Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, November 17, 1993                   TAG: 9311170126
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: B-2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: By BOB TEITLEBAUM STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

HYLTON WINS, BUT GAME ISN'T OVER

A super appeals committee of the Virginia High School League ruled Tuesday that an earlier decision by the executive committee declaring a game between Hylton and Jefferson County (W.Va.) as no contest would stand.

The committee, which had been convened to hear GW-Danville's appeal for the game to be declared a tie, seemed to settle as far as the VHSL is concerned that Hylton will be Pulaski County's opponent Friday in the opening round of the Group AAA Northwest Region Division 6 playoffs.

However, the issue is far from resolved. Two parents of GW-Danville players will go to court today seeking an injunction to stop the Division 6 playoffs until a case can be heard to count the Hylton-Jefferson County game as a tie.

The game, played Sept. 3, ended at halftime in a 3-3 tie when officials had to stop play because of lightning. The game was never resumed and Virginia High School League executive director Earl Gillespie, thinking West Virginia rules called for the game to be declared no contest, ruled that his state would abide by the state rules of the host team.

Gillespie had received misinformation from a member of the West Virginia board of control and that state subsequently recognizes it as a tie game.

Had the game been counted as a tie, GW-Danville would have been in the Division 6 playoffs instead of Hylton based on the VHSL point rating scale used to determine wild card teams.

The VHSL super appeals committee gave no reasons for upholding the earlier decision and Gillespie was unavailable for comment.

Meanwhile, the uncertainty of which opponent will show up Friday night and if there will be a game that evening appears to be bothering Pulaski County.

"The players didn't know anything about this until we told them at practice [Monday]," said Joel Hicks, the Cougars' coach.

"I was positive that we're going to play Hylton and the players weren't up in the air. I told them I think this will be resolved in Hylton's favor and the kids said, `OK coach, let's go get Hylton.'

"But it's distracting now. It wasn't at first. Now you're on the back burner thinking you might have to play an opponent [GW Danville] that we hadn't prepared for. That would be grossly unfair."

Keywords:
FOOTBALL