Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, September 18, 1993 TAG: 9309180225
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: RALPH BERRIER JR. STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Medium
For that, the Indians can thank wide receiver Jay Safford.
For it was Safford's leaping end zone snag of an arcing 12-yard pass over Grundy freshman cornerback Billy Altizer that provided the go-ahead score in Blacksburg's 26-16 non-district victory Friday night at Bill Brown Stadium.
With the win, Blacksburg (1-2) avoided its first 0-3 start in coach Dave Crist's 18 years on the sideline.
The touchdown toss to Safford from quarterback Greg Shockley came with 2:39 left in the game and it gave Blacksburg a 19-16 lead. On a second-and-goal play, Shockley lofted the pass to the left side, where the 6-foot-3 Safford easily outjumped the shorter Altizer.
"I'd been waiting the whole game for that play," Safford said. "I told coach, `He [Altizer] is only 5-8 [actually, 5-10], I'll beat him with my height.' It was easy."
The score capped a 10-play 63-yard drive that followed Grundy's go-ahead touchdown on a Jason Lester 2-yard run with 7:32 to play that made it 16-13. That touchdown came about after Shockley and fullback Tucker LaForce missed on a handoff and Grundy recovered on the Indians' 17.
"That [fumble] was my fault," said Shockley. "I felt like the pressure was on after that."
Shockley responded by connecting on four passes on the winning drive, including a clutch, under-pressure 17-yard strike to Todd Perdue on a fourth-and-eight play to the Grundy 21.
"I didn't see it," said Shockley. "I threw it where I thought Todd was. All I saw was a gold helmet in my face."
The game-winning pass was set up by a pair of 6-yard runs by Nick Burroughs, who had 125 yards on 22 carries and scored three times.
Grundy, however, wasn't done. After losing a yard on two plays, running back Danny Lamb threw an option pass downfield to a wide-open Brent Osbourne who could've run to Ellett Valley and never been caught. He dropped the pass.
Jim Reemsynder intercepted Tommy Crigger on the next play and Burroughs garnered almost half his yardage on a 61-yard touchdown run to ice it with 43 seconds left.
Burroughs, who has five of Blacksburg's six touchdowns this season, took over the tailback job after Terry Simpson sprained a shoulder last week against Salem. Burroughs, who also caught three passes for 79 yards, carried for 88 yards in the second half. He finished with 204 all-purpose yards.
Burroughs' second touchdown came on a 54-yard catch and run of a Shockley pass 47 seconds into the second half that put Blacksburg up 13-8. Shockley, who was seven-of-16 for 164 yards and two touchdowns, had missed on his last eight passes of the first half.
"They weren't good passes," said Shockley, who was five-of-five for 108 yards in the second half. "Everything clicked in the second half."
After the opening moments of the first quarter, when Blacksburg shocked Grundy by recovering a game-opening onside kick and scoring in 55 seconds, nothing clicked for the Indians.
With a 7-0 lead, Blacksburg had two other first-quarter touchdowns called back on penalties on its second drive before losing the ball on downs on the Grundy 5. The Indians lost it again on downs on their third drive, this time on the Golden Wave 23.
With momentum in its favor, Grundy went 66 yards in eight plays and took an 8-7 lead on a 2-yard run by Lester, who finished with 108 yards. \
see microfilm for box score
by CNB