Rivalry or not, Liberty-James Monroe big game
By Dave MorrisonSports Editor
Liberty coach Jeff Alexander wasn’t ready to call James Monroe a rival for his team. The two perennially ranked Class AA teams meet tonight in Glen Daniel.
“I wouldn’t say it’s a big rivalry, nothing like a county team or Wyoming East or Sherman,” Alexander said, beginning a big laugh. “We don’t have to hate someone that far away. I don’t have to go to James Monroe to hate someone. We’ve got enough local teams to hate right here.”
He was joking. Sort of.
That said, Alexander said he had ample respect for the Mavericks.
Certainly the fact that the two teams will meet for the fourth time tonight, and Liberty hasn’t won a game in the series yet, plays a part.
“It’s always a hard-fought game when we play James Monroe,” said Alexander, whose team lost to the Mavs 12-10 in a classic playoff contest two years ago. “We respect them and what they do. We know that we can’t make mistakes like we did (in a 21-7 loss to Sherman last week) if we want to have a chance against these guys. Because they don’t (make mistakes). They do what they do and they do it well.”
What they do is run the single-wing — a rare offense in which the ball is directly snapped to any one of two or three players lined up in the backfield.
“It’s hard to defend because we don’t see it except once a year,” Alexander said. “It’s not complicated. You know what they’re going to do. And you still can’t stop it.”
Class AA No. 2 James Monroe (6-0) is led by Taylor Robertson and Jason Jackson, who, despite missing parts of four games because of lopsided scores, have combined for nearly 1,500 yards alone.
“I don’t think you expect to win — and we’d never take winning for granted — but we do expect to do the things necessary to win games,” coach David Witt said. “We work hard in the offseason and in practice. If we take care of our business, the wins will come.”
And they have. The Mavericks are 32-4 in the regular season under Witt, including 25-1 in the last two-plus years. James Monroe’s ability to reload has been key.
“We’ve been in the playoffs the last four years, but I don’t think we’re where they are yet, but we’re getting there,” Alexander said.
Witt disagreed.
“I know they lost (Tommy) Newman (who graduated) out of their backfield and they’re still high-powered back there,” Witt said. “They’ve got a good team, they’re always competitive. I think they’re a lot like us.”
Backs Josh Hodge (82 carries, 879 yards, nine TDs) and Nick Hylton (68-492-6) lead the attack.
“I think you have to look at stopping those guys,” Witt said. “Philosophically, like us, they’re going to run more than throw. They’re good backs and you have to concentrate on trying to stop them.”
So does James Monroe figure this key battle every year is a rivalry.
“I’d say so,” Witt said. “We’ve played them twice in the regular season and in the playoffs once, and every time it’s been a battle of high-ranked teams and usually one or both are undefeated. That’s pretty much what I’d say is becoming a good rivalry.”
Shady awaits
By DUSTY HARMANBluefield Daily Telegraph
SHADY SPRING — The Bluefield Beavers make their first road trip of the season tonight when they travel to the den of the Shady Spring Tigers.
“When you go on the road, you find out a lot about your character,” Bluefield head coach Fred Simon said. “We’re going to find out over the next four weeks or so what we’re made of.”
The Beavers enter the contest at 3-1 after completing their second bye week. Coach Vince Culicerto’s Tigers (3-3) have been hot as of late, winning three of their last four games — including last week’s 42-21 victory over regional rival Oak Hill.
Culicerto said the best thing about that win was that Shady trailed 21-7 at halftime, but rallied for a decisive victory.
“Our kids have been able to come from behind, and that’s what you want,” Culicerto said. “You don’t want to have to fall behind, but if you do, it’s nice to know that our kids are capable of coming back. …
“It seems like we have a pretty good run coming in.”
“Coach Culicerto is doing a fine job with those kids,” added Simon. “Coming from the coaching family that he does, they’ll be well-prepared and we’ll have to play hard to have a chance to win.”
The Tigers are paced by the versatile Jerry Farrish, who could line up anywhere from running back to quarterback to wideout. His kick returning skills can’t be ignored either, as evidenced by his 99-yard punt return touchdown last week. Farrish also threw a 17-yard TD strike to Jason Hall.
“Jerry is so quick, you give him a step and he’s gone,” Culicerto said.
“He’s as quick as anybody we have,” added Simon. “We’ll have to really work to keep him from breaking a big one.”
Josh Collins also spends some time under center for the Tigers, completing 3-of-4 for 71 yards against Oak Hill. Dustin Syvertson finished with 99 yards of total offense as a receiver and rusher and scored two touchdowns. On defense, the Tigers allowed Oak Hill 155 yards rushing in the first half, but stiffened and held the Red Devils to minus-14 total yards after the break.
“They made some nice adjustments at the half, I give them credit,” Simon said. “They didn’t quit … . I’m impressed with them; they’ve got a good football team.”
The Beavers, meanwhile, have allowed just 13 points on defense in their last three games, while averaging more than 31 points per contest during the same span.
Eric McClanahan engineers the offense at quarterback, with deep threats in Ansel Ponder and Matthew Carter. The Beavers can look to a number of runners out of the backfield, including J.T. Powell and Shawn Brooks.
Culicerto said he expects the same type of Beaver team he has seen in the past.
“Just the same as always, good speed and they will really get after you hitting-wise,” the Shady coach said. “If you want to try to reach that level, you have to play them.”
And the Beavers provide a distinct challenge to defenses with its big play ability from anywhere on the field.
“If you stop the ground game, they’ll go the air … and they’ve had success with it,” Culicerto said. “Our defense will have a big, big challenge awaiting it.”
Princeton needs win
By JIM NELSONBluefield Daily Telegraph
PRINCETON — While the Princeton High football coaching staff has been focused upon learning about this week’s foe, Lincoln County, the Panthers have been busy learning about themselves.
Lincoln County, 0-5 in its inaugural season, was developed from a consolidation of Duval, Guyan Valley, Hamlin, and Harts high schools.
The Tigers and Panthers (1-3) meet at Hunnicutt Stadium tonight.
Bringing together the talent from four different high school programs has been a real challenge for first-year coach John Shimp. That includes Harts, which had reestablished its football team just two years ago after a 40 year absence.
In recent weeks, the Panthers have shown some improvement. After opening the season with a pair of shutout losses to Spring Valley (28-0) and Huntington (42-0), Lincoln County’s offense began to emerge.
Running backs Kenneth Nelson and Andrew Bias combined for 216 yards rushing and a pair of touchdowns in last week’s 42-22 setback to Tolsia. Senior quarterback Tyler Browning threw for 135 yards, going 12-of-23 in the air.
Additionally, tailback Josh Wade has been getting more reps, after being sidelined by a concussion in the early weeks of the campaign. He rushed for 1,000 yards a year ago at Guyan Valley.
The Tigers, meanwhile, hope the second half of their season’s schedule, which includes four home games, will help turn things around after a 1-4 start.
A week ago, Princeton dropped a 21-0 decision at Nitro.
Fullback Brandon Croy and halfback Marcus Hayes lead the Princeton ground game, with linebacker Matt Gallimore and lineman Keith Taylor anchoring the Tigers’ defense.
Former four-star general Doc Foglesong will be officially inaugurated today as Mississippi State's new president, but the Mingo County native has been active on campus since retiring from the Air Force in February. Foglesong will be inaugurated today as president of Mississippi State University, just one day before his new school and his alma mater, West Virginia University, face off on the football field.
The Mingo County native should have a tough time deciding which team to root for Saturday in Starkville.
Foglesong is planning a weekend of celebrations after his inauguration he says will include as many Mountaineers as MSU Bulldogs.
The general also has already been getting tips from the top-ranking Mountaineer on how to settle into the job of a college president.
West Virginia University President David Hardesty, who attended WVU with Foglesong in the 1960s, arrived in Mississippi Thursday to visit the former four-star general. Hardesty also will speak at tonight's inauguration and stay to watch the football game with Foglesong.
"I've talked to him numerous times and we've visited several times and he's been incredibly helpful," said Foglesong, who earned a doctorate in chemical engineering from WVU in 1971. "We share some common bonds. We've both been in leadership roles for most of our adult lives and we understand the subjective part of leadership and motivating people. I've benefited greatly from having him share his knowledge about the idiosyncrasies with university life."
The WVU president lavished praise on his old friend and was confident Foglesong will settle quickly into his new role on the Mississippi State campus.
"He's been around the world many times, known presidents and secretaries of defense, been on the Hill many times," Hardesty said.
But Hardesty said it may well be Foglesong's Mountain State roots that will most help him succeed down South.
"I think he understands Mississippi, being from a state like West Virginia," Hardesty said. "I think the modern military at the level at which he operated probably prepared him very well. Their main mission is about designing a clear strategy in an ambiguous global situation, and that's what universities have to do."
Foglesong, whose last military assignment was commanding the Air Force's European operations, retired from that post in February. Soon after he accepted the position at Mississippi State.
He's been working since then to figure out how best to put his military background to use as a college administrator.
"My biggest challenge has been learning patience," Foglesong said. "I've been in a business where you have to make decisions quickly to contribute to a humanitarian operation or a military operation. You collect as much information as you can and you react quickly.
"I don't have to do that anymore," Foglesong said. "I have time to collect data and then think about how we want to approach things."
Foglesong already seems prepared to put his own stamp on the presidency.
In the weeks leading up to his inauguration, Foglesong has been attending a couple of classes each week on the Starkville campus.
Last week, Foglesong sat in on a business ethics class with 200 other students and participated just like anybody else, raising his hand and asking the first question.
"I'm an out-in-the-field kind of guy," Foglesong said Thursday. "In order to lead you have to be out with the people you're trying to lead, to understand their circumstances, their desires. I get out with the students and the faculty as much as I can."
Don't expect to find him sitting in the president's office too often.
Foglesong, known to jump on stage and start singing with anybody at anytime, recently helped form a new rock band, "Bark," which he says won't be shy about performing at Mississippi State when the opportunity arises.
"The band is designed to be part of the morale and building of the great Bulldog spirit at the school," Foglesong said. "We're planning a fall concert here where we'll have faculty and students and the school jazz band will be there. We're doing a concert for foreign students and their families. That's the kind of thing I really anticipate the band doing."
Also as part of today's festivities in Starkville, a magnolia tree -- the state tree of Mississippi -- will be planted on campus to honor Foglesong.
The tree is a gift from his friends and board members of the Appalachian Leadership and Education Foundation of West Virginia, which Foglesong formed earlier this year.
The inscription on a plaque with the magnolia reads, "As the tree grows with such uniqueness and stands as a sign of strength and fortitude for years to come, so does our bond to the individual for whom this gift is bestowed."
The foundation's goal is to identify potential leaders in financial need, fund their college studies, and provide additional training to help bring out their leadership potential. Fifteen West Virginia students were named the foundation's first fellows in July.
| ||||||||||||
| Defense suddenly Nitro’s strength | ||||||||||||
| No. 4 Wildcats face No. 6 Hurricane | ||||||||||||
| You know it’s going to be one of those years when folks are talking more about Nitro’s defense than its offense. | ||||||||||||
| Despite loss, SC girls soccer season on the rise | ||||||||||||
| The task of rebuilding the South Charleston girls soccer team looked daunting enough. And then things took a turn for the worse. | ||||||||||||
| Hoops legend King dead at 78 | ||||||||||||
| Charleston native set record at Morris Harvey, coached at WVU, Purdue | ||||||||||||
| By all accounts, George King never really distinguished himself as a basketball player at Stonewall Jackson High School in the mid-1940s. | ||||||||||||
| Mississippi State coach Croom on the hot seat | ||||||||||||
| MORGANTOWN — Before Ron Zook coached his first game — or, for that matter, his first practice — as Steve Spurrier’s replacement at Florida in 2002, the Web site FireRonZook.com was launched. | ||||||||||||
| Mitch Vingle | ||||||||||||
| Can Tech become an athletic ‘terror’? Bayless says yes | ||||||||||||
| I GOT A call from WVU Tech president Dr. Charles Bayless the other day. | ||||||||||||
| Names in the games | ||||||||||||
| Mississippi State player arrested; WVU-South Florida ticket sales stopped | ||||||||||||
| Mississippi State defensive back Adron Chambers has been suspended from school after his arrest on charges that included assault. | ||||||||||||
| Prep football notebook | ||||||||||||
| Sissonville-Hoover matchup key for conference, playoff contenders | ||||||||||||
| Sissonville coach Todd Chevalier realizes the importance of tonight’s Cardinal Conference contest at Herbert Hoover, but isn’t willing to stamp it as game of desperation just yet. | ||||||||||||
| Prep football standings, statistics | ||||||||||||
| Prep soccer roundup | ||||||||||||
| Princeton boys rout Riverside | ||||||||||||
| Jevon Carpenter and Jeremy Chambers each netted three goals for Princeton Thursday in a 9-1 boys soccer win over Riverside. | ||||||||||||
| Area roundup | ||||||||||||
| UC women cruise to 10-0 victory | ||||||||||||
| Britney Hernandez scored three goals to pace the University of Charleston to a 10-0 victory against Ohio Valley in a West Virginia Conference women’s soccer game at Triana Field in Charleston. | ||||||||||||
| Central storms past Catholic for Class A golf title | ||||||||||||
| The golf ball can take funny bounces and it certainly took a few against Charleston Catholic at the state high school golf tournament Wednesday in Wheeling. | ||||||||||||
| Emotions run high as actor walks Herd into showdown | ||||||||||||
| HUNTINGTON — As Hollywood heartthrob Matthew McConaughey led the Marshall football team on its pregame walk into Joan C. Edwards Stadium for the second time, he noticed a different Thundering Herd team. | ||||||||||||
| Jeff Rider on NASCAR | ||||||||||||
| Time for Junior to return to winning ways at Talladega | ||||||||||||
| THERE WAS A TIME when Dale Earnhardt Jr. was the driver to beat at Talladega Superspeedway. Maybe he still is. | ||||||||||||
| Marshall football notebook | ||||||||||||
| Pressure didn’t bother Herd kicker | ||||||||||||
| HUNTINGTON — Anthony Binswanger really doesn’t get rattled. | ||||||||||||
| Mitch Vingle | ||||||||||||
| Marshall turns the ‘force’ against it | ||||||||||||
| HUNTINGTON — There was something in the air at Joan C. Edwards Stadium Wednesday night. | ||||||||||||
| No Hollywood finish for Herd | ||||||||||||
| Late field-goal drive wins it for UCF | ||||||||||||
| HUNTINGTON — With a Hollywood presence on the sidelines Wednesday night, Marshall was on the verge of the happy ending. | ||||||||||||
| Prep soccer roundup | ||||||||||||
| Youthful GW making strides | ||||||||||||
| George Washington’s youngsters are starting to make an impact. The No. 15 Patriots (8-4-5), who advanced to last year’s state tournament semifinals, have freshmen manning key positions on offense and defense. | ||||||||||||
| State offense came alive in loss to UC | ||||||||||||
| West Virginia State was defeated by the University of Charleston 42-29 Saturday, but it was the first time the Yellow Jackets put up at least 20 points since a 49-20 loss to Glenville State last October. | ||||||||||||
| UCF-Marshall statistics | ||||||||||||
| Versatile QB a threat to Mountaineers | ||||||||||||
| MORGANTOWN — A couple of months ago, it seemed that when it came time for West Virginia to visit Mississippi State, one of the Mountaineers’ chief problems would be finding a way to contain wide receiver Omarr Conner. | ||||||||||||
| WVU game offered as pay-per-view | ||||||||||||
| West Virginia University’s football game at Mississippi State at 2:30 p.m. Saturday will be offered on several West Virginia cable systems on a pay-per-view basis for $29.95 for all residential customers. | ||||||||||||
| Area roundup | ||||||||||||
| Fairmont wins WVC golf event | ||||||||||||
| Fairmont State fired a school-record final round of 10-under par 278 to win the West Virginia Conference Central men’s golf tournament at Cannan Valley Resort. | ||||||||||||
| Dave Hickman | ||||||||||||
| Stark numbers for team from Starkville | ||||||||||||
| MORGANTOWN — In four games this season West Virginia has scored a total of 108 points, or 27 per game. | ||||||||||||
| Herd still sore from last UCF game | ||||||||||||
| HUNTINGTON — It wasn’t how Bernard Morris envisioned his return to his hometown. | ||||||||||||
| Names in the games | ||||||||||||
| WVU-Miss. State will be aired on pay-per-view | ||||||||||||
| There will, indeed, be a live television broadcast of Saturday’s West Virginia University football game at Mississippi State. | ||||||||||||
| New at No. 1 | ||||||||||||
| Parkersburg, Scott climb to the top of prep football ratings | ||||||||||||
| PARKERSBURG — Parkersburg and Scott took over the No. 1 spots in Class AAA and AA, respectively, in the Secondary School Activities Commission’s weekly state computer ratings Tuesday. | ||||||||||||
| Prep soccer roundup | ||||||||||||
| Nitro boys top Spring Valley 4-2 | ||||||||||||
| Jamey Kerns scored two goals and Matt Marshall and Garrett Coleman added one apiece as Nitro defeated Spring Valley 4-2 in boys soccer Tuesday. | ||||||||||||
| State golf tournament | ||||||||||||
| Charleston Catholic ahead by five shots | ||||||||||||
| Charleston Catholic coach Bill Gillispie and his Irish squad continued their hot season Tuesday, leading the Class A field after round one of the West Virginia high school golf tournament at Oglebay Park in Wheeling. | ||||||||||||
| State golf tournament scores | ||||||||||||
| UCF-Marshall game capsule | ||||||||||||
| WVU heading South, so the heat’s on again | ||||||||||||
| MORGANTOWN — For the second time in as many games, one of West Virginia’s biggest obstacles to overcome may be Southern heat. | ||||||||||||
| WVU’s Bruce suspended following DUI arrest | ||||||||||||
| MORGANTOWN — West Virginia wide receiver Jeremy Bruce has been suspended indefinitely after a drunken driving arrest. | ||||||||||||
| High School Sports | Friday, October 6, 2006 |
This week's high school football matchups
HUNTINGTON -- The high school football state computer ratings start meaning something now with a large enough sample of games to separate the contenders from the pretenders. There's only one month left in the regular season after this week. Details
JEFF GORBY: Raceland hangs on to top spot St. Joe whips Spring Valley, stays unbeaten Huntington girls blank Wolves, 3-0
Raceland, ranked No. 8 in Kentucky Class 1A, holds the top position this week in The Herald-Dispatch high school football poll. The Rams (5-1) come off an open date for a game at Bath County today. Details
SPRING VALLEY -- Huntington St. Joseph played like the No. 1-ranked boys soccer team in the state Thursday night against Spring Valley at the Spring Valley Soccer Complex. Details
HUNTINGTON -- The Huntington High girls soccer team celebrated Senior Night with a 3-0 win over visiting Spring Valley Thursday at Scotland Yard. Details
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