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Baker
trying to turn things around at Greenbrier East
By Rick Ryan
Charleston Gazette Assistant Sports Editor
Aaron Baker walks
into a difficult challenge this year as a new
football coach in the uber-tough Mountain State
Athletic Conference.
Baker, 32, takes
over at Greenbrier East, becoming the youngest
football head coach in school history and the
first alum to serve as head coach.
East hasn't
experienced much success lately, going 12-58
over the past seven seasons, with its last
winning record (6-4) coming in 2001. But the
Spartans are banking on the enthusiasm of Baker,
who moves over following a successful stint at
Eastern Greenbrier Middle School.
"We need to win
to turn the program around,'' Baker said.
"That's been a little tough. I think the kids
are buying into what we're doing, and are
excited about what we're doing. That's the big
thing of it - getting the kids on board.''
Baker hasn't had
a tough sell installing his new spread offense
and attacking defense - big changes for the
Spartans, who ran a low-risk ball-control attack
the past few seasons under Mike Michael.
"They're really
enjoying putting the ball in the air now,''
Baker said. "We want to be aggressive on
offense, take the ball downfield and score. Then
we want to put pressure on opposing teams and
get the ball back. We're changing things up a
little bit, and coming after people on
defense.''
Baker said
sophomore-to-be Clay Ayers has a chance to be "a
heck of a quarterback'' in his new system. Ayers
completed 23-of-68 passes last year for 624
yards and four touchdowns.
More than 40
players have shown up for each of East's summer
workout sessions so far, and Baker hopes to keep
building momentum on the team and with the fans.
"We want to make
as many people interested in the program as
possible,'' he said. "Down through the years,
we've lost a little bit of support and lost a
few fans. With our road schedule being close and
everything, I think we'll do that. We've
generated interest so far. It's been fun, been
interesting getting things turned around. Now we
need to win a few games.''
East, which
generally logs more miles on country roads than
any other school in the MSAC because of its
remote location in Greenbrier County, actually
has about as favorable a road schedule as
possible.
Its trips
include relatively short jaunts to Woodrow
Wilson, Bluefield, Alleghany (Va.) and
Princeton. The one trip of any distance is
Hurricane.
Next Game:
Greenbrier East Spartans
vs.
Lincoln County Panthers
Friday, August 28 - 7:30pm
Spartan Stadium - Fairlea, WV
>All-Time
Series: Greenbrier East leads, 2-0.
Lincoln County High School is a fourth-year
consolidation of Hamlin, Duval, Guyan
Valley, and Harts. The two schools scheduled
a two-game, non-MSAC series in 2007 and
2008, before signing a two-year extension
for 2009 and 2010.
>Last
Meeting: August 29, 2008 at Fairlea –
Greenbrier East 16, Lincoln County 8. The
Spartans won back-to-back season openers for
the first time since the 1992 and 1993
seasons with the home victory against
Lincoln County. The Greenbrier East defense
was the key as the Spartans stopped the
Panthers four times inside the
five-yard-line. Brent Robertson and Ben
McMillion scored touchdowns as the Spartans
started at 1-0 on the 2008 season.
>Two Years Ago: August 24, 2007 at Hamlin –
Greenbrier East 34, Lincoln County 12. In a
game played in a heat wave with temperatures
in the mid-90s, the Spartans won their first
season opener in nine years and their first
road season opener in 15 seasons. East
scored on its first possession and never
trailed. The Spartans were led by Jacob
Coleman’s 21 carries for 137 rushing yards
and three touchdowns. Brandon Dolan
completed four-of-four passes for 93 yards
and one touchdown as Greenbrier East had 392
total yards. With the win, the Spartans
started at 1-0 on the 2007 season.
>WRON Radio/Internet Coverage: The game will be broadcast
live at 7pm on The Bear WRON 103.1-FM and on the Internet at http://www.wron.com/GEHSaudio.htm, a service of Web Creations & Graphics (www.wcgnet.net).
>WRON
Radio Sponsors: Spartan Football 2008 on
The Bear 103.1 WRON-FM was presented by -
Fritz's
Pharmacy (Spartan Countdown)
Rodger's
Fairlea Subaru (Scoreboards)
Rudy's Corner Grill (Halftime Show)
Mead
Westvaco
Greenbrier
Valley Physical Therapy
BB&T
Old
Spruce Realty /
The Virginia's Auction Group
New River
Community & Technical College
Window
World
McDonald's
Driftwood
Sign & Frame
Greenbrier Bowling & Recreation
Center
Lynch
Construction
Greenbrier
Valley Medical Center
Free Physicals
July 23
Any athlete interesting in playing sports at
Greenbrier East High School is eligible for a
free athletic physical examination at the Robert
C. Byrd Clinic in Lewisburg on Thursday, July 23
from 4pm - 6pm. No athlete is eligible to
participate in practice without a current
physical. For more information, or to obtain an
official WVSSAC physical form, contact GEHS
Athletic Director Brian Miluk at 304/647-6464
(Ext. 37)
EGMS athletes are scheduled for physicals at the
Robert C. Byrd Clinic on Monday, July 20 from
4pm - 6pm.
Aaron Baker hired as football
coach
at Greenbrier East
By Dave Morrison
Register-Herald Sports Editor
Aaron Baker grew up in Greenbrier
County with a dream.
“I always wanted to be the coach at Greenbrier
East,” Baker said Tuesday evening.
Only an hour before, that dream was realized
when he was named the new Spartans head football
coach, replacing Mike Michael, who resigned
after last year’s 2-8 season.
Baker, 32, is the youngest to be named head
coach at East and is also the first alumnus of
the school to hold the position.
Baker had been the head coach at Eastern
Greenbrier Middle the last four years and his
team went undefeated last year and has won 15
straight. His last two teams went 15-1.
He was an assistant at Greenbrier East before
that, spending one year under Bob McClintic and
one under Andy Grogg.
“When coach Grogg got the job here, I had
applied for the job and they told me I needed
some head coaching experience,” Baker said.
“Then the Eastern Greenbrier job came open and I
took that and ran with it. I figured it was a
good chance to get that experience.
“We had some success the last couple of years. I
have always followed the motto that players win
games and coaches lose games. So winning 15
straight games should really be attributed to
the kids.”
Baker will be introduced to the fans tonight at
a Meet the Coach evening at Spartan Stadium at 7
p.m. A player-parent meeting will be held
following the event.
That he is from Greenbrier County and played for
the Spartans matters only in that most of the
community knows him, Baker said.
“I don’t know how much of a difference it
makes,” Baker said. “Obviously (the two previous
coaches, Michael and Andy Grogg) are friends of
mine. I really miss seeing coach Grogg around
here (he passed away last year while an
assistant under his brother Kevin at Wyoming
East).
“The people here in the community know me and
they’ve known me for years. My goals are going
to be the same. The main thing is that it isn’t
about me, it’s about the program. I want to
represent the school and the county well and put
Greenbrier East back on the map in the state.”
Baker said his team will run from a spread
offense.
“I like to throw the football, I think it’s
fun,” Baker said. “We have an experienced
quarterback in Clay Ayers and we have talent on
both sides of the football.”
Baker will also emphasize special teams.
“We will kick field goals,” he said. “We’ll
return kicks, return punts. Special teams is an
important part of the game and we will work hard
on that aspect of the game.”
Baker said he has been working with the team in
the weight room since November and he had “a
couple of kids who are benching over 300, two or
three others in the 270-280 pound range. The
weight room will be an important component of
the program.”
Baker played for Greenbrier East from 1991-1993
and twice the Spartans made the playoffs.
And he is very aware of the rivalry with Woodrow
Wilson, which East plays in Beckley the second
week of the season.
“When I was a senior we went up there and beat
them and basically knocked those guys out of the
playoffs,” Baker said. “I have a lot of respect
for coach (John H.) Lilly. They have turned out
a lot of great players and kids. In my opinion,
it’s our turn now. Our kids are willing to work
hard. That game is the second week of the
season. I’ve had that one penciled on the
calendar since I applied for the job.”
The Spartans, like other teams around the state,
start the three-week practice period Monday.
“It’s not in pads but we’re going to install our
offense, defense and special teams,” Baker said.
“We can get a gauge of the players and their
abilities.”
Baker, who has a degree in bio-technology, is
married to the former Allison Holiday and they
have two sons, Nathan (5) and Rhett (2).
Spartan Football Radio Broadcasts Now Available Worldwide on WRON.com
Football season is around the corner and, as always, WRON-FM will be following the Spartans all season long.
Now, here's some exciting news for Spartan fans around the nation and across the globe!
Our GEHS broadcasts are now available in Windows Media format. This is not a live stream, but files that can be streamed or downloaded at any time you want to listen. These are edited versions of our actual broadcasts with Jeff Campbell and Stan Unroe.
These files have been edited to make the file size as small as possible while maintaining good audio quality. There are no commercials and no half-time show. Each game will be added as soon as we can get it prepared.
To listen, simply click on the game you want in the list below. If Windows Media Player is the default for .WMA files, the audio should begin streaming in a few seconds. If not, you may be prompted to run or save the file. If this happens, you will have to download the file before you can listen. You can save it to your hard drive for later listening or click "Run" and playback will begin at the end of the download. The file size is listed so you can estimate the download time for the file.
WRON will be providing these "Webcasts" of all this season's games! This webcast will be available only at www.wron.com and can be accessed directly at this address:
http://www.wron.com/GEHSaudio.htm
Our webcast will be in Windows Media format only and the actual streaming is provided by Web Creations & Graphics in Beckley. Our special thanks to Danny Cole (GEHS Class of 1978), owner of www.WCGNet.net, for making his media server available to us for this project.
Please join us each Friday evening at 7pm
live, locally, on 103.1 WRON-FM for Greenbrier East High School Spartan Football!
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