Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, October 29, 1994 TAG: 9410310057
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB TEITLEBAUM STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Mentally, the Spartans were far from sky-high. Physically, they flew around Salem Stadium Friday on the arm of quarterback Seth Moore. The junior completed six passes - four for touchdowns - and Salem used a third-quarter blitz to beat Rockbridge County 30-15 in a Blue Ridge District contest.
This, coupled with Northside's 35-6 romp over Alleghany, sets up a title showdown between the Vikings and Spartans in two weeks. Salem has little hope of making the playoffs as a wild-card team, and Northside, if it beats Christiansburg next week in a non-district game, should be assured of earning a spot in the Region III Division 4 playoffs.
Moore, who connected with Aaron Coffey for three of the four touchdown passes, had to rally his team from a 7-7 halftime tie. Salem (4-4 overall, 4-0 district) used 23 points in the third quarter to beat the Wildcats (3-5, 2-2).
``Coach [Willis] White told us to get our butts going at half,'' Moore said. ``In the first half, we weren't playing well. They were changing a lot of coverages on Coffey, so we changed some patterns.''
Said White: ``We have to play in high gear all the time. When we don't, then we don't look very good.''
Salem scored touchdowns on all three possessions in the third quarter. Moore hit Coffey with a 47-yard pass less than three minutes after halftime as the Spartans' senior receiver split two defenders.
As pretty as that grab was, a 15-yarder on the next possession was better as Coffey went to the back of the end zone for the catch.
``We just ran a stop-and-go. I didn't know if Seth would have time. Then he laid it up at the back of the end zone,'' Coffey said.
Salem scored a safety when Rockbridge County snapped the ball out of the end zone on a punt attempt. The Spartans then tacked on the final touchdown on Moore's 25-yard pass to Matt Hyatt to make it 30-7.
To that point, Rockbridge County's offense had done nothing spectacular. The Wildcats' only touchdown came when Gary Tyree hauled a kickoff back 91 yards in the opening quarter following a 2-yard pass from Moore to Coffey for the Spartans' first touchdown.
``I don't know that our defense was tired [because the offense did nothing]. I thought Salem did a much better job of executing its pass offense in the second half,'' said Rockbridge County coach Jamie Talbott, who refused to make an excuse.
Rockbridge County finally mustered an offensive drive following Salem's fourth touchdown. With Greg Stubblefield reclaiming the quarterback position he lost a couple of weeks ago, the Wildcats went 68 yards helped along by some Salem penalties.
David Long scored from the 6 and Jimmy Emore, who moved from quarterback to running back, carried for the extra point that made it 30-15. However, that was the end of the offensive fireworks for the evening.
If Salem's offense was inconsistent, the defense wasn't. The Spartans had five sacks and 14 tackles behind the line of scrimmage. Rusty Howell, a junior tackle and fullback, was the Wildcats' chief tormentor as he put a hard rush on the Rockbridge County quarterback the whole evening.
``He's quick. He gets back there and he does it every week,'' White said.
The Wildcats managed only 96 yards total offense. Salem had 221 yards, though Rockbridge County, which has played good defense most of the year, held Spartan runners to just 106 yards.
by CNB