In ^village of the Braves^
Prospects bright for cage season
By WILLIAM McCRAW
Basketball Coach
The echo of leather on hard
wood; shrilling blast of the whis
tle, and voices of purposeful
men in practice clothes signal
an undercurrent of activity
while yet pigskin-mania reigns
supreme in the “village of the
Braves.”
The small, dedicated legion
points its nose toward the same
goal (victory) its pad-poppin’
brothers incessantly struggle,
but in a different atmosphere;
an edifice where sleekness of
glass bedecked with orange rims
and limp nets mark a target
sometimes seemingly too-
elusive. Here one sees the re
flection of moving grace as a
candidate player softly projects
the leather sphere airborn hop
ing to break the silence of an
imposing basket.
Chowan College basketball
doesn’t appear, physically, to be
a college team, but the lack of
size can be deceiving. The Brav
es will count on good speed,
quickness, and defense to off
set the lack of power under the
hoop. Round-ball play may as
sume a variety of styles, but
the Braves’ choice is more apt
to be a slow-down, controlled
offense, though they intend to
run when possible. The shortage
of beef under the boards will
hurt a consistent running effort,
although Chowan isn’t exactly
devoid of rebounding. The Brav
es may even resort to some kind
of starving tactics.
The footsoldiers of note in the
Brave camp' include a couple
possibilities from the freshman
class; maybe more. Jack Ross,
a thin, but well-coordinated 160
pounder standing 5’U” tall, and
having an assortment of effec
tive moves around the basket, is
one of the best of the new boys.
He has a good short jumper,
great ball handling and defens
ive ability and is familiar with
the kind of offensive operations
the Braves will employ. Carl
Yankey, another newcomer, at
5’10” has an accurate short
jump shot, and though he isn’t
a flashy player gets the job
done. Clifton Faison will see
'duty at center, though he is a
small one at 6’3”.
The troops back from the ex
citing crowd of 1968-69 are Bert
Brown, Todd McConnell, Mike
Bennett, Nathan Sosebee and
Steve Flack. Upon their shoul
ders will be cast most of the
responsibility. Unexpectedly, the
Braves lost Harry Flipping,
leading rebounder with an aver
age of 19 rebounds per game,
which has left them weaker at
center; the play of Sosebee and
Faison will determine the extent
of the weakness. Bennett will be
the main outside threat and will
have to help on the boards, while
McConnell is expected to be the
Braves top rebounder and in
side man. The ball handling and
agility of the 6’4”, 205 lb. Mc
Connell is better than any player
of comparable size in the lea
gue, and he gets up in the air
well. Brown gives the Braves
excellent quarterbacking with
Chowan scores
total of 17 TD’s
MURFREESBORO, N.C. —
After seven games played, Cho
wan College has scoreid a total
of 17 touchdowns, seven on pass
es from quarterback John
Casazza.
Chowan’s record is 4-3-1 with
one of the victories by forfeit
from Croft Junior College of
Durham.
Dan Dayvault of Kannapolis,
the team’s leading rusher, has
scored five times and Oxford’s
Carroll Hart three. The other
TD’s were scored by Windsor’s
Nick Shook on a 50-yard punt
return last week against Lees-
McRae, and Bill Comerford,
who recovered a fumble in the
end zone against East Carolina.
Twenty-one of the remaining
points have been registered by
Robert Kilboume of Prince
George, Va. He has kicked 12
of 15 points after and 3 field
goals. The other two points were
given Chowan by Potomac State
on a safety.
Casazza’s favority targets
have been Durham’s Billy Har
ris, who has caught four touch
down passes, and Wingate Bur
den, Annandale, Va. who has
caught one. Morris Newlin of
Greensboro has caught two.
The rushing records:
Player At. Yds. TDs
Dan Dayvault 93 411 5
Carroll Hart 48 48 3
Ross and will be a steadying in
fluence from the backcourt.
Steve Flack has looked better
this year and will play more.
The team to beat this time
would have to be Louisburg
which will field a team looking
too much like the one that won
the conference title last year
And look out! that giant who
slept a year ago, isn't dead!
(The one with the letters F-E-R-
R-U-M across the jersey, and he
may have his map out this
season.) Southwood is tall anti
has a fine shooter in E. J. Wil
der which may make them very
tough. Mt. Olive lost too much
talent and College of Albemarle
is an unknown this year.
The Braves hoist the curtain
on the panic with a contest at
Chesapeake College on Noven»>
ber 26; first home game is slated
for December 3, with Mt. Olive.
Following are 20 nights of heart-
stopping action; dramatically
bringing the most stable to hi.s
knees and sending coach. pla\
ers, and fans home, ready lor
the cardiologist New opponents
on the Braves' schedule include
Kittrell College and the Univer
sity of Richmond freshmen, who
replaced the William and .Mary
fresh
Tar Heel-Cavalier Conler
ence face-off gets underway at
Nashville on February J.i. _'i;.
27. And with nine week.s of aca
deniic consentration, to say
nothing of cpring sports hope
they keep the doors to the men
tal health clinic open on Sunday!
Wingate Burden 14 20
Greg Park 13 59
Earl Gibson 15 13
Ronnie Jarmon 9 24
The receiving records:
Player Comp. Yds. TDs
Billy Harris 17 197 4
Wingate Burden 26 426 1
Dan Dayvault 5 28
Earl Gibson 3 15
Morris Newlin 6 95 2
Casazza has completed 63 of
118 for 818 yards and seven
touchdowns.
The low yardage produced by
backs other than Dayvault and
Hart reflects the effectiveness
of the defenses of three Chowan
opponents, Ferrum (Va.) Jun
ior College, Lees-McRae of Ban
ner Elk, and East Carolina
University freshmen. Against
these squads, Dayvault and
Hart were the workhorses and
the only consistent gainers for
the Braves.
The longest scoring play for
the Braves covered 68 yards
and was produced by Newlin
on a pass from Casazza again
st Potomac State.
Chowan’s scores:
Gardner-Webb 16-14, Balti
more 14-14, Potomac State 29-
12, Croft forfeit win, Ferrum 6-
24, Lees-McRae 13-21, East Car
olina Freshmen 27-33, Montgo
mery 20-6.
Dan Dayvault
asset to Braves
Passing for pay dirt
John Cassazza, No. 11 and Chowan’s quarterback, prepares to unleash a pass which
led to a Brave touchdown. The young quarterback sparked the Braves to a 20-6 win over
the strong Montgomery Knights in the annual Homecoming classic.
For November, 1969
The running and kicking of
Dan Dayvault of Kannapolis
is one reason Chowan College
has compiled a respectable
season record.
In Chowan’s first seven games
(Chowan won by forfeit from
Croft Junior College of Dur
ham) Dayvault, tailback, has
carried the ball 93 times gaining
385 yards. He has scored five
touchdowns, and is leading the
team in all rushing departments.
In Chowan’s opening game,
when he scored Chowan’s first
touchdown in a 16-14 victory
over Gardner-Webb, Dayvault
carried 23 times for 36 yards.
Against Baltimore, Chowan’s
second opponent, Dayvault ran
12 times for 54 yards before an
injury forced him out of the
game early in the third quarter.
In Keyser, W. Va., Dayvault
sat out the first half and then
roared back to carry the ball 11
times for 68 yards, as Chowan
downed Potomac State 29-12.
His value to the team is not
indicated by points made. As
one observer commented at the
Potomac game, with Dayvault
in the game Chowan moves the
ball. When yardage is difficult
Dayvault usually gets the call.
Except for several long scoring
pass playSj most of Chowan’s
touchdown drives have been the
result of eight or more plays.
Dayvault’s contribution has been
vital in keeping the drives go
ing and in picking up necessary
yardage.
With Dayvault in the game,
the defense can not adjust to
stop the passing attack of quar
terback John Casazza, who has
thrown six touchdown passes.
The defense must try to stop
the running of Dayvault while
being alert at the same time
for Casazza’s throws.
In the Potomac game, the
6-foot, 185-pounder also showed
his worth as a punter. With
Chowan leading 20-12 early in
the third quarter following a
quick Potomac TD, Dayvault
booted the ball dead at Poto
mac’s one-foot line.
This accurate punt from Poto
mac’s 35 led to Chowan scoring
nine points including a safety
on the third play following the
punt and a touchdown on the
heels of the safety. In the East
Carolina freshman game, he
scored twice but Chowan lost
33-27.
Head Coach Jim Garrison
says that Dayvault “probably
has as much natural ability as
any boy I’ve had. He can play
quarterback, is an excellent re
ceiver and a good runner. He is
also a threat as a punter. His
speed is deceiving. When he
breaks into the open he’s hard
to catch,” Garrison reports.
Dayvault is known to be the
object of interest of several
senior college scouts.
Getting to know
our faculty
By TOMMY GARNER
Steve F. Brannon is a new
member of the Chowan English
department. He brings not only
new, fresh methods of teaching
English to this campus, but also
experience and a broad back
ground in the field of dramatics.
Professor Brannon received
his A. A. degree from Warren
Wilson College in Ashville, N. C.
He proceeded on to Tusculum
College in Greenville, Tenn.
where he attained his B. A. de
gree. He went on to receive his
masters degree from East Tenn
essee University where he grad
uated with a double major in
English and business.
Still searching for a wider and
deeper education, Brannon did
additional work at Syracuse Uni
versity, University of Arkansas
and the University of Connecti
cut.
Throughout his college years,
he did extensive work in drama
tics. He was an apprentice at
the Thomas Wolfe Theatre in
Ashville.
Before finishing school Bran-
naon was to play the lead in
“Kiss Me Kate” and also to
perform in such plays as the
“Diary of Anne Frank” and
“Pygmalion”.
Ending his college career he
traveled to New York where he
received small parts in two
Broadway plays, “Oklahoma”
with such big name stars as
Gordon and Sheila McCray and
“Music Man” with Robert Pres
ton.
Brannon is married to the
former Miss Dori Bark of Win
chester Va. They met during
their freshman year at Warren
Wilson College, dated through
out college and were married in
1965.
PAGE SEVENTEEN