Newspapers / Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.) / Aug. 28, 1986, edition 1 / Page 17
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August 28, Page B1 1986 SPORTSWEEK Winston-Salem Chronicle Roundups, columns and profiles. Bylaw bruises MEAC, SWAC Casualties high in I-A A schools .By BARRY COOPER 'Syndicated Columnist ( College football coaches are colliding head-first 'these days with one of the game’s most potent '.weapons ever, an opponent so cunning, so unrelen ting that it all but gobbles up unsuspecting players and forces them to the sidelines. Few other developments in football have ever been so heralded. Coaches finally caught up with the wishbone offense and in the process learned that what made the wishbone was the athletes who ran it, not some inherent structural strength of the for mation. The old indomitable Oklahoma defense has been conquered, too. ' It took years to cope with those formations, but ■football’s latest, greatest weapon may stage an even longer fight. This weapon - known as Proposition '48 or Bylaw 5-l-(j) - does not score points or shut !down enemy runners. Instead, it takes away poten tial Herschel Walkers, Eric Dickersons and Doug Williamses by forcing them to the sidelines while they bone up on their books, not their blocking and tackling. Anything that encourages Joe Jock to learn to read and write is not bad. The trouble is, it appears that much of this year’s high school senior class never did take Bylaw 5-l-(j) seriously. All across the country, from Notre Dame to Southern California to Michigan to Jackson State, schools are being forced to watch recruits sit out a ■ year because the players could not get by the bylaw’s minimum requirements (700 Scholastic Ap titude Test score and 2.0 grade-point average). The situation for many of the historically black . Division I-AA schools is critical. Schools like North ,i Carolina A&T, Grambling State, Delaware State, ; Florida A&M and Tennessee State must abide by ] the same academic standards of the Alabamas and ] Penn States. But for the most part the black schools I are recruiting a different quality of player from the Division I-A football factories. Moreover, these schools have significantly smaller budgets with which to recruit and to keep student-athletes in school. For years, the black schools already had been get ting the short end of the stick in recruiting. Since segregation was halted, the historically black schools were left to recruit whatever players they could find once the bigger schools finished their scouting. The result often has been that historically black schools are left not only with players of lesser athletic talent but also lower academic skills. The new NCAA bylaw, which has abbreviated standards the first two years (660 and 2.2 or 740 and 1.8 this year, 680 and 2.1 or 720 and 1.9 next year), will continue to diminish the quality of Division 1-AA black college football. Most major black colleges are carefully guarding their recruiting results, but it is known that Bethune-Cookman lost 10 of its 19 recruits to Pro- Please see page B7 Sports Beat Parkland’s the pick By DAVID BULLA Chronicle Sports Editor Prophecy Is a risky business. While this column will make predictions about the high school football season that begins Fri day night, it admits from the start that this is an imperfect science. The way a particular team looks in preseason may have no rela tionship to the way it looks five or 10 weeks from now. . Last season, the Chronicle covered the Mount Tabor-East Forsyth season opener. It was an exciting game that ended in a Roscoe Pouncey of Reynolds proves that football Is school season gets off the ground Friday night, the as much a horizontal as a vertical game; the high Demons traveling to West (photo by James Parker Friday’s Prep Games Reynolds at West Mount Tabor at East Carver at North Surry Reidsville at Glenn Dudley at North Local Sports Triad All-Stars down Pond Giant Oldtimers By DAVID BULLA Chronicle Sports Editor The Triad All-Stars rallied for a run in the fifth inning to break a 1-1 tie en route to a 5-1 win over the Winston- Salem Pond Giants in the Oldtimers’ game at Ernie Shore Field Sunday night, Ted Petree, a former Winston-Salem Indian, was named the game’s Most Valuable Player. Petree had two hits and two runs batted in, including the game-winning RBI in the seven-inning contest. “It was a good affair,” said Pond Giants Oldtimers’ Manager Willie “Chick” Carter, a former Winston- Salem semi-pro star. “It made no dif ference who won or lost. It was just a great evening to enjoy with old friends.” Thomas Foggie pitched the last four innings for the All-Stars. The left hander, a former Indian, allowed one hit and struck out five. His team gave him plenty of support, including three runs in the sixth. Pond Giants’ Business Manager Charles Foster was pleased with the turnout of 150, which he called the big gest of the season for the Giants. Golf Tournament The 25th annual Gate City Open will be played Saturday and Sunday at Greensboro’s Bryan Park. The pro-am event, sponsored by Gate City Golf and the Greensboro Parks and Recreation Department, features $22,200 in prizes. The entry fee is $125 for professionals and $70 for amateurs. There will be a long-driving contest Friday at 5 p.m. at Bryan Park’s first hole. For more information, call Gate Ci ty Golf at 697-0356. Football Schedule The 1986 high school football season gets under way Friday night with five games involving Forsyth County schools. Following is a season schedule for county schools; Aug. 29 - Carver at North Surry; Dudley at North; Reynolds at West; East at Mount Tabor; Reidsville at Glenn. Sept. 5 " West at East; Parkland at Carver; Glenn at Reynolds; Mount Tabor at North. Sept. 12 - Mount Tabor at Carver; North at Parkland; Reyn'olds at East; West at Glenn. Sept. 19 - Carver at West; Parkland at Glenn; North at Reynolds; Davie County at East; Mount Tabor, open date. Sept. 26 — Kannapolis Brown at Mount Tabor; Parkland at Davie County; South Rowan at Reynolds; North Davidson at'West; Trinity at Glenn; Dudley at Carver; South Stokes at North; East, open date. Oct. 3 - Mount Tabor at Parkland; East at South Stokes; Reynolds at Kannapolis Brown; West at South Rowan; Glenn, open date; Carver, open date; North, open date. Oct. 10 " North at Carver; Greensboro Page at East; Davie County at Mount Tabor; Parkland at Reynolds; Kannapolis Brown at West; Glenn at Greensboro Smith. Oct. 17 - Carver at Glenn; East at North; Mount Tabor at North Davidson; West at Parkland; Reynolds at Davie County. Please see page B15 21-21 tie. The Spartans, in their first year in 4-A, looked as if they had comfortably made the transi tion to the state’s highest prep level. Indeed, the playoffs could be in sight because the team showed in the opener that it could hold its own against an establish ed 4-A program like East’s. But Coach Ed McDonald’s squad suffered through several near misses in the nine weeks that followed and a 1-8-1 record in which the average margin per game was eight points. Seven losses were by eight points or less and the worst was by 12. So much for the playoffs. While last season was full of transitions - including three new head coaches - this season features more stability. Whether that means fewer surprises re mains to be seen. The bulk of what follows will be forgotten by November. But it’s hoped anyway that these predictions will be near the mark. However, results are not guaranteed, for prophesying is like gambling. You don’t know when you will roll the right com bination, but you still try. Please see page B4 No Passing Zone CIAA opponents discover youfly at your own risk against WSS U's active defenders By KENNETH RAYMOND Chronicle Sports Writer Winston-Salem State’s defensive backs and linebackers have been the centerpiece of a football program that has dominated the Central Inter collegiate Athletic Association’s Southern Divi sion the last three seasons. It takes a better ticket than People’s Express to go airborne against the Rams. So good are the Ram DBs and LBs, as they are known in the coaching vernacular, that Coach Bill Hayes makes the following bold claim about them: “I think we have the best secondary in North Carolina, barring none. That includes North Carolina, N.C. State and Wake Forest.” WSSU aligns in a 60 defense that requires the linebackers to cover both the run and the pass. Meanwhile, defensive backs rarely just concen trate on the passing game. Hayes and his staff put an emphasis on speed over size to man the alignment. So WSSU’s defense sometimes looks like some sort of martial arts exhibition. Defenders are moving continuous ly and throw their bodies at the ball carrier and his blockers with all the passion and energy of kamikaze pilots. The graduated Angelo Spruill, who played linebacker for the Rams during those three cham pionship seasons and had 89 tackles last season, said that an influx of quality talent in 1983 was the key to the Rams’ three-year reign in the Southern Division. “A great group of freshmen came in and mixed perfectly with the rest of us,” said Spruill, whose eligibility ran out after last season. “Mark Wallace, Derrick Beasley and Leonardo Horn .'-".A,!,,* * “ WSSU limited the opposition to 111 yards through the air last season, good for a No. 6 ranking nationally. Bottom row, left to right, Ray Puryear, Donald Franks, Anthony Blaylock; back row. Derrick Beasley, Mark Wallace and Johnny Coles (photo by James Parker). brought in what the 1982 team needed.” Beasley, the CIAA Defensive Player of the Year last season, believes pass defense will again be the team’s strength. Last season, the Rams ranked sixth nationally, allowing only 111 yards per game through the air. “We’ve got a lot of veterans back and we’ve got some depth,” said Beasley, who led the team in tackles (96) last year and is the CIAA’s top Na tional Football League prospect this year. “I can see us being No. 1 in pass defense and about the same as last season against the run.” The 6-foot-3 Beasley, who was quite a basket ball player at Detroit’s Cody High School, has fill ed out a bit for his senior season. The strong safe ty is up to 205 pounds, most of that weight coming from lifting hay bales on his grandmother’s farm in Tennessee this summer. The Rams’ high defensive standards and consis tent championship appearances have caught Wallace by surprise. Wallace, who finished last season with a total of 92 tackles, said he did not expect the Rams to achieve such success during his college career. “I didn’t expect it to be this way,” the Waynesville native said. “I knew it was possible, but that’s all.” Wallace, who started in all three championship games, said his postseason experience has given him the necessary moxie to do whatever he should if the Rams should appear there again. “Everybody doesn’t get to start in three cham pionship games since their freshman year and possibly four,” Wallace said. “I’ll know more of what to expect from the opposition and what 1 should do.” The Rams finished third in total defense in the conference and seventh nationally last season. They allowed only 223.5 yards and 12 points per game. Defensive Coordinator Pete Richardson said the defensive unit should maintain its status in the conference. “There’s a lot of confidence and experience in our defensive secondary,” Richardson said. “We brought our freshmen in early so they’ll know the system. They have a good understanding of it now but we still need to work,” he said. WSSU returns all of its secondary and lineback- Please see page B3
Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.)
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Aug. 28, 1986, edition 1
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