Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, September 18, 1993 TAG: 9309180266
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: WADE KENDRICK STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
As the final seconds ticked off the scoreboard clock, the Lord Botetourt bench celebrated a 27-16 non-district football victory over James River by dumping the water bucket over its coach.
"I knew it was coming, so I had one of the managers empty the bucket," Ward said. "But some of the players got the cheerleaders to fill it back up. I'm not complaining, though. I'll take a drenching every week if it means a win."
Botetourt, off to its best start in several years at 3-0, dominated its cross-county rival.
James River, which dressed only 17 players, had minus-5 yards total offense with no first downs after three quarters.
"I can't use our lack of players as an excuse," said Doug Ross, the Knights' coach. "They just outplayed us. Our numbers were not a factor. When you can't execute offensively, it lets them punch it in easily."
For the third time this season, Botetourt's defense put some points on the board.
After a Cavaliers drive stalled at James River's 10-yard line early in the second quarter, the Botetourt defense got busy. Two carries by Knights quarterback Todd Washington lost 6 yards.
Facing third-and-16, Washington tried to hit Shahan Burrell coming out of the backfield. Rocky Lark read the play, however, and stepped in front of Burrell, picking off the pass at the 2 and diving into the end zone as Botetourt took a 14-0 lead.
"We had been stressing our pass defense and linebacker drills this week," Lark said. "The ball stayed in the air so long I didn't have any choice but to catch it. I knew I was near the goal line, but when I hit the ground, the ball popped out. I was hoping they would rule it a touchdown."
James River (0-2) rolled the dice early in the third quarter, and it backfired.
Facing fourth-and-17 from James River's 38, Ross had punter Jeremy Hendrix fake the kick and attempt a screen pass. Hendrix's throw fell incomplete, and the Cavaliers had excellent field position. They capitalized quickly.
Tailback Chad Sayers, who scored the Cavs' first touchdown, rushed four times to move the ball to the 1. From there, Darin Harris bulled in for the touchdown.
"It was a gamble," Ross said. "They were rushing 10 men all night on the punts. But we just didn't execute it."
Ward said he was surprised by the play.
"At that point, they were only down by two touchdowns," he said. "It if works, it's great, but it didn't."
After Ward had cleared his bench in the final quarter, the Knights mustered some offense. Wesley Cox broke loose for a 57-yard touchdown run with 3 minutes, 25 seconds remaining, and Washington fired a 29-yard pass to Anton Wiley with 8 seconds left for another touchdown.
"We were able to shut down their bread-and-butter play, the quarterback sweep," said Sayers, who rushed for 109 yards. \
see microfilm for box score
by CNB