Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, November 13, 1994 TAG: 9411230011
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB TEITLEBAUM STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
For a half, Atlantic Shores Christian made Roanoke Catholic's football team look human.
For the last 24 minutes, it was business as usual as the Celtics pulled away to beat the Seahawks 26-6 in a Virginia Independent Schools Division I football semifinal Saturday at Victory Stadium.
Catholic (11-0) was hanging on to a 6-0 lead at halftime. That touchdown was the result of a bad snap on a punt attempt that handed the Celtics a gift touchdown after they got the ball at the Atlantic Shores 12-yard line.
That set up a 3-yard touchdown run by Beau King, but for the rest of the half Catholic was back on its heels playing defense and trying to contain Atlantic Shores' aerial game.
``We scored that touchdown and I thought we were on a roll,'' said John Cooke, the Celtics' coach. ``It didn't happen. That was a fantastic team defense [by Atlantic Shores], one of the best we've played.''
On the first play after the half, Catholic's P.J. Moyer went off-tackle untouched for 68 yards. From that point, the game was just as easy as the first 10 on the Celtics' schedule.
Top-ranked Catholic will meet second-ranked Broadwater on Nov.19 at Victory Stadium. Broadwater beat Fuqua 12-0 in the other semifinal.
Moyer rushed for 214 of the Celtics' 297 yards. As in past games, though, defense really turned this contest in Catholic's favor.
Defensive back Tony Joyce put a clamp on the Seahawks' ace receiver, Jonathan Keese, and kept Keese under control after he made some early catches.
Celtics defensive end Chuck Gilliland intercepted two passes, wrestling the ball from Keese on the first one to stop a drive at Catholic's 24. On the second, he snagged the ball on the Celtics' 22 and returned it 25 yards to set up Catholic's third touchdown, which essentially settled the game.
``The first pass was in between us and I just pulled it away from him,'' Gilliland said. ``The second one came right at me. It [the interception] was more a matter of self-defense to catch it.''
The Seahawks (8-4) held Moyer to 46 yards rushing in the first half, but he rambled for 168 after halftime. His long run might not have beaten Atlantic Shores, but it broke the Seahawks' will to rally.
``P.J.'s [touchdown] run was off-tackle,'' Cooke said. ``Our center couldn't handle their No.71 [Steven Hopkins] when King ran. So we went off-tackle and blocked down on Nathan Oats.''
``All I needed was one step and then I jetted,'' Moyer said. ``I went down the sideline and I knew I was gone. It was fantastic blocks from the line. They came out and did the job. The defense, though, kept us in the game, as it's done all year long to get us to this part of the season.''
The Seahawks picked up 181 yards through the air, but didn't score until midway through the final quarter, when Sean Williams took a throw from Barry Davis into the end zone on a 13-yard play. Davis entered the game at quarterback when starter Micah Clymer suffered a shoulder injury.
Catholic's Bill Massello then leaped on an onside kick, and the Celtics ran out the clock.
``They had a good defense, but penalties killed us, as well as their big plays,'' said Mickey Toll, Atlantic Shores' coach. ``We moved the ball up and down the field; we just didn't get it in the end zone,'' .
Gilliland concurred, saying: ``They made plenty of yards at the wrong time. When they got down in the red zone, they couldn't make anything happen.''
see microfilm for box score
by CNB