David Walker

If all goes according to plan, the new artificial turf at Martinsburg High School's Cobourn Field will be ready in time for the Bulldogs' varsity football game tonight against Potomac Falls. Just in time. Martinsburg coach and assistant principal David Walker said crews will begin putting rubber beads on the field surface today at 5 a.m. and expect to be finished by 3 p.m., just four hours before the scheduled kickoff. "If it rains, we might have to push the game back to Saturday, but right now, we're on for (today)

-DEC. 3, 2008 TRENTON, N.J. - Emma Pearl Walker, 87, died Wednesday at the Royal Health Rehab Center in Trenton. Born in Denver, Colo., Mrs. Walker lived most of her adult life in Trenton. After retiring, she relocated to Pennsylvania, where she was a member of the Greencastle Baptist Church in Greencastle Pa., an avid needle worker and puzzle solver who enjoyed playing Scrabble. Mrs. Walker worked as a secretary for the State of New Jersey Highway Department and retired from the U.S. Government's Department of Agriculture Food Program.

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. -- After playing close games the first three weeks of the season, No. 2 Martinsburg has reversed a trend. Two straight blowout wins in which JV players have seen significant playing time have lifted the Bulldogs over the .500 mark, but is it a good thing that their starters are only playing one half? "It depends on how hard you work during the week," Martinsburg coach David Walker said after the Bulldogs' 63-0 rout of Anacostia on Friday night. "We were in a situation a couple years ago where we scored 60 a couple times and it can become an issue if you allow it to. We just have to work hard in practice, make these guys compete.

HEDGESVILLE, W.Va. - The first bounce went Hedgesville's way. Then Martinsburg did all the bouncing. The No. 4 Bulldogs scored nine unanswered touchdowns Friday night on their way to a 63-7 rout of the Eagles in a Cumberland Valley Athletic League game, marred by 22 penalties and a fight that had two players ejected at Mumaw Field. "I'm a little disappointed," said Martinsburg coach David Walker. "Too many penalties, too much talking, not enough playing - on both sides of the ball, from both teams.

'Dogs try bite vs. Warriors a second time By MARK KELLER / Sports Editor Suffice it to say that last Friday was not a good day for the Martinsburg football team. The Bulldogs had their eight-game winning streak unceremoniously laid to rest by Fort Hill, 35-6 at Cobourn Field. Meanwhile, the seven teams directly behind Martinsburg - then No. 6 in the West Virginia Class AAA playoff ratings - all won. "Things really didn't go our way Friday," said Martinsburg coach David Walker.

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. - Perhaps the honeymoon has begun for David Walker. His arrival as the Martinsburg football coach in 1997 was met with much fanfare, but his team followed it up with a disappointing 1-9 season. Things improved a year ago. Walker's Bulldogs finished the season strong and made the playoffs with a 6-4 record. They put a scare into Huntington before losing 19-13 in the first round. In his third year, Walker has the Bulldogs on a roll. After dropping the season opener to Musselman, Martinsburg (9-1)

MARTINSBURG - Martinsburg football coach David Walker isn't trying to pump up his team or give his opponent a false sense of confidence. He's just saying what he thinks. "I think we got the toughest draw," Walker said of today's West Virginia Class AAA first-round playoff game against Spring Valley. "They played five of the top eight teams in the state this year. They played some big games and they're a lot better than their record shows. " The records show that Martinsburg (10-0)

kauffman@herald-mail.com Martinsburg High School quarterback Nate Sowers could have waited until 2005 to decide where he will continue his football career after his upcoming senior season. But as Bulldogs coach David Walker said Thursday, "he knew where he wanted to go, and there was no need to wait. " Sowers verbally committed to West Virginia University earlier this week, making the decision a few days after leading Martinsburg to a fourth-place finish in a 7-on-7 passing camp on the campus.

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. - The Martinsburg Bulldogs are becoming a fixture in the West Virginia Class AAA championship game. For the fourth time in six years, the Bulldogs will take the field at Wheeling Island Stadium on the first weekend of December to play for the state championship. And for the fourth time in six years, the Bulldogs (12-1) will be looking to take home their first state title when they square off with top-seeded and unbeaten Parkersburg at noon Saturday. "If we get there enough, eventually we'll have to win one," Martinsburg coach David Walker said following the Bulldogs' semifinal win over Fairmont Senior last weekend.

David Stanley Walker, 82, of Kearneysville, W.Va., died Saturday, Feb. 11, 2012, at Care Haven Center in Martinsburg, W.Va. The service and burial will be private. Arrangements are by Brown Funeral Home, Martinsburg.

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. -- Suddenly, David Walker's bad news was good news. "You got practice on Monday," the Martinsburg football coach yelled to his players in their post-game huddle. "Get some rest. You have a lot of football left to play. " It might have been the first time a full practice got a cheer. But for Martinsburg, it was still playing. The defense provided turnovers and field position after tightening up in the second half on Friday as the seventh-seeded Bulldogs scored a 19-13 victory over No. 10-seed Morgantown in the first round of the West Virginia Class AAA playoffs.

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. -- The look on Martinsburg coach David Walker's face didn't match his emotion Friday night. "It might not show on my face, but I'm extremely happy with you guys," Walker told the Bulldogs as they huddled following their season-opening 31-17 win over Stonewall Jackson at Cobourn Field. The game wasn't as close as the score might indicate -- Martinsburg led 31-0 after three quarters. Walker's concern is that it shouldn't have even been that close. "We could have scored two or three more times and didn't execute," Walker said.

-DEC. 3, 2008 TRENTON, N.J. - Emma Pearl Walker, 87, died Wednesday at the Royal Health Rehab Center in Trenton. Born in Denver, Colo., Mrs. Walker lived most of her adult life in Trenton. After retiring, she relocated to Pennsylvania, where she was a member of the Greencastle Baptist Church in Greencastle Pa., an avid needle worker and puzzle solver who enjoyed playing Scrabble. Mrs. Walker worked as a secretary for the State of New Jersey Highway Department and retired from the U.S. Government's Department of Agriculture Food Program.

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. -- The second half of No. 2 Martinsburg's game against Friendship Collegiate Academy (D.C.) on Friday night was just as surprising -- and much more nerve-racking -- as the first for Bulldogs coach David Walker. The Bulldogs (5-2) put up 28 points in the first half -- 21 in the first quarter -- then barely held on for a 28-22 win over the Knights, thanks to a defensive stand deep in their own territory. "It was huge to jump on them like that," Walker said.

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. -- After playing close games the first three weeks of the season, No. 2 Martinsburg has reversed a trend. Two straight blowout wins in which JV players have seen significant playing time have lifted the Bulldogs over the .500 mark, but is it a good thing that their starters are only playing one half? "It depends on how hard you work during the week," Martinsburg coach David Walker said after the Bulldogs' 63-0 rout of Anacostia on Friday night. "We were in a situation a couple years ago where we scored 60 a couple times and it can become an issue if you allow it to. We just have to work hard in practice, make these guys compete.

When is a milestone not really a milestone? Martinsburg coach David Walker can probably tell you. When the Bulldogs beat Hedgesville 39-7 Friday night, Walker's players celebrated by giving the coach a Gatorade shower in honor of his 100th win at the school. There's just one problem: Officially, Walker has won only 98 games at Martinsburg. The Bulldogs were forced to forfeit their first two victories of the season when Martinsburg administrators discovered that a player who had transferred in from out of state - and played in those first two games - had submitted a false transcript and was, in fact, academically ineligible.

HEDGESVILLE, W.Va. - Dumping a cooler full of water on David Walker after the coach's 100th win at Martinsburg on Friday was so much fun, quarterback Dustin Peters might do it again in a couple weeks. In fact, he might have to. Ryan Rowland rushed for 168 yards and Peters had a hand in all five of his team's touchdowns as No. 1 Martinsburg rolled past Hedgesville 39-7 at Mumaw Stadium, giving Walker the milestone victory in his 11th season at the school. Officially, though, Walker is still at 98. Martinsburg forfeited its first two wins of the season after a player who had transferred from another school was found to be academically ineligible.