Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, September 11, 1993 TAG: 9309110237
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: WADE KENDRICK STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
After a sluggish first half against Brunswick Academy, North Cross made a subtle change. Coach Jim Muscaro had end Monty Smith and fullback Eric Mull switch positions.
The move appeared to be just what the Raiders needed.
Smith rushed for 55 yards in the second half, including 32 on a crucial fourth-down play as the Raiders won their high school football opener 21-6 against a team that made the State Independent Schools Division 1 playoffs last year. The Vikings lost to the eventual state champion, Lynchburg Christian Academy, in a semifinal.
Mull seemed to benefit from the change, too, grabbing four passes for 63 yards and helping set up both touchdowns in the second half as the Raiders broke open a 7-6 game.
"They [Smith and Mull] both have some talent and I like to take advantage of it," Muscaro said. "I'll probably continue to switch them around like that."
North Cross, which lost to LCA in the championship game last year, drove 80 yards on its opening drive in the third quarter. Facing a fourth-and-inches play at the Vikings' 36, Smith bolted 32 yards. Marcus Cardwell scored two plays later from the 1-yard line. Smith rushed for the two-point conversion to give the Raiders a 15-6 lead.
Cardwell generated North Cross' only offense in the first half, racing 64 yards for a touchdown on the Raiders' second play from scrimmage.
"We seemed to underestimate them defensively after Marcus' run," Smith said.
Said Muscaro, "Everyone was keyed up for the game and they thought it would be easy after the quick TD. Then we started to make some major breakdowns offensively."
The breakdowns Muscaro referred to were two poorly thrown passes by Hal Johnson that were intercepted by Brunswick's Rick Tillar.
"I can't blame anyone but myself for the interceptions," Johnson said. "They weren't good throws."
Brunswick scored late in the second quarter on a 23-yard pass from Donovan Pultz to Mitchell Smith.
"We played super defense except for their one touchdown," Muscaro said. "We were in a prevent defense, but our two guys came up on the ball instead of going back and they threw it over us."
"Maybe we had the first-half jitters," Muscaro added. "We weren't consistent in the first half, but we were able to run our entire offense in the second half."
Smith scored the Raiders' final touchdown on a 5-yard run on the second play of the fourth quarter, capping a 66-yard drive.
"We stunk," said Brunswick coach Dennis Moore. "We didn't execute on either side of the ball and you can't beat good teams when you play like we did. They stuck us pretty good."
See microfilm for statistics.
Keywords:
FOOTBALL
by CNB