Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, October 20, 1994 TAG: 9410200048
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV3 EDITION: NEW RIVER
SOURCE: RAY COX STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: FLOYD LENGTH: Medium
The product line that Warren offers the Buffaloes' football team is extensive and diverse. Peruse the weekly Timesland statistical charts and you find that Warren - a tailback, special teams ace, and outside linebacker by trade - is a frequent flyer.
Among the rushing leaders, Warren checks in at No.10 with averages of 109.4 yards per game and a slick 6.8 per rush.
As a return man, he's also 10th, averaging 18.3 per excursion.
You won't find him among the passing leaders, but he has completed an option heave for 41 yards. He's also been on the receiving end of his share.
He also has 41 tackles, 22 of the single-handed variety.
He can score too, 46 points through five games, which puts him among the tops in Timesland in that category. Of that, 42 points were came from seven touchdowns he scored. The points were second-best in the Three Rivers District behind the prolific Raypheal Milton of Giles.
Add it all up and Warren is approaching 1,000 all-purpose yards in only five games.
All those numbers didn't come without a cost. The only time Warren is off the field is on his team's kickoffs.
``It's nice to get a chance to rest after a long run, but really, I'd rather not come off the field at all,'' he said.
For the most part, Floyd County coach Winfred Beale has no interest in seeing Warren anywhere near the sidelines unless he's tightroping down the side of the field on the way to some more yardage gained for the greater good of Buffalo football.
``He's having a good year for us,'' Beale said. ``He's stepped up into a leadership role now that he's a senior.''
Beale's only regret is that he won't have Warren for a longer period of service. For that, perhaps the only blame goes to Warren's versatility.
As a junior varsity player, Warren was playing tight end until then tailback Peter Bucklin hurt his back. Warren was switched to that position for the first time in his career. While learning the new position, it was concluded that he would be best served to stay with the JV so he could get as much experience as possible.
``We probably should have had him up on the varsity when he was a 10th grader,'' Beale said. ``It's too late now. Then, we were in a cycle of good running backs and we wanted him to get some good experience on the JV.''
Warren has given the varsity some quality minutes in the past two years. That's not just in football. In basketball and track, he's also done well. During the 1993-94 basketball season, he was the shooting guard and second-leading scorer on the team averaging close to 15 points per game.
``Football's still my favorite game, though,'' he said.
Warren does not have breakaway speed, but he runs between the tackles with authority and isn't afraid to attack a would-be tackler should the situation call for such tactics.
``He can get the tough, 10-15 yards for us,'' Beale said. ``Basically what helps Jamie more than anything else is his vision. He sees the field well. He goes north-south quickly. He's not like the East kid from Glenvar [Eric] where he's going to be able to run away from people, but he hits the hole as well as any back we've had for a while. We probably don't throw the ball to him enough. He's one of the most versatile athletes that we've had for a long time.
``In hindsight, we probably should have made him a quarterback when he was an eighth grader.''
In truth, Warren's just glad to be playing.
``I've always been interested in sports,'' he said. ``I started playing football, basketball and baseball when I was a fourth grader. When I was in the seventh grade, I gave up baseball in order to run track. Coach Beale talked me into going out for track to help my speed.''
Baseball was the loser there because Warren's aforementioned eyesight - 20-15 - would have been an asset on the baseball diamond.
Warren is interested in playing college football and both his grades (he has a 3.5 on a 4.0 scale) and his Scholastic Assessment Test scores indicate he'll be up to the academic challenge. Ferrum and Randolph-Macon have invited him for campus visits.
Meanwhile, he'll only have a few more games to beef up his statistics and perhaps attract the attention of some recruiters. Floyd County's hopes for a Group A Division 2 playoff berth were all but eliminated with a 37-23 loss to Fort Chiswell last week. Warren did his part with 133 yards rushing and a touchdown, but it wasn't enough.
``I'd have expected to do better than I have so far,'' Warren said. ``I haven't done as well as I can yet. Last season, it took me the first half of the season to get into it. I'm hoping I can get better in the second half of the season this year.''
Better would be plenty good based on his prior standards.
by CNB