Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, October 27, 1994 TAG: 9410290017
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Just how far the Highland Cavaliers (5-2) have come might be measured Saturday, when they visit Emory & Henry for their first meeting with the Wasps (6-1).
Clinch Valley already has beaten two of Emory & Henry's fellow Old Dominion Athletic Conference teams, Hampden-Sydney (38-12) and Bridgewater (46-0). It was the second straight victory over the Tigers, said to be dropping Clinch Valley off its schedule after this year.
``I think there is a feeling of, `Well, they give scholarships and have easy entrance requirements,''' said Clinch Valley athletic director Carroll Dale, fearful that Maryville also may discontinue its series, ``but I can tell you, our coaches had no scholarship help last year and we have some strict requirements.''
The Highland Cavaliers are independent members of NAIA Division II, which limits programs to a total of 12 scholarships, but Clinch Valley gave out mimimal aid when the program was started in 1991 and little since.
The Highland Cavaliers have made progress each year, with records of 2-8, 3-7 and 6-4 going into this season. They were ranked 11th in the country before falling last Saturday to Bethel College, 56-46.
Clinch Valley, now ranked 20th, has scored no fewer than 31 points in any game and boasts one of the division's top passers in David Nara, a 6-foot-3, 188-pound senior who has thrown for 1,736 yards and 14 touchdowns in seven games. Nara, from Naples, Fla., began his college career at Kent State.
``A fellow that I knew from Florida gave me his name,'' said coach Bill Ramseyer, who came to Clinch Valley from Wilmington (Ohio) College. ``It turns out his father had coached in Ohio.''
Ramseyer said Clinch Valley, located in Wise, gets two-thirds of its players from Virginia, with representatives from many of the schools in the Black Diamond and Lonesome Pine Districts. That's one reason Dale likes the idea of playing Emory & Henry and thinks Ferrum would be a worthy opponent.
``That's an athletic director speaking,'' said Dale, a star wide receiver for Virginia Tech and the Green Bay Packers. ``Coaches sometimes have reservations about these things. There's been a feeling that Ferrum is close to Virginia Tech and some Tech players might end up there.''
Ferrum currently does not have a single Division I transfer, but Ramseyer can be forgiven for a little caution.
``When I was named coach Jan. 15, 1991, we literally did not own a football,'' he said. ``We had six months in which to come up with players and a staff. So, all we've tried to do is be a better team this week than we were last week and a better team this season than we were last year.''
ON HOT SEAT: There is speculation that coach Bill Lewis will not survive his third season at Georgia Tech, which last week lost its fifth straight game to drop to 1-6. Maryland, a 38-0 loser to Tech in 1993, beat the Yellow Jackets 42-27. ``I've been in that situation before,'' said Lewis, let go by Wyoming after a 14-20-1 record from 1979-80. ``Obviously, you're concerned. I understand what's happening on the outside because that's part of the business. I've known that for 32 years.''
Yellow Jackets defensive coordinator George O'Leary has been mentioned as a possible successor, although Georgia Tech's defense has been nothing to rave about and last week gave up 470 yards against Maryland.
DON'T KNOCK 'EM: First-year Duke coach Fred Goldsmith, whose Blue Devils are 7-0 and ranked 16th in the country by The Associated Press, doesn't think Saturday's game with Florida State will be any validation of Duke's season.
``I resent the fact that we're going to Florida State and people are saying, `Is Duke for real?' '' Goldsmith said. ``How can anybody say we're not for real based on one game? We are for real and nobody can take what we've done away from us.''
HOOPS: Coveted prospect Reggie Bassette has narrowed his choices to Virginia and Minnesota. The 6-foot-9 Bassette, from Highland Springs outside Richmond, is considered one of the nation's top shot-blockers. ... Wake Forest, enjoying a successful early recruiting period, has received an oral commitment from 6-9 Texan William Stringfellow. ... UVa's women received a commitment from 6-foot-3 Lesley Brown, who averaged 25 points and 13 rebounds as a junior at Pulaski Academy in Little Rock, Ark.
HONOREES: Roanoke native Al Holland, who pitched for 10 years in the major leagues, was inducted into the North Carolina A&T Sports Hall of Fame on Oct. 15. Holland, who went to Lucy Addison High in Roanoke and coaches at William Fleming, played baseball and football at A&T.
Bill Munsey, an outstanding athlete at William Fleming High School and Roanoke College in the late 1930s and early '40s, has been voted into the Florida Athletic Coaches Association Hall of Fame. Munsey was football coach at Pine Crest High School in Fort Lauderdale from 1961-90.
CHALLENGED: A formidable task is ahead of the three Roanoke College teams that play semifinal matches - all on the road - in Old Dominion Athletic Conference tournaments Friday.
The men's soccer team meets unbeaten and second-ranked Virginia Wesleyan, the women's soccer team tries to snap Randolph-Macon's 31-game winning streak, and the volleyball team faces eighth-ranked Eastern Mennonite (15-1).
by CNB