Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, October 8, 1994 TAG: 9410110015
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RALPH BERRIER JR. STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Only Trey Taylor wore that jersey, but the sophomore tailback and linebacker seemingly was everywhere in the Falcons' 22-0 non-conference high school football romp at North Cross Friday afternoon.
Taylor was a workhorse at tailback. He carried 40 times for 167 yards and scored all three of Fuqua's touchdowns.
As dominant as he was on offense, he especially hurt North Cross when he got the ball in his hands on defense. His third-quarter interception of a Hal Johnson pass squelched the Raiders' only scoring threat of the day and preserved Fuqua's 14-0 lead.
``That was one of the bigger plays in the ball game,'' North Cross coach Jim Muscaro said.
If there were big plays to be made, Fuqua (5-2) made them and North Cross (3-2) did not. The Falcons had 232 rushing yards and 20 first downs, compared to North Cross' seven first downs and 52 rushing yards. The Raiders ended with 109 yards of total offense.
``Other than a couple of penalties, we played well,'' Fuqua coach Lewis `Skeeter' Fore said. ``We controlled the ball and kept it away from them. That's important when you've got as good a quarterback as they have.''
Johnson, Timesland's second-ranked passer with 678 yards, completed 11 of 27 passes and finished with just 67 yards. He was picked off twice. Skip Johnson was the Raiders' leading ground-gainer with 60 yards on 12 carries.
Trailing by three touchdowns and struggling to move the football, North Cross could do little to disguise the fact it had to throw the ball in the second half. Johnson was 6-for-18 and picked off twice in the second half.
Even though it was a non-conference game, the loss was disappointing for Muscaro and the Raiders, and not just because of the margin of defeat. North Cross, the No.6 team in the latest State Private School Division 1 poll, had hoped to move up in the rankings with a victory over No.5 Fuqua.
``From a motivational standpoint, and in terms of state rankings, this was a relatively big game for us,'' Muscaro said. ``I don't think I did a very good job getting us ready to play, because we obviously were not ready to play.''
Taylor was ready and willing to take the wind out of the Raiders' sails with his third-quarter interception. After North Cross opened the half by forcing Fuqua to punt, the Raiders, trailing 14-0, advanced to the Falcons' 47-yard line.
Facing a third-and-9, Johnson aimed for split end Robert Rude across the middle. Taylor stepped in front of Rude and intercepted the pass.
``I kind of read it,'' Taylor said. ``I knew the kid, No.35 [Rude] would come across the middle. I just watched it happen.''
A clipping penalty on Taylor's return spotted the ball at the Falcons' 34-yard line. The penalty served only to lengthen the game-breaking scoring drive - 66 yards, 14 plays and 61/2 minutes off the clock capped by a 7-yard Taylor sweep for a touchdown and a Johnny LeSueur conversion pass. LeSueur set up the score with a 7-yard sneak on fourth-and-6 to put the ball on the North Cross 7.
``That play was a killer,'' Muscaro said.
It was a drive that resembled Fuqua's other scoring marches: several off-tackle runs by Taylor, a toss sweep to Taylor here, an option pitch to Taylor there. Everything worked. Taylor had just three carries for negative yardage.
``I kind of anticipated they would run the football that way,'' Muscaro said. ``I did not anticipate the way we would defend it.''
Taylor carried nine times for 40 yards on Fuqua's first possession, an 11-play march that ended with Taylor tumbling into the end zone from 8 yards out.
LeSueur, who had completed a third-down pass for 19 yards on the drive and who would later turn in several other big plays, hit Ryan Boggs with a conversion pass to make it 8-0 with 5:06 left in the first quarter.
After North Cross punted on its next possession, Fuqua took 13 plays to traverse 67 yards. Taylor carried seven times on the drive and scored from a yard out.
North Cross' highlights came on the defensive side. The Raiders turned back a Fuqua intrusion inside the 10-yard-line that resulted in a missed field-goal attempt just before the half. The defense also turned in a goal-line stand in the fourth quarter by stopping Taylor on fourth-and-goal from the 1.
North Cross tackle Alex Kelly finished with 12 tackles, a quarterback sack and forced a pair of fumbles, neither of them covered by North Cross.
by CNB