Small College Gridiron Notes

Including the game at Wise (see previous post), Emory &Henry's junior varsity football team will play six games this season. Coach Don Montgomery started the junior squad last year when he took over as head coach of the Wasps. There is no schedule or mention yet of a j.v. squad on the UVa-Wise athletics Web site, but sources close to the team (I can't write that without laughing) say the E&H game is the only game on the slate thus far. This will be the first season for the Cavs' j.v. squad. …According to ehcsports.com, the unofficial/official Web site for E&H athletics, the Wasps had 144 players report to practice, a record number. …The following is old news, but I thought I'd include it for no other reason than to fill out space: EA Sports "NCAA '07 Football" features the Emory & Henry shift plays made popular by Steve Spurrier when he coached at Florida. You may remember Spurrier used the plays a few years back to help the Gators win an SEC title game. The spread formation plays are accessible in the video game via the South Carolina playbook. Spurrier, who now coaches the Gamecocks, claims he saw the Wasps run the plays at a game during his youth in Johnson City, Tenn. You can see a demonstration of one of the plays at the EA SportsWeb site. …Brian Saunders nearly signed to play football and baseball at E&H this season, according to an article today in The (Lynchburg) News & Advance. However, Virginia Tech snatched him away to walk on as a kicker. Now Saunders, from Nelson County, is quarterbacking the Hokies' scout team. …In case you missed it, the Wasps are picked to tie for sixth with Catholic this season in the ODAC race. …You know how we like cheerleaders. They are a fundamental part of the game. Well, that might be stretching things a bit. Anyway, most small college cheerleaders Web sites contain little more than a team photo. However, the cheerleaders at UVa-Wise do an excellent job of maintaining their site with updated information, team bios, photos and even video clips. Here's the link.