Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, October 26, 1995 TAG: 9511020025
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: RAY COX STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NARROWS LENGTH: Medium
During wartime, they're known as battlefield promotions.
At Narrows High, the fanfare was minimal earlier this week when football players Chris Martin and David Turner were given the news. It went something like this:
``Practice at 1:30 p.m.,'' they were told by Coach Don Lowe. ``Oh, and by the way - you're my new captains.''
Injury and attrition had elevated Martin and Turner to top rank. You don't want to say that there wasn't anybody else, but Narrows was down to 19 able-bodied players when Martin and Turner got the call.
Of the three players lost to the Green Wave in the past 10 days, the entire trio were captains, not to mention statistical leaders. The group included injured end Robbie Stafford and banged-up fullback Justin Rhodes. It also included Keith Morris, who led the team in rushing and tackling before being suspended as a disciplinary matter.
Martin and Turner are going to have a crash course in captaining; as far as the football goes, they'll be in good shape.
``They earned being named captain on the field,'' Lowe said.
Martin, at 6-foot-1 and 220 pounds, is one of the team's biggest players and is also its most accomplished lineman. Turner was one of the top pure athletes on the team even before the departure of more acclaimed sorts such as Rhodes and Morris. Turner will be stepping right into the role vacated by Morris as the focus of the offense.
``Turner is the backup tailback, fullback, and wingback,'' Lowe said. ``He's also the starting tailback, fullback, and wingback.''
Versatility, Turner has plenty of, but then so Martin, who is prepared to play any of the defensive line positions - ``Wherever the other team is running the ball, that's where we put Martin,'' defensive coach Rick Franklin said.
Turner has 81 carries for 461 yards to go with three catches for 34 yards and returns adding up to 204 yards. Of his 10 touchdowns, one was a 94-yard kickoff return.
The numbers figure to pick up now that he's the man.
``Good,'' he said. ``I love to carry the ball. The more carries the better.''
Martin has a tradition to live up to in that his older brother Michael gained distinction as the starting center for Narrows for three years ending in 1992. Chris Martin also has some time to make up.
Martin was big when he was younger, too. So big, in fact, that they wouldn't let him play on a 135-pound weight limit team for three straight years because he was too big.
``That makes me want to play even more now,'' he said.
Turner has been eager for his shot, too. As a sophomore split end a season ago, he would make quick and clandestine visits to assistant coach Dave Mabry during practice.
``When am I going to get a chance to run the ball?'' he would say.
As good an athlete as he was and is, Turner's prospects as a workhorse running back didn't pick up until his weight did. From 140 pounds at the end of the season last year, he's up to about155 now.
Turner is the youngest of four children and the only boy. All three of the girls were athletes (Becky is still at home and is the center on Narrows' undefeated basketball team). The other two, Lisa and Ruth, have grown up and moved out.
``Now I'm finally getting something to eat,'' David Turner said.
Turner and Martin should be fed as much as they can hold. Narrows needs every strong-backed sort it can get at this point. That's the way it goes in a season in which Narrows has been leaking players right and left. It started when the returning quarterback (Bryan Pruett) didn't come out for the team, changed his mind, then quit two weeks later after twisting an ankle.
Lowe has taken a philosophical bent.
``When you're winning, it's easy to show what kind of man you are,'' he said. ``But when you're losing, the real men step forward. The rest go the other way.''
by CNB