ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, August 29, 1996 TAG: 9608290022
SECTION: HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL PAGE: 12 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: NARROWS
SOURCE: ANGIE WATTS STAFF WRITER
The football theme for the second straight year around the Mountain Empire District is youth, and Narrows High School is not the exception.
Dominant in years past, coach Don Lowe's program will continue to feel the strains of rebuilding after a dismal 2-8 showing in 1995. The Green Wave was 0-4 in the district last season and would appear to continue to lack the experience to return to the district forefront.
"I think the league itself is real young," Lowe said. "It seems as if a lot of us have questions about what is going to happen this year. I think for about four teams this year the league is wide open."
Two seniors Lowe will count on to provide leadership are Chris Martin and David Turner, both of whom received all-district honors for their offensive and defensive play last season. Martin, a 6-foot, 220-pound senior, plays center and nose guard, and the 5-10, 150-pound Turner will reprise his starting roles at tailback and linebacker.
"Coming off a season like we had last year, we moved a lot of people around," Lowe said. "So we're still in the infant stages of seeing what we'll have this year. What we don't have is a lot of numbers in our junior and senior class ... we're lacking both experience and depth."
To make matters worse, Narrows suffered the loss of Clay Spangler, who was pushing quarterback Jeff Bowers for the starting nod before breaking his leg playing basketball. Spangler is out for the year. Lowe has since enlisted starting split end and cornerback Dalton Smith for back-up quarterback duties.
"One thing you learn being in a small school is that kids have to learn to play more than one position," Lowe said. "And when you're so young, it's hard enough teaching them one position."
Lowe said preseason scrimmages have yet to produce the type of showing he would like, sending him and his assistant coaches back to the drawing board.
"We've all got a long way to go," Lowe said. "When you start out in practice blocking dummies everything looks so good ... then you put live people out there and it falls apart. So we're back in the process of shuffling people around again - back to square one."
A look at the rest of the district:
After a surprise trip to the playoffs last year the picture looks murky for Bland County. Under the direction of co-coaches David Lambert and Ed Selfe, the Bears will be looking to regroup after the departure of four prominent seniors.
Gone is Bland County's defensive mainstay from 1995, linebacker Smokey Parmeter, along with all-district guards Jody Lambert and Mike Muncey, and running back Todd Morehead. Morehead rushed for more than 1,000 yards last year.
"We've a got a young team - a lot of new ones," Lambert said. "We're just aiming at a .500 season. Of course we'd like to go back to the playoffs, but we lost 11 seniors, and unless a lot of younger players really step up, it's going to be difficult."
Bland does return starting quarterback John Michael Newberry, and Jason Hancock and J.B. Lambert appear to be strong replacements for Morehead coming out of the backfield in the Bears' T-formation offense.
A year ago, when the rest of the district was suffering through the loss of several key players to graduation, Fort Chiswell was returning a group of 13 starters that included quarterback Adam Morgan and all-state wide receiver Michael White. How times have changed.
Left with just five returning starters, three on offense and two on defense, the Pioneers have a lot to learn.
"We're real young," said fourth-year coach Larry Neely. "I'm hoping that the team can catch on to our scheme early so we can be successful by the end of the season."
Freshman Phillip Russell and junior Josh Turner will battle for the quarterback vacancy left by Morgan. Neely said he will choose a starter the week before the Pioneers' season-opener at George Wythe.
"One of our biggest strengths is that although we're young, our kids worked really hard in the off-season and have continued that in preseason drills," Neely said. "Many of them had success on the junior varsity team last year, and I'm hoping they'll bring that experience of winning with them to the varsity level."
Second year Galax coach Kim Gillespie sounded a familiar refrain.
"We're real young," Gillespie said. "Let me tell you just how young we are. I have three people on the team who can drive."
But despite the likelihood of starting five or six sophomores, Gillespie said he does have good leadership from his upperclassmen, specifically starting quarterback Byron Brown. From the sound of things, Brown will need all the leadership and patience he can muster.
"We have to mature fast up front," Gillespie said. "Our whole offensive line is sophomores, so we've got our work cut out for us. But I have to say I have a good group of kids who are willing to learn, and I think they're going to end up being some of the best athletes I've had here at Galax. We have a lot of potential."
Gillespie said the team's strength will lie in its speed on both sides of the line of scrimmage and at linebacker, where the Maroon Tide returns sophomore Bob Griffith, the team's third-leading tackler this past season.
"I think our goal is really as a team to go out and improve day by day and game by game," Gillespie said. "Every time something positive happens on the field it should serve as a confidence builder for us."
Like others around the league, defending district champion Grayson County was jolted by the loss of 17 seniors. Unlike the others, coach Bill Strong still has plenty to choose from, making the Blue Devils the team to beat.
"Our goals are real simple," Strong said. "We expect to win every time we step on the field. Obviously that doesn't always happen, but those are a goals."
The loss of quarterback Chad Shaffner to graduation leaves a gap in Grayson's lineup. Battling to take over the starting position are sophomore Robbie Phelps and junior Adam Williams. A starter won't be named until opening night, said Strong, who predicted both Phelps and Williams will see playing time this year.
Grayson County returns five starters, including Mark Jankowske and Brad Poole, who have swapped defensive duties. Jankowske started at tackle last year but has been moved to linebacker, and Poole started at end but will be moved to fill the void at tackle.
"Our strengths are certainly our attitude, work ethic and desire," Strong said, "We're just so inexperienced. But we're getting better each day, and I hope by the time the season starts we'll be where we want to be."
The newest district member, Pocahontas, should prove to be a worthy opponent. The Indians return eight starters off last year's team that finished 7-4 in the Black Diamond District.
Two of the returning starters from the team's power-I formation offense are senior quarterback Michael Carter and senior center Bobby Baker. Coach Bobby Wyatt refers to Baker as the mainstay of his program, and said the 6-4, 275-pounder is already drawing attention from Division 1 colleges.
The challenge for Carter and Baker, however, will be to maintain their composure while Wyatt breaks in four new players on the offensive line. That may prove especially difficult considering two of those lost linemen, Stuart Bralley and Scott Schrader, were all-district performers for the Indians last season.
"Replacing four starters on the offensive line will be a big thing for us to overcome early in the season," Wyatt said. "But we'll be strong defensively, and hopefully that will carry us for a while."
The change in districts cuts about five hours of travel time off the Indians' schedule, but Wyatt said that may be the only advantage.
"Except for travel time, we haven't done ourselves any favors by moving into this new district," he said. "We've made a pretty formidable schedule in a league that looks to be very competitive."
PREDICTED ORDER OF FINISH
MOUNTAIN EMPIRE DISTRICT|
1, Grayson County; 2, Pocahontas; 3, Bland County; 4, Galax; 5, Fort Chiswell; 6, Narrrows
LENGTH: Long : 142 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: (headshot) McCroskey.by CNB