when you don't have the ball.
Alan Cantrell, the Floyd County coach, once led the state in scoring when he was at Whitewood High.
Cantrell averaged more than 28 points per game while playing half the games his senior year on a undersized home floor that was famous for stratospheric scoring totals. Cantrell remembers a game there when Whitewood was playing Rocky Gap and the two teams combined for more than 200 points.
Incidentally, Cantrell finished his senior season (it was 1973) six points shy of 1,000 for his career.
A personal disappointment, to be sure, but not bad for two years. Cantrell didn't make the varsity until he was a junior.
Blacksburg's 34-12 rout of Carroll County in the playoffs was the ninth-straight by the Indians over New River District opposition. The last time Blacksburg lost to an NRD team was in 1991, when Radford pulled the trick. Radford, of course, will no longer be in the district after the current school year. The Bobcats are dropping to Group A status.
by CNB