Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, September 9, 1995 TAG: 9509110103
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RALPH BERRIER JR. STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Medium
The Salem Spartans were not concerned with style points as they stoically marched the football down field in the fourth quarter.
At that point, they didn't care much about scoreboard points, either.
The Spartans' main objective was to keep the ball away from Blacksburg, and that they did for 71/2 crucial minutes of the final quarter in a 14-5 non-district victory at Bill Brown Stadium.
One week after opening the offensive floodgates and swamping R.E. Lee-Staunton 48-0, Salem (2-0) relied on old-fashioned smash-mouth football and a defense that obstructed Blacksburg every time the Indians got within smelling distance of the goal line.
``This was a really physical football game,'' said Salem coach Willis White. ``Our defense made the big plays. Both defenses were super.''
Defense may carry both these teams far when playoff time rolls around two months from now. Salem held Blacksburg (0-2) to 127 yards of total offense and got key interceptions from defensive backs Ricky Eubanks and Matt Edwards.
Thus, the Spartans were able to make tailback Gussie Vaughn's two first-half touchdowns hold up.
Vaughn had 84 yards on 21 carries and Salem fullback Chris Huff rushed for 88. Those two and back-up fullback Rusty Howell shouldered most of the work in the grind-it-out fourth quarter.
``This was rough,'' said Vaughn. ``We knew everything about this game would be hard.''
Blacksburg limited the Spartans to 240 yards, 185 of those on the ground. It was the kind of game where the best drive of all may have been the one that resulted in no points.
After Edwards had picked off a Tucker LaForce pass on the Salem 10-yard line with just over 10 minutes to play - thus, ending the Indians' best drive of the night - the Spartans ran off 16 plays, 14 of them running plays.
By the time the drive stalled and Dan Baker's 32-yard field-goal try had sailed wide left, only 2:44 was left for the Indians to post two scores.
They couldn't do it. Blacksburg got the ball as far as midfield before LaForce slipped on a fourth-down play. Salem ran out the clock.
``The last drive was beautiful,'' said White.
Salem never trailed after Jamie Garst's 36-yard punt return set up Vaughn's 5-yard run with 6:51 left in the first quarter to make it 6-0 after the point-after kick was missed. Blacksburg made it 6-3 on Ben Pinkerton's 33-yard field goal with 10:22 left in the first half, but Vaughn scored again on a 2-yard run that capped an eight-play, 56-yard drive midway through the second quarter.
Quarterback Seth Moore, who hit Brent Humphrey with a 31-yard completion on the drive, ran for the conversion to make it 14-3.
Blacksburg had two quality scoring chances without its offense on the field when Salem botched a couple of punts. Just before halftime, Blacksburg's Rodney Alwang blocked Matt Wheeling's punt near the 20-yard line but the Indians couldn't recover before time ran out.
``That ball bounced off a couple of our players when they tried to get it,'' said Blacksburg coach Dave Crist.
In the third quarter, Wheeling took a safety when a snap sailed over his head on another punt attempt. Wheeling picked up the ball instead of falling on it and ran it out of the end zone.
``That was a smart play,'' said White.
It was tough for Blacksburg, which is starting with its usual run of tough early-season competition. After losing to Giles and Salem, the Indians play at Group AAA Cave Spring next week.
``I hope our fans stay with us and watch us improve,'' said Crist. ``I know its tough now, but we'll get better.''
NOTE: Please see microfilm for scores.
by CNB