Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, October 1, 1994 TAG: 9411110009
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: M.J. DOUGHERTY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Medium
Just ask Christiansburg.
Milton rushed for 295 yards and four touchdowns. He threw for 94 yards and a fifth touchdown. And the Spartans rolled to a 38-22 non-district high school football win.
The victory was the 19th straight for Giles (5-0) over the past two seasons. Christiansburg (2-3) saw its two-game winning streak end.
Two of Milton's touchdowns were particularly damaging.
Christiansburg tied the game at 14 with 1 minute, 19 seconds left in the first half. Then Giles went to work. Starting from its own 32 after the kickoff, Milton hit Anthony Myers for a 17-yard completion. Reggie Holton swept around the left side to the Blue Demons' 24. Milton ran for 4 yards. Then Milton ran 20 yards to the end zone.
A two-point conversion by Milton gave Giles a 22-14 halftime lead.
``That score right before halftime was a big score,'' said Giles coach Steve Ragsdale.
Christiansburg's David Epperly returned the second-half kickoff to the Giles' 28, with Maurice Milton - Raypheal's twin brother - making a touchdown-saving tackle.
Three plays netted Christiansburg nine yards. Then Andra Beasley, the Demons' star running back and Timesland's leading rusher coming into the game, slipped cutting for the hole on fourth down. Christiansburg failed to make a first down, and Giles got the ball at its own 19.
``I wanted the touchdown,'' said Christiansburg coach Mike Cole, explaining why he eschewed a 36-yard field goal attempt by Chris Epperly that could have cut the lead to 22-17. ``The three points might have a psychological boost. I don't know. I thought about it. But it was iffy. It was right at the limit of where he consistantly makes it.''
But the Spartans weren't there long. Just 25 seconds later, Raypheal Milton was standing in the end zone. And his two-point conversion made it 30-14.
``It was so quick, our line stayed low,'' said Milton, who had the largest rushing night for a Giles back since Ragsdale took over as coach in 1978. "They made such a big hole, you could have driven a Mack truck through it. It was so open, I hit the hole and the only thing in front of me was the end zone."
The Spartans' line did that all game long. It started right after the opening kickoff as single-wing tailback Milton ran a direct-snap sweep seven straight plays.
``I thought we had a strong night of blocking, especially at the beginning of the first half,'' said 6-foot-1,190-pound Alex Webb, one of the Spartans' two right tackles in the single wing. ``We had a little bit of a letdown. But we came back strong in the second half.''
Explained Brandon Steele, Giles' 6-foot, 230-pound other right tackle: ``The defense they were running was the exact defense we practiced against all week. Our offensive guys knew who they were going to get. ... But we figure we [lineman] are in a no-win situation. If we do a bad job, of course we're not going to get any credit. And if we do a good job, any credit is going to go to someone else [the backs]. But we figure that any credit reflects back on the job we've done.''
The line must have done something right as Giles amassed 401 yards rushing.
Meanwhile, the Spartans' defense shut down Christiansburg's Beasley. Coming into the game, Beasley was averaging more than 10 yards a carry. Against Giles, he had more carries for losses (two) than for 10 or more yards (one).
``We always had two guys on him,'' said defensive back Chris Huskey, whose interception was the only takeaway recorded by the Giles defense. ``Keeping him in check was the key to handling their offense.''
Beasley did score two of Christiansburg's touchdowns. And he was effective as a pass catcher, turning a pair of screen receptions into a 28-yard gain in the closing seconds of the first half and a 39-yard touchdown late in the game.
see microfilm for box score
by CNB