Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, August 28, 1994 TAG: 9408300030
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B11 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB TEITLEBAUM
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
``I have the material to do it and I want to do it,'' Hicks said.
But Hicks says this every year. And most every fall it's run, run, run the ball for the Cougars.
Last year, without a passing attack, Pulaski County steamrolled Timesland foes. Opponents knew the run was coming - and still couldn't stop it.
Hicks always has seemed dedicated to the run. Even when he changed offenses from the I formation to the wing T, Hicks made sure it was all running.
Why will this year be different?
``The reason I'm going to pass more is that [quarterback] Andre Eaves can sprint to the corner, and I have a back, Tim Davis, who can catch the ball this year. I need a threat on the corner with Eaves,'' Hicks said.
I'll believe Pulaski County doing a lot of passing when I see it.
VAUGHT UPDATE: Dennis Vaught is back coaching football, as the offensive coordinator at Richlands High School under principal George Brown.
Vaught, the one-time Patrick Henry coach, spent last year serving Virginia High School League-imposed probation after he admitted to having his team use illegal cleats against Salem in a 1992 Group AA semifinal. Vaught's temper, which was a problem for him at Patrick Henry and when he was head coach at Richlands, apparently has not been a factor this summer in preseason practice.
Vaught is not second in command to Brown, however, and the Blue Tornadoes' principal is not a figurehead coach. Terry Wess, who was head coach last year but relinquished his duties for health reasons, is the assistant head coach
A plan to have another former head coach, John Chmara, on the Richlands staff has fallen through. Chmara, who maintained a home in Bluefield while coaching Fauquier County in Northern Virginia, decided to get away from coaching rather than remain an assistant at Richlands. He will continue to teach in the Fauquier County school system.
Meanwhile, Brown reports there has been no problem for him running the football program and the school.
``Right now, it's been real easy, but I haven't gotten home much before 11 each night,'' Brown said. ``The staff does what it needs to do, and each afternoon I make the phone calls I need to make after practice is over.''
Wess, who answers to Brown, is in charge of setting up practices and supervises the offensive and defensive coordinators. Brown equates Wess' position to that of an assistant head coach at a small-college program.
NEW COACH:Eddie Crabtree has taken over the Laurel Park football program, replacing longtime head coach John Kovacks.
``Eddie is taking over as the interim head coach, and John will have no head-coaching duties because of illness in his immediate family [a brother in Pennsylvania],'' said Charles Preston, Laurel Park's principal. ``At the end of the season, he'll sit down and decide whether he wants to return.
``He [Kovacks] is interested in administration and has completed a degree toward that. The job is his if he wants to return, but if he decides not to, then we need to move on.''
Crabtree has been at the school for 19 years, but has no experience as head coach. He does have seven offensive starters returning.
CATHOLIC LOSS: Roanoke Catholic, like most teams with few football players, can't afford season-ending injuries. The Celtics' hopes for continued improvement got a jolt in a scrimmage last week against Craig County, when returning linebacker-fullback Chris Roberts suffered a broken left ankle that also loosened some ligaments.
Roberts is out for the season. Even though nine offensive and nine defensive starters return, Catholic - 2-8 last year - will feel the loss because only 21 players came out for the team. The 20 remaining Celtics defeated Kenston Forest 32-12 Friday night in their season opener.
Memo: ***CORRECTION***