THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, October 24, 1996 TAG: 9610230207
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 21 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MIKE NORBUT, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 111 lines
YOU CAN SEE the pain on their faces.
Nansemond River football coach Jerry Varacallo treats his team's slide like a kind of tragicomedy - though it is infinitely more sad than funny - brief chuckles mixed with bouts of frustration.
Windsor coach Tommy Austin speaks plainly about his team's winless season, burying his anger while he outlines the differences between last season and this one.
Neither coach has perfected his method of coping with losing. With the success they've enjoyed in the past, they haven't had to.
But things have changed this year.
Nansemond River had won the last three Group AA Region I championships. In 1993, the Warriors advanced to the Division 4 state championship game. After an 8-5 campaign last year, however, the '96 version is just 1-6.
``The slide started last year,'' Varacallo said. ``Football is always peaks and valleys, but this year, we just jumped off the cliff.''
A big reason for the Warriors' demise is that they fell victim to the new realignment of high schools. Nansemond River, once a Group AA shark in the Bay Rivers District, is now a AAA guppy in the Southeastern.
The scores prove it. No. 1 Deep Creek and No. 2 Indian River mauled the Warriors this year to a combined tune of 133-0. And Nansemond River still has Western Branch, which had been ranked most of the year, looming on Oct. 25.
Even against Great Bridge, which had lost 12 straight, the Warriors fell 43-7. Nansemond River's only score came on Vernon Woodson's 72-yard run.
``We weren't ready for (moving up),'' Varacallo said. ``Just because you have 1,500 kids doesn't mean you're ready.''
With only about 400 students, Group A Windsor (0-8) was not affected by the realignment. What killed the team was its turnover rate. Last year's 10-3 squad, which won its first-ever Region A title, had 42 members. Only 14 of them are back.
``We lost nine starters on both sides of the football and some quality backups,'' said Austin, in his third year as head coach. ``Our kids now have very little experience.''
The biggest loss was in the backfield. Wayne Briggs, a 220-pound back who accounted for 2,319 yards and 36 touchdowns in '95, graduated. The result has been a tailback by committee approach, which doesn't bode well for an offense that thrives on a smashmouth style.
``It's rough and upsetting,'' Windsor senior fullback/linebacker David Bickley said. ``The guys are trying hard, but we just don't have the experience or size to do anything.''
``Our coaching staff is frustrated,'' Austin said. ``We're doing everything to try to gain an edge, but the kids don't have much to show for it except some bumps and bruises.''
Both teams took their share of lumps before the season even began.
Isle of Wight County adopted a new eligibility rule this year, requiring student-athletes to attain a 2.0 grade point average in order to be eligible for competition. The city of Suffolk has installed different eligibility rules since 1990 and implemented the 2.0 rule in 1993. It is an upgrade from the old ``pass five'' requirement rule employed by the state of Virginia.
The result? Five players lost for Windsor, seven seniors for Nansemond River.
``We have 10 seniors walking the halls this year,'' Varacallo said, ``seven because of grades, three that chose not to come out. We have only five seniors this year. In my 13 years of coaching, I have never had a younger team.
``With the 2.0 rule now, you just don't know.''
Austin was more outspoken about the rule.
``I agree with the nature of the rule and the School Board's intention,'' he said, ``but athletics should be a privilege and an opportunity for a child to be a part of something positive.
``They're making athletes meet a standard that a regular student doesn't have to. I'm going to live with it, but it doesn't mean I have to like it.''
A lack of depth, stemming from weak senior classes, has hurt both teams. Varacallo and Austin have resorted to calling up freshmen and sophomores from the junior varsity ranks. They naturally get bounced around by more physically mature opponents.
``Our biggest defensive lineman, for example, is only 185 pounds,'' Austin said. ``The want to is there, but the ability to do isn't quite the same.''
Still, the Dukes keep trying, gaining experience with every snap of the football.
``Their confidence has dropped, but their morale hasn't,'' Austin said. ``Experience is the best teacher, and our kids still believe.''
Nansemond River got a morale boost in the third game of the season, when the Warriors came back from a 12-0 deficit to defeat Wilson 15-12. ``But then,'' Varacallo said, ``we had to go up against Indian River, the defending Division 6 champs.''
The Braves demolished the Warriors 63-0, and it was back to Southeastern District reality.
``The other teams are a lot bigger than we are,'' Warrior sophomore Lavel Lawton, a two-way starter at wide receiver and linebacker, said. ``We didn't have a real good weight program this year. Everyone knows we can do better.''
``When we first came into the Bay Rivers, we figured it would take two or three years,'' Varacallo said. ``Now we're just starting over again.''
Windsor may not have to go back to square one. Unlike Nansemond River, which has to work to reach the stronger level of competition in Group AAA, Windsor only has to concentrate on being Windsor.
``I really think they'll bounce back,'' Bickley said. ``Hopefully, what goes around comes around, and they'll get the teams that got us this year.''
``My feeling is we'll be much improved,'' Austin said. ``We had a disproportionate number of players last year, and now we're getting back more to the norm.
``I hope I'm around long enough to climb the mountain with them again.'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff file photos
ABOVE: ``Football is always peaks and valleys, but this year, we
just jumped off the cliff,'' Nansemond River coach Jerry Varacallo
on his team's
1-6 start.
LEFT: ``We're doing everything to try to gain an edge, but the kids
don't have much to show for it except some bumps and bruises,''
Windsor coach Tommy Austin on 0-8 start.
KEYWORDS: HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL by CNB