THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, September 22, 1995 TAG: 9509220622
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C6 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ROBIN BRINKLEY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE LENGTH: Medium: 83 lines
Car manufacturers seeking a novel name for a new model that combines high horsepower with fuel economy should consider The Shyrone.
As in Western Branch's Shyrone Stith.
Stith, a senior running back who has orally committed to Virginia Tech, is a model of explosiveness and efficiency on the football field.
He is averaging 8.9 yards per carry for his career. That's almost a first down every time he carries the ball.
He scores a touchdown every 6.6 times he runs the ball from scrimmage.
Stith led the Southeastern District in scoring last season with 110 points and rushed for 896 yards despite missing one game with an injury and half of another after being ejected.
Stith and Deep Creek's Torrey Wilson were tossed out following an altercation in the end zone.
``I was getting up and he stepped on my hand and started grinding it,'' Stith said. ``I called out to the official but he didn't hear me. So when I got up I hit him.''
Stith not only missed the rest of that game, a 28-21 loss, but had to sit out the Bruins' opener two weeks ago against Granby. (Players ejected from a game must sit out the following game).
``That was the longest game of my life,'' he said.
Stith, who scored five TDs against Granby in 1994, roamed the sideline offering encouragement to his teammates and advice to his replacement, Karl Washington.
Western Branch won, 28-20, but Stith's absence was pronounced. Washington gained only six yards in seven carries and the Bruins' 104 yards rushing was their fewest since Norcom held them to 83 in the second game of 1993.
Stith returned to the lineup last Friday against Norcom and it was just like old times. He burst eight yards on his first carry and finished with 112 yards on 14 attempts.
With the score tied, 13-13, early in the fourth quarter, Stith took a handoff around the left side and raced 51 yards for the winning TD.
``Nobody touched me,'' he said.
That's unusual. Stith doesn't possess blinding speed.
Instead he relies on strength, balance and determination to turn short gains into touchdowns.
``He's one of the few kids I've coached who just does not go down when he's hit,'' Western Branch coach Lew Johnston said. ``I often warn the officials before games not to blow a quick whistle on him.''
Stith developed his style in practice running through a tire tunnel. It is a narrow opening about nine feet long with two rows of tires on each side, one at the shoulders and one at the knees.
``It takes most players four to five seconds to get through,'' Johnston said. ``Shyrone gets through there in two. He's remarkable.''
Stith grew up rooting for the University of Virginia and it was only by chance that Virginia Tech locked onto him.
Some Virginia Tech coaches were watching film of Western Branch's Lorenzo Ferguson, who they were recruiting as a defensive back, when Stith spun and darted across the screen.
According to Johnston, Billy Hite, who coaches running backs at Tech, immediately said, ``Who is No. 22? Look at him run the football.''
The week before the Bruins' opener, Ferguson and Stith committed to the Hokies.
Stith hasn't met the academic guidelines for admission to Tech and his mother, Wanda, wonders what he will do if he doesn't qualify.
He is taking an SAT preparatory class and has received encouragement and support from his teachers, he said. If Stith doesn't raise his test score he hopes to spend a year at prep school, probably Fork Union Military Academy.
Wanda Stith's concern for Shyrone is genuine. A single mom, she works two jobs, sometimes getting home after midnight and then leaving at 7 the next morning, to support her two children.
On those nights it is Shyrone's responsibility see that his 11-year-old sister Andrea does her homework and gets to bed on time.
``I don't know what I'd do without him,'' Wanda Stith said.
Johnston knows what he'd do: Pass often, and pray.
``Shyrone's the master cylinder,'' Johnston said. ``Without him we just sputter along.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo by CHRISTOPHER REDDICK, Staff
Western Branch senior running back Shyrone Stith is averaging 8.9
yards per carry for his career.
by CNB