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Scott Signs With Wake Forest
Mike Scott, the rugged 6-foot-ll center for the Greenup County basketball team, is regarded as a young man full of talent and potential.
Two weeks ago, Scott showed he's also a young man full of surprises. Scott shocked recruiters, reporters, his high-school coach -- and to a lesser extent, himself -- by announcing Nov. 20th that he had elected to sign a national college letter-of-intent before the season rather than waiting until April.
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The lucky school also came as a mild surprise -- Wake Forest. Many observers thought Scott would sign with the University of Kentucky. Scott's coach, Randy Ward of Greenup County, admitted that he would have liked to see Scott go to UK. "Mike had performed well in UK's summer camps," Ward said. "And any Kentucky (high-school) coach would like to see his boy stay in Kentucky."
Throughout the recruiting process, Scott resolutely had said he wouldn't sign with a college until after his senior season. Ward said he had no inling that Scott would change his mind until Nov. 17, three days before Scott's announcement. "He called and said he had changed his mind, that he wasn't going to wait,'' Ward said. "I was surprised. But I've coached a long time, and I know that you can't make up a player's mind for him. He does that himself.
Scott said a recent official visit to Ohio State helped make up his mind. ' T had the feeling that I knew where I wanted to go, so there was no sense in
waiting," Scott said. "The whole'thing of'recruiting gets old after a while; with all the phone calls every night and everything. I wanted to do something to take the pressure off the season so I could just go out and play well."
Scott made official visits to only three schools -- Wake Forest, Ohio State and Virginia. He said that, in the end, Wake Forest's relatively small size (student enrollment of around 5,000) proved the biggest factor in his decision.
"Wake Forest had a sort of homey atmosphere I liked," Scott said. "The other schools were so much bigger. I didn't think I would fit in as well there. I'm from a little town (South Shore, Ky.), and I just felt more comfortable at Wake Forest than I did anywhere else."
Scott said he also felt UK was too big for him. He also said he couldn't envision the chance to play immediately at UK. "They've got a super program," Scott said. "But I didn't think I'd be able to fit in right away. I couldn't see how I'd be able to beat out (6-9 center) Robert Lock, for instance. He'll get to play a lot this year. He'll have a lot of experience."
Scott said Wake Forest coach Carl Tacy suggested that Scott would get a chance to play next year. "That really helped my decision," Scott said. "I believe you have to play to get better. The ACC (Atlantic Coast Conference) has so many good teams, and I like their style of play."
Scott said his move wasn't prompted by the recent departure from Wake Forest of another Kentuckian, sophomore Todd May. . . .
Seneca, the prohibitive preseason favorite to win the State Tournament next March, was ranked sixth nationally among high-school teams in a poll published in the Nov. 28 issue of USA Today.
Seneca opened the season against two traditional Louisville powers, Doss and St. Xavier. Its next two games are dillies. This Friday night, the 7th, Seneca travels to Eastern to face 7-foot junior Felton Spencer. Next Tuesday, the 11th, Seneca will host the team picked to win the Sixth Region, Pleasure Ridge Park. . . .
The most pulsating of the four Kentucky class football championships was the AA final played Nov. 23 at Cardinal Stadium in Louisville. A 20-yard touchdown pass from Pat Richardson to Rob Messmer with 24 seconds to play lifted Newport Central Catholic from a 7-6 deficit to a dramatic 12-7 victory over defending state champ Fort Knox.
Messmer took a short down-and-out pass trom Richardson at the 15, then hesitated after advancing to the 10. In this case, he who hesitated won: Messmer eluded Fort Knox cornerback Pat Williams, who dove out of bounds after missing Messmer. "When he missed me, and I saw the end zone out there, I was the happiest guy alive," said Messmer, a senior.
Richardson might have been ever happier. After playing the whole game, he had been benched on the first play of the eventual game-clinching drive. But on the first play of that drive, his replacement, Eric Gearding, was injured. So Richardson re-entered the game with admittedly damaged pride - but strong resolve nonetheless.
"I would be lying if I said I wasn't upset over being sat down," Richardson said. "But Coach (Bob Schneider) had his reasons. He felt we weren't moving the ball like we should. I just felt grateful I got another chance. Once I got in there, I knew that somehow, we'd find a way to score.''
Oddly, once Fort Knox took its 7-6 lead early in the fourth quarter, both Messmer and Richardson admitted they felt their team wouldn't come back.
"When they got ahead, to be honest, I gave up on us," said Messmer, who started the season as a defensive end. "I didn't think we could do it. They had moved the ball on us pretty well most of the game, and we couldn't get anything going. But we've played people close all year. I'm sorry now that I doubted our chances."
Fort Knox's chances were hurt when its highly-regarded running back, senior Darren Bilberry, was unable to play because of a hyperextended knee. Fort Knox coach Joe Jaggers had been quoted in the Nov. 23 Courier-Journal as saying a 50-50 chance existed that Bilberry could plav. After the game, Jaggers admitted he knew otherwise.
"I was hoping. But we knew all week he wouldn't be able to go,'' Jaggers said. "But we hung tough. And we outplayed them and moved it on them most of the game. Really, we got beat by two fluke plays. That's all." Newport Central Catholic scored first in the second quarter when Frank Jacobs scored on a 31-yard pass that had been tipped by a Fort Knox defender.
Bilberry presented a forlorn figure as he watched the game from the sidelines. "I can jog on the leg, but that's all," he said. "I couldn't have helped them much, so we decided not to take the chance."
Bilberry said he had narrowed his college choices to Kentucky. Eastern Kentucky, Western Kentucky and Middle Tennessee. . . .
It's seldom that coaches will admit that an untoward decision on their part cost their team a win. Enter Paris coach Randv Reese, who said his bad decision on a fourth-quarter two-point conversion try contributed to Beechwood's eventual 35-26 win over Paris in the Class A final.
Scott Whitaker had scored from three yards out on a fourth-and-three play with 3:02 left to pull Paris within 28-26. Reese then called a sweep play, with quarterback Thomas Reed to either run it in or look for a receiver. But Reed was swarmed by three Beechwood defenders and tackled on the two-yard line.
"I should have set up some kind of trap play up the middle instead of going with the option play," Reese said. "The trap had worked well all day. It's just one of those snap decisions you make. But we had a good year."
Paris has had several good years. It won the Class A title in 1981 and '82. Beechwood, meanwhile, had an even better year this season; Bernie Barre's team finished 13-0. . . .
Danville won the most lopsided contest of the four finals, beating Hopkinsville 24-6 to win the Class AAA title Nov. 23. Like Beechwood, Danville finished 13-0. Unlike Beechwood, however, Danville accomplished its perfect season with a varsity squad that numbered only 23 players. Many teams throughout the state were unable to win many games because of lack of depth.
What was Danville's secret, then? Coach Tom Duffy said if you don't have numbers, you've got to have muscle.
"Weights," Duffy said. "Every player on this team is dedicated to our weight program. They knew what they were up against, so every man worked hard all summer on the weights to be as strong as they could be. We don't have a weak player on the team. That's why we've been able to win. That, plus a lot of heart." . . .
Christian County's 14-10 win over Ballard in the Class 4-A final Nov. 24 was particularly sweet for its coach, Dan Goble. Goble formerly coached in Louisville (at Atherton High) and near Louisville (at Shelby County High). "I made a lot of friends in this town," Goble said, "but it's hard to describe how nice it is to come up here and beat a Louisville team for the title."
Goble had experienced that feeling before. His 1982 Christian County team won the state title by beating Southern 10-7.
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