Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, November 18, 1994 TAG: 9411180070
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-12 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: RAY COX
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
That means you, Brandon Steele of Giles. Close that textbook. Straight A's are a worthy goal, but we have football to talk here.
OK, guys. Spit out those dips of snuff. Wipe those stupid grins off your face. You aren't here just because you look nice in a football uniform , although you, Andra Beasley of Christiansburg, do cut a dashing figure.
Put down that basketball, Tony Wheeler of Blacksburg. That must wait. We need your undivided attention.
The reason all of you in this surly-looking mob have been assembled here is because you are the best football players we have this year in the New River Valley. Who knows who we'll find to play you in a real game, but at least those of you who haven't met may do so now.
Introductions are in order. We'll start with the defense. Oh and by the way, some of you guys might not be playing where you normally do on your regular teams.
Up front, we like our guys big and hostile. So in the middle, where's there's always plenty of violence to engage in, we'll put Radford's Elmo Dunbar. He's big enough at 240 pounds and ornery enough that you won't see him getting pushed around any. If anybody is going to do any pushing, it'll be him.
At the tackles, we'll put a couple of Pulaski County guys, Brody Lindamood and Matt Hull. Between the two of them, they can throw around a lot of weight - over 500 pounds - and they can move well for big boys, too.
Since we've got lots of linebackers to choose from in these parts, we'll use four of them to go with three down linemen and four defensive backs.
For our linebackers, we'll take the best in the area, Pulaski County's Eric Webb. Got to like him for his hard hitting, pass coverage, and ability to rush the passer. He'll be on the outside. Another Pulaski County guy, Chris Lawson, is just the fellow we need to be stuffing the inside running plays. Same for Brandon Steele of Giles. The other outside guy will be Jameel Hendricks of Radford. We like Tony Wheeler of Blacksburg here as well, but he's had shoulder problems for most of the year and we have to presume he's rusty. We'll save him to come off the bench.
In the defensive backfield, speed and smarts are at a premium. So we'll go with Pulaski County's Andre Eaves and Tim Davis at the corners. Between the two of them, they've combined for four starts in state championship games, so that says something right there. And if either of them snag an interception, look out. Eaves returned one 101 yards for a touchdown the other night and Davis has one that went for over 60 and a score.
The safeties will be Reggie Hoston of Giles and Foster Ridpatht of Radford. Hoston is big enough for a linebacker and fast enough for a cornerback. Perfect for safety. Ridpath is always around the bal, plus he goes a little nutty when he plays. We kind of like that in our safeties.
Offensively, we'll start with potentially our biggest weapon, Pulaski County place kicker Shayne Graham. Anywhere within 50 yards, he's in range. That's one heck of an asset to have on your side.
The offensive line starts with Blacksburg's Tim Schnecker at center, all 6-foot-2, 245 pounds of him. One guard will be Alex Webb of Giles, the other will be Reggie Page of Pulaski County, who we're moving over from center, where he normally plays.
At the tackles, our starters are Jay James of Pulaski County and Kelly Underwood of Radford. Big boys who are light on their feet like these two are will earn a job on most lines.
The tight end is Chuck Hubbard of Radford, who is big enought (6 feet, 208) to throw a wicked block and sure-handed enough to catch the pass in traffic.
One wide receiver is going to be Anthony Myers of Giles. If he played on a run-and-shoot team, he'd catch 50 passes or more. He's the split end. The flanker is Shane Beamer of Blacksburg. All he does is snag everything you throw him and there's not much more that you can do than that.
The quarterback will be Greg Shockley of Blacksburg, a proven thrower (since we have so many good catchers).
The running backs have been earning their job from the very first night of the season. Andra Beasley of Christiansburg will gain you yards and score some touchdowns if he gets any blocking at all. With the guys we have up front, he'll get the blocking.
Raypheal Milton can do it all running inside or outside. And with his arm, which may be better than Shockley's, the threat of the halfback option is always there.
In case we decided to ditch the flanker and insert a fullback in short yardage situations, Gary Lowery of Narrows is the choice. To keep him busy, we'll rotate him in on the defensive line, where his quickness and pass-rushing ability will be constant threats to the opposition.
The special team specialist will be Jamie Warren, who can field kicks or zero in on a ball carrier in kick coverage.
To coach these guys, we need some veteran leadership. So we'll unretire Bill Brown, Allen Wiley, and Buddy Shull and put them to work.
by CNB