Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, December 10, 1994 TAG: 9412140063
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ANDREA KUHN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The tickets are $10 for adults, $5 for students and will be sold on a first-come, first-served basis, said Carey Harveycutter, the stadium's manager.
The game - the national championship of NCAA Division III football - kicks off at noon and will be televised live by ESPN. It features undefeated Albion (Mich.) against 11-1 Washington & Jefferson (Pa.).
Salem is the host for the second straight year and the back-to-back sellouts are a Stagg Bowl first. With the addition of supplemental press boxes, capacity is now 7,136, not including the SRO spectators.
``That [selling out] has been a fun problem to deal with,'' said Wayne Burrow, an assistant director of championships for the NCAA who oversees the Stagg Bowl. ``I feel like if we can accommodate more people in a safe situation, that we will let in as many as possible.''
AND HE WOULD KNOW: Ron Schipper has been to all four sites that have hosted the Stagg Bowl: Phenix City, Ala.; Kings Island, Ohio; Bradenton, Fla., and now Salem.
But before the Central (Iowa) coach and president of the American Football Coaches Association was given the grand tour Friday, he already had heard some rave reviews of Salem.
Schipper had been listening to members of his school's softball team, which made the trip to Salem from Pella last spring to compete in the Division III softball tournament at the Moyer Complex.
``They all had nothing but great things to say about Salem and its facilities,'' said Schipper, who has coached at Central 34 years.
Schipper has attended 12 Stagg Bowls, including three as a coach. His team won the second Stagg Bowl 10-8 over Ithaca (N.Y.) in 1974, and finished runner-up in 1984 and 1988.
``This is overall the best setup we've had in Division III, no doubt,'' Schipper said. ``... It's about setting and it's about people who want the game here. I have been extremely impressed.''
PACKER BACKER: Albion's most famous football product may be Fritz Shurmur, now the defensive coordinator for the Green Bay Packers.
Shurmur played at Albion in the 1950s, then began his coaching career there as a graduate student. He was an assistant football coach and swimming coach from 1954 to 1961.
EARLY PRO: One of Washington & Jefferson's early football stars was Wilbur ``Pete'' Henry, a consensus All-American in 1918 and 1919, who went on to play professionally for the Canton Bulldogs.
No less an authority than George Halas called Henry ``the greatest lineman I have ever seen play the game.'' Henry is also a member of the College Football Hall of Fame.
THE SALAD BOWL? W&J's football prowess was absent from the field in the early 1980s.
In 1983, when the Presidents battled Hiram to a 10-10 deadlock in their homecoming game, the fans responded with an ovation.
Why a cheer for a tie game? Because the year before, the Presidents made such a poor appearance in their homecoming, fans threw vegetables onto the field.
ETC.: With the weather forecast calling for rain, the tarp at Salem Stadium was laid down Friday afternoon. It will be removed at 7 a.m. today for field preparation. ... The NCAA has assigned an officiating crew from the Old Dominion Athletic Conference to work the game. The members of the on-field crew are all Richmond-area residents. ... Albion registered its second consecutive undefeated regular season and sixth consecutive Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association championship this season. The Britons are the first team to represent the MIAA, a 110-year-old conference, in the Stagg Bowl. ``We carry the hopes of a lot of people,'' said Albion coach Pete Schmidt.
- Staff writer Dwayne Yancey contributed to this story.
by CNB