Thoughts, nuggets, ruminations, more nuggets, etc., etc. from Williams Stadium, where it’s rather a bit chilly today.

NARUNA — Playing in 20-degree temperatures reminiscent of last year’s Division 1, Region B championship game — a season-ending 29-28 defeat at Buffalo Gap — William Campbell’s football team replaced those memories by overpowering the Bison in Friday night’s Region B final rematch, 35-7.

HOMESTEAD, Fla.- Carl Edwards and Jimmie Johnson both came up winners yesterday.

BLACKSBURG — It seemed that Virginia Tech’s ACC championship hopes dissolved into the humid south Florida air with its 16-14 loss at Miami last Thursday. But if anything is true about the wacky ACC this season, it’s that nothing is certain.

Looking across the line of scrimmage, an offensive tackle sees a defensive end in a three-point stance, eyes fixed ahead, eagerly anticipating the snap so he can deliver a blow that to most people would feel like a car wreck without the airbag. This is, after all, unnatural human interaction.

Senior kicker Dustin Keys attempted eight field goals his entire high school career. Now, in his only season as Virginia Tech’s kicker, he is on the cusp of the school’s single-season field goal mark.
Keys, a former walk-on who was awarded a scholarship right before this season, is four field goals away from breaking the single-season record of 22 set by Chris Kinzer in 1986 and matched by Shayne Graham in 1998.

Elon’s Brandon Newsome isn’t a pro prospect, at least not yet. He’s not popping up on a list of the nation’s top FCS running backs. He’s not the target for opposing defenses.
But his emergence in 2008 has given Elon much-needed offensive balance, a weapon in the backfield to keep opponents honest.

The Pedro Alvarez saga in Pittsburgh has reached an end. The Pirates’ first-round draft pick was in Pittsburgh Wednesday morning, presumably for a physical, and he signed a contract later in the day, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported.

Hopewell Regional Jail Superintendent Darnley Hodge said Friday that the former NFL star is being held in protective custody.