THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, August 7, 1994 TAG: 9408050229
SECTION: CAROLINA COAST PAGE: 62 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JEFF ZEIGLER, CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: HERTFORD LENGTH: Medium: 59 lines
Harrell Thach was like a hound dog at feeding time.
The gleam was back in the Perquimans County High School football coach's eye as he barked out commands to his players for the first time in over eight months.
The players ran sprints, struggled through conditioning drills, touched up on fundamentals and ran through the Pirates now infamous offense.
Last Saturday was the first day of practice for North Carolina's high school football teams. Similar scenes were occurring this week throughout the Albemarle region, from Manteo to Ahoskie.
The first practice in Hertford may have been just a tad different. You ask Thach and his coaches they'll tell you there is still some unfinished business leftover from last season.
You may recall that the Pirates, after going undefeated in the Albemarle Conference, fell in the second round of the playoffs to North Edgecomb after taking a come-from-behind lead with three minutes to play.
The Pirates also played without top running back Kenyon Mallory who was suspended from school the same day of the playoff game.
``We felt like we were the better ball club,'' Thach said as he recalled the ball game. ``We lost our starting fullback at 1:30 in the afternoon. We made a heck of a comeback and took a 29-28 lead with three minutes to play. Except for one play at the end it was our ball game.''
Then there's the prediction by Albemarle Conference coaches that Perquimans will finish sixth out of seven teams this year. Don't those coaches know that the way to motivate Harrell Thach is to tell him his team is going to finish sixth?
``I have no idea why they picked us there, but that's fine with us,'' Thach said. ``It just gives us something to work for. They picked us fifth last year and Williamston first and we beat them 55-7.
``I don't care a whole lot about where they are placing us,'' Thach added. ``But I do look at the respect, and they don't respect our program. Last year we beat everybody and still couldn't get ranked until the last week of the season.''
Williamston, a former 2A school, is once again picked to win the Albemarle Conference.
Wearing his Pirate black outfit, Thach defended his team's Detroit Pistons-like image.
``We're definitely the bad boys,'' Thach said with a grin. ``I don't think we play dirty, we just play intense and go at you the whole time.'' People have the wrong image of us. We play hard, but we'll shake your hands before and after the game.''
Thach concentrated right off the bat on working on the no-huddle offense, a set-up which confused several opponents last season.
``Last year we were running a play every 30 seconds from the last tackle,'' Thach said. ``I've got some good players coming back. I want to have the best no-huddle in the state.''
The Pirates open the season at home against Columbia on August 26. by CNB