Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, August 26, 1995 TAG: 9508300008
SECTION: COLLEGE FOOTBALL PAGE: CF-9 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RALPH BERRIER JR. STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: FERRUM LENGTH: Medium
For Davis, the 1995 season is his second as Ferrum's football coach, but it his first without his wife, Sharon, who died Nov.30, 1994, after gallantly battling cancer for seven years.
Dave Davis, a former Ferrum assistant who took over the Panthers program after the legendary Hank Norton retired, spent much of his first season at the helm looking after his wife, a woman he once called ``the strongest person I've ever known.''
Sharon Davis died less than a month after her husband's team finished the season with a 4-5 record.
It has been nine months, and Dave Davis is back on the field without his biggest fan. For him, the beginning of football season is a continuation of the healing process.
``I can't say I'm over any of it,'' he said. ``Being around the players certainly helps me. I just try to do my job and take care of what I need to do. Maybe I'm more at ease; I don't know.''
Davis is coping with his grief by immersing himself in football and by staying close to his children - Bryan and Lauren - both of whom are at Ferrum.
``My son and my daughter are great helps to me,'' Davis said.
Everywhere Davis looks he is surrounded by youth. The Panthers will be fairly young, a fact that excites Davis and has him looking toward the future. Ferrum this year will rely on a blend of solid veteran players and a talented freshman class.
The offense could be explosive with the return of quarterback Millard Vining, who got off to a slow start last year but wound up throwing for 690 yards and rushing for 439, and wide receiver John Poindexter.
``Early in the year, we were one of the worst passing teams I've ever seen,'' Davis said of the '94 season. ``We didn't have a lot of discipline at quarterback, our receivers ran poor routes and the pass protection wasn't good.''
That began to change around midseason. Now, the offense should be the team's strength.
Vining, a three-year starter, holds six school records, including completions (158) and passing yardage (2,639) in a career. Poindexter, from Forest, caught 16 passes for 288 yards and a pair of touchdowns. He should see a lot more balls flying his way this fall.
``John Poindexter is a premier Division III receiver,'' Davis said.
Junior fullback David Anthony, who came up 11 yards short of a school record when he ran for 224 against West Virginia Tech in '94, and sophomore tailback Ronnie Perkinson, who rushed a school-record 32 times in gaining 156 yards against Montclair State, lead a deep backfield. Sophomores Colby Allen and Jeff Turner should see some action at fullback, and senior Roshan Myers and sophomore Wilber Christy will get some carries at tailback.
The offensive line isn't deep, but youngsters such as Earl Davis, Marc Pasquinelli, Andre Early and Dennis Brookshire are expected to get the job done.
The defense was hurt when the Panthers' leading tackler, Chris Denhoff, could not return to school because of personal reasons. The loss of Denhoff, a linebacker who had 86 stops last year, leaves a hole in the defense that linebackers Kevin Slough of Rocky Mount, Kareem Woods and Ian Edwards will attempt to fill.
``The defense is the real question mark,'' Davis said.
There is little depth at defensive end, where Walter Bryant and Henley Green will get most of the work. The secondary is inexperienced, other than sophomore Derek Hollins of Salem and Junior Jon Hannah, but it is talented. Cornerback Nate Daniels could be one of several freshmen to see playing time back there.
Several other freshmen could be factors, including wide receivers Linwood Joyner and Patrick Brooks.
``I'm real excited about this freshman class,'' Davis said. ``It might be the best since we added [former Virginia running back and current Seattle Seahawk] Chris Warren [in 1988]. We have to see who emerges.''
David Waddell will be in his third season as Ferrum's punter and kicker. Last year, he averaged 37.2 yards per punt, hit six field goals and converted 14 of 18 extra-point attempts.
Winning close games would have been a boon to Ferrum's record last year; four of the Panthers' losses came by a total of 15 points. Ferrum closed with a rush, winning its last three games by averaging 30 points.
Davis thinks last year's schedule was the toughest in school history. This year's schedule, Ferrum's first 10-game slate since 1989, again is arduous. The Panthers open Sept.2 at Rowan, the NCAA Division III runner-up in 1993, then play Division II West Virginia Tech, Cortland State (a preseason Division III top 10 team) and Division I-AA Charleston Southern.
``If we get through the first four games healthy, we'll be pretty good,'' Davis said. ``It won't take but one injury here or one injury there and we wouldn't be very good.''
by CNB