ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, December 21, 1996 TAG: 9612230049
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DANIEL UTHMAN STAFF WRITER
TWO SETS OF BROTHERS take top honors on The Roanoke Times 17th annual All-State college football teams.
There is so much football talent in two Virginia families, it couldn't be contained in just one child.
Two sets of brothers, the Barbers and Sharpers, headline The Roanoke Times' 17th annual All-State college football team. One from each family is player of the year on offense and defense. Virginia running back Tiki Barber, a Cave Spring graduate along with his brother, UVa cornerback Ronde Barber, is the 1996 offensive player of the year. William and Mary's Darren Sharper, younger brother of star UVa linebacker Jamie Sharper, is the defensive player of the year.
Ronde Barber and Jamie Sharper, however, were not left out of this family affair. Both made the first-team defense.
``Our families produced some good athletic traits,'' Tiki Barber said Friday from Melbourne, Fla., where the Cavaliers are preparing for the Dec.27 Carquest Bowl in Fort Lauderdale.
Tiki and Ronde's father, J.B., was Virginia Tech's leading rusher in 1971 and 1972. Darren and Jamie's father, Harry, was an All-American at Virginia State and later played for the NFL's Kansas City Chiefs.
Tiki Barber is only the second offensive player to repeat as player of the year. Former Virginia quarterback Shawn Moore, from Martinsville, did it in 1989 and 1990. Three defensive players have repeated, Virginia Tech's Bruce Smith (1983-84) and Cornell Brown (1994-95) and Virginia's Chris Slade (1991-92).
Barber's 1,360 yards rushing was the most in a single season in the ACC in the past 20 years, aside from his 1,397-yard performance of 1995. He was the ACC's offensive player of the year and became the first Virginia player to rush for more than 1,000 yards in two consecutive seasons. He also took over first place on UVa's all-time rushing list (3,389 yards) in the Cavaliers' last regular-season game.
``That's one thing I wanted to do this year,'' Barber said of the school record. ``My first year was a disappointment. My second year was OK, but it could have been better. My third year, it exploded.
``A lot of people sold me short early in my career. I wanted to prove I was a good back.''
Barber edged VMI running back Thomas Haskins, the 1994 offensive player of the year, and Virginia Tech quarterback Jim Druckenmiller for this season's top honor. Haskins finished his VMI career as the top rusher in Division I-AA history with 5,349 yards and is the Keydets' only two-time Associated Press first-team All-American. Despite little or no national publicity, Haskins finished third in the balloting for the Walter Payton Award, honoring the top player in Division I-AA.
Darren Sharper made a huge impact on Division I-AA football in his four years as a starter at William and Mary. The 1996 Yankee Conference defensive player of the year led the Tribe with 116 tackles and became the team's career interception leader with 24, far surpassing Mark Kelso's record of 20.
``Too bad we didn't get him,'' Barber said.
Sharper led I-AA with 10 interceptions - four in his final two regular-season games - and even saw some action on offense. His 486 career interception return yards made him the all-time leader in I-AA and the Yankee Conference.
Despite the numbers, Sharper said he didn't expect to get the player of the year nod over his I-A competition. ``I was really surprised about that,'' he said. ``I-AA players get overlooked a lot of times.''
Sharper's toughest competition came from Jamie Sharper and Tech linebacker Brandon Semones. Jamie Sharper led Virginia with 123 tackles and also had six quarterback sacks. He became the Cavaliers' all-time leading tackler with 14 stops against Virginia Tech, giving him 435 for his career, three more than Charles McDaniel had from 1982-85.
Although undersized, Semones was Tech's leading tackler with 88 stops and fourth on the team with five sacks.
An unprecedented number of three-time repeaters made the first-team Division I offense. Haskins, Virginia Tech center Billy Conaty, William and Mary guard Josh Beyer and JMU tight end Ed Perry all made the first team from their sophomore through senior years. There were two such players on defense, Darren Sharper and Virginia Tech defensive end Cornell Brown.
Virginia punter Will Brice became the first four-time first teamer with his selection this year.
A number of former Timesland athletes also made the teams: Barber and his twin brother, Ronde, and Tech's Semones (Glenvar) were on the Division I teams. Ferrum tight end Mike Souma (William Fleming) and Hampden-Sydney cornerback Tony Joyce (Roanoke Catholic) made the Division II and III teams.
Virginia Tech and Virginia each had nine Division I first-team selections. William and Mary, which matched its best-ever season with a 10-2 mark, was next with four.
The Division II and III teams were led by a player from an NAIA Division II college, Clinch Valley's Greg Thomas. Thomas, a senior running back from Fort Myers, Fla., gained 1,438 yards on 239 carries with 25 touchdowns. He was first in the nation in scoring (he scored a touchdown in 33 straight games during one stretch) and second in rushing. With Thomas leading them, the Highland Cavaliers went 10-1 and made the second round of the NAIA playoffs in only their sixth season of play.
With 170 solo or shared tackles, Randolph-Macon linebacker Tim Armoska made a strong case for small college defensive player of the year honors. He was the Old Dominion Athletic Conference's overall player of the year, as well.
But perhaps no player at any level in the state could measure up to Norfolk State defensive tackle John Green. Green, a senior, is a 6-3, 315-pound monster who had 24 tackles for 135 yards, including 12.5 sacks. He also forced two fumbles and recovered five others. Green also was a finalist for the Eddie Robinson Award, given annually to the top football player from a historically black college.
LENGTH: Long : 115 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: 1. DON PETERSEN STAFF Tiki Barber took over first placeby CNBon UVa's all-time rushing list (3,389 yards) in the Cavaliers' last
regular-season game. His 1,360 yards rushing was the most in a
single season in the ACC in the past 20 years, aside from his 1,397
yards in 1995. color
2. BOB KEROAC Darren Sharper led William and Mary with 116 tackles
and became the team's career interception leader with 24. color
3. chart - All-Division I.
4. chart - All-Division II-III KEYWORDS: MGR