Richmond, VA - Sunday, November 1, 2009 marked the first professional tryout for Radford's Nick Schrank with the Richmond Revolution and the cross-city rival Richmond Raiders. Along with 4 of his Summer League teammates from the VA Crimson Cardinals, the workouts consisted of position specific drills, the 40-yard dash, vertical jump, 225 bench press max and the broad jump.

After a strenuous 2 hour session with the Richmond Revolution, the Revolution coaching staff expressed a heavy interest in all the players sent by Manager Collin White from the VA Crimson Cardinal team.

Hopes for a contract offering and an invited roster spot for the 2010 spring season are what Nick Schrank is praying for. "It was definitely a very good experience for me to be able to grow and learn about the workings of professional football," stated Schrank.

Nick Schrank was able to talk closely with the Head Coach of the Revolution, Steve Criswell, and hand him his media kit of previous game and workout film. It proved to make a real impact with Criswell, leaving a lasting impression of Nick at the end of the day.

Nick's teammates, Pierre Penn, JeRome Mann, Curtis Middleton and Fred Wilson shined above the competition. All stood out individually in various assessments such as the 40-yard dash where JeRome Mann recorded a 4.4 sec time, while Pierre Penn maxed out the 225 bench press competition against all the Defensive Backs of the day.

In summary, the VA Crimson Cardinal 'Bird Gang' flew over the competition of Sunday's arena tryouts, and the future is only looking brighter for these young athletes entering the beginning of their professional careers.

From The Roanoke Times

Radford club football team to face SVU
College Notebook

By Doug Doughty | The Roanoke Times

No college football game could be harder to handicap than Saturday's matchup in Buena Vista between host Southern Virginia and Radford.

Radford (3-3) has a club team whose opponents to date have included an online university, Columbia Southern, as well as the Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

Southern Virginia (1-7), an independent NAIA team, has an upcoming game with Webber International but already has faced a couple of Division I-AA foes in Morehead State and Gardner-Webb.

Southern Virginia's lone victory has come over the other club team on its schedule, George Mason. A homecoming crowd watched Southern Virginia roll to a 51-12 victory at the Parry McCluer High School field that it calls home.

"Radford is much better than George Mason," Southern Virginia coach DeLane Fitzgerald said. "They're going to play two weeks from now, and I think you'll see that."

Shortly after he was elevated to the head-coaching job Feb. 9, Fitzgerald contacted Radford's club team about a game this season. The Highlanders were 0-6 last season in their first year of club football.

"Are we favored?" Fitzgerald said. "Yeah, we should be favored this week. Can they beat us? Absolutely. I don't think there's any doubt they can come in here and beat us.

"Radford's got some kids on their team that I think I'd enjoy coaching."

Radford's club team is not affiliated with the Highlanders' athletic program and must go through the same process for funding that other clubs do. Radford athletic director Robert Lineburg said he has not been a party to any discussions about a possible intercollegiate football program.

"It's not something that I would rule out," Lineburg said, "but, it's such a monumental undertaking."

The president of the Radford football club is Jeremy Sturgill, a two-way All-Three Rivers District selection who played for Lineburg's father at Radford High School.

Sturgill plays nose tackle and a little fullback for the Radford team and also helped set up a schedule that includes club teams from the University of North Carolina and South Carolina. North Carolina defeated Radford 2-0 at Henry Stadium in Chapel Hill.

"That's the field where they play field hockey," said Sturgill, who aspires to a career in sports administration. "Playing football with all those field-hockey lines out there, now that was a little different!"

With an astounding performance by Radford's offense, the Southern Tech Wildcats proved to be no match for the Highlanders. Sophomore Quarterback, Mike Massey, H-Back/Versatility Player, Bryce Lapaglia, and Wide Out, Vittorian 'Tree' Devlin, paved the way for the offense the entire game. With room to breathe on offense, the Radford defense rained havoc on the Wildcats up and down the field. A 4th Quarter interception by Strong Safety, Jacob Nichols, clinched the 19-16 win with 2 minutes left in the game.

The Wildcat homecoming game was one of the best games a spectator could possibly watch. The stadium entertainment, the food, and the on-field competition made for a Sunday afternoon that no one wanted to miss. By far one of the most athletic games in Radford's history, both the offense and defense gelled together for a very solid performance which ultimately led to the win.

This marks Radford's second win in a row after dominating last week's opponent, Walter Reed Medical College, up in Washington D.C.

Defensive STANDOUTS for the Southern Tech/Radford game: Justin Coulter, Eric Zimmet, Captain, Matt Bales, Steve Schrank, Mark McCoy Jr., Mike Barta, Jacob Nichols, Jeremy Sturgill as well as the remaining havoc-raising Highlanders.

With a Radford's Defense holding The Tar Heel Club to a scoreless game, a muffed punt in the Third Quarter, causing an ensuing 2 point safety, made it possible for the Tar Heels to squeak by Radford with a 2-0 win at the end of the Sunday, October 4 game in Chapel Hill, NC.

Defensive stand-outs included Justin Coulter who had 2 sacks on the day, and Versatility Player, Captain Matt Bales who played defensive end for the 4-3 package that was set up against the Tar Heels.