ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, December 7, 1996 TAG: 9612090027
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-2 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: HIGH SCHOOL NOTES
SOURCE: BOB TEITLEBAUM STAFF WRITER
When Sherando coach Walter Barr walks on the field at Victory Stadium this afternoon, he'll have a lot of fond memories.
Barr's team takes on Salem for the Group AA Division 4 football title at 1:30 p.m. today. This will be Barr's first trip to Victory Stadium in 26 years. When he was last there, Barr coached James Wood High School of Winchester and his team beat William Fleming, coached by Don Lee, for the Northwest Region championship. By virtue of that victory, James Wood also won the Group AAA championship.
That was the final year in which state champions were determined by a vote of the four regional winners. Voting that way left a lot of disagreement about which team was the best. The Virginia High School League already had started holding playoffs in the other two classifications. By the next year, playoffs were added in Group AAA and Andrew Lewis lost the title game to T.C. Williams at Victory Stadium.
``It's been so long ago, but we were told that if we won that game, we'd be state champions,'' recalled Barr. ``Maybe everybody was guessing, but I didn't have enough sense to figure it out.''
Lee, who now lives and works in Salem, said he'd just as soon forget the game.
``We had just defeated Danville [George Washington] to win the Western District. That was a big victory,'' said Lee. ``Then one of our best backs, Larry Otey, who was an all-around player that punted and returned punts, came down sick.
``It was one of those games that we went in flat and got our tails kicked. It was something like 25-7 and they had a good team.''
As it has been for the past couple of weeks, the weather also was a factor.
``It was rainy and windy. We were supposed to play on Friday night, but when it acted up in the afternoon, we postponed to Saturday night. We wanted good conditions,'' said Lee.
POLICE PROTECTION: When Salem played Grundy in the Group AA Division 4 semifinals last weekend at Tazewell County, Spartans coach Willis White noticed a deputy sheriff following him and assistant coach Billy Miles.
Even after the game, the policeman was several steps behind White as the teams celebrated.
``I asked him if he was following me and he said he was. He said he was there because threats had been made. I thought everyone in that part of the country loved me,'' said White, who instigated the 1992 investigation that led to Richlands being found guilty of using illegal cleats in a state semifinal game with the Spartans.
``I asked if he was guarding my back and he said he was,'' said White. ``Then I thought I'd better find out who he was. He told me his name and that he was from Richlands.''
White hesitated at that, but said the policeman refused to leave until he escorted White and Miles safely back to the Spartan dressing room. ``He was a nice guy and did a good job,'' said White.
SAY WHAT? Salem defensive end Seth Williams noticed he was having trouble hearing, so trainer Chris Tucker sent the Spartan senior to the doctor. He found a stone lodged in Williams' right ear and flushed it out.
``I've seen things lodged in there,'' said Tucker. ``It could have been from the Grundy game or it could have been a few weeks ago.''
GAINER CONNECTION: White never has met Barr, his coaching rival for today's Division 4 title game. However, the two have connections to former Patrick Henry football coach Merrill Gainer.
White was an assistant at PH and took over as head coach when Gainer retired in the mid 1970s. Gainer saved White's career by luring him back to coaching after he had left the profession in the late 1960s.
Barr coached Shepherd College in Shepherdstown, W.Va., where Gainer went to live when he retired from PH.
``I feel like I know Walter because Coach Gainer always spoke so highly of him for doing a good job. They're good friends,'' said White.
FOREIGN OFFICIAL: The officiating crew for this afternoon's game at Victory Stadium is from the Appalachia Officials Association in far Southwest Virginia. The VHSL always brings in neutral crews to work state playoff games.
This crew is headed by referee Mike Kelly. The oddity is that Kelly, who is calling a Virginia state championship contest, resides in Kingsport and lives in Tennessee.
NATIONAL TITLE: While everyone is talking about state championships, at least one school in the Timesland area, Oak Hill Academy, is thinking national title.
In USA Today's Super 25 preseason high school boys' basketball rankings, Oak Hill checks in at No.2 behind Dominguez High School of Compton, Calif.
NOT HURTING: It's rare at this time of year when a high school football team goes into a game in better health than it was the week before. However, Giles will be healthier for its Group A Division 2 title game today against Powhatan at Midlothian.
``Last week, we were without one of our starting linemen, tackle Adam Jeffers. He was out with a sprained ankle. He's back now,'' said Spartan coach Steve Ragsdale.
NO TARP: Plans were to put a tarp on Victory Stadium to protect the ground from potential rain that was to develop Friday. The tarp was to be carried from Salem to Victory Stadium.
No one planned for Wednesday's snow and the tarp wasn't put on McClelland field, according to White. Friday everyone was working feverishly to get Victory Stadium ready for today's game, but the field is likely to be a bit damp. It still will be much better than last week's mud bowl at Tazewell County.
EARLY SNOWOUTS: It didn't take long for the weather to play havoc with Timesland boys' basketball. When Shawsville's visit to Galax on Thursday was put on hold by the first snow of the season, it was the second straight night a Shawnees game was delayed.
Shawsville now has an NBA-type schedule for Jan.14-24 with games against Floyd County (14th), Craig County (16th), Glenvar (17th), Auburn (21st), Galax (22nd) and Giles (24th).
Galax athletic director Ray Bedsaul, who has been at the school for 26 years, says this is the earliest the Maroon Tide ever has had to postpone a boys' basketball game.
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