ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, September 8, 1996 TAG: 9609090138
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C11 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB TEITLEBAUM STAFF WRITER
THE SPARTANS ARE shut out for the first time since the 1990 state playoffs, falling 20-0 at home.
Salem High School football fans didn't think hurricanes arrived in pairs, but they learned differently Saturday.
This time, a storm better known as Brookville blew in from the Seminole District and ruined the Spartans' opener 20-0.
Worse than the score was the way the Bees treated Salem, a perennial Region III power. The shutout was the first absorbed by Salem since a 1990 Group AA Division 4 semifinal, when the Spartans lost 19-0 at Lee-Jonesville. It was the first regular-season whitewash for Salem since 1988, when Alleghany shocked the Spartans 6-0.
Salem's offense reached the Brookville side of midfield only twice with those drives coming on the Spartans' first four possessions. By intermission, the Bees' defense was in control.
``I'll bet that surprised a few people,'' Brookville coach Mark Lineburg said of the shutout. ``We've got a lot of defensive people back from last year, but I never thought we'd shut out Salem.''
``It's been a long time'' since being shut out, said Willis White, the Spartans' coach. ``I'm disappointed how we reacted a few times, but that's the way things happen.''
Brookville's defense got a big boost from the kicking of Michael Barr. He averaged 41 yards a punt, but that number could have been better if a kick had not gone only 26 yards late in the fourth quarter.
``As a sophomore, he was one of the best punters in the state,'' Lineburg said. ``He went to punting camp this summer. He plays both ways, so sometimes he doesn't punt that well.''
It was a surprise to White, who had his kick returners deep - but not deep enough. ``I don't think they punted last week, so we never saw him. I watched him in warm-ups and he was mashing them. We had Ricky [Eubanks] back 40 yards,'' said White.
The Spartans started as if they were going to dominate. Salem had its best drive with the opening kickoff, marching to the Bees' 35 and picking up three first downs. The drive stalled and Brookville's Randy Mahaffey blocked Bret Gresham's punt.
The Bees (2-0) went nowhere, but Barr kicked Salem into a hole. On the first play, Brandon Poff fumbled and Brookville recovered at the Spartans' 17-yard line. Two plays later, Peter Givens scored from the 14.
Early in the second quarter, the Spartans reached the Bees' 21, but Barr picked off a pass by R.J. Beckwith at the 14 to end Salem's last threat. After an exchange of punts, Brookville drove 53 yards and scored a second touchdown as Givens got a block from Barr and went over from the 6 as the Bees made it 14-0 at intermission.
``We weren't very well prepared,'' White said. ``They just wore us out. We had those two opportunities and didn't do anything with them.''
Now Salem, which had 120 total yards, must try to find some offense for Group AAA Pulaski County in a game that has been switched from Friday to Sept. 14 at the Spartans' field. see microfilm for box score
LENGTH: Medium: 63 linesby CNB