Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, October 13, 1994 TAG: 9410140059
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: RAY COX STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: DUBLIN LENGTH: Long
The time has arrived.
Leaves are turning color, evenings are crisper and the dew hangs thick on the morning grass.
The last vestiges of summer have just about passed. Time now for Eric Webb to turn into the nearest approximation Pulaski County High School has to the Wolfman.
Needless to say, most people on the sprawling campus will tell you that Webb is really nothing like that.
But they don't have to look into his cold eyes across the scrimmage line of a football field.
"Eric is starting to play very, very physical right now,'' Cougars football coach Joel Hicks said.
That is distinguished from his play earlier in the year, which was merely very physical.
This makes the third year we've seen this transformation. The previous two campaigns indicate that when Webb laces up his shoes a little tighter and puts a more sinister tilt to his should pads, the whole team profits.
Two years ago, the fruits were a state championship. Many contributed, of course, but nobody had more to do with it than Webb. Last year, the Cougars played well from the start but really took off about this time and didn't stop until they ran into eventual champ Annandale in the title game.
The Cougars have never been a one-man team, but it was no coincidence that the only loss last year - to Annandale - came when Webb was out of the lineup with a broken jaw.
Webb later indicated there was no limit to the despair he felt standing helplessly on the sideline as his teammates were denied back-to-back state crowns.
The jaw eventually healed, which opened a new set of problems this summer. Webb, who had to take his dinner through a straw for a while, let the celebration get a little out of control once that was no longer the case.
``The deli did it,'' he said.
That would be the Wade's supermarket deli, where he drew a paycheck this summer. As anybody who has ever been in the food business can testify, there are certain fringe benefits that go with it. Webb took full advantage of them.
``I gained about 20 pounds,'' he said.
The proceeds were evident to all, particularly his friends.
``They'd be going, `Here comes fat boy,''' he said.
That was hard to take. Worse was how the surplus ballast made him feel on the football field. That was apparent the night the Cougars lost to E.C. Glass 14-6. Webb looked a step slow on most plays and his breathing was labored after not much time had elapsed.
There was one good reason for his difficulties.
``E.C. Glass has a pretty good football team,'' Hicks said.
It was also pretty hot.
``I don't like it when it's hot,'' Webb said. ``You got to pace yourself so that you don't dehydrate and have a heart attack. I don't want to be another statistic.''
The vital statistics now are: the weight has come off (he's down to his old playing weight of about 225 pounds), the temperature has gone down and Webb's ferocity as a linebacker and wingback has gone way up.
``If I had the choice, I'd rather play in Alaska than Florida any day,'' he said.
What he's playing in now is another zone.
``When we played Heritage [a 20-3 victory Sept.30], Derrick Hunter had over 100 yards rushing and every bit of that was due to [guard] Chris Lawson and Eric Webb,'' Hicks said. "Eric had pancake block after pancake block in that game.''
He was pretty much knocking the stuffings out of them on defense, too. But he took special pride in the blocking.
``I like to block,'' he said. ``Other backs may not like it like I do, but I'd just as soon see somebody else scoring the touchdowns.''
Webb will get his share.
''You'll see him get more productive as the season goes on,'' Hicks said. ``That's because we're going to get better on the offensive line. Teaching the wing-T [the Cougars' offense] blocking schemes to the linemen isn't that easy. It takes them a while to come together.''
By that time, Webb ought to be ready to roll.
``Eric always starts slow for us,'' Hicks said. ``But by the end of the year, he's a force.''
Webb figures to play college sports somewhere, and he says that he's working extra hard on his schoolwork. ``No slacking off this year,'' he said.
Actually, Hicks won't let him.
``I'm after him every day,'' the coach said.
Webb has a better than 2.0 grade point average, which will help him get into college, but he has yet to take the SATs. He'll do that in November after beefing up his math skills in class.
There has been some question about his future because he is also an outstanding basketball player.
``Right now, I'm leaning toward football,'' he said. ``To play at the Division I level in basketball, I'll have to be faster than I am. They'd want me to play inside and at 6 feet, that don't get it in Division I.''
The solution is simple enough.
``He needs to keep to his schoolwork, let the offers come in and let the chips fall where they may,'' Hicks said. ``He can choose what suits him best.''
by CNB