Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, October 23, 1993 TAG: 9310230228
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JIMMY ROBERTSON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
If that's the case, Shannon Taylor's feet probably are tired today because he did most of the dancing Friday night.
The Patriots' do-everything quarterback rushed for 129 yards and a touchdown and threw two touchdown passes as the Patriots shut out Cave Spring 27-0 in a Roanoke Valley District football game at Cave Spring Junior High School.
Patrick Henry (5-2 overall, 1-0 in the district) shut out its opponent for the second consecutive week, spoiling the Knights' homecoming festivities. Just as in their whitewashing of Heritage on Oct. 15, the Patriots did not waste time getting started.
On the play after Cave Spring's Dusty Beekman fumbled at the Patrick Henry 45-yard line, Taylor hit Jamie Price for a 48-yard gain to the Cave Spring 7. Two plays later, Taylor found Adrian Moore for a 6-yard touchdown pass, and the extra point gave PH a 7-0 lead.
"The offensive line gave me time to throw, and that also gave the receivers time to get open," Taylor said. "They made the big catches tonight."
The Patriots forced the Knights (0-7, 0-2) to punt on their next possession, and Patrick Henry took over at its 20. Again, the Patriots' quick-strike offense went to work. On the third play of the drive, Taylor ran 70 yards on a quarterback draw for a touchdown. The extra-point kick was missed, but PH led 13-0.
"Cave Spring did not play a nose guard over the center on that play, so the play was really open," Taylor said. "I took it up the middle, cut to the left, and the rest was a race to the goal line."
Cave Spring had a great opportunity to score on its next possession. The Knights had marched from the 39 to a first down at the Patriots' 4. Still, the Knights didn't score. Cave Spring got to the 1, but quarterback Jeff Lang's fourth-down pass was dropped by Beekman in the end zone, and PH took over on downs.
"I was pleased with that goal-line stand," said Ed Scott, the Patriots' coach. "But overall, our defense was not that good. We played better last week against Heritage, and we need to get back to that type of play."
PH intercepted a Lang pass and capitalized just before halftime. With the ball on his team's 34, Taylor ran up the middle again for 33 yards to give PH a first down at the Cave Spring 33.
Five plays later, Rod Akers ran in from the 5 with less than two minutes to go in the half. The conversion attempt for two points failed, but PH took a 19-0 lead into the locker room.
"Shannon made some good reads tonight," Scott said. "Cave Spring switched defenses a lot, and he made the right adjustments."
The Patriots put the game out of reach on their first possession of the second half. PH drove 56 yards in six plays before Taylor found Shawn Leftwich in the end zone with a 34-yard pass.
The Patriots finished with 421 yards of offense, including 306 rushing. Cave Spring had 65 yards rushing and 172 yards total offense. \
see microfilm for box score
by CNB