THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, December 1, 1994 TAG: 9411300194
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 30 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DENISE MICHAUX, SUN SPORTS EDITOR
LENGTH: Medium: 87 lines
Jerome Ricks earned all-district and all-region honors as a wide receiver last season and certainly planned on repeating that in 1994.
But when first-year Windsor head coach Tommy Austin surveyed the troops, he was in need of a quarterback.
Ricks said he would do whatever was needed to help the team.
He helped quite a bit by throwing for 1,011 yards and a 54 percent completion rate. Ricks earned an honorable mention All-Tri-Rivers District selection at quarterback.
The 6-0, 175-pound junior was named to the first team at defensive back along with defensive end Robert Banks and wide receiver Jason Snipes, who was also named to the All-Region team.
Tackle Carlton Wright, running back Wayne Briggs, linebackers David Bickley and Wright and defensive backs John Ruffin and Torence Saunders were each named to the second team, and center Steven Harrell was honorable mention on offense.
``(Ricks) did a good job of leading the team when I know he really wanted to be playing wide receiver,'' Austin said. ``I am pleased with how well he progressed at quarterback. I think he played some quarterback in little league, but that is it.''
Briggs spent last season in Bobby Cotton's shadow, but it came as no surprise to Austin that Briggs, a 5-10, 205-pound junior, rushed for 1,165 yards on 203 carries with 13 touchdowns.
``We didn't get the ball to him as much as we wanted to all the time, but we counted on him pretty heavily,'' Austin said. ``He is big and strong and will be even better next year.''
Snipes and Brandon Lee, who didn't earn any selection, played a big part in the Dukes' offense.
``We are more of a possession type team,'' Austin said. ``They caught a few long passes, but the yardage isn't there. The biggest stat to us is number of catches.''
Snipes and Lee caught 20 passes apiece, accounting for more than half the Dukes' 68 receptions.
``We played Snipes some on defense, but we wanted to keep him rested as much as we could,'' Austin said. ``We were expecting big things from him from the beginning. We count on the wideouts to do a lot of blocking and act as decoys, and Jason did that for us.''
The Dukes lost 13 seniors to graduation last season and Austin is quick to credit the team with every yard gained.
``When you consider all of the factors involved, the stats are very good,'' Austin said. ``Considering the youth of the line, they worked hard and learned a lot this year.''
Dealing with adversity may have been their biggest lesson.
Injuries and illnesses throughout the season forced Austin to play 11 different players on the line all season. In fact, the line changed every week for the Dukes last seven games. That, coupled with Austin's brand new offensive scheme, was a lot for a group of sophomores and juniors to swallow.
Former Windsor coach Joe Jones ran a run and shoot offense and the players had gotten accustomed to that wide-open style.
Austin is admittedly more conservative.
``I like to throw the ball when the defense lets me,'' Austin said. ``The offense was totally different, and I am pleased with the way everybody came out and learned the new system.''
The Dukes wrapped up the season with a 6-5 record and 9-7 loss to Surry in their fifth straight playoff appearance.
``I think a lot of people wrote us off early and we came on strong during the middle of the season and then injuries hurt us,'' Austin said.
The Dukes were 5-1 before losing three of their last four heading into the playoffs.
Ricks went down with a knee injury in the first quarter of the playoff game and Cory Liggins, who had been playing tight end all season, had to step in.
The Dukes' defense stepped up its play a notch to fill in, but as Austin said ``they were on the field too long.''
Windsor, leading 7-0, stymied a Surry two-point conversion attempt to maintain a 7-6 edge until late in the game.
A pair of long pass plays put Surry in field goal range and the Cougars sent the ball through the uprights with 23 seconds left.
Liggins worked the two-minute offense perfectly and guided the team to the Surry 35, but the Dukes were out of timeouts and couldn't get the field goal unit onto the field in time to kick the ball.
``I have always said to these guys that if they go out there and play as hard as they can, then win or lose, there is nothing to hang your head about,'' Austin said.
``They played as hard as I could ever ask them to. They left it all on the field.'' by CNB