Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, September 25, 1993 TAG: 9309270247
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB TEITLEBAUM STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
This time the Spartans waited until the last two minutes to score the winning touchdown in a 7-6 non-district football victory over Graham on Friday night.
It was the unbeaten Spartans' third victory, but none has been easy. For degree of difficulty, this one was near the top.
Chris Huff rammed his way into the end zone from the 2-yard line with 1 minute, 51 seconds left and Lee Updike punched the extra-point kick through the uprights for the Spartans' winning point.
It was much more dramatic than that, though. Quarterback Lee Feazell took Salem 80 yards for the winning drive and completed five passes during the march. On fourth-and-seven from the G-Men's 24, he hit Aaron Coffee, who went 20 yards to the Graham 4.
"I was shaking [when I caught the ball]," Coffee said. '`I was trying for the touchdown, but I saw someone in the back and my toe was hurting."
Said Feazell, "It [the drive] was our last chance and we started moving the ball. I felt really good. But that's the most pressure I've been under. I didn't see Aaron catch the ball and I was so excited I couldn't say anything. I just jumped up and down."
Graham had called time out before the play. "At that point it's a guessing game," said Glynn Carlock, the G-Men's coach. "I didn't know whether they'd try to draw us offside or what. We told our kids to watch the long count."
The Spartans' defense made a stand just before the final drive or Salem would have been out of the game. Most of all, Charlie Hammersly Jr., blocked Graham's extra-point kick in the first two minutes of the game that came back to haunt the G-Men.
Graham (2-1) scored its only touchdown after Mike Gregory returned the opening kickoff to the Spartans' 5. Jacob Dews went over from the 2 on third down, but then Hammersly busted in to bat down the kick.
"Their end lined up real tight inside, so I figured I could get a good angle," Hammersly said.
Then, Salem's offense moved the ball but couldn't produce a score.
The defense then had to save the game midway through the fourth quarter after Salem failed to make a first down by an inch as Huff was stopped at the G-Men's 37.
Graham picked up three first downs, the last on a 23-yard pass from Jay Gray to Dews on the Spartans' 6.
Three running plays netted minus-2 yards, so Tony Easley lined up to try a 25-yard field goal. It sailed wide left, giving Salem the ball at its 20.
"The great thing is our kids didn't panic. They didn't get their heads down when everything was going wrong," said Willis White, Salem's coach.
Even the touchdown drive had a key moment, when the Spartans' Mike Prater and Dews banged together going for a pass and Salem was called for offensive interference. Feazell then completed three passes to keep the chains moving.
\ see microfilm for box score
Memo: ***CORRECTION***