ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, September 6, 1996 TAG: 9609060010
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
TYPE: COMMENTARY
SOURCE: RAY COX
The football team from Giles High last week chewed up and spit out its old foe from Blacksburg like a piece of obsolete bubble gum.
The 44-6 score was off the charts, historically speaking. Usually, a first down here or a dropped pass there was the difference between these ancient rivals.
The meeting last week was something altogether different. The Spartans did everything but strip the tires from the Blacksburg school bus and leave it dry docked on cinder blocks.
Naturally, Giles coach Steve Ragsdale was worried sick.
Coaches fret about what impact games like this have on a team's confidence. In the case of the winning side, the threat is overconfidence.
``That is definitely a concern,'' Ragsdale was saying as the Spartans practiced one day this week. ``I hope it doesn't happen.''
Veteran sideline stalkers such as Ragsdale aren't normally inclined to sit back and wait for misfortune to arrive like an assassin in the twilight. Thus the Spartans boss resorted to ancient practice in that part of the world.
He decreed that team members would line up and knock the slobber out of each other.
At the end of a difficult practice, there is nothing quite like taking every single exhausted, leg-dead player, pairing them off with a similarly sized partner, ordering them into a four-point stance, and instructing them to strike each other in the manner of two mountain goats with a dispute to settle.
The first collective collision sounded like a train wreck.
``No way are we going to stop on that one,'' Ragsdale announced. ``Come on boys! Quick! Quick! Quick! You look like you're afraid you might hit somebody!''
Another whistle, another crash.
``Come on ladies,'' assistant coach Rusty Kelley said. ``This is like the Christians and the lions: thumbs down.''
And so it went, the sounds of battering and grunting carrying over the lushly verdant hills and on toward the U.S. 460 bypass that runs below the Spartans' practice field.
Once the Giles coaches were satisfied that the hitting had been accomplished with the desired violence and technique, the troops moved on to the steep hill beyond the outfield fence of the baseball field. It was the same hill over which Mike Williams bombed a home run off Carroll County's Ricky Berrier many years ago.
Spartans footballers probably had to run that same hill back then, too. Then and now, it's the sort of hill that would look nice in a televised commercial for a four-wheel drive vehicle.
``Eight or four and four?'' Ragsdale asked, democratically allowing them the choice of making their gut-busting uphill sprints eight times in succession or four times on either side of a brief rest.
``Eight,'' a voice croaked. Nobody offered a dissenting vote.
During the course of these sprints, there was a certain amount of moaning and groaning among those who still had enough lung power for that sort of thing. Kelley reasoned with them.
``It probably takes six seconds to run that hill, which means that you only have 24 more seconds of work to do,'' he said.
As is often mentioned by those who work closely with teen-agers, you never really can tell what's on the young'uns' minds. For this particular group of Spartans, it would be fairly safe to guess that the threat of overconfidence will be effectively squelched by tonight.
That can't be considered all that encouraging a development for tonight's opponent, Floyd County. The Buffaloes are coming off a big win of their own, a 28-26 thriller over a quick and talented team from James River. The Spartans present an altogether different challenge.
Giles is back, not that the Spartans have really gone anywhere. Departed to graduation are all stars galore yet the Spartan Giles dressing quarters is still well-stocked with talent. There might not be a Reggie Hoston and Kevin Slusser, but there is a Chris Ratcliffe and Matt Whitehead. There may not be an Alex Webb, but Chris Ruth, Jeremy Saunders and Chris Hutchison still have some eligibility left.
This team has 20 seniors, most of whom have been around for a big game or two and probably even played in them.
``This one is over,'' one grass-stained player said after the Blacksburg blasting. ``Now we get ready for Floyd.''
Looks like the same helmets that were issued at the start of practice may still fit tonight.
LENGTH: Medium: 84 linesby CNB