THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, September 22, 1994 TAG: 9409210161
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 24 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JOHN GORDON, SUN SPORTS EDITOR
LENGTH: Long : 194 lines
IT'S THE LAST WEEK for non-district football games before the Bay Rivers teams swing into their district schedule, and Franklin is taking the week off.
Lakeland and Nansemond River, which were both at home last Friday, are on the road this week against Greensville and Matoaca, respectively. Smithfield will play host to Brunswick, and Southampton will visit Park View at South Hill.
Windsor has its home opener against Middlesex, and Nansemond-Suffolk Academy goes to Collegiate of Richmond. Isle of Wight Academy will take on Halifax Academy of North Carolina at home and Southampton Academy goes to Harrells.
Lakeland's Reginald Wiggins is leading the Cavaliers with two touchdowns and 202 yards, 169 of which came in the 20-14 upset win over Central of Lunenburg last Friday. He also has two receptions for nine yards.
Wiggins gave much credit to the offensive line, especially in the Lunenburg game.
``At the start of the game, they just started blocking. So I didn't have anything to worry about. I couldn't have done it by myself.''
Dwayne Wiggins is averaging 5.5 yards per carry, 29 yards per punt and 15 yards per reception. Antoine Riddick has accounted for the other Cavalier touchdown with a pass reception and leads in that category with four catches. Nansemond River vs. Matoaca
Date: Friday, Sept. 23
Time: 7:30 p.m.
Site: Warrior Stadium in Ettrick
Records: Nansemond River (2-0); Matoaca (2-1).
Last year's result: Nansemond River lost to Matoaca, 14-12
Outlook: It will be Warriors against Warriors when Nansemond River travels to Ettrick in Chesterfield County to play another Southside District opponent. Nansemond River beat Brunswick, 25-0, last week. Matoaca's only loss came at the hands of Manchester.
Penalties continue to plague coach Jerry Varacallo's Warriors in spite of the two wins. In last week's victory over Brunswick, they racked up 98 yards.
``We got a bunch of aggressive penalties in this game, but we still had some stupid penalties,'' he said. ``And because of them, our offense didn't progress like it should have.''
That was one of the reasons that he decided not to go for it on fourth and one early in third quarter on the Brunswick 40. Another reason was the Warriors didn't want to show any secrets.
``I was tempted to go for it, but it was too early - too early in the game and too early in the season,'' Varacallo said. ``We've got a couple of trick plays, but I didn't want to use them.''
Fumbles - mostly coming on option plays - either delayed or stopped drives.
``It was the worst our option has looked in three years,'' Varacallo said.
Neither Varacallo nor Brunswick coach Carlton Nelson Sr. thought Nansemond River's 6-0 halftime lead would be enough. Again, the Warriors let their foes hang around longer than they wanted.
``I told our guys at halftime that we had to stuff them (Brunswick),'' Varacallo said. ``And when Brunswick got their first first down after the half, I thought now, we're in for a ball game.''
``I didn't think they'd beat us with six,'' Nelson said. ``We weren't down (mentally), but I knew the slightest mistake would get us down.''
The mistake was more than slight. It was a lost fumble. And while Nansemond River did not score then, it was the turning point of the game. Lakeland vs. Greensville County
Date: Friday, Sept. 23
Time: 7:30 p.m.
Site: Greensville County Stadium
Records: Lakeland (1-1); Greensville County (1-2)
Last year's result: Lakeland won, 16-6.
Outlook: Lunenburg coach Chippie Chappell said his Chargers didn't play a very good game, but admitted that part of the loss was due to Lakeland.
``We had opporutnities to win the game but kept shooting ourselves in the foot,'' he said. ``When we needed to make the big play, we just didn't do it.
``They did what I was afraid of with their size. They were able to run at us and they went right at our weakness.''
Lakeland coach Ed Smither gave a lot of credit to defensive coordinator Randolph Holland.
``He did a great job of preparing us,'' Smither said. ``They didn't do anything that we weren't ready for.
``They have a lot of misdirection plays that are hard to stop.''
Smither said the biggest obstacle was overcoming adversity from the opening loss to Nansemond River.
``But we had a great week of practice,'' he said. ``We came out of it and the kids did a great job.
``On our last drive, the kids were dying, but they sucked it up.''
Two key plays came on third down plays on a 43-yard drive that put the Cavaliers ahead to stay. Reginald Wiggins got the first downs each time.
One was on third and eight yards to go, and Wiggins gained 24 to the 17. The other was third and seven on the 14, and he scored with 2:22 left in the game.
``We were mentally ready,'' Wiggins said. ``Last week, we made a lot of mental mistakes. We were really prepared for this game.
``On the last drive, with a tie game, we had to do what we had to do. They really started blocking and it all came together.'' Southampton vs. Park View
Date: Friday, Sept. 23
Time: 7:30 p.m.
Site: Dragon Field, South Hill
Records: Southampton (2-0); Park View (0-2).
Last year's result: Did not play.
Outlook: Coach Littleton Parker's Indians crushed Greensville County, 34-0, last Friday. But Eagles coach Mark Markivich says Southampton has the biggest high school team he has ever seen.
``I thought we were playing the Green Bay Packers,'' he said. ``They average 285 pounds across the line.
``They had us by 110 pounds per man. I could have run behind those horses, and I'm 40 years old.''
Greensville County did fumble a couple of times, and Markivich says the game wasn't as bad as the score indicated.
Coach Richard Byrd's Park View Dragons have lost to both Central of Lunenburg and Randolph-Henry. Smithfield vs. Brunswick
Date: Friday, Sept. 23
Time: 7:30 p.m.
Site: Smithfield High
Records: Smithfield (0-2); Brunswick Senior (1-3)
Last year's result: Smithfield won, 10-8.
Outlook: This will be a battle not only between coaches and their teams, but between coaches' sons.
Senior Cory Blount is one of four returning Smithfield starters for coach Miles Blount's charges, and sophomore Carlton Nelson Jr. is the starting quarterback for the visiting Brunswick.
Coach Carlton Nelson Sr. has to bring his Bulldogs back to the area Friday after suffering a 25-0 shutout against Nansemond River last Friday. Against the Warriors, he felt outmanned.
``We have players,'' he said. ``They have athletes.''
Brunswick didn't pass as much as usual last week because the Bulldogs were trying to control the ball. The coach's son tried nine passes and completed only three. One was intercepted.
``He said he got hit as he threw it,'' the coach said about his son. Windsor vs. Middlesex
Date: Friday, Sept. 23
Time: 7:30 p.m.
Site: Windsor
Records: Windsor (2-0); Middlesex (0-2)
Last year's result: Windsor lost to Middlesex, 28-19, in the playoffs.
Outlook: Coach Tommy Austin's Dukes have defeated Cumberland, 26-12, and Franklin, 19-14.
The Chargers of Middlesex are winless in two outings this season, and fell to Sussex Central last Friday, 16-13. Two key players for Middlesex are Ajani Ruffin and Kenny Acree.
Cumberland was supposed to be the home opener, but the game was moved because Windsor's stadium was not ready on time. So this will be the home opener for the Dukes.
Windsor had a 19-0 halftime lead against Franklin, but the Broncos rallied and Austin said he felt lucky to get out of town alive. Nansemond-Suffolk vs. Collegiate
Date: Friday, Sept. 23
Time: 4 p.m.
Site: Grover Jones Field (Collegiate)
Records: Nansemond-Suffolk Academy (2-1), Collegiate (1-0)
Last year's result: N-SA lost to Collegiate, 23-12.
Outlook: Coach Terry Crigger's Saints will be going for a third straight win after an opening loss to the Atlantic Shores Christian Seahawks.
Collegiate is often referred to as Richmond Collegiate to avoid confusion with Norfolk Collegiate. But Cougar athletic director Charles McFall says that it is not the school's name.
``We're actually in Henrico County, west of Richmond,'' he said.
The Cougars did open their season with a 35-6 win over George Mason High last Friday and will be seeking a second straight victory against N-SA. Isle of Wight vs. Halifax County
Date: Friday, Sept. 23
Time: 7:30 p.m.
Site: Isle of Wight Academy
Records: Isle of Wight (0-4); Halifax Academy (0-4).
Last year's result: Isle of Wight lost to Halifax, 34-12.
Outlook: In this battle of winless teams, someone ought to win, but the way things have been going, it could wind up in a scoreless tie. The Halifax Academy Vikings will be coming up from North Carolina for this outing, which could give Isle of Wight an advantage.
Coach Dale Chapman's Chargers have lost to Atlantic Shores, Kenston Forest, Greenbrier Christian Academy and Huguenot Academy at Powhatan. Isle of Wight fell to Huguenot, 44-12, last Friday. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by MICHAEL KESTNER
Dwayne Wiggins, left, and Reginald Wiggins are running backs for
Lakeland. Reginald leads the Cavaliers with 2 touchdowns and 202
yards. Dwayne is averaging 5.5 yards per carry and 15 yards per
reception.
by CNB