Reasons for Boise trip not decisive
By Jerry Ratcliffe / Daily Progress sports editor
December 12, 2004

Well, here we are a couple of weeks away from the Boise Bowl (forgive us if we wretch every time we have to refer to bowls by their commercial names) and the only thing people seem to want to talk about is why Virginia is playing in Boise.

Wahoo fans are pointing fingers in every direction. Just who blew this thing? Why is a team tied for third in the conference playing in the sixth-place bowl? Who’s to blame?

Is it Virginia Athletics Director Craig Littlepage? The ACC? The Champs Sports Bowl in Orlando?

Nobody seems to want to take the blame for what happened to the Cavaliers this go around.

Littlepage has come the closest, noting that it was his ego that convinced him the Virginia football team would finish in one of the top three slots.

Had that happened, UVa would be headed to either the Sugar Bowl, Gator Bowl or Peach Bowl.

What about a Plan B?

The best the Cavs could have done would have been the Champs Sports Bowl in Orlando, a lovely place to visit this time of year. But UVa’s exams schedule conflicted with the Champs Sports Bowl date, Dec. 21.

Littlepage knew this a year ago and he said the ACC knew it because UVa notified the league of the exam schedule as far back as last January. Apparently the Champs Bowl didn’t know until three days before the UVa vs. Virginia Tech game when the Orlando game was prepared to offer the Cavaliers a bid.

The Champs folks were a little miffed over that situation, a situation that apparently didn’t go over to well in the ACC office either.

What must the ACC think about UVa these days? First, school President John T. Casteen III holds the league hostage on the expansion vote until he gets his way, then comes this whole Bowl-gate, exam-date thing. The ACC must be wondering if somebody is asleep at the controls up here.

Instead of nice, sunny Florida, Mickey and Minnie, fresh squeezed O.J. and suntan oil, it’s going to be parkas, hot chocolate, mittens and Chap-Stick.

Let’s see, Orlando? Boise? ... Orlando? Boise?

Hmmm. It’s such a tough choice.

For those who picked Boise as in Idaho as in December as in cold as a witch’s elbow, we would have to question your SAT score.

No surprise

But Virginia fans ought to be used to getting the fuzzy end of the lollipop by now.

In 2002, the Wahoos finished second in the ACC and went to the fifth-place Tire Bowl.

In 2000, they finished third and went to the fifth-place Oahu Bowl (as least it was warm).

In 1999, UVa tied for second and was relegated to the fourth-place Micron PC Bowl, which used to be in Fort Lauderdalea.

But that was better than in 1997 when they were third in the ACC and went absolutely nowhere.

I’ve had a gripe with the bowls for a long time, because they don’t do what they are supposed to do. Bowl games are not always awarded on what a team accomplishes, but other issues.

For instance, Virginia is 8-3 and beat North Carolina like a drum. UNC is 6-5 and going to the Tire Bowl, a much better bowl than Boise’s Smurf-Blue venue. But, UVa couldn’t go to a third straight Tire Bowl could it? Probably not.

Georgia Tech, which also got whipped by the Cavaliers, and is also 6-5, is going to Orlando. Hey guys, could you send us a postcard? You know, one of those with the golf courses, and Sea World, or Disney, or the beaches with girls in bikinis ... or one that JUST HAS THE SUN IN IT.

While the Cavs truly are getting the shaft again and while everyone this side of the ski slopes is wondering why Virginia’s athletic department can’t do a better job of lobbying the bowl people, the football team itself could have solved the whole problem by winning one of the three games against Virginia Tech, Miami or Florida State.

With an unimaginative offense that simply couldn’t get the job done against the type of talent it faced in the Hokies, Hurricanes and Seminoles, maybe this team deserves a trip to football’s version of Siberia.

We’re not questioning UVa’s decision to turn down Orlando because of conflicting exam schedules. Education is why you’re supposed to go to college.

However, had somebody noticed the potential problem some time ago, perhaps something could have been worked out. Orlando beckoned the Wahoos and the Gator Bowl and Peach would have been interested in the Cavs had they won their last game.

Gator Bowl president Rick Catlett told this columnist that he was convinced Virginia would travel well to Jacksonville had the opportunity presented itself.

“I think Virginia’s image is changing with the bowl people,” Catlett said. “I think what they’ve done in the last couple of years has definitely changed their image. I constantly remind the guys that have been around the Gator Bowl a long time that when [Virginia] played in our game [in 1991], they had lost two of their last three games.

“It’s kind of hard to say Virginia travels good or doesn’t travel good. If you have been to Charlottesville and seen what they’ve done with that stadium and the passion and the tailgating, they have become a real Southern football franchise,” Catlett said.

Virginia has traveled well to the Tire Bowl the past two years, taking more than 20,000 fans. But is that a true indication that UVa travels well?

Charlotte is only a four- or five-hour drive from Charlottesville. Same thing goes for the Peach Bowl, which seems to be the favorite destination of Wahoos everywhere. Cavalier followings have been strong to that game. But again, it’s not that hard to get to Atlanta.

“Virginia is going to have to go to one of the upper echelon bowls and take 15,000 or 20,000 people,” Catlett said. “While [the Tire Bowl turnout] was impressive, you still have to do it when you have to travel a ways.”

Well, maybe next year.

There’s not going to be a throng of Wahoos in Boise. In fact, there might not be anyone in Boise. Locals who usually come to the bowl are apparently going elsewhere to support Boise State in its bowl game.

There might be a whole lot of fans showing up disguised as empty seats.

Hopefully, they won’t have snow in them.

Barons best Benedictine
Blue Ridge's Lewis leads scorers with 24
By Andrew Joyner / Daily Progress staff writer
December 12, 2004

If part of the draw for Blue Ridge’s contest against Benedictine on Saturday night at University Hall was to showcase the Barons’ two UVa recruits, it accomplished that.

The game, however, also showed that the Barons are more than just those two players.

Tony Lewis had 24 points to lead five players in double figures as Blue Ridge, the top-ranked team in Central Virginia, cruised to an 88-63 victory.

Trey Mines added 20 points for the Barons (3-0) and Stephen Kendall, a junior who committed to Virginia this fall, had 14 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists. Londale Theus also had 14 points while Laurynas Mikalauskas, a 6-foot-8 forward who signed with Virginia last month, had 12 points and nine rebounds.

“They sometimes surprise me even. They have made some great progress over the last two weeks. They really believe in making that extra pass,” Blue Ridge coach Bill Ramsey said. “Usually, everything starts through Laurynas, but we had other guys pick it up tonight. We know that we have guys who can run and score. We always talk about five guys in double figures and that’s what we had tonight.”

After leading by as many as 10 in the first quarter, the Barons held a 37-31 advantage at intermission.

Benedictine (5-2) cut the advantage to just 43-41 on a layup by Kevin Estes, the younger brother of Virginia tight end Patrick Estes, with just less than five minutes remaining in the third quarter.

The Barons, however, responded with a 17-2 run over the next four minutes and when Theus drove in for a layup with 1:12 left in the quarter, the Barons had surged to a 60-43 lead.

“We have a lot of guys capable of scoring. They play well as a team. I didn’t expect to be playing this way until February,” Ramsey said.

The Barons’ lead slowly grew at the beginning of the fourth quarter. A dunk by Mikalauskas made it 72-55 with 4:37 left in the game and then moments later, a pair of free throws by Kendall pushed the advantage to 77-57. The Barons then pushed the lead to 25 in the final minute.

Both Kendall and Mikalauskas expressed a few nerves prior to the contest, especially as Virginia coach Pete Gillen and several current UVa players sat in the stands.

“I was a little nervous but it went away as soon as the ball went up. It really was great to be able to play here. It’s something I have dreamed of doing for a longtime now,” said Kendall, a Charlottesville native. “It was definitely a lot of fun.”

Added Mikalauskas: “It was fun. It was a great atmosphere. It’s a little different when you think that this is the arena I will play in next year.”

The Barons will attempt to remain undefeated when they face St. Anne’s-Belfield on Tuesday.

Hawks reign supreme
By JOHN COSCIA
Register & Bee sports editor
Sunday, December 12, 2004

LYNCHBURG, Va. - “Look, it’s a hawk!”
That was the exclamation of one observant fan that spotted the bird soaring just behind the north end zone moments before the start of the Group AA Division 3 state championship game between the Gretna Hawks and the Poquoson Islanders.
The spectator’s shout drew the crowd’s attention and when the nearly 6,000 strong Gretna fan base caught sight of the hawk’s effortless flight they gave it an ovation and joined in one collective roar.
On this day it would be just the first of many soaring hawks as Gretna’s Hawks’ took flight early and cruised to a 40-14 state championship victory over the Poquoson Islanders.
“Yeah, that hawk flies behind the (north) end zone all the time. We always see him back there,” a Liberty University employee said. “He’s got a nest up there in the hill somewhere. I guess you can call him our resident hawk.”
He’s not the only hawk that’s taken up residence in the city of Lynchburg these days. The Hawks football team may be from the small Pittsylvania County town of Gretna but for the second consecutive year they’ve made Liberty University their final resting place at season’s end. Saturday’s victory was Gretna’s 28th straight win, but even more importantly clinched back-to-back state championships for the Hawks, both coming at Liberty University.
“Back to back, baby. Back to back. I can’t think of any better way to go out as a senior than with back to back state championships,” offensive lineman Larrell Bain said. “We’re going out with a bang and I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world. Now it’s time to step aside and make room for the next group to make history.”
Gretna wasted no time grabbing the momentum, doing so on the game’s initial play. After winning the toss Gretna deferred to the second half and opted to kick off to Poqouson.
The Islanders return specialist muffed the ball and the Hawks Lamar “Mookie” White recovered the fumble that gave Gretna the game’s first offensive possession.
“I just hustled down field on the kick off, the dude fumbled the ball and I picked it up,” White admitted. “Our coaches all told us to come out hard and get quick jump. That was a big momentum swing for us.”
And just like that the “greatest show on turf” led by Vicqual Hall & Co. marched their way onto the gridiron.
Hall wasted no time, taking just 1:06 to move 21 yards, finding the end zone when he hit Jason Myers for a 9-yard touchdown pass on the third play from scrimmage.
“It’s an awful situation to put the team in when you’re the underdog to begin with,” said Poquoson head coach Don Ward. “We won the last three games by a total of eight points. I guess today it just ran out on us.”
If the Islanders felt their proverbial backs against the wall trailing 7-0, they must have really felt squeezed when their first offensive possession ended in a turnover.
Poquoson started on its own 31-yard line and four plays later found itself in Gretna territory. But on the fifth play of the series, facing a second and eight, the Islanders called for a run. Horace Hubbard delivered a crushing tackle that jarred the ball loose and again it was White that was there for the recovery.
”Whoa baby. Did you see the way Horace hit him,” White asked rhetorically. “I mean he laid him out. He crushed him. Wow, ouch. I mean that was a hit. I was just in the right place at the right time and recovered it but Horace was the one that did all the work on that one.”
Nonetheless, the defense had once again given the ball back to the Hawks most volatile weapon, this time near midfield.
And once again Hall delivered.
This time it took just 1:01 to move the ball 52 yards on three plays and for the second time on the young afternoon Hall found Myers open for six.
"The turning point of the ball game was the two touchdowns they scored before we touched it,” Ward said. “The first kickoff the sun got in my guys eyes and he didn't see it. We lose it on the opening kickoff and the first thing you know they have us 13-0 before any time had gone off the clock at all."
Poquoson had been pounded against the ropes during the opening round of the bout but this heavyweight fight hadn’t come this far to go away quietly and with 10:07 left in the second quarter Islanders quarterback Sal Cannella scored on a 12-yard run to cut the Gretna lead to 13-7.
Poquoson could breathe again. They had a ray of hope.
But that’s what makes the Hawks so dangerous - they strike as quickly as a venomous rattlesnake hitting its unsuspecting prey.
Following the ensuing kickoff, Hall called the play in the huddle, called for the option from behind the shotgun snap, rolled to his right, followed a Larrell Bain block, found daylight and raced 75 yards for the touchdown that totally deflated the Poquoson sidelines and put the Hawks back in the driver’s seat for good.
“I don’t think I’ll ever block for another guy in my life as good as Vic (Hall),” Bain admitted. “He’s a phenomenal athlete. He doesn’t need much room. Give him an inch and he’s gone.
Rico Reynolds (19 carries for 132 yards) then scored his first of two touchdowns with 2:40 left in the half to give Gretna the 27-7 lead at the break.
Poguoson would strike first in the second half but touchdown runs by Hall (23 yards) and Reynolds (four yards) clinched Gretna’s second state championship in as many years.
“I’m still numb. It really hasn’t sunk in yet,” Gretna head coach Robert Senseney said as he sat in the locker room after the game. “It feels like a two-year season. You try and separate the two seasons one from the other but it’s hard. But don’t get me wrong I wouldn’t trade it for anything. It’s been a great ride.”
While most of the players found it hard to rank importance between last year’s state championship and this year’s, there was one player that had no problem differentiating the two.
“Oh this year’s is definitely sweeter. Yeah definitely this year’s because I wasn’t on the team last year,” said freshman defensive back Tyon Bennett.
Editor’s note: At season’s start the Gretna Hawks sported a new look with change uniforms and a new helmet. But beneath it all was the same group of talented players that fought with heart, played with intensity and won with class.
The Gretna Hawks are the 2004 Group AA, Division 3 state champions and it couldn’t have happened to a greater group of kids.
Wherever you go from here, whatever you do in life, this will be a memory you’ll treasure forever.
Thanks for taking us on the ride of our lives.
State records by Vicqual Hall – five. Final score of 2003 state championship: Gretna 48, Monticello 18. Final score of 2004 state championship: Gretna 40, Poquoson 14.
Back to back state championships - Priceless.