Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, September 24, 1994 TAG: 9411040017
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: M.J. DOUGHERTY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: DALEVILLE LENGTH: Medium
That is how Christiansburg took care of business after falling behind early in the second half against Lord Botetourt. And that is why the Blue Demons coasted to a 47-25 non-district high school football victory Friday night.
Christiansburg (2-2) relied on old and new sources of scoring in its second-half surge. The old source was Andrea Beasley. Beasley had only four carries in the second half. But the first two were for touchdown runs of 78 and 41 yards. The two scores put the Cavaliers (1-2) away as Christiansburg took an insurmountable 40-19 lead with one minute left in the third period.
"I told the line to get me to the through the hole," said Beasley, who finished with 202 yards on 12 carries. "I told them if they could get me there, I would be gone."
The new source of offense was the Demons' passing attack. Trey Stone went 5-for-8 for 120 yards. And when he hooked up with Misha Alexander for a 16-yard scoring strike with 8 minutes, 25 seconds left in the third quarter, the Demons took a 25-19 lead they never surrendered.
"I don't know, we just opened it up and threw it a little bit more," said Stone of the passing attack which had produced less than 100 yards for the season before Friday. "We worked on it all week. ... We just put everything together."
For two-plus quarters, the game was close. Beasley had just 58 yards rushing in the first half. And the Cavaliers battled back from a 10-point deficit to take a 19-17 lead early in the third period as quarterback Jason Ramey ran in from 2 yards out.
That touchdown, as well as the Cavaliers' score late in the first half that made it 17-13 at intermission, came after Christiansburg fumbled the ball away inside its own 25.
So despite leading in the second half, Lord Botetourt coach Andy Ward knew the Cavaliers still had a big problem on their hands.
"Defensively, we never stopped them all night," said Ward. "They've got a very strong offensive ball club. No.2 [Beasley] is a great running back. And their offensive line did a great job.
"Whatever defensive formation we were in, they would adjust. And we didn't stay in the same defense. We tried three or four. But nothing worked."
Christiansburg adjusted by spreading the work around early and changing blocking assignments and formations at halftime.
That meant fullback Alexander had his number called 11 times, and he responded with 109 yards.
"I really didn't have to work that hard," said Alexander, who had four runs longer than 10 yards, including a 33-yard touchdown in the first half. "They had three or four guys on Andrea. So most of the time, there was a big hole. And when there wasn't, I just tried to drag a man or two for extra yardage."
Once the defense was off-balance from the running of Alexander, Beasley once again could become an offensive threat. Which is exactly what happened in the second half.
"At first they were keying on me, so we figured to spread out the defense and let others carry the football," said Beasley. "Once they stopped keying on me, I got back into the ball game."
see microfilm for box score
by CNB