ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, October 31, 1996 TAG: 9610310007
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG
SOURCE: RAY COX STAFF WRITER
Those with nervous stomachs had best peruse another section of the newspaper.
Should vivid descriptions of bodily trauma upset you, turn to the Society page.
If you must cover your eyes as innocent youths - some too young to drive - are thrust into the breach to face the legions of doom, then the most recent Ross Perot pronouncement is detailed elsewhere.
This being Halloween, the rest of us will press on with a look at the most hair-raising series of events since the introduction of Rogaine. Today's topic is Christiansburg High School's football season.
It is a story of distress, pain and perseverance. Of course it is. This is football.
We pick up our story on a balmy night in Vinton, where the Blue Demons were guests of William Byrd. The Terriers have a good team (just ask Salem) and they were playing tough if uninspired (Byrd coach Jeff Highfill's words) against the Demons. Byrd led 14-7 late in the fourth quarter. The Demons were about to put a horrific fright into their hosts.
The Demons' version of shock therapy came when quarterback Lance Reynolds airmailed a neat delivery into the hands of John Hindle, who parted the Byrd defense like a barber with a comb and proceeded to the end zone. A celebration ensued.
``I could see Lance put his arms up and I was waiting for the team to come running down,'' said Hindle, who would catch seven passes for 75 yards and a touchdown in the game, ``but they never came.''
What did come was a penalty flag, signifying a wretched 5-yarder against Christiansburg that erased the entire 44-yard play. A Reynolds pass was intercepted shortly thereafter and that was that. As head-bangingly frustrating as it was for the Demons (3-5 overall, 1-4 in the Blue Ridge District), it was nothing they hadn't seen before.
``You know, the only game we weren't in was Lord Botetourt,'' coach Mike Cole said. ``In every game we've either led or had a chance to win.''
Most times a coach says something like that and it rings faintly hollow. In Christiansburg's case, there's more to it than that. As much as any team in recent memory, this team has been demonized by dark fates.
``Right now, we have four players on defense and four on offense that started the season there,'' Cole said.
Injuries have taken a lot of them. Most prominent of the casualties were Chris Epperly and Scottie Brubeck, a pair of seniors who were the team's most experienced and versatile players.
Epperly, who served as the team's quarterback, kicker, punter, defensive back, punt-returner and kickoff-returner, played two games before a previously injured shoulder shut down completely on him. Surgery shelved him for the balance of the campaign.
Brubeck, one of Timesland's leading tacklers a year ago, missed the first two games with a knee wickedly wrenched in a preseason scrimmage, defied doctors' predictions and was back in the lineup for the third game. He was around long enough to injure his other knee. Without being hit.
That's left it up to youngsters to carry a heavier-than-expected load. Reynolds, like Hindle, is a sophomore. So are starters Jonathan Bradley at tight end, Tommy Maynor at defensive back, Brian Mussleman at linebacker and Chris Holmes on the defensive line.
Reynolds and Hindle are something special. Reynolds, who goes 5-foot-9, 150 pounds, threw for 183 yards. Looks like he and Hindle are going to be quite a combination.
``It used to be the other way around when we were little,'' Reynolds said. ``He was the quarterback and I was the receiver.''
Seniors such as Eric Schmucker, who leads the team in tackles as a linebacker and also plays fullback, leading rusher Mike Scott and lineman Corey Duncan have come through with the leadership. So has tight end Matt Wright, who played quarterback until Reynolds was ready, in addition to picking up the kicking and punting chores Epperly relinquished.
``Even with all those guys out, we were so close to 7-1,'' Wright said.
In which case Christiansburg's season would have been part of somebody else's Halloween nightmare.
LENGTH: Medium: 82 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: Lance Reynolds (left), Matt Wright and John Hindleby CNBrepresent a blend of experience and youth for the Blue Demons.
Hindle and Reynolds are sophomores and Wright is a senior. RAY COX
STAFF color