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Eagles Grounded by Hawks

By GARY FAUBER

It's fitting that Scott Gyorko's surname is pronounced "jerk-o." That's probably what Woodrow Wilson fans are calling him.

The University senior scored four times as the Hawks scored 38 unanswered points for a 38-7 win in the Class AAA quarterfinals Friday in Beckley.

The No. 2 Flying Eagles went ahead 7-0 before No. 10 University took complete control. Gyorko finished with 103 yards and three touchdowns on the ground, and added a memorable fumble return for another score.

The game itself will be a memorable one for Gyorko, who broke his ankle the fourth week of the season.

"I couldn't ask for anything more, except for a state championship," Gyorko said.

"He's a warrior. For him to be back out here is a great story in sports," University coach John Kelley said. "The reason Adam (Cantoni) had the yards he had was because of Scotty's blocking.

"Scotty on defense was phenomenal, and then for Scotty to have 100 yards just brings a tear to your eye because it wasn't supposed to happen."

Gyorko scored on runs of one, two and five yards, but it was his defensive touchdown which those who saw it are likely to remember for some time.

Down 13-7, Woodrow had second down at University's 46-yard line. Senior Nate Manns ran the ball up the middle and looked to be stopped. Manns didn't quit on the play, but while he was fighting, Gyorko reached in and literally took the ball out of Manns' hands.

The only person on the field to see what happened was Woodrow quarterback Steve Robinson, but by the time he was able to react, Gyorko was well on his way to a 55-yard fumble return for a touchdown. Cantoni's two-point conversion run made it 21-7 with 3:44 left in the first half.

"Me and one of my teammates stood him up and I just took the ball from him because it was right there," Gyorko said.

"He just stripped him. It was a good play," first-year Woodrow coach John H. Lilly said. "Nate was fighting for extra yardage, giving his heart and soul. He just got stripped. We did the same thing to them before that."

The Eagles' defense played a big part in the team's lone touchdown. A defender stripped the ball loose from Cantoni at the Hawks' 20-yard line, and sophomore Brandon Gravely recovered and returned the ball to the eight.

Two plays later, senior fullback Tim Czekaj bulled in from the one for a 7-0 lead with 2:45 left in the first quarter.

That was all the Eagles could muster beyond then.

Cantoni had a huge game, picking up 250 yards on 30 carries. Quarterback Derek Reynolds threw 27 yards to Dan DiGiovine for University's other score.

In the last game of his high school career, Woodrow senior Mike Ross was held to 69 yards on 13 carries. University (10-2) outgained the Eagles 404-118 in total offense and held an 18-6 advantage in first downs.

Despite the loss, it was a season to remember for Woodrow, which finished 10-1. The Eagles went undefeated in the regular season.

"They did something this year that had never been done in this stadium before. They went undefeated, they ran the table," Lilly said. "Nobody gave this team a whole lot of a chance at the beginning of the year. We just continually proved everybody wrong.

"I'm not disappointed in this football team. This is a fine bunch."

Beckley Still Has Goals to Reach

By JODY MURPHY

If the Woodrow Wilson Quarterback Club is planning any sort of party to celebrate the Flying Eagles' perfect regular season, they should either hold off on the festivities until after the playoffs or leave coach John H. Lilly and his team off the guest list.

Beckley's stunning 7-0 win at Cabell Midland Friday capped off a perfect regular season, their first since the 1977 Class AAA state championship season, and assured the Eagles of a couple of home playoff games. But coach Lilly and his kids are too busy to enjoy it.

"We just really haven't had time to sit down and enjoy it because there were a couple of other goals that the staff and the players set that we haven't reached yet," Lilly said. "After (Friday night's) win the kids hooped and hollered a little but once they got on the bus they settled down. They're keeping the business attitude."

But that doesn't mean that the significance of Beckley's accomplishment isn't lost on the first-year Beckley coach.

"The kids have done a remarkable job," he said. "Anytime you finish the regular season undefeated it shows that the kids have stayed focused and showed a lot of character."

At the beginning of the season Lilly said he envisioned a perfect season performance from his team.

"The bar had been set, he said of former coach Pete Culicerto's efforts. "They were a playoff team last year and the cupboard wasn't left bear. I approach every season the way other coaches do, that we can go undefeated every season... We come at games one week at a time and we don't get too far ahead of ourselves."

The big knock on the Flying Eagles at the beginning of the season was their lack of size. Beckley averaged close to 240 pounds on the line, not bad, but paled in comparison to long time rivals Greenbrier East's 280-pound line and even Class AA squad Oak Hill weighing in at 260. How was Beckley supposed to compete with that bulk, much less Cabell Midland and Philip Barbour, which dotted their 2000 schedule?

Lilly had faith in his team and a firm belief in the old adage that speed kills.

The veteran coach loaded up his skill positions with a pair of championship track stars and turned the horses loose. Nine games and counting and the nobody has been able to corral the speedy Eagles yet.

"We had one goal this season," Lilly said. "We wanted to make the city of Beckley proud of our football team... We have new season ahead of us. A four-week season that's do or die. The only thing that's on our mind is whoever we draw in the playoffs. That's all I'm concerned with. You focus on the game, not the playoffs, but the game. When the season is over I'm sure will sit down and reflect and on our success this season."

If the past is any indication of the future, it might be a month before Lilly and company get time to do that.

Lilly Tapped for Woodrow Football Job

This article appeared in the Beckley Register-Herald on March 15, 2000.

The suspense building over the last four months is over. Woodrow Wilson High School has a new head football coach.

John H. Lilly, who took Shady Spring, another Raleigh County school, to its first two trips to the state playoffs, was named the Flying Eagles' new coach during Tuesday night's school board meeting.

Lilly succeeds Pete Culicerto, who retired in November after 22 years at the Beckley helm.

The board's voted to name Lilly, 3-2. Board President Roscoe Plumley and members Sherry Cushman and Patricia Waddell voted in favor of Lilly. Members Paul Vennari and Margaret Scott were opposed.

Lilly beat out 10 other applicants for the job. Interviews were held more than two weeks ago.

According to schools Superintendent Dwight Dials, the decision came down to, among other things, Lilly's status as a Raleigh County educator.

"John would be able to start immediately," Dials said. "John has a teaching job in Raleigh County; John's wife has a teaching job in Raleigh County. It's not as if we're just hiring a coach.

"We're hiring a coach who needs a teaching job."

Arriving at the decision was no easy task. Before Tuesday's highly anticipated meeting, there was talk the decision to name a new coach might be tabled. Dials and the board went into executive session at 7:30 p.m. and discussed the situation for about 45 minutes.

A committee of Woodrow Wilson principal Bob Maynard, athletic director Evert Mills, former principal Miller Hall and "another college coach at another level" actually decided on Lilly, then gave Dials the recommendation that was approved by the board.

Lilly came to Shady Spring in 1991. He also coached at Bluefield High School and Concord College.

Culicerto coached Woodrow Wilson to the Class AAA state championship in 1977. Last season, he closed out his career with a first-round playoff loss to University.

Lilly Continues Upward Movement

This article appeared in the Register-Herald on March 15, 2000.

John H. Lilly's high school coaching career has been one of progression.

His first head coaching position came at North Stokes High School, a Class A-sized school near Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

In 1991, he came back to the Mountain State to take over a struggling program at Shady Spring. That school spent a couple of years at the Class AAA level, but was primarily in Class AA during Lilly's stint.

On Tuesday, the upward movement continued when Lilly was named the new head football coach at Woodrow Wilson High School.

At its regular meeting, the Raleigh County School Board voted 3-2 to name Lilly as successor to 22-year Flying Eagle coach Pete Culicerto, who resigned the position after last season.

"We are excited. It's a chance to move from a double-A school to a triple-A school," Lilly said in a telephone interview. "It's a chance to be coach of a school that's got a lot of tradition. We're just excited about it."

Lilly, who in November completed his ninth season as head coach at Shady Spring, said the job presents a challenge to compete with the bigger schools in the state. That's why he applied for the job.

"I thought it was exciting opportunity, with the challenges to compete against the bigger schools like Capital and Parkersburg," he said. "Competing against the highest level is why you get into the sport."

Lilly certainly has the credentials for the job.

He began his coaching career as an assistant at Bluefield High School in 1986. The following season, he began the first of three seasons as defensive coordinator at Concord College. That year, the Mountain Lions had the top-ranked defense in the nation. The team went undefeated and won the West Virginia Conference championship.

In 1990, he went to North Stokes before taking over at Shady a year later.

The school did not have a good football program when Lilly took over. He eventually turned that around in a major way.

In 1998, the Tigers posted a 9-1 record in the regular season and made the state playoffs for the first time ever. The stay was short-lived, courtesy of a loss to Tucker County.

Last season was the most successful in school history. Again, Shady went 9-1 in the regular season. The Tigers again qualified for the state playoffs, and defeated Webster County 20-7 in the first round.

They led Grafton 13-0 at halftime in the quarterfinals, but the Bearcats came back to win 14-13.

Including the loss to Grafton, three of Shady's four losses in the last two years were by one point.

"When I came around, they hadn't won a whole lot. I feel like we turned the program around," Lilly said. "Now, we look forward to a new opportunity."

Eight of Lilly's players at Shady were named to all-state teams, and four played in the annual North-South all-star game at Laidley Field in Charleston.

With Lilly moving on to Beckley, Shady Spring now finds itself in the same boat. Lilly has confidence the team can move on successfully.

"I think they will be in fine shape," he said. "They will get to keep two assistants (Chick Munson and Charles Alls) who have been with me the whole time."

"I created a problem (by) solving one," Schools Superintendent Dwight Dials said with a smile.

Shady also returns, among others, 1,000-yard rusher Remmy Bortell from a team that went a combined 18-2 in the last two regular seasons.

As for what to expect at Flying Eagle Stadium, Lilly says wait and see.

"We want people to come out and find out," he said. "We want them to pack the stadium and see what we can do. We will definitely do things to accomodate the talent.

"I am excited to work with guys like Mike Ross, Nate Manns and Jamar Dunnigan, guys with that kind of speed."