ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, December 9, 1995 TAG: 9512100002
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB TEITLEBAUM STAFF WRITER
A WINTER STORM may make playing conditions less-than-favorable for today's Group A Division I football championship.
Bath County has two foes for today's Group A Division 1 high school football championship game at Alleghany High School.
One will be Strasburg, which plans to sweep down I-81 this morning from Northern Virginia for the 1:30 p.m. game. The other is an expected winter storm that was due in the area sometime Friday night or today that had school officials making all sorts of contingency plans.
According to Bath County principal Rob Carpenter, the game will be played as scheduled if possible.
If the game is postponed, both schools have permission to play on Sunday. Under Virginia High School League rules, state championship contests may be held on Sunday if both schools are willing to do so. This is the only type of VHSL activity permitted on this day and it can happen only under the most adverse conditions.
While the weather is a problem for playing the game, Strasburg (11-2) bars the path for Bath County to give Timesland its first football state champion since Giles took the Division 3 crown in 1993.
Strasburg running back Frankie Shoemaker is possibly the second best Group A player behind Powell Valley's Thomas Jones. He has made the Rams a state contender after they lost much of their team from last year.
In 13 games, Shoemaker, a 5-foot-9, 170-pounder, has rushed for 1,580 yards and 23 touchdowns; has caught 13 passes for 156 yards and two touchdowns; has returned seven kickoffs for 256 yards and one touchdown; has hauled back six punts for 143 yards and a touchdown; and has scored 10 2-point conversions. On defense, he's returned nine intercepted passes for 230 yards.
``He's been with us four years and been a starter all four years,'' said Strasburg coach Glenn Proctor. ``It seems like we're over-achieving. We only have eight seniors and our defense is dominated by juniors. We really felt like we'd be pretty good, but next year would be the season when we harvested this talent.''
Bath County (11-2) is a senior-dominated team that whipped defending Group A Division I champion Appalachia 36-14 last week. The defense has given up only six touchdowns the past five weeks. Shoemaker could be the strongest test.
``We've talked about stopping him,'' said Bath County linebacker Matt Williams. ``We've seen some good backs in the district, but one [Brock Johnson] for Stuarts Draft was hurt and didn't play much against us.''
Without Johnson, Stuarts Draft won 21-8 and the next week Bath County fell 20-12 to Riverheads. After that, the Chargers edged Buffalo Gap 21-14 and then ripped Parry McCluer 34-8 and James River 32-6 in the final two Pioneer District contests.
``It was a goal of ours from the beginning to get to the state championship game. Those two losses woke us up that we could be beat. That we needed to get our heads together. We had no doubts we could make the state title game,'' said Williams.
The senior says people around Hot Springs compare this team to the 1989 outfit that fell to Appalachia in the semifinals. ``But we're a totally different club. We use power. They used finesse,'' said Williams, who recalls watching that group.
Stuarts Draft's Proctor has been on the same job for 32 years and this is the fourth trip to a championship game. Parry McCluer beat Strasburg 21-14 in 1987 after the Rams led 14-0 at intermission.
Another Timesland coach, Roanoke Catholic's John Cooke, was head man at Jonesville when it beat Strasburg 21-20 in overtime. In 1992, Appalachia beat Strasburg 26-20.
Bath County coach Steve Isaacs is also looking for his first state title. He's built the Chargers over the last two years after taking over for the late Carl Williams.
``Strasburg runs sort of a single wing with a quarterback,'' said Isaacs. ``They have a lot of misdirection, but they just don't have a fullback. The wing-T [formation] came from this.''
As Bath County runs a single wing, this might hamper Proctor's preparations. ``Anytime you have to prepare for that kind of an offense, it puts you at a disadvantage,'' said Proctor. ``It's hard for the scout team to run it the same degree of speed that Bath County runs that offense.''
LENGTH: Medium: 80 linesby CNB