Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, November 13, 1993 TAG: 9311130225
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By WADE KENDRICK STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
North Cross, behind Marcus Cardwell's 213 yards rushing and four touchdowns and Hal Johnson's four touchdown passes, crushed Brunswick Academy 55-27 at William Byrd High School to advance to the state championship game Nov. 19.
North Cross (10-0) will face the winner of tonight's game between Huguenot Academy and Quantico. The Raiders will be the host team, but the site hasn't been determined.
"Our offense has been there all year, but it's really broken loose the last three games. We've been clicking on all cylinders," said Jim Muscaro, the North Cross coach. "Our backs have been making good cuts, and we've been getting the ball to our receivers on time. Everything has been just perfect."
The Raiders may not have been perfect Friday night, but they came close. North Cross scored on seven of its 10 possessions while racking up 499 yards total offense (313 yards rushing, 186 yards passing). Twice the Raiders were stopped on turnovers, and their only punt came well after the outcome had been decided.
North Cross' victory was tempered somewhat by an injury to fullback Monty Smith, who scored on two touchdown passes and rushed for 68 yards. Smith sprained his left ankle early in the fourth quarter and was carried to the sideline.
"I sprained it really bad. It's the same ankle I sprained against VES [Virginia Episcopal School]," Smith said. But Smith claims he will be ready to play Nov. 19 "regardless."
Brunswick (6-5) also was able to move the ball effectively, especially in the air (211 yards passing), but the Viking never seriously threatened to mount a challenge against the Raiders.
Brunswick did keep things exciting, however. Three times the Vikings ran the seldom-seen "fumblerooskie" play. Once the play was called back because it wasn't reported to an official beforehand, but Brunswick scored on it late in the second quarter. Quarterback Donovan Pultz took the center snap and laid the ball on the ground at the Raiders' 21, where it was picked up by guard Andrew Connell, who chugged his way in for the touchdown.
"They were using some tricks, so we went to our own bag of tricks, too," Johnson said. "It was a fun game. We had trouble reading the "fumblerooskie" play. It was taking a lot of time to develop and we weren't reading it quickly enough."
Along with the two touchdown passes to Smith, Johnson also connected on scoring strikes to Skip Johnson and Cardwell.
Cardwell's touchdown runs went for 16, 5 and 24 yards. His scoring reception came on a shovel pass from Johnson at the 30. Cardwell broke free at the line of scrimmage and then put a beautiful spin move on a Brunswick defender at the 5 as the Raiders took a 46-20 lead midway through the third quarter.
"We're beginning to get fine-tuned on our plays," Cardwell said. "Everyone realizes it's postseason and a loss ends the season.
"Our line gave Hal plenty of time to throw and on the runs they were pushing the defensive line off the ball and allowing the backs to go one-on-one with their secondary."
North Cross showed how dominant it was early in the second quarter. On a scoring drive that covered 63 yards, the Raiders had to overcome three penalties worth 40 yards. After driving to the 1 only to be set back to the 16 after a personal foul, North Cross scored on Cardwell's blast up the middle.
"Our defense gave up a lot of yards, but they bowed up when they had to," Muscaro said.
Keywords:
FOOTBALL
by CNB