Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, October 27, 1995 TAG: 9510270124
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DANIEL UTHMAN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: EMORY LENGTH: Medium
The presence of coach Lou Wacker has attracted some great football players to Emory & Henry College during the past 14 years. They've made a good combination, the coach and his pupils, good enough for an unprecedented seven Old Dominion Athletic Conference championships.
The same is true of the current Wasps, who are 8-0, have won the ODAC title and are ranked second in the NCAA Division III South Region poll. The player-coach relationship, however, has changed this fall.
``He told us that he needs us more than we need him,'' said Andy Dewease, a junior linebacker from William Byrd High School.
Wacker's wife, Mary Wallace Wacker, described in the Emory & Henry game programs as the Wasps' No.1 fan, was diagnosed with cancer of the colon, lungs and liver this season. She is receiving treatments at Duke University Hospital in Durham, N.C.
Lou Wacker experienced health problems two years ago, suffering a heart attack in July 1993. He worked under a limited schedule until that fall and had triple-bypass surgery in December 1993. Nevertheless, his wife's struggle has affected him more than his own health concerns did.
``This is the toughest thing I've ever had to face,'' he said.
Wacker missed Emory & Henry's game at Randolph-Macon on Oct.14. He sat out that entire week of practice to be with his wife. It was the first time he had been away from a team in midseason in his 37 years of coaching.
``At this stage, we want to squeeze every drop of life out of what we have left,'' Wacker said. ``It's unfortunate that sometimes you have to be around a long time before you realize that.''
The Wasps defeated Randolph-Macon on Wade Vidal's 36-yard field goal with no time remaining. They wrote an inscription on the coin from the coin toss and dedicated it to Mary. They also presented her with a football signed by the entire team.
``All of our accomplishments are dedicated to them,'' said sophomore quarterback Aaron Brand.
The accomplishments of this Emory & Henry team are many. Aside from the ODAC championship and perfect record, six Wasps have been the ODAC player of the week on offense or defense. Brand has distinguished himself as the man to call the signals for the team, starting every game since Randolph-Macon.
Junior running back J.D. Davis leads the league in rushing (103.8 yards per game) despite a torn medial collateral ligament in his left knee that kept him out of two games. Perhaps fittingly, the person who took his place, freshman Andy Stanley, also has thrived. Stanley, from Patrick County High School, is the ODAC's third-leading rusher (81.3 yards per game).
Wacker said Stanley may be the best runner the Wasps have had since Sandy Rogers, a Division III All-American who in 1986 set a then-NCAA record for yards rushing in a season with 1,730. ``He's been pushing me a lot, a freshman coming in like that,'' said Davis, who at 23 is six years older than Stanley.
When Wacker was away, it was the assistant coaches who kept pushing the Wasps. Four of Wacker's five assistants are Emory & Henry graduates, and offensive coordinator Fred Selfe has been in Emory for 21 years, seven more than Wacker. Selfe ran practice in Wacker's absence. Wacker, the recipient of numerous coaching awards, had no apprehensions about turning over the program to his staff.
``That's the strength of this program,'' Wacker said. ``Awards are all nice, and I guess it promotes the conference, but I really feel it should be `coaching staff of the year.'''
Some players said they really couldn't tell Wacker was gone except at game time. But Selfe always filled in the team on its coach and his wife. ``A lot of the time, it wouldn't be good,'' Brand said, ``but it would motivate us to do better.''
At 63, Wacker will be eligible to retire soon. He says he thinks other people talk and think about it more than he does. He said he doesn't know when the time to step away will come, but when it does, ``I think it will come quickly.''
Wacker's immediate plans are to keep coaching his team and loving Mary as he has for so long.
``It certainly puts everything else into perspective,'' he said. ``Winning games are really important until something that's really important comes along.''
by CNB