Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, September 21, 1995 TAG: 9509210043
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Edwards, whose playing time had declined at Virginia Tech, has become the featured back for the No.3-ranked team in Division I-AA.
Edwards carried 20 times for 97 yards in his debut, when Boise State defeated Division I-A Utah State 38-14. He had 16 carries for 110 yards when the Broncos defeated Sam Houston State by the same score Saturday.
Edwards set a Tech freshman record when he rushed for 10 touchdowns in 1993, but his only touchdown so far at Boise State came on a reception against Utah State.
The Broncos reached the Division I-AA championship game last year and finished 13-2 but needed a tailback after the departure of K.C. Adams. Adams, who rushed for 1,275 yards as a junior, had academic problems that became evident when he missed spring practice.
Edwards was Tech's second-leading rusher last year, when he gained 378 yards on 115 attempts. Because he transferred to a lower classification, he was able to enjoy instant eligibility.
Edwards will become a Division I-A player again next year, when the Broncos move from the Big Sky Conference to the Big West, which furnishes the home team for the Las Vegas Bowl.
RETENTION THE KEY: Some found it remarkable when VMI football coach Bill Stewart survived two-a-days last year without losing a player. Maybe more impressive is the fact that, of the 24 players in Stewart's first recruiting class, 20 remain on campus more than a year later.
Contrast that with predecessor Jim Shuck's last recruiting class in 1993. Of the 24 players VMI signed that year, only 12 made it back for the start of the Stewart regime. That number now stands at 11, which shows that if the Keydets can get a player to return for a second year, he's likely to stay.
Retention never will be easy at VMI, where three of this year's 19 signees left before the start of school. A fourth, 6-foot-5, 242-pound tight end Mark Porterfield, had missed considerable time while hospitalized for a respiratory illness and returned home to Hedgesville, W.Va.
AROUND THE STATE: Virginia and VMI will be separated by 30 miles Saturday at stadiums where they never have won, Virginia at Clemson and the Keydets at Paladin Stadium in Greenville, S.C. VMI's last victory at Furman was in 1978 at Sirrine Stadium.
nEast Tennessee State coach Mike Cavan says VMI is ``probably as improved as anybody I've seen in a long time from one year to the next.'' And that was before the Keydets beat him 37-23.
RELYING ON YOUTH: Marshall is down to a true freshman quarterback, Chad Pennington, after knee injuries to Larry Harris and Mark Zban. Zban, a transfer from Ohio State, is the brother of ex-Virginia Tech quarterback and baseball player Tommy Zban.
RECRUITING: David Macklin, a 5-11, 185-pound defensive back from Menchville High in Newport News, has committed to Penn State. Macklin was listed ninth in a preseason ranking of the state's top football prospects by The Roanoke Times.
Macklin is the second secondary prospect from Virginia to commit to the Nittany Lions, joining Anthony King from Granby High School in Norfolk. Seven state players have made oral commitments, three to Virginia Tech and Pulaski County running back Jawan Clark to North Carolina State.
HALL OF FAME: Frank Mawyer, a graduate of Jefferson High School in Roanoke, will be inducted into the M Club Hall of Fame at the University of Memphis on Nov.4. He played defensive back and tailback for Memphis from 1949-53 and scored 16 touchdowns in his career.
Mawyer scored touchdowns five different ways - five rushing, five on punt returns, three on receptions, two on kickoff returns and one on an interception. He played his last season after serving in the U.S. Marine Corps and later taught in the Memphis school system before entering the insurance business.
nBetsy Henderson of Roanoke has been inducted into the Emory & Henry Sports Hall of Fame. Henderson was co-captain of the 1973-74 Wasps' team that finished second in the state at a time when all of the women's basketball programs were in competition.
Henderson, who received the Hall Memorial Award as Emory & Henry's top female athlete, has taught and coached for the past 17 years at Hidden Valley Junior High School in Roanoke. She was a standout athlete at Cave Spring High School, when she was Betsy Reinicker.
Other Emory & Henry inductees included Martinsville native Stanley Eggleston, who played on the 1988 team that reached the final 16 in the Division III men's basketball tournament; baseball player George ``Ears'' Bowman and football player Reggie Palmer. Palmer, from Chilhowie, also excelled in track.
NON-REVENUE: Washington and Lee's nationally prominent water-polo team opened its season with a 16-15 victory over eastern power Navy, ranked 10th in the country. Navy had a 15-game winning streak over the Generals.
Aimee Beightol from Cave Spring was starting at sweeper for Randolph-Macon, ranked second in Division III in women's soccer, before suffering a foot injury Tuesday night. Her twin sister, Allison, is coming off an injury but should be available when the Yellow Jackets visit Roanoke next Tuesday.
Northside High graduate Cathy Galko, co-player of the year in the Blue Ridge District last year, has joined the volleyball team at William and Mary.
by CNB