ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, November 22, 1996 TAG: 9611220037
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
TYPE: COMMENTARY
SOURCE: RAY COX
Joel Hicks of Pulaski County High and Ken Brown of Brooke Point are two of the state's wiliest and most experienced football coaches.
Between them, they have five state championships and 5,000 miles worth of hikes up and down well-worn sidelines. Between them they've sent numerous players to college and mentored numerous assistants through apprenticeships that have landed them head coaching jobs elsewhere.
They are as old school as old school gets in high school coaching. There may never be another one like either one of them in this difficult profession. For each, brilliant careers are closer to their end than their beginning. Not many more chances will Hicks have to win his second state title or Brown to claim his fifth.
But those chances still live, as we shall see when Brown's Brooke Point team invades Dobson Stadium tonight to take on the Cougars for the Group AAA Division 5 Northwest Region title.
It won't be the first time these two coaches have met. The last time was almost precisely 10 years ago, on a cold Nov. 14 night on a sandy, dusty field almost devoid of grass or charm at Courtland High School in Spotsylvania County.
It was Cougars vs. Cougars that night. Courtland's Cougars had won 25 straight games including the 1985 Group AA championship. That was back in the days when winning a state championship really meant something because there were only three of them contested, one each in A, AA and AAA, every year instead of the diluted six they now have.
Mighty Courtland had moved up to AAA in 1986 after having won three of the past four state championships in AA. Those Cougars were loaded with athletes and their specialty was intimidation.
One of the pregame routines was for an assistant coach to go out on the field windmilling a piece of meat on the end of a rope. That was the cue for the hard-faced home fans to roar ``Raw meat! Raw meat!'' and point menacingly at the visitors.
Despite this frenzy, Pulaski County's team was stoic. And why not? At 10-1, the Cougars were a formidable assembly. Among those suited up for the burgundy and gold that year were Mickey Thomas, who would go on to a distinguished place-kicking career at Virginia Tech; quarterback Randy Meredith, one of the most talented quarterbacks Hicks ever had and a player who continued his playing days at East Tennessee State; there was Anthony Akers, the punter and backup quarterback who would go on to play basketball at Elon; and a fearsome backfield that included cousins Dion and Kevin Hendricks. Dion Hendricks, the fullback, held the single-season school record for rushing until Craig Hodge broke it this year.
Courtland matched Pulaski County with a squad that had big and swift players at virtually every position. The best of all of them was a brilliant player named Tim Canada, a ferocious defensive end and backup running back, although certainly he had the talent to start in the backfield of any team in the state. Brown liked to bring him off the bench on offense.
The game was a battering defensive contest with the teams combining for a skimpy 13 first downs (five by Pulaski County) and three turnovers each.
Courtland ran a version of the wing-T offense, although not the same one that Pulaski County runs now. You can see the difference for yourself tonight. Brooke Point runs the same offense as Courtland did.
Pulaski County was an option team in those days. Even though Meredith could be a deadly passer, Hicks really didn't like to use the air game unless he had to.
Courtland scored first after starting a drive at the Pulaski County 27 thanks to a 38-yard interception return by Clarence Washington. Several plays later, fullback Chuck Dye scored on a four-yard second quarter sweep. The conversion kick was botched. The 6-0 lead stood into the fourth quarter.
Then, with Dye punting from his 14, blocker Bill Culley was shoved into his path and the punt bounded off Culley's helmet. Pulaski County's Bobby Payne grabbed the loose football and ran for the touchdown from two yards out.
Thomas made the PAT kick and Pulaski County had its first lead. The advantage stood for almost nine minutes with Pulaski County twice claiming interceptions to halt Courtland drives.
The second of these gave Pulaski County the ball inside its five with under two minutes to play. One last time, the Cougars failed to move the ball and Akers came in to punt.
He never put foot to ball. The snap sailed over his head and out of the end zone for a safety. And that was the old ballgame, 8-7 for Courtland. Courtland would go on to lose to Salem the following week.
Pulaski County went home with an aching heart.
Hicks spoke eloquently in the losing locker room.
``This hit me like somebody sticking me with a knife,'' he said. ``I'm in shock.''
So were a lot of people.
``I was mighty thankful,'' Brown said. ``There was somebody more powerful than me who had a hand in that.''
LENGTH: Medium: 90 linesby CNB