Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, November 6, 1994 TAG: 9411100040
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: D-8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB TEITLEBAUM STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The Celtics beat archrival North Cross 28-0 for the first time in 15 years. In so doing, Catholic also wrapped up its first Virginia Independent Conference championship and unbeaten regular season.
Now the Celtics can concentrate on winning a state championship in Division I of the state private school tournament. They'll host a semifinal game at Victory Stadium next Saturday against an opponent yet to be determined. If Catholic wins, it will also be at home the next week for the championship game.
On a breezy November Saturday afternoon, the game attracted one of Catholic's biggest crowds - estimated at more than 1,000 people - in the school's long athletic history.
``I told our guys on the bus ride back to the school to think back to our first home game this year,'' Catholic coach John Cooke said. ``There were not many people there. You compare that to what we saw today. People started believing in us.''
It was a typical Celtic win. The defense withstood a heavy assault from North Cross quarterback Hal Johnson, Timesland's second-leading passer, for its fourth shutout. Sophomore running back P.J. Moyer turned in another superb performance, rushing for 137 yards and scoring on a 43-yard run in the second quarter.
Catholic (10-0 overall, 5-0 in the VIC) struck on its first offensive series as quarterback Tony Joyce threw over the middle to tight end P.L. Bratton for a 62-yard touchdown pass.
``I saw both linebackers go on a split end, so we ran a peel-on-go down the middle. He was wide open,'' Joyce said.
Still, North Cross (5-4, 3-2) moved the ball against the Celtics' defense in its first two series. Skip Johnson, hobbled by a leg injury, had some good short runs. But both drives died and Catholic tacked on a second touchdown early in the second period.
After Joyce returned a Raiders' punt to midfield, it took just four plays for Catholic to go ahead 14-0. Kendall Selfe eased through the middle on an 18-yard touchdown run.
Then the game got away from the Raiders when Skip Johnson's fumble was recovered by Catholic's Beau King and returned to the North Cross 28. An illegal-use-of-hands penalty on the play sent the ball back to the 43, but Moyer broke his long run to put Catholic up 21-0 and spoil any hopes for a Raiders' upset.
``That fumble was critical. We had been moving the ball,'' North Cross coach Jim Muscaro said. ``It was one of a couple of bad breaks early in the game.''
After that, North Cross went almost exclusively to the air. Hal Johnson had some success, but Catholic's defense, while yielding yardage, refused to let the Raiders get close to the end zone.
Johnson connected on 23 of 39 passes for 159 yards in one of his top efforts to finish his career with 3,872 yards. Unofficially, he passed for 1,360 yards in nine games this season.
``They threw a lot of blitzes at us that we haven't seen before,'' Johnson said. ``We were hoping to move the ball on the ground and open up the passing game. We couldn't get much accomplished and we had to start throwing.''
Catholic scored only once in the second half, on the second play when Joyce ran right for a 62-yard touchdown.
``It was a busted play,'' Joyce said. ``It was supposed to be an off-tackle play to P.J., but he went too wide. So I took off to the right and got some downfield blocking.''
The game featured another testy finish that has marked this series. Asked his evaluation, Muscaro referred to both Catholic's season and this game in saying, ``A blind squirrel finds an acorn now and then. I didn't like some of the things they did. They got 28 [points] and that's all they could [get]. They couldn't get any more.''
``Run up the score?'' Cooke asked. ``With a backup quarterback [Selfe, when Joyce was injured in the third quarter] in there. We didn't know if he could hand the ball off. Seven points the whole second half? That isn't running it up.
``He said that and I'm looking at 46-8 [loss] two years ago and 40-22 [loss] last year.''
by CNB