Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, September 16, 1994 TAG: 9409160025
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-9 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: By RAY COX STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PEARISBURG LENGTH: Medium
At least nobody from Giles did.
Playing a shade more than a half of Giles' 32-21 victory over Floyd County, the senior tailback left one more gang of rivals more delighted than they could put into words to never again see him on the same football field as they.
Milton was the author of 252 yards total offense, the scorer of three touchdowns and two two-point conversions, and the origin of a touchdown heave and a toss for two points.
Milton also was the cavalry that came to the rescue when he tossed his 57-yard scoring strike to Matt Tawney after the Buffaloes had closed to 24-21 down with 3 minutes, 21 seconds remaining.
Then to make doubly sure that the Spartans would not be denied their 16th-straight victory, he made a one-handed snag of a pass by Floyd County quarterback Duane Hale into the Giles end zone.
Don't get the notion that the one-handed stuff was for show. That isn't Milton's style.
"I was going one way and the pass was going the other way behind me," he said.
Even after all that, questions remained about Milton's performance.
"We'll never know what he could have done in the second half," Giles coach Steve Ragsdale said.
If not for his late fourth-quarter heroics, Milton wouldn't have played the second half at all. Soon after intermission, Milton became troubled by leg cramps that forced him to the bench.
By no coincidence, that's when Floyd County began a comeback from 24-7 in arrears. Should Milton have been in there at safety, the more than 200 yards in passing that Hale accounted for would have been harder to come by.
Milton has done a lot for Giles the first two games, but the Spartans have needed it. Injuries have made the backfield, in particular, a revolving door. Fullback Maurice Milton, Raypheal's twin brother, turned an ankle on the first play of the Floyd County game and didn't play another down.
"I didn't even know he wasn't in there for a while," Raypheal said.
Safe to say that everybody knew that Raypheal was in there, though.
Other performances of note:
Radford quarterback Foster Ridpath went 9-for-15 for 120 yards and a touchdown in a 24-21 loss to Powell Valley.
Andra Beasley of Christiansburg rushed for 106 yards and scored two touchdowns in a 28-13 loss to Richlands.
Kenny Wojciechowski and Bobby Bonds of Auburn combined for 215 rushing yards and three touchdowns in a 53-33 loss to Craig County.
Brandon Hollie and Norman Perkins of Narrows teamed for 171 rushing yards and two TD's in a 33-8 victory over Garden.
Blacksburg's Steven Hunt rushed for 132 yards including a 91-yard TD and Greg Shockley went 7-for-13 for 76 yards and a TD in a 19-14 victory over Salem.
Floyd County's Hale went 13-21-1 for 204 yards and two TD's in the loss to Giles.
by CNB