Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, October 15, 1994 TAG: 9412160018
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: WADE KENDRICK SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES & WORLD-NEWS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
In fact, Price more than lived up to his promise as he rushed for 207 yards and two 60-yard touchdown runs Friday night to lead the Patriots to a 30-6 win over Heritage at Victory Stadium.
Price's dad, James Price Sr., suffered a series of strokes 2 1/2 years ago and must remain in bed at a nursing home in Salem. The elder Price cannot speak but understands when his son speaks to him.
``I promised Dad I would score a touchdown tonight and I got two,'' Price said. ``He can't speak but he nods his head to let us know he understands.''
Patrick Henry (4-2) built a 14-0 lead in the first half, thanks to the first of Price's touchdowns and a goal-line stand on the last play of the first half that denied Heritage an opportunity to cut the Patriots' lead in half.
PH, ranked second in Timesland, appeared primed to take a three-touchdown lead into intermission until a couple of interceptions of quarterback Donnie Smith halted the Patriots' momentum. Jason Roberts made the first interception after PH had driven to the Pioneer 23.
Heritage gave the ball back when Dan Ankoma, who scored PH's first touchdown on a 5 yard run, recovered a Mandell Haskins fumble at the Patriot 44.
Smith was picked off again, this time by Paris Lenon, who returned the ball to the Patriots' 19.
Calvin Thompson, who entered the game after an injury to Andre Hunt, tossed a 17-yard pass to Marion Tanner to the 2 with six seconds to play in the half. After a Pioneer timeout, Thompson was sacked on the final play by Nick Saunders.
The Patriots received a huge break early in the third quarter when Heritage punt returner Richard Nelson failed to evade a PH punt that was about to roll dead deep in Pioneer territory.
The ball touched Nelson's leg and was recovered by the Patriots at the Heritage 5. Kevin Washington scored two plays later from the 1 to push PH's lead to 22-0.
``Those were two big plays,'' PH coach Ed Scott said, referring to Saunders' sack and the muffed punt. ``They were momentum builders.''
``We were able to get the ball to Jamie tonight'' added Scott. ``He's got the potential to be a big-play man for us. We were able to give him more room to break one.''
Heritage (3-4) was held to 148 yards of offense thanks to constant pressure from a strong Patriot front line.
``We stopped their option by forcing their quarterback to pitch out before he wanted to and that enabled our linebackers and cornerbacks to make some good plays on their backs,'' defensive end Chris Combs said.
Haskins cut PH's lead to 22-6 on a 2-yard run with 1 minute, 23 seconds remaining in the third quarter but the Pioneers' hopes for a comeback were quickly dashed by Price, who broke loose on his second 60-yard gallop on the final play of the quarter.
``Teams have been keying on me all year but I just have to deal with it and ignore it,'' Price said. ``On the first touchdown I thought I'd stepped out of bounds but I acted like the sideline was a tightrope and kept going when I never heard a whistle.''
``We couldn't get anything going offensively,'' Heritage coach Pem Apperson said. ``They had their defensive line play in our backfield all night. We were just going through the motions in the first half.''
\ see microfilm for box score
Keywords:
FOOTBALL
by CNB