Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, September 25, 1993 TAG: 9309250211
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: M.J. DOUGHERTY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RADFORD LENGTH: Medium
The past two weeks, the Bobcats have rallied late in the game. But those touchdowns only made the final score close.
Friday night they made the difference.
Radford scored 14 unanswered points in the second half, propelling it past Christiansburg 24-14 in the New River District high school football opener for both teams.
Radford (1-0, 2-2) snapped its two-game losing streak. Meanwhile, Christiansburg (0-1, 2-2) fell for the second time in three weeks.
The rally started the first time the Bobcats touched the ball in the second half. Cornell Wesley received the kickoff and sprinted down the left sideline 90 yards for a score that put the Bobcats up for good - 17-14.
"I just saw Billy Hill, Eddie Waldron, Jon Duncan and Dion Powell - I saw all that blocking out front," said Wesley. "The coaches tell us to following the blocking. So I took advantage of that."
After that, the Bobcats' defense took over. The Demons had three possessions in the second half. They managed only six first downs and never got inside of the Radford 15. Quite a turnaround for a Radford defense that had allowed more than 30 points each of the last two weeks.
"Christiansburg is a team that uses a lot of deception and we're not used to seeing a team play that kind of game," said Radford coach Norm Lineberg. "In the first half, we had players who were taking the fakes. At halftime, we told them not to move at all. Then we started making the plays."
Early in the contest, it looked like that deception would carry the Demons to an easy victory. They drove 60 yards for a score on their first possesion, capping the drive with a 12-yard Mischa Alexander-to-Kevin Wright touchdown pass.
"Maybe we had it too easy to start with," said Christiansburg coach Mike Cole. "There are three critical points in a game: the beginning of the game, the end of the first half and the beginning of the second half. If you control two-out-of-three or three-out-of-three, you're going to win. But we just got the first one."
An interception on the Bobcats' third play from scrimmage gave Christiansburg the ball back at midfield. The Demons moved inside the Radford 40 but the drive stalled.
Radford got back into the game when Larnelle Lewis tackled Andra Beasley in the end zone for a safety early in the second quarter.
"I had two blockers come out on me," said Lewis. "Once I shed them, I knew he was mine."
After the ensuing free kick, the Bobcats drove 60 yards for a touchdown - a 6-yard run by Lewis. Following a two-point coversion, they led 10-7.
Christiansburg came back to retake the lead 14-10 late in the first half on a 19-yard burst by Beasley.
But the Demons missed a chance to extend their lead late in the half when Alexander threw an interception.
That set up the Radford comeback in the second half. Wesley's kickoff return put the Bobcats in the lead. Then a fourth-quarter score by Lewis secured the victory. \
see microfilm for box score
by CNB