Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, November 6, 1994 TAG: 9411100044
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: D-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DWIGHT FOXX STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LEXINGTON LENGTH: Medium
VMI's football game Saturday with James Madison nearly was a carbon copy of last week'sthe Keydets' contest with Western Carolina on Oct.29.
Unfortunately for VMI, the outcome also was the same.
The Keydets - as they did last week - played with the Dukes, ranked No. 10 in the 1-AA polls, stayed with a Division I-AA Top 25 team for one half, and this time it was No.10 James Madison scoring 28 points in the second half to win 38-15 at Alumni Memorial Field.
The Dukes are 8-1 for the first time since they moved up to Division I-AA and have won six consecutive games.
The Keydets, 0-9 and losers of 19 of their past 20 games, played aggressively on defense in the first half and limited JMU to 133 yards of total offense to trail 10-3.
``That's a football team that is getting better,'' Dukes coach Rip Scherer said of VMI. ``[Coach] Bill Stewart and his staff have to be given a lot of credit for having their team stick to a [defensive] game plan that gives them a chance to win every week."
But on its second possession of the second half, JMU stretched its lead to 17-3 when running back Steve Agee capped a six-play, 54-yard drive with a 12-yard touchdown run with 8 minutes, 50 seconds remaining in the third quarter.
As they did on their first touchdown of the game, the Dukes utilized a simple dive play to hurt VMI. Four times during the drive JMU ran the dive, including Agee's touchdown.
"We're a little bit bigger, stronger and more experienced than they are," Scherer said, explaining the power play's success.
Then, the Keydets' student section helped JMU stretch its lead to 24-3.
With 6:59 remaining in the quarter, the freshman students, known as ``Rats,'' ran across the field in pursuit of the Dukes' mascot, who had stolen their flag.
The officials assessed an unsportsmanlike-conduct penalty that gave JMU a first down on the VMI 38-yard line. The Dukes turned over the ball on downs at the VMI 6, but the Keydets gave the ball back when quarterback Al Lester was intercepted by JMU's David Quattlebaum at the VMI 24.
On the first play of the fourth period, the Dukes cashed in when quarterback Mike Cawley found wideout John Allen open in the end zone for a 26-yard touchdown. The transfer from Syracuse University completed 18 of 27 passes for 230 yards.
"That's unfortunate," Scherer said of the students running across the field. "It got them a 15-yard penalty and came at a somewhat critical time."
It was announced over the intercom that the Rats were to report to the campus courtyard after the game to receive their reprimand.
"Those guys running on the field did not lose the game," Stewart said. "I didn't know what was happening."
What Stewart didn't like, besides the Dukes' success on the dive play, was his team's 10 penalties for 99 yards. The Keydets entered the game as the least-penalized team in the Southern Conference.
"I am not pleased with the penalties; you cannot have 10 penalties and win," VMI's coach said.
The one bright moment of the second half for the Keydets came when running back Thomas Haskins eclipsed the 1,000-yard mark in rushing for the season. Haskins finished the game with 1,034, becoming the fourth back in school history to top 1,000 and the first since Tony Scales in 1991.
Haskins couldn't think of a better team to reach the milestone against than JMU. He considered attending the Harrisonburg school as a high school senior.
"They told me to go to Fork Union [Military Academy during the recruiting process] and they would pick me up in a year after I got my SAT and grades up," Haskins said. "But then they started beating around the bush and telling me I was too small to play running back.
"I'm thankful to be at VMI and doing the things I want to do as far as running the ball is concerned.''
VMI led 3-0 after the first quarter, thanks to a 47-yard field goal by kicker Geoff Goff, the longest of his career.
by CNB