Thursday, August 24,  2006

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     Twin Valley edged two other Black Diamond teams to win a three-team BDD match Monday afternoon at Tazewell County Country Club.
     In the season-opening tournament for the BDD clubs, the Panthers finished with a score of 207, edging Council (209) by two strokes.
     Honaker's E. Taylor (first name unavailable) shot a 46 through nine holes to earn top individual honors. Twin Valley sophomores Jacob St. Clair (48) and Hunter Simpson (49) finished second and third, respectively.
     Jonathan Rife of Council shot a 50 to place fourth.

For more of the story, see the print edition of the Mountaineer, on sale at newsstands now.  For more information on how to subscribe to the Mountaineer, call 276-935-2123 today.

Wave Travels to Clintwood, Twin Valley Hosts Tug Valley

by Lloyd Combs
Sports Reporter
    THE GAME: Grundy (2-8 in 2005) at Clintwood (5-5).
    DATE, TIME & PLACE: Friday, Aug. 25, 7:30 p.m., Ralph Cummins Stadium.
    THE TEAMS:
    GRUNDY -- Grundy looked a little better last week in its second scrimmage, albeit against a weak opponent.
    Small steps like that may be the fairest way to measure the progress of this year’s Golden Wave, where freshmen and a number of first-time starters join a half-dozen or so returning starters.
   "We just try to get better every day," says Greg Rowe, the all-time winningest coach at Grundy, where he begins his 20th season. "These kids can do it, I’ve seen it in practice. It’s just a matter of getting a little confidence."
    Grundy got solid efforts from the backfield quartet of Josh McCowan, Josh Ratliff, Josh Lindsay and Ethan Owens in last week. The Golden Wave won a pair of two-quarter scrimmages last week at Twin Valley.
    Grundy defeated the host Twin Valley Panthers, 18-0, and topped the PikeView, W.Va., Panthers, 12-0.
     CLINTWOOD -- The Greenwave has lost three outstanding backs to graduation the last three years, including speedy tailback Kenny Dotson, who ran for 184 yards against Grundy in last season’s opener.
     Dotson is gone, but Clintwood still has a veteran club which is picked fourth in a  pre-season poll of coaches in the eight-team Lonesome Pine District.
     Clintwood edged Honaker, 21-20, in a benefit contest Friday. No details were available from that scrimmage.
     THE FINAL WORD -- For the first time in years, Grundy is not among the favorites in the Southwest District, which will at least allow the Wave to operate under the radar while it improves.
     Clintwood took advantage of Grundy mistakes and stunned the Golden Wave. 44-15, last season. That could provide a little extra motivation for Grundy, which plays six of ten games on the road this season.
     THE GAME: Tug Valley (0-10) at Twin Valley (2-8).
     DATE, TIME & PLACE: Friday, Aug. 25, 7:30 p.m. Twin Valley Middle School.

For more of the story, see the print edition of the Mountaineer, on sale at newsstands now.  For more information on how to subscribe to the Mountaineer, call 276-935-2123 today.  

   For the first time since records have been kept, hunters finished a fiscal year (July 1, 2005 - June 30, 2006) without a fatality. With a few hundred thousand hunters afield, sometimes many at one time, that's a pretty fantastic record.
   After blaze orange became a requirement for firearms deer hunters, we saw the "mistaken for game" excuse take a drastic plunge. However, there are many other excuses, at least in people's minds why they shoot themselves or their fellow-hunters.
   However, all hunting incidents, or accidents, counted by the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries (DGIF) do not involve guns or even bows or crossbows. There were 53 reported incidents during the last fiscal year. Of those, a full 18 were treestand incidents.
   Those treestand hunters were mostly after deer, however, one was said to be a turkey hunter. Another wasn't hunting at all, at least at the time of the injury. This victim was taking down a treestand when the two poles broke, allowing him to fall six feet, breaking his heel.
   Another treestand victim was reported to be intoxicated. While attempting to descend the ladder stand, he fell, breaking his leg.
   Apparently, some of the treestands were homemade apparatuses, but other incidents involved manufactured equipment.
   Here is a rundown on reported treestand injuries.
   An Albemarle County deer hunter was descending a tree on a screw-in spike ladder when one of the spikes came out. He fell 11 feet, receiving a serious ankle injury.
   One Augusta County hunter fell 17 feet, breaking his pelvis. He was not wearing a safety harness while attempting to cock his crossbow. The crossbow slipped, allowing him to lose his balance and fall.

For more of the story, see the print edition of the Mountaineer, on sale at newsstands now.  For more information on how to subscribe to the Mountaineer, call 276-935-2123 today.

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