Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, December 15, 1994 TAG: 9412150025
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-5 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: RAY COX
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The Group AAA, Division 6 title game between defending champion Annandale and host George Washington of Danville last week was, without a doubt, one of the most magnificent championship games ever played in the state, if not one of the great games, period.
Since walking the Atoms sidelines with 7-year-old Arden Spencer and 5-year-old Hatcher, a couple of apprentice sportswriters (and also residents at my house) who were favorably impressed with Annandale's 47-41 overtime victory, the call has been going up almost hourly:
``Let's play touchdowns in the front yard like they did in Danville!''
It has been difficult to convey to these cub reporters that in football, you don't score on virtually every play, even if that was the way it seemed for Annandale and GW.
All I could tell them was that the Eagles must be commended in the highest terms for refusing to buckle after falling behind 13-0, 21-7 and 41-35 with 21/2 minutes to play and 80 yards to go against a team with a 25-game winning streak and three straight shutouts in the playoffs. And Annandale, the conqueror of then defending champ Pulaski County in last year's title tilt, had to be applauded for finding a way to win against a team that couldn't be stopped, in a stadium filled to the gills with hostile and screaming GW boosters, as a cold humidity dampened their red and white jerseys in the gloaming.
When news of Spotsylvania's astounding 27-0 whacking of an Amherst County team widely believed to be incapable of defeat in the Division 4 game reached here, thoughts turned to retired Blacksburg coach Bill Brown. After the Lancers had skewered the tenacious Indians 27-13 in the semifinals, Brown had sought out an observer of the proceedings and growled:
``Amherst isn't one of the greatest teams to have played. Great teams play defense.''
Absolutely. But they also discover a way to score at least a couple of points in an important game.
Giles might not have been able to beat Powell Valley, which overpowered Sussex Central in the Division 2 final, but it would have been sweet to see the Spartans try.
Bet the house, the car and the 401k plan that Narrows would have been a heck of a sight stouter opponent for Appalachia in the Division 1 game than Middlesex ever was. Seventy-two to seven?! What did those Middlesexians have for breakfast that morning, laughing gas?
BOOT CAMP Blacksburg basketball coach Bob Trear took one look as his club got toasted by Northside in the season opener and made a grave decision.
``We had to get back to what we should have been doing,'' he said. ``We thought we had them in shape, but apparently not. We neglected them. When you say neglected, you mean that their conditioning isn't what it needs to be.''
Trear knows this is no time to be out of shape.
``Two of the first three games, we play the state champion [Salem] and a semifinalist [Northside] and they both have everybody back but Mark Byington at Salem and Nathan Hungate at Northside. Then we get Pulaski County [tonight]. I told the players, `Now we have the breather.' I was kidding, of course, and the guys knew it. Pulaski County has an excellent team and they have everybody back.
``It doesn't get any easier after that, either.''
SEEING DOUBLEPity the confusion Giles basketball opponents are due for this year. Not only will they be straining to tell the difference between twins Aaron and Anthony Myers, but now they must contend with twins Raypheal and Maurice Milton. The Spartans are going to have to wait on Maurice for a while, though. He's still recovering from a torn up ankle that he reinjured yet again in the football semifinal loss to Lebanon.
By the way, if Maurice had played that entire game, then Giles would have beat the Pioneers and been even money at Powell Valley the next week. Count on it.
Ray Cox is a sportswriter for the Roanoke Times & World-News.
by CNB