Dec 26, 2002 By John Raby Ap Sports Writer 4 min read

Tire Bowl backs from same high school CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Wali Lundy and Avon Cobourne were star running backs four years apart at Holy Cross High School in south New Jersey.

Now they’re the top rushers for Virginia (8-5) and No. 15 West Virginia (9-3), which meet Saturday in the Continental Tire Bowl.

“The bigger the game, the better those kids played,” said Tom Maderia, Holy Cross’ 11th-year coach.

This might be the biggest one for them yet.

Cobourne needs 78 yards in his final game for the Mountaineers to become just the 10th Division I-A player with 5,000 yards. Yards gained in bowls are being added to career totals this season.

Lundy was one reason Virginia finished a surprising second in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

He ran for 699 yards, the third most ever by a Virginia freshman. He was the only ACC player to rank in the top 10 in rushing and receiving. He also had 16 kickoff returns for a 23.3-yard average.

This will be the first time Lundy and Cobourne see each other on the field.

“I think it’s pretty cool,” Lundy said. “It shows what kind of athletes we produce. It’s real big for me and him. I think it will be fun.”

Although Lundy came to West Virginia’s campus two years ago and played video football games at Cobourne’s apartment, he never made an official recruiting visit.

Instead, Lundy latched on at Virginia after rushing for 2,036 yards in 2001.

Maderia often is asked to compare the two players but doesn’t like to because he never saw Cobourne at his best. Cobourne ran for 1,400 yards as a junior but tore up his knee early his senior year.

“Up until that point, he was setting the world on fire,” Maderia said. “But I’ll tell you what, you could flip a coin and take either one and be pretty happy.”

One of Cobourne’s blockers is another Holy Cross graduate – guard Ken Sandor – and former Maderia player Brian Bennett is a linebacker at Pittsburgh.

Cobourne might not have become West Virginia’s single-season and career rushing leader if not for a talk with Maderia in the spring of his freshman season in Morgantown, W.Va.

Cobourne wanted to transfer after being told the Mountaineer coaches wanted to move him to defensive back.

“I said, ‘I know what coaching’s like to try to put your best players on the field,”‘ Maderia recalled. “He says, ‘coach, I don’t really care about that. I care that they’re not giving me a chance to compete.’

“He says, ‘Let me practice for two weeks. If I’m not the best one, fine, move me. But I don’t want to be moved without being given the chance to compete.”‘

Maderia called West Virginia, and not only did Cobourne remain a running back, he won the starting job in the fall of 1999 after the top contender quit school that summer.

Maderia’s advice for Lundy backfired.

Lundy was told to expect to be redshirted. Instead, Virginia coach Al Groh made him a big part of the offense.

“He’s handled everything that’s been thrown in front of him very well,” Groh said. “Obviously, it looks like this is a good jumping off point to a productive career.”

Lundy wants to be more like Cobourne. He remembers being told by others during his visit to West Virginia that Cobourne was the team’s hardest worker – a reputation that still stands.

“I’m just trying to get where he’s at,” Lundy said.

Cobourne said he might talk to Lundy before the week is done. For now, his thoughts are on his final game.

“I just want to go out there, play good and leave on a good note,” he said.