Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, October 13, 1994 TAG: 9410260013
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-6 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: BOB TEITLEBAUM
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
First, there are very few teams in Region IV, so it's easier to make the playoffs from this region than any other in the state. This is one reason Group AA schools want some of the Region III schools to change to Region IV - so that making the football playoffs will mean more.
As it stands now, there are only six Division 4 teams in Region IV and four of them will make the playoffs. Carroll County is going to struggle and will have a hard time winning, so four of the other five teams will make the playoffs.
The Indians actually might beat only Carroll County and go 3-7, yet still make the playoffs unless Marion and Grundy beat up on a lot of Group A opponents they have left. Even then, if one of them falters, Blacksburg is in postseason competition.
Blacksburg coach Dave Crist looks at all this philosophically. ``We tell the kids that our schedule is tough. But if we're fortunate enough to make the playoffs, we've been in pressure situations against good folks,'' Crist said.
``Right now, you tell them that when week after week they play tough teams. They bought it and don't make excuses for losing.''
Don't expect a lot of news from the proposed shift of the Blue Ridge District to Region IV at next week's meeting of the group boards at the Virginia High School League meetings in Charlottesville. According to the handbook, moves to take effect in even-numbered years [1996 being the next possible moves] cannot be requested until Oct.1 of the previous year [1995]. According to all sources in the Blue Ridge District, that league is firmly committed to the move despite rumors to the contrary in Region IV.
Salem principal John Hall is head of Region III and will chair the meeting this fall when the Seminole and Piedmont districts discuss breaking up into three districts after the Blue Ridge moves.
``I sometimes feel uncomfortable being chairman of a region that has some difficult decisions,'' Hall said. ``I'm from a different region [in the future]. I have to be sensitive of their feelings.''
That pretty well says the Blue Ridge is moving.
ABSTINENCE: Radford and Giles abstained from playing football this past week. One wonders if Spartan coach Steve Ragsdale and Bobcat mentor Norm Lineburg did this on purpose, so their teams could get ready for each other Friday.
It's the Three Rivers District game-of-the-year, the first in the history of Timesland's newest affiliation. It's also important in the Region C Division 4 playoff picture, where both teams figure to qualify.
There was good news for these two teams when Glenvar lost at Bath County and George Wythe was beaten by Abingdon. Those are two teams that will compete with the loser of the Radford-Giles contest for a wild-card spot in the Region C Division 4 tournament.
Lebanon figures to win one spot as the Hogoheegee District champion. However, Bath County took a big step toward winning the Pioneer District crown while Narrows looks strong in the Mountain Empire. Both those teams are Division 1, meaning there will be two Division 2 wild card representatives in Region C.
TWO NERVOS? What's worse than running against Glenvar's Trish Nervo?
Soon, it will be running against two people named Nervo. Both Trish and her brother John will run in this year's Metro Cross Country meet, which will be held Saturday at the Baptist Children's Home in Salem.
Trish Nervo, a junior at Glenvar, will be heavily favored to win the girls' race for the third consecutive year. Later this fall, she'll be favored to win her third consecutive Group A title.
John will be running in the Metro meet's seventh-eighth grade developmental race. There's little doubt that he'll finish first in that event. Next year he'll be eligible to run in the high school varsity race and perhaps start dominating the boys around the Roanoke area the way Trish Nervo has the girls for three years.
John Nervo is so good that he's even beating Trish, who is three years older. That's surprising, for Trish has beaten boys many times in dual meets.
``It irritates me, because I train real hard,'' said Trish Nervo. ``He trains hard, but not as hard as I do and he still beats me. Still, I want him to do well when he runs.''
Don't let this sibling rivalry lull anyone into thinking that Trish Nervo isn't ready for another big year of running. Remember that last year she not only won the Group A state cross country titles, but her time also was fast enough to win the Group AA race on the same course. In the spring, Nervo easily claimed the Group A 1,600-meter state championship.
``She's running better than she did last fall,'' said Glenvar coach Dickie Myers, who is Nervo's guru when it comes to high school running. ``It seems like she's stronger than last year.''
Nervo had little competition last year and may have less this year, especially in the Metro. Pulaski County's Jennifer Pohlig, the only girl last year that even could stay within sight of Nervo during a race, has graduated.
John Nervo, according to Myers, is another story. ``He doesn't run [practice] that much. I don't know if he has the determination that Trish does. He has talent. But it seems Trish is always asking to run. She'll run her regular workout during the week and want to run [some more] on Saturday.''
Trish Nervo's goal is to keep on winning. ``There's a lot of pressure, not just from other people, but also from myself,'' said the Glenvar junior. ``I want to win [the state title] this year and next year.
``From winning last year, if I don't win these [next] two years, it's not saying much. There are a lot people who run well, but if you don't run well when you're older, it doesn't mean much.''
SHUTOUT JOB: Is there a better Group AA football team in the state than Amherst County?
The Lancers are 5-0 and haven't given up a point. More important, they've played the toughest part of their schedule, once-beaten Rustburg and twice-beaten William Campbell. Liberty, with a good passing offense, and Jefferson Forest are the biggest threats to make it to Amherst's end zone.
Also, Amherst County is dominating the Seminole District, arguably the state's best Group AA league. Last year, both Group AA state champions came from the Seminole, giving them four of the eight titles in the 1990s.
If Amherst County blanks all 10 opponents, the Lancers will be the first to do so since Burley of Charlottesville did it for eight games in 1956 in the Virginia Interscholastic Association.
The last Virginia High School League team to accomplish this feat was Churchland in 1954 for nine games. Fourteen Virginia teams had perfect shutout records; the longest was the 1926 Woodrow Wilson team from Portsmouth in 11 games.
No team has carried a shutout regular season into the playoffs. There was no postseason when Burley did it in 1956.
FULL STRENGTH: James Irvin, Cave Spring's second-leading boys' basketball scorer last year, appears to be well on the way to recovery from a badly sprained ankle suffered in summer camp.
Irvin was thought to be badly injured and was a question mark for being at full strength early. Now he's going through regular exercises and will be ready when practice opens a little over a month from now.
by CNB