Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, October 21, 1993 TAG: 9310220267
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: RAY COX STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NARROWS LENGTH: Long
\ Most of the best players on the football team have hair that looks as though it survived random attacks by some crazed lunatic with a pair of rusty hedge shears.
The star player owns 10 pairs of shoes and wears two pairs of socks so that he won't mess the shoes up.
The coach telegraphs that he's about to go on a grouchy rampage when he yanks his shirttail out.
The feisty fullback has ripped off runs from scrimmage that covered 73 and 60 yards. Then he got caught from behind.
The inspirational linebacker weighs 125 pounds.
Collectively, they've backhanded a Glenvar, stomped a Shawsville, gripped a Grayson County by the throat and wilted a Garden.
They're the Narrows High School Green Wave, and they're rolling now, having won four in a row and five of six on the year.
The lone failure came against their arch-rivals from Giles, who may be the best Group A team in the state. Narrows quarterback Jeff White had the misfortune that evening of having three scoring completions to the Spartans, none to his teammates.
But White recovered nicely, and so has the rest of the Green Wave, which has in mind to wash into yet another Group A Division 1 playoffs. Keep it up like they have been, and their chances are promising.
The game they play is the same that's been popular in this town for years: choke-them-till-they-holler defense combined with a stampede-over-the-fallen rushing attack. The aerial game, what there is of one, is regarded as a necessary evil.
Who needs to pass when you have halfback Whitey Blankenship and fullback Brett Mosley? They are two of the many who consider a shorn-to-the-skull buzzcut high style. Real pacesetters, those two, although not necessarily in a fashion sense.
The fashionplate is Blankenship, he of the 10 pairs of shoes. At the rate he's been traveling the landscape, he may need a few more before the year is out. Through five games, he has exactly 1,000 all-purpose yards, including 706 rushing, and has 12 touchdowns.
Because he has the best speed on the team, Blankenship was used more as an outside runner in the past. Now a larger percentage of his yardage is coming between the tackles.
"He's more of a true running back now and not the scat-back type that all he can do is run the sweep," Narrows assistant coach Dave Mabry said.
Blankenship gained more than 1,000 yards on the ground last year but says he's a better player now.
"I'm a lot stronger now, and that's helping me to break tackles in the line," he said."Now that I'm more apt to break tackles, I can get into the open and use my speed."
Blankenship and the rest of the backs have been beneficiaries of the work of a veteran line. Tackles Jarrett Rhodes and Jason Buckland and guards Brian Ballard and Shannon Harman are returning starters. Only center Aaron Buracker is a newcomer.
Mosley has gained 398 yards through five games, including a 114-yard effort. But he continues to be heckled by teammates who believe he should have scored on the lengthy runs he made earlier in the year.
"I never claimed that I was fast," he said.
Narrows' defense has been another matter. That group has been too fast for a lot of teams. Even the mighty Spartans of Giles can testify. Narrows accomplished the unheard-of feat of holding Giles to fewer than 100 yards rushing.
"Our overall speed is better," said Harman, who doubles at defensive tackle. "We're getting a lot of people around the ball."
Coach Don Lowe knew the Wave would be sound up front defensively with Harman, Ballard, Henry Minton and Gary Lowery. All were veterans who had spent substantial off-season time beefing up in the weight room. That has been particularly helpful to Minton, who has been in on 15 tackles and has two sacks. Mosley was back to lead the secondary.
The problem that had Lowe pulling his shirttail out and grimacing was what to do with He's the kind you love to coach. Narrows coach Don Lowe On linebacker Cory McGlothlin the rest of the defense. So with three new linebackers in middle man Scott Vaught, Jeff White and Cory McGlothlin and new faces like Buckland at defensive end, Scott Stafford at safety and Brandon Hollie at cornerback, Narrows set forth.
The results have been better than expected. Vaught, who was a practice tight end last year and didn't play defense at all, has contributed a team-high 51 tackles. McGlothlin was the backup quarterback a year ago, a job he despised. Now, measuring 5 feet 8 and 125 pounds, he's having a big year at linebacker.
"On our 30-man roster, he's probably rank in the 20s in athletic ability," Lowe said.
"He really doesn't have good speed," Mabry said.
"Don't say he doesn't have good speed," defensive coach Rick Franklin said. "He's slow."
Said Lowe, "He can't run, he can't jump, he weighs 125 pounds sopping wet, but he has a heart of gold. He's the kind you love to coach."
McGlothlin gets something of a charge out of all of this.
"I love to tell people I play linebacker," he said. "They go, `You're a linebacker? Huh?' "
Despite his size, McGlothlin maintains a high defensive profile.
"He's our leader, no question," Franklin said.
Added Mosely: "If we ever hear somebody saying they can't do something, we tell them, `Look at Cory and tell me you can't.'"
McGlothlin is a sort of figurehead for Narrows, which always has prided itself for its us-against-the-big-boys image. "Can't" was an ugly word.
For that matter, it still is.
by CNB