Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, September 10, 1994 TAG: 9410200031
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB TEITLEBAUM STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
A Patriot second-quarter blitz keyed a 26-9 victory over Magna Vista in the non-district high school opener for both teams at Victory Stadium.
For Magna Vista, it also ended a 20-game victory streak in regular-season play. The Warriors had not lost in the regular season since falling victim to Chatham in the final game of 1992.
In the second period, PH's defense came up with an interception, fumble recovery and blocked punt to set up two touchdowns. Chris Combs added three sacks in the quarter as he wound up the opening half with 31/2 sacks and a fumble recovery.
Marty Brown and Monty Smith also did well. Brown blocked the punt that Smith recovered for PH's second touchdown. He also joined Combs on a sack and caused a fumble in the opening half. Smith also had a sack and caused a fumble to go with his recovery of the ball in the end zone.
On offense, PH sputtered, but finally racked up some yardage against the sagging Warriors in the second half. While Jamie Price, perhaps the quickest football player in the state, didn't dominate, he still racked up 55 yards rushing on 10 carries, caught three passes for 43 yards and scored the Patriots' first touchdown. Quarterback Donnie Smith showed potential, throwing for a pair of touchdowns.
``We felt coming into the season our defense would be strong,'' said Patriots coach Ed Scott. ``I thought we had a real good defensive game. The offense wasn't pretty, but I feel we have some talent. Donnie hasn't taken a snap in two years, and he did well.''
Combs was the leader of the defense coming into the season and he lived up to his billing as one of the state's top college prospects.
``We knew they'd run up the middle, but we stopped that well in the first quarter. Then they started going outside to test Marty and me. After the blocked punt, we had the momentum and kept it the rest of the game,'' said Combs.
The Patriots gave up a first-quarter field goal after Magna Vista running back Jermaine Simmons escaped on a 45-yard run. The Patriots had him cut off wide to the left, but over-pursued. Simmons reversed and ran the other way to set up a 38-yard field goal by John Tunnell.
That was the last piece of offense that Magna Vista managed against the Patriots' first unit. In the second quarter, PH's Enoch Williams picked off a Warrior pass. Two plays later, Donnie Smith hit Price in the flat and the speedy back motored 28 yards for the Patriots' first touchdown.
Monty Smith tackled Magna Vista quarterback Leroy Valentine in the next series, causing him to fumble to Brown. However, PH stalled and failed to score.
Not to worry. The Patriots forced Magna Vista to punt and Brown blocked the ball into the end zone with Monty Smith recovering for a 14-3 lead.
``I was just rushing hard. I came straight at him. That's my first blocked punt since I did it for the freshman team [in 1991],'' said Brown.
By now, Magna Vista was taking a beating. Simmons had to move to quarterback when Valentine went down.
It was all PH in the second half. First, the Patriots drove 37 yards after a short Magna Vista punt. Donnie Smith hit Monty Smith for an 8-yard touchdown. Then PH went 61 yards with Dan Ankoma scoring from the 2. Price had his longest run of the night for 25 yards to key the drive.
``PH has a good football team and they took advantage of our weaknesses,'' said Magna Vista coach Don Bateman. ``We have some young kids on the offensive line. I was pleased with our defensive effort, but we couldn't stay on the field long enough on offense to give our defense some rest.''
see microfilm for box score
by CNB