FOOTBALL

Lusk to lead Highland Cavaliers offense
March 2, 2005

WISE, Va. – The University of Virginia’s College at Wise is adding an offensive coordinator to its cadre of full-time football coaches.

Dewey Lusk, the former offensive coordinator at Emory & Henry College, has been hired to run the Highland Cavaliers offensive unit beginning with the 2005 campaign.

“We are extremely excited to have Dewey on board here with our excellent coaching staff and we are positive he will be an outstanding and positive force for our student athletes here at UVa-Wise,” Ray Spenilla, the College’s athletics director said Wednesday.

The new offensive coordinator began working at UVa-Wise on Wednesday and will immediately begin studying the team’s offensive system. The Cavaliers, an NAIA team that competes in the Mid-South Conference, begin spring practice March 31.

Bruce Wasem, the UVa-Wise head coach since 2002, called the offensive plays during the 2004 season.

Since 1991, Lusk had worked as an assistant coach at Emory & Henry, his alma mater, under recently retired head man Lou Wacker. In 2004, Lusk’s passing squad ranked fourth nationally in NCAA Division III with a 315 yards per game average.

Lusk also served as head baseball coach at Emory & Henry, but his duties at UVa-Wise will be confined strictly to football coaching and recruiting.         

The Christiansburg native has football coaching experience that extends outside of the Emory & Henry campus. In the early 1990s he was an assistant at Abingdon High School, and for three years in the late 80s he worked with receivers and tight ends at Gardner-Webb University in Boiling Springs, N.C.

Lusk played quarterback and was a catcher on the baseball team at Emory & Henry, where he was a four-year letterman from 1981-’85.

The move to UVa-Wise makes Lusk the third full-time football coach at UVa-Wise, joining Wasem and defensive coordinator Dennis Compston on the staff.

“We are extremely excited about what Dewey brings to our coaching staff,  “Wasem said. “He has about 17 years of college coaching and recruiting experience and he has a great knowledge of the game. Adding Dewey and Coach Compston to the staff has greatly improved our program over the past year.”

FOOTBALL NOTES: The Cavaliers kickoff the 2005 season Aug. 27 on the road at non-conference foe North Greenville College in Tigerville, S.C. UVa-Wise, which was 3-8 in 2004, starts the season with three consecutive games outside of the Mid-South Conference before getting into league play Sept. 24 at Cumberland (Tenn.) University. The Cavaliers play their home opener Sept. 10 against Chowan College. …The annual UVa-Wise Red & Gray spring intrasquad contest is set for Saturday, April 23, at Smith Stadium. Kickoff is tentatively scheduled for 2 p.m.

Copyright UVa-Wise Athletics 2005