Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, October 16, 1993 TAG: 9310160278
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: RALPH BERRIER JR. STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLUEFIELD, W.VA. LENGTH: Medium
The game was another matter.
Graham flattened Blacksburg 26-14 on Friday night in a non-district football game that could have provided enough blooper clips to keep late-night sportscasters in business for weeks.
Graham (4-2) scored the first 26 points of the game, then held off Blacksburg (3-4) in the fourth quarter. While a couple of the scoring plays were definite knee-slappers, one in particular was no laughing matter for the Indians.
The G-Men's last touchdown of the first half was a crusher for Blacksburg.
Down 13-0, the Indians appeared to be in business when linebacker Jay Safford picked off a Jay Gray pass at midfield and returned it to the Graham 32-yard line with two minutes left in the half. On the Indians' second play, Graham defensive end Marc Peecher demolished quarterback Greg Shockley and knocked the ball loose. Cory Matthews picked it up and was in the end zone 55 yards later. Gray's conversion kick made it 20-0.
"That [play] was real big," said Glynn Carlock, the G-Men's head coach. "I believe that was the biggest play of the night."
Instead of possibly being down only 13-7 at half, the Indians were virtually out of it.
"That was an indication of no matter what we did, it wasn't going to turn out right," said Dave Crist, Blacksburg's head coach. "Even when that [series] started well, something said, `Not tonight, guys.' "
Graham went up 26-0 after the Indians' Tony Wheeler mishandled a punt on his 11-yard line. Four plays later, with 10 minutes, 50 seconds left, Gray shuffled into the end zone from 3 yards.
Wheeler soon redeemed himself with Blacksburg's slapstick score. On the next series, Shockley fired a short pass to Shane Beamer, who ran 51 yards, only to be tackled from behind by Mike Gregory. Beamer lost the ball, and it was recovered by Graham on the 4-yard line.
The Indians protested vociferously that Beamer was down when he fumbled, but to no avail. It didn't matter, because on Graham's third play, Wheeler stripped the ball from J.C. Harmon and ran 15 yards into the end zone.
Gregory's speed was a factor on offense; he rushed for 120 yards on eight carries and figured in the G-Men's first two scores. His 52-yard punt return in the first quarter placed Graham on the Blacksburg 16-yard line, setting up a four-play scoring drive.
On a fourth-and-one play from the 7, sophomore fullback Tony Easley charged for the first down, kept his feet digging and piggy-backed would-be tacklers into the end zone for the game's first points with 4:15 left in the opening period.
Gregory put the G-Men ahead 13-0 with a 77-yard scoring jaunt in the second quarter. He took a pitch from Gray, ran right and took off down the sideline in front of his bench and the homecoming crowd.
"I felt some people hitting me," Gregory said. "I guess they were arm-tackling and I ran through it. I don't know, it happened so fast."
Graham's defense went after Shockley with the biggest rush this side of a certain guy named Limbaugh, sacking him four times and stuffing the running game. Nick Burroughs led the Indians with 27 yards on eight carries.
"They come at you with eight people and wait for you to make a mistake," Crist said. "They beat us up front."
Shockley was able to finish with good numbers: 13-of-28 for 198 yards. He threw a 20-yard touchdown pass to Beamer late in the fourth quarter.
"We were just playing for pride by then," Shockley said. "We didn't think we'd get beat this bad." \
see microfilm for box score
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