Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, September 9, 1994 TAG: 9409090029
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-11 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: Ray Cox
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
On the way home from the opening of the high school football season last week, inspirational thoughts of the exploits of the likes of Giles' Raypheal Milton, Pulaski County's Eric Webb, and Blacksburg's Greg Shockley had the hair on the back of my arm standing at attention like the honor guard at Buckingham Palace.
I was thinking those football-type thoughts and wondering why it was that so many cars and trucks had decided to park right on the busy lanes of a major highway. Then I noticed that those cars and trucks weren't parked at all.
They just looked like they were parked because I'd zoned plumb out and was cruising along going about 100 mph or so.
This, I concluded, was neither legal nor safe.
Slowing down the pace of the football that is going to be played in these scenic regions this year won't be quite so easy. Strap yourselves in because this ride, I predict, will not be for those prone to fainting spells.
What we have this year is a lot of good teams. We're talking major entertainment potential.
Pulaski County didn't win back-to-back state championships after all last year. So it ought to be all the more interesting after the Cougars put themselves under the microscope once again this fall.
Maybe they won't be quite as formidable as a year ago or fiendish to their enemies as they were in 1992 when they won their first state championship. But with guys such as linebacker Eric Webb, quarterback Andre Eaves and fullback Tim Davis, count on the wearers of the burgundy and gold to be both violent and swift.
And who knows? Perhaps the Cougars will find Group AAA Division 5 status to their liking after slugging it out with the big boys in Division 6 for so long.
Blacksburg got pasted by Giles in the season opener, but not too much should be made of that.
"It snowballed on us very quickly," Indians coach David Crist said.
Giles - more on the Spartans later - played at an almost unfathomable level for the first game of the season. Aren't you supposed to be a little off in your timing at this time of year?
The Indians are going to be fine. No question. They'll throw it and run it and play lots of crunching defense. Players like Shockley and center Tim Schnecker and linebacker Tony Wheeler only come around so often. Crist and his associates will get the most out of them, count on it.
Nevertheless, Blacksburg is no lock in its own district even if the New River is down to three teams. The mirror under Christiansburg's nostrils is finally starting to show some fog.
The Blue Demons are back and have been drawing rave reviews for their preseason performance. Fact of the matter is, they should have won their season opener over Tazewell except for a freaky play where one of the Bulldogs vacuums a kickoff out of the dirt and gallops 70-some yards for the winning TD.
Next time you want to sound smart at a cocktail party, just say, "Gee , that running back at Christiansburg , Andra Beasley, is the real thing." You can't go wrong.
Another group that's back is Radford. Things just weren't the same when the Bobcats were shuffling along below .500. Apparently, they thought the same thing. Felt so bad about it that they went out and whomped Parry McCluer upside the head last week. Maybe the Fighting Blues are down a little this year, but they've been striking fear in the hearts of lesser mortals for over a decade.
That Radford ruled as it did speaks well of the Bobcats capabilities. Call the baby sitter, take time off from work, and kiss your mother good-bye so you can visit Giles the same night Radford does Oct. 14.
Then there is Narrows, which is trying to rebuild a team that went to the Division 1 playoffs in 1993. The Green Wave may not have the offensive capabilities it did when it had at its disposal the churning feet of tailback Whitey Blankenship, but the defense is plenty good enough to win a whole lot of ballgames.
That's another team that should be 1-0 right now. The Wave got rooked at James Monroe, W.Va., when the officials used a sundial to time the last five minutes of the game. Good idea, especially since apparently there was no functioning clock, but the sun had set two hours before. Given the extra time, Monroe rallied for the last-minute 8-6 victory.
Finally, there's Giles. After seeing what it did to Blacksburg by air and by land, take it from me that Giles' primary concerns are going to be keeping everybody healthy (it looks awfully lonely over there on the sidelines when the first-stringers are in), and making sure the bus doesn't break down.
By the way, anybody notice all the people at Blacksburg that night? You couldn't have found a bleacher seat with a search party. The place was packed. Good sign.
Must be that a lot of other people are as fired up as I am.
Now if I can just go lightly on the accelerator.
by CNB