ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, November 13, 1996 TAG: 9611130060
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB TEITLEBAU STAFF WRITER
The Roanoke Valley District might be losing a second football coach in less than a month.
Patrick Henry's Ed Scott told his team after a 19-9 season-ending loss to William Fleming on Friday night that he was not going to coach the team next year, said an assistant coach who declined to be identified.
Scott declined to comment, but indicated there would be a decision of some sort in the next few days. An announcement could come as soon as today.
The assistant coach said principal Elizabeth Lee and athletic director Dave Osborne were trying to change Scott's mind.
Reached Tuesday, Lee said she hadn't had any official contact with Scott since the weekend, but she had heard he told the team he would not return as football coach. Lee said she did tell Scott any such decision would require an official letter of resignation.
The chain of events that led Scott to ponder his future may have started when Franklin County fired its football coach, Horace Green, after the Eagles lost 49-14 to Pulaski County on the weekend of Oct.11.
After Franklin County lost 39-27 to Halifax County with Jerry Little serving as interim coach, the Eagles regrouped and knocked off Patrick Henry 38-22 in one of the season's big upsets.
That loss started a three-game, season-ending losing streak for PH that knocked the Patriots out of the Northwest Region Division 6 playoff picture. PH finished 6-4.
Scott came to Patrick Henry in 1990 from Park View-Sterling, where his 1988 team won the 1988 Group AA Division 4 title. The Patriots were 36-37 under Scott, and he brought stability to a program that is hampered by the lack of a middle school feeder system.
After the Patriots went 4-16 in Scott's first two years as coach, PH enjoyed five consecutive non-losing seasons. Last year's team shared the Roanoke Valley District title with perennial power Pulaski County, and two of Scott's teams made the Virginia High School League playoffs.
LENGTH: Short : 44 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: (headshot) Scott. color.by CNB