Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, December 18, 1994                   TAG: 9412200026
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: C11   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: BOB TEITLEBAUM STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

TITLE IS SWEETER 2ND TIME AROUND FOR COACH OF YEAR

The Roanoke Catholic coach picked the Celtics' 1994 Virginia Independent Schools Division I crown over the 1988 Virginia HIgh School League Group A Division 1 title his Jonesville team won. That Jonesville squad came out of nowhere, starting the playoffs with a 5-5 record and winning four postseason games.

Cooke's Catholic team also seemingly came out of nowhere. With the Celtics, it wasn't a matter of state championships in the past two decades but a case of getting enough people simply to play.

It didn't take long to choose Cooke as Timesland Coach of the Year after his team gave the area its only state championship in football.

Ask Cooke a question and he can talk all day. So he had no trouble explaining why this state title means more to him.

``We started 0-26 and had so many obstacles,'' he said. ``Not having numbers was just part of it. We didn't have the numbers at Jonesville. But we didn't have a field to practice on here. When we got beat at Jonesville, it wasn't that bad. When we got beat here, we were beaten badly.

``To come from 0-26 to a perfect season in three years is very special to me. To be able to beat someone like North Cross, which named the score against us, and get the first victory in the school's history against Lynchburg Christian is special.

``When I got here and we played Lynchburg Christian, my daughter, Jan, said that by the time she sat down, the score was already 30-0. It's not just beating these people, but to shut them out.''

When Cooke arrived at Catholic, the Celtics were trying to win a game.

``Now we went through an entire season unbeaten using some of the same people that played for us on that first team in 1992,'' he said.

This was a season of firsts for the Celtics' coach.

``I've never in my life gone through a whole season where we didn't lose anything - not even a scrimmage,'' said Cooke, 54. ``I remember going through seasons, losing badly and I dreaded going to school on Monday. I wouldn't come out of the house on the weekend. I was hiding because I knew a hundred thousand people had read about the game and I take it [the loss] personally.

``This year, there never was a Monday I had to come to school and say to the guys, `We can hang our heads or go back to work.' To go through 12 games and two scrimmages without experiencing a single bad day is something.

``At Jonesville, we lost one game 15-14. That hurt because we thought we had made a two-point conversion they hadn't counted. That loss stayed with me for a long time.''

This year, Cooke never worried about two-point conversions. No one came close to the Celtics, except Fuqua School in the first scrimmage.

``This year, it was always a great feeling to come to school Monday, like I couldn't wait to get there,'' Cooke said. ``The first two years, I didn't care whether I got to school early or not.''

A couple of other coaching performances stood out along with Cooke's effort. In tiny Bland County, Ed Selfe and David Lambert finished a job started three years ago when they put the first combined team (Bland and Rocky Gap) in Virginia High School League history on the field and opened Mountain Empire District play.

This season, Bland County shared a Mountain Empire District title with Narrows and Fort Chiswell. The Bears made the playoffs and defeated Northwood before losing a rematch with Narrows in the Region C Division 1 championship game. Bland County finished 8-4.

Salem's Willis White also turned in one of his best jobs. The Spartans' coach acknowledges he overscheduled his team against three Group AAA squads and powerful Group AA opponent R.E. Lee-Staunton. After weathering a 1-3 start, Salem nearly beat Pulaski County and finished 6-4 after an upset of Northside that gave the Spartans the Blue Ridge District title.

Salem beat Patrick County in the playoffs before losing to the state's top-ranked Group AA team, Amherst County, in the Region III Division 4 championship game.