varsity.roanoke.com

Stephen Magenbauer's coaching career in the VHSL playoffs almost ended before it began.

As Salem's first-year head coach in 2004, Magenbauer took his team to the Group AA Division 4 championship, but not before he suffered a serious case of road rage.`

The stands were packed at Liberty High School for the Spartans' first-round game in the Region III playoffs. Cheerleaders were cheering. Bands were playing. Burgers were sizzling.

But one thing was missing -- Salem's football team.

The Spartans were stuck in a massive traffic jam on U.S. 460. The 40-mile drive from Salem turned into a two-hour nightmare before the bus pulled in to the Liberty parking lot 35 minutes before game time.

"I was thinking, 'I've never been late to a football game ... ever,'" Magenbauer said at the time. "I was thinking, 'What are we going to do if we get there after 7:30?'"

Probably the same thing Salem's football team has done in nearly every game since -- win.

The Spartans gave Magenbauer his first playoff victory that night 22-14. In four years as Salem's coach, the 34-year-old Magenbauer owns a 50-2 record including a 12-1 mark in the playoffs.

Today, that lone postseason loss can be avenged when Salem visits Amherst County in the VHSL Group AA Division 4 semifinals.

"We'll definitely be leaving early after what happened to us in '04," Magenbauer said.

The Salem bus should have some company. More than a few spectators might show up to see the two 12-0 teams meet each other for the fourth straight year in the playoffs. The winner moves on to the Dec. 8 state final at Liberty University against either Sherando or Powhatan.

"It will be a zoo," Amherst coach Scott Abell said Friday.

When it comes to high school football rivalries, Salem vs. Amherst County has turned into a different animal.

The two Group AA powerhouses have met in six previous playoff games. Each of the last five times, the winner has gone on to claim the state championship including Salem in 2004 and '05, and Amherst after last year's 25-21 victory in Salem.

"It's such a great rivalry," Abell said.

"Any people who have lost the passion for high school football, they need to come out and see this game."

Salem's 2004 title run was fueled by a 24-14 win at Amherst in the Region III final.

The Spartans won 17-14 in overtime at home in 2005 before the Lancers turned the tables last year.

"You can just see and feel the rivalry grow," Magenbauer said. "I can see [Amherst's] confidence grow. They know they can do it now."

Amherst has outscored 12 opponents 595-105 including a 63-31 win over Group AAA playoff team George Washington. The Lancers are led by a pair of Virginia Tech commitments -- quarterback Peter Rose and wide receiver/linebacker Derrick McCoy -- who hooked up for the winning 65-yard touchdown pass with 1:02 to play in Salem last year.

Rose, who sat out the first half of Amherst's 35-7 win over William Byrd last week with a shoulder injury, should be full speed today.

"He's definitely starting," Abell said.

Magenbauer might be more concerned about Amherst's defense, a 3-5 scheme led by McCoy, the Region III defensive player of the year.

"Their defense is what gets people in three-and-outs and gives them a short field," Magenbauer said.

"Then it's lights out for a touchdown. Their defense gets so many negative plays. We'll see if we can't take some time and methodically grind it out."

Just not on the bus trip.

Shift of playoff site nothing new for Bath

Bath County's Group A Division 1 semifinal against Clintwood will be played at 1:30 today at Alleghany High School because the Chargers' home facility falls well short of the VHSL's minimum requirement of 2,000 seats to host a state playoff game.

Bath should be accustomed to a change of venue. The Chargers won the 1995 Division 1 state title against Strasburg in a game played at Alleghany. They also lost to Appalachia in the 1997 semifinals at Alleghany.

The 1995 championship game was played on a Sunday on a frozen field. The Chargers turned the game around when many players exchanged their cleats for tennis shoes.

"Everybody who brought shoes with them changed," Isaacs said in a 1995 Roanoke Times article. "A few of them were wearing cowboy boots. They had to keep on their cleats.''

Wythe, Gate City enjoy rematches

When George Wythe visits Gate City at 1:30 p.m. today in a Group A Division 2 semifinal, the game will match teams that avenged regular-season losses in the regional playoffs.

Wythe defeated Giles 20-17 in overtime last week after losing to the Spartans 28-7 during the regular season.

Gate City avenged two regular-season defeats in the Region D playoffs. The Blue Devils beat Lebanon 31-22 in the first round after losing 33-13 the first time. Gate City stopped Powell Valley 14-6 in the Region D final after falling 38-14 in the regular-season game.

Clintwood uses rule to drop to Division 1

Clintwood took advantage of a little-used VHSL rule to move from Division 2 to Division 1 this fall.

The VHSL gives any school that has less than 50 percent of the enrollment of the largest school in the same division within its region the opportunity to drop to the lower division.

When the VHSL allowed Lee to drop to Group A and enter Region D despite a Group AA-sized enrollment, Clintwood and two other Region D Division 2 schools -- Castlewood and Coeburn -- were able to use the loophole.

Had Lee not been placed in Region D, Clintwood would have been forced to remain a Division 2 school.