HISTORY WITH HAYES: Northwood volunteer honored

Football Friday nights in Southwest Virginia are full of unsung heroes.

Statisticians, clock operators, chain crew members and the like perform their duties simply because they love the game and enjoy doing it.

Carl Cardwell certainly fits in that category.

The Saltville native has been a key part of the Northwood High School athletic department since the early 1990s. He has served in an active role as groundskeeper, clock keeper, maintenance man and
performed many other duties to help the athletes and coaches at the small Smyth County school.

His diligent and dedicated work recently earned him the Region C Award of Merit in the contributor category.

Now, for a look at events that occurred this week in high school football history:

Nov. 17, 1950
Tennessee High suffered a 33-24 loss to Oak Ridge. Naceeb Kassem had two touchdowns for THS, while Jimmy Weddle and Jackie Ball also reached the end zone in a losing effort for the Vikings. … Bill Wooten had the lone touchdown for Virginia High in the Bearcats’ 27-7 loss to William Fleming. … Behind three touchdowns from Jim Mullins, Clintwood cruised to a 34-6 win over Coeburn.

Nov. 13, 1964
Rusty Hash rushed for two scores and also caught a touchdown pass from Danny Branham, highlighting Grundy’s 47-6 beatdown of Richlands.

Nov. 20, 1976
David Ely’s 22-yard field goal in overtime gave Pennington a 16-13 victory over Clintwood in the Region D title game. Pennington built an early 13-0 lead on touchdown runs by Lynn Pendergraft and Johnny Haynes. However, Clintwood rallied to tie it and force overtime on fourth-quarter scores by A.C. Blevins and Noel King.

Nov. 14, 1987
Gate City avenged a regular-season loss to John Battle by claiming a 26-0 victory over the Trojans in the Region IV, Division 3 playoffs. Mickey Miller’s 56-yard punt return for a score highlighted the win for the Blue Devils. It was Battle’s first playoff appearance in school history. … Jerry Stanley threw two TD passes to Kenny Baker, lifting Clintwood to a 35-13 Region D, Division 2 playoff win over Haysi. … Steve Munsey’s touchdown run was the difference in Pennington’s 8-0 shutout of Powell Valley in the Region D, Division 2 playoffs. … Scott Jones’ 9-yard TD run in overtime was the decisive score in Virginia High’s 27-21 overtime victory over Richlands in the Region IV, Division 4 playoffs.

Nov. 16, 1991
Eric Meadows gained 238 yards on 19 carries and scored five touchdowns to lead Lebanon past Glenvar, 55-20, in the Region C, Division 2 playoffs. … Mike Hamm had two touchdown runs and Chad Rowland threw two TD passes in Coeburn’s 43-0 Region D, Division 2 playoff victory over Thomas Walker. … J.I. Burton collected a 20-0 win over Twin Springs in the Region C, Division 1 playoffs thanks to touchdown runs from Steve Messer, Matt Cowden and Adam Peters.