Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, November 11, 1995 TAG: 9511120021
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: RAY COX STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: HOT SPRINGS LENGTH: Medium
``See that?'' he said. ``We run that a lot. And that had a lot to do with it.''
``It'' was a 32-8 victory over outmuscled James River Friday night that left Bath County the king of the Pioneer District hill for the third consecutive year.
James River, which was bidding for its first trip to the Group A, Division 2, Region C playoffs, concluded a fine season at 7-3 overall, 3-2 in the district.
As for the Chargers (8-2, 5-0), they will be the top seed in the Division 1, Region C playoffs, and will entertain Holston, most likely at 1:30 p.m. Nov.18. A final decision will be announced Monday.
``That was one of the best ones yet,'' said Bath County linebacker Matt Williams, who made 16 tackles but was just one of a number of ferocious defenders for the Chargers.
Bath County held the Knights to 12 yards rushing in the second half and 37 overall, and sacked quarterback Travis Blankenship five times for losses of 27 yards. James River was limited to seven first downs, and Shahan Burrell, the leading rusher for the year, had negative-5 yards on four carries.
``They took away a lot of the things we wanted to do,'' James River coach Doug Ross said. ``Then, when we did move the ball some, we had turnovers. Bath County played magnificently.''
Ivan Franklin, a Bath County fullback, played as well as any of them. He ended with 197 yards and five touchdowns on 21 carries. Both the yards and the touchdowns were career highs.
``How about that No. 2 fullback?'' Isaacs said.
Say what?
``Yea,'' Isaacs said. ``He started out as the starter, then after we had the two losses we went to Stewart Alexander because he gave us more of a perimeter game and also because he throws well. But Franklin was on, and he [Alexander] wasn't tonight.''
Franklin's previous benchmarks had been 165 yards rushing and three touchdowns.
``Big holes tonight,'' he said. ``Big holes. The line did a great job. We probably have the best line in this part of the state.''
Nobody would quarrel with that after seeing Bath County's smooth-operating, single-wing offense roll to 333 yards on the ground and 19 first downs. The Chargers had 222 yards in the second half, 135 of that from Franklin. Jamie Carroll added 61 more on the ground.
Franklin had 70 yards on one long touchdown stampede in the fourth. After bursting through the first line of defense, Franklin proceeded unobstructed to the Knights' 25 before safety Jason Peery caught up with him. Franklin buried him with a stiff arm and proceeded on his way.
``In the Buffalo Gap game, they were kidding me because I kept getting tackled by the safety,'' Franklin said. ``Now I've finally gotten past the safety.''
James River was down 14-0 when it had its best shot at a touchdown until late in the game called back. Blankenship connected with a leaping Brian LeFlore, who made a spectacular catch while parallel to the ground. However, he was ruled out of bounds.
\ see microfilm for box score
Keywords:
FOOTBALL
Memo: shorter version ran in the Metro edition.