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August 22, 2007 |
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Prep
football notebook · GW hopes to avoid its usual
rough start |
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By Rick Ryan |
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More than anything else, George
Washington coach Steve Edwards Jr. would like to get off to a little quicker
start this season. GW and Capital help kick off the
high school football season in West Virginia with a game Thursday night at Laidley Field. In the past few years, the
Patriots have put themselves in an uphill climb to make the Class AAA
playoffs because of poor starts: · Last season, GW
suffered a 53-7 loss to Parkersburg and began its schedule 0-3; · In 2005, a 36-7
setback to Parkersburg started the Patriots on an 0-4 showing; · Three
years ago, a 10-7 opening loss to Capital began what would be records of 0-2
and 1-4 out of the gate. The Patriots would recover
somewhat, but couldn’t completely shake those opening losses. Edwards doesn’t
want the thought of dropping the first game deflating his team’s confidence. “Everybody wants to win their
first game,’’ Edwards said, “but by no means is it the entire season. We
haven’t won an opening game in a good while. We’re trying to preach to the
kids that the key number is 14. Everybody wants to play 14 games [and get to the
state finals]. You don’t care how you get there, but that’s where you need to
be.’’ Catching
on quickly Year
in and year out, no one throws the ball around like Nitro. Unless
of course, you’re talking about Andrew Jackson Middle School, which feeds into
Nitro. AJ uses many of the same systems employed by Wildcats coach Scott
Tinsley. It’s
no wonder, then, that Nitro has been able to keep the tradition — and the
output — going from one class to the next, since players arrived prepared to
catch the ball. “Kids
are a little familiar with our system when they get here,’’ Tinsley said.
“Bob Gobel coached at Andrew Jackson a few years
and we worked together at West Virginia State and West Virginia Tech. Then
coach Steve Hall took over and put everything in just like we were running
it. “At
least the kids know the terminology and know what we expect. They even tried
the standup defense out there.’’ Family ties Two of the flashiest players at
South Charleston in recent seasons have been cousins Tommy and Deion Spurlock,
a pair of runner-receivers with breakaway speed. Would you believe there’s another
Spurlock in the wings? Tevin Spurlock, a 5-foot-6, 150-pound sophomore
receiver-cornerback and Tommy’s younger brother, could have an impact this
season, said SC coach John Messinger. “A few years from now,’’ Messinger said, “I’m not so sure people won’t be saying,
‘Tommy who?’ or ‘Deion who?’ He may not be the athlete they are, but Tevin’s got the best work ethic of the bunch. And he’s a
great kid. I have to tell him to slow down [in training]. “He won state powerlifting
championships in February [bench pressing 175 pounds, dead lifting 320] when
he weighed just 123. He’s added a lot of weight since then. His family was so
worried about him because he’s so undersized, but I told them to leave him
alone, leave him in the weight room and he’ll make his mark.’’ Tevin Spurlock said it hasn’t been difficult to follow in the
footsteps of his older family members. “Everybody says something like that,’’
he said, “but I just do what I can do. That’s all.’’ Hitting the road The schedule facing Buffalo this
season poses challenges on two fronts. First, there’s the strength of the
opposition — five of the seven West Virginia teams the Bison play made the
playoffs a year ago. Also, there’s the travel factor. None of the five road
trips are less than two hours. For example, Buffalo has
back-to-back trips to Portsmouth, Ohio, on Sept. 8 (Notre Dame) and Sept. 14
(East). In-state visits include Clarksburg (Notre Dame), Fayetteville and Matewan. “The schedule is as tough as we’ve
played,’’ said Bison coach Mike Sawyer, whose program seeks its fourth
straight Class A postseason berth. “If you can get through it and get to the
playoffs, you’ll be battle-tested and ready to go. But it can also keep you
from getting to the playoffs.’’ Learning
curve Poca began last season with a 40-12
loss to Nitro, the first meeting with its neighboring rival since 1996. Although
the Dots may not have realized it at the time, their game with the Wildcats
did pay delayed dividends. Poca wound up winning
its next six to vault into playoff contention. “They
were good last year,’’ Dots coach Bob Lemley said,
“and I thought we played pretty strong. It’s kind of a barometer to where we
are, because I think they’re going to be pretty good again this year. I know
they lost several defensive people, but they can light it up. It’s going to
tell us, defensively, where we are right now.” “It’s
a good game for us. We’ve been working toward this game for a long time, and
we can see where we are Friday night. It’ll help prepare us for the rest of
the season, too.’’ To contact assistant sports editor
Rick Ryan, use e-mail or call 348-5175. |