Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, October 9, 1993 TAG: 9310090218
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: M.J. DOUGHERTY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Medium
The Cavaliers turned each of those brief pauses - an onside kick and an interception - into a touchdown. Those points enabled Carroll County to outscore the Blue Demons 48-41 in a New River District high school football game.
The victory puts Carroll County (1-0 overall, 4-3 district) in a tie for the New River lead with Blacksburg. The loss eliminated Christiansburg (1-2, 2-3) from the district title chase.
The first half saw the teams combine for eight possessions - and seven touchdowns.
Carroll County went 4-for-4. Long plays were the order of the day. Nicky Rodrigue had three touchdowns and 179 yards; two of his touchdown runs covered 57 and 61 yards. Jason Kilbourne hit Brian Hawks with a 63-yard touchdown pass.
"It was pretty tough," said Rodrigue, who finished with 261 yards rushing and four touchdowns. "We wanted to win. And we knew the only way we could win was to put more points on the board. . . .
"They have a pretty good offense too."
Meanwhile, the Demons scored on three of their four possessions. Only an interception near the goal line by Kilbourne prevented them from being perfect.
So when faced with kicking off to open the second half, the Cavaliers decided to try to stay on the attack.
"In the first half, they came close to breaking it on every kickoff," Carroll County coach Dave Haynie said. "Coach [Greg] Nelson handles our special teams, and he came up with the idea of trying an onside kick. If we didn't get it, we wouldn't be in any worse shape than we were before."
Carroll County tried it. Kevin Dalton covered it. Three plays later, Rodrigue was in the end zone and the Cavaliers led 35-21.
The teams began to trade points again - although not at the pace of the first half. Christiansburg was out of sync, and its touchdowns only pulled it to a touchdown short instead of tying the score.
As the second half progressed, the Demons slowed Carroll County's offensive onslaught. They also pulled to 42-35 when Steve Surratt scored on a 46-yard pass from Mischa Alexander with just under five minutes to play.
And after the Christiansburg defense stopped the Cavaliers near midfield, the Demons had one last chance. All they had to do was march 94 yards in 3 minutes and 27 seconds.
But Tony Berrier had other ideas. He interrupted the Demons' comeback before it had a chance to get going when he stepped in front of a pass intended for Andra Beasley and ran 17 yards for a touchdown.
"We were just playing zone coverage," Berrier said. "I had the flats and I ended up covering No. 2 [Beasley]. I intercepted the ball and ran it about 20 yards."
Because of Berrier's touchdown, Christiansburg's touchdown on the final play of the game just narrowed the final margin instead of pulling the teams even.
"The onside kick at the beginning of the second half hurt, and the turnover deep in our own end hurt," Christiansburg coach Mike Cole said. "But defensively, we just didn't get the job done tonight."
Christiansburg gave up 455 yards of total offense, including 371 on the ground. The Cavaliers had two 100-yard rushers: Rodrigue and Kilbourne, who had 103 yards.
Carroll County's defense wasn't much better. It allowed the Demons 449 yards, including 231 passing by Alexander. But it forced four turnovers, including one it turned into a touchdown. \
see microfilm for box score
by CNB