Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, October 15, 1994 TAG: 9412160021
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MIKE ASHLEY SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES & WORLD-NEWS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Well, after this one was through, Spartans coach Willis White and Cougars coach Joe Hicks exchanged locker rooms. Each went into the other team's dressing quarters to congratulate their respective rivals on an outstanding Friday night of football in what has developed into one of the Timesland's most storied rivalries.
Add another page to that story.
Heavily favored Pulaski County trailed 18-5 before rallying for a 21-18 non-district victory on the Spartans' field. Undersized Salem (2-4) manhandled the Cougar front wall in the first half in building a surprising 15-5 lead.
``I've never done anything like that before,'' Hicks said of visiting the Spartans' locker room. ``I just wanted to tell their kids what a great game they played.''
And White told the Pulaski County players the same thing.
Salem had the ball for more than15 minutes in the first half, running 13 more plays and doing a fine balancing act (85 yards by land, 82 by air) in keeping the Cougars off balance. Pulaski County (5-1) would return the favor in the second half.
Nimble Cougars quarterback Andre Eaves fumbled on Pulaski County's first possession of the second half to set up a Salem field goal, but the rest of the second half was all Cougars. Pulaski County zipped 57 yards in five plays to cut its deficit to six points,18-12. Tim Davis, who led all rushers with 111 yards on 20 carries, had runs of 12, 11 and, finally, 10 yards for the score.
``We just came in at halftime and the coaches put the plays on the board and changed our blocking schemes,'' said Cougars senior guard Chris Lawson. ``Well, there was a little bit of cussing, too.''
The jeers turned to cheers, though, as Pulaski County rolled 63 yards late in the third quarter, Davis crashing over from the 1 to tie the score. Shayne Graham's extra-point kick was wide, though, and the score remained 18-18 heading into the fourth quarter.
``I know we probably made 'em mad in the first half,'' White said. ``We've come a long way this season and we had a very good team on the hook for a while. We let 'em off in the third quarter with some bad execution.''
Pulaski County's Matt Hull and Nicholas Phillips broke through and combined to sack Moore and force a punt early in the fourth quarter, setting up the Cougars up at their 49. Jawan Clark broke one run of 15 yards, but the Cougars were mostly methodical in moving the ball to the Spartans' 23, to position Graham for his shot at redemption. The junior kicker came through with a 40-yard field goal, this one into the wind with 7 minutes, 17 seconds left for the victory.
``We turned it up a notch in the second half,'' Hicks said. ``We had to to beat a really good football team.''
``You know when you line up against [Salem], they're not coached by dummies,'' Hicks said. ''I don't think we're dummies, either. They give us trouble, and we've given them trouble in the past. Sometimes it's just a shame somebody has to lose.''
\ see microfilm for box score
by CNB