Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, August 31, 1995 TAG: 9508310013
SECTION: HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL PAGE: 12 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: RAY COX STAFF WRITER|
DATELINE: RADFORD LENGTH: Long
The linemen are big and muscular, the backs are swift, and the fullbacks will be the sort who can knock people flying to make running room for their backfield colleagues.
Yet Bobcats coach Norman Lineburg seems to harbor a vague melancholy.
``We'll be much more of a running ballclub than we have been before,'' he said. ``We won't have as much of the balance between run and pass that we have had. Instead of throwing the 15-20 passes per game that we used to throw, we'll probably throw 5 to 10 passes per game.''
That doesn't sound like Radford. Perhaps that's what the coach's problem is.
``Maybe we ought to throw away some of the junk plays that we've had in the past and just play power football, but that wouldn't be nearly as much fun,'' he said.
Depends on whom you're talking to and what his idea of fun is.
Really now, the key point is how would you prefer to meet your fate? By being strafed and saturation-bombed by the aerial attack or stampeded and crushed by an overpowering ground game?
The return of muscle football to Radford may soon be complete; although Lineburg may not be quite so fond of that as the more flamboyant passing game, he can't argue with the results Radford is likely to achieve.
Before the first snap is taken, the Bobcats figure to contend at the Group A Region C and Division 2 state levels this year. People will put up with some methodical football if it produces a winner.
Radford's method will involve lining up behind beefy linemen Chris Vicars and Kelly ``Bubba'' Underwood and letting speedsters such as new option-style quarterback Tremond Hale and tailbacks Larnelle Lewis and Eddie Waldron plunge ahead as they follow a wall of interference provided by bruising fullbacks Jameel Hendricks and Elmo Dunbar.
Hendricks at 6-0, 223 pounds and Dunbar at 5-10, 220 are prototype Radford fullbacks; Lineburg likes his guys big.
Radford was hurt by the academic troubles of leading rusher Marlon Wesley, but there are plenty of others who can do an adequate job. Hale at 5-7, 130 will give Radford a running quarterback the likes of which it hasn't had since Chester Black.
``We'll be running more sprint-out passing plays for the quarterback than we have,'' Lineburg said.
Other skill position standouts include wide receivers Derrick Chapman, Clancy Woodrum and Steven Gentry, all of whom had seen plenty of action. Woodrum is also a quarterback who can come in when a drop-back passing specialist is needed.
None of this offensive firepower will do Radford much good if it can't get anybody blocked, but that won't be the case. Underwood and Vicars will team with 6-1, 220-pound John Dobbins at the heart of what should be a formidable line. Center Bryan Robertson is nursing a broken nose as Ken Keister fills in.
``We think we can have a pretty good offensive line,'' Lineburg said. ``When Robertson gets back, he's a good football player. We're still looking for another guard.''
The candidates there have been Jeff Kessinger and Mo Vaughn, a 5-8, 130-pound sophomore.
``He's a tough little rascal,'' Lineburg said.
More offensive line help could come from 231-pound tackle Patrick Manning and tight end Bud Redden.
Redden, a 5-11, 190-pound sophomore, will be at the heart of the defense at inside linebacker. Redden led the team in tackling points as a freshman. Mike Dunbar, another sophomore, should team with him at inside linebacker.
Another Dunbar, Elmo, anchors the line at noseguard. Denny Wendle is a returning starter at tackle.
Mix in guys such as Hendricks and Waldron at defensive ends, Lewis at monster, and Chapman and Hale in the secondary, and the Bobcats have the makings of a ferocious defensive unit.
These Bobcats are going to have to be mean, especially with an out-of-district schedule that includes defending Group A Division 2 champion Powell Valley as well as Pioneer District powers Covington and Parry McCluer and Mountain Empire District ruffians Fort Chiswell and Grayson County.
That's over and above a Three Rivers District slate that included old Radford rival Giles, which beat the Bobcats twice last year.
Radford won't be forgetting that any time soon.
RADFORD
1994 record: 8-3 overall, 3-1 in the Three Rivers District
Coach: Norman Lineburg, 26th year
Returning starters: Kelly Underwood, 6-3, 230, ot, dt, sr.; Chris Vicars, 5-11, 284, ot, dt, sr.; Elmo Dunbar, 5-10, 220, ng, fb, sr.; Larnelle Lewis, 5-10, 165, tb, monster, sr.; Eddie Waldron, 5-10, 160, de, tb, sr., Jameel Hendrick, 6-0, 223, de, fb, sr.; Derrick Chapman, 6-0, 151, s, wr, jr.; Tremond Hale, 5-7, 130, db, qb, sr.; Clancy Woodrum, 5-10, 148, wr, sr.; Steven Gentry, 5-10, 140, wr, monster, sr.; Kirk Perrow, 5-9, 130, pk, sr.; Bud Redden, 5-11, 190, te, lb, soph.; Denny Windle, 5-9, 185, dt, jr; John Dobbins, 6-1, 220, ot, sr.; Bryan Robertson, 5-10, 160, c, sr.
Other key players: Eliot Barton, 5-11, 160, db, wr, jr; Mike Dunbar, 5-10, 145, lb, soph.; Ken Keister, 6-0, 165, soph.; Jeff Kessinger, 6-1, 197, og, jr.; Mo Vaughn, 5-8, 130, og, soph.; Patrick Manning, 5-8, 231, jr.
Outlook: Almost everybody is back from a team that challenged eventual district champion Giles in the regular season and then at regionals. Radford now is the team to beat, both in the district and in the region. This is the first time Radford has had such a formidable contender since 1991, when it lost in the Group AA Division 3 semifinals. The Bobcats will play a more conservative grind-it-out game, often relying on the power-I formation. The defense should be quick and hard-hitting.
SCHEDULE
Sept. 1, at Parry Mc;Cluer; 8, at Powell Valley; 15, at Grayson County; 22, Covington; 29, at Fort Chiswell
Oct. 6, open; 13, at Giles; 20.Shjawsville; 27 , Galax
Nov. 3, Floyd County; 10, at Auburn
by CNB