ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, September 28, 1996 TAG: 9609300135
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB TEITLEBAUM STAFF WRITER
As one observer said Friday, for so many years when a Lord Botetourt football team was down, it didn't get up.
Scratch that theory. The Cavaliers were about as far down as they could get. Then they majestically rose, thumped William Byrd 34-14 to remain unbeaten, and set up a Blue Ridge District showdown at home next week with Salem.
For 18 minutes, it was all William Byrd. The Terriers had a two-touchdown lead, Lord Botetourt running back Wesley Cox had negative yardage and the Cavaliers hadn't been even close to a first down.
In the next 10 minutes and a few seconds, it was Lord Botetourt's turn. It started with a hitch pass from Seth Myers to Jeremy Conner for 31 yards and it ended three touchdowns later when the Cavaliers' Derrick Stanley recovered a bad snap in the Byrd end zone to put Lord Botetourt ahead 21-14.
``It was just there, so I pulled it in,'' said Stanley of his recovery.
Botetourt's offense got a jump start when Conner caught a short toss from Myers and scooted to Byrd's 44. That ignited a 75-yard drive and enabled Cox to escape Byrd's defense as he reeled off a 20-yard run and then scored from the 1.
On Byrd's first offensive play after the touchdown, freshman running back O.J. Thomason fumbled to the Cavaliers at the Byrd 20. Five plays later, Cox scored on a nine-yard run, tying the game at 14-14.
Byrd got the kickoff starting the second half and went nowhere. The snap sailed away on the Terriers' attempted punt and Stanley was on it for the touchdown with 10:01 left in the third quarter. In a matter of 6:36, Botetourt (4-0 overall, 1-0 in the Blue Ridge) had gone from out to in, loser to winner, once beaten back to unbeaten.
``It didn't look promising,'' said Botetourt coach Andy Ward of the opening 18 minutes. ``We needed a big play and that bad snap and fumble were so important.''
``When you have someone down, you have to jump on them,'' said Byrd coach Jeff Highfill. ``They got the momentum and it snowballed. Last week, we reacted well to being down 14-0 [to Bassett]. This week, we didn't react well to being ahead 14-0.''
Early, Byrd established its defense when Frank English stuffed Cox on the first play for a 5-yard loss. While Cox couldn't get rolling, English and Thomason ran at will. Eventually, they both rushed for more than 100 yards (245 between them).
Byrd grabbed its lead by scoring on its first two possessions. Daniel Wagner bulled in from the 1 on fourth down to finish an 80-yard drive. Then English completed a 44-yard march, set up by a short punt, when he scored on a 16-yard run.
Cox would eventually rush for 129 yards with all of it coming in the final 30 minutes. Myers passed for 80 yards with Conner grabbing three receptions.
``Our passing game opened it up for me. Then the line did a good job of blocking,'' said Cox. ``I didn't think he'd [English] be that tough, but he gave me a good hit on the opening play.''
``They had nine people in the box and we didn't pick up on it,'' said Ward. ``We changed defenses [to stop English and Thomason]. We have the bend, but don't break philosophy. But our defense is much improved over last year.''
After Lord Botetourt got its 21-14 lead, the Cavaliers didn't make the same mistake that Byrd (2-2, 0-1) had made. First, Botetourt forced a punt and then drove 56 yards in six plays to take a two-touchdown lead. Cox scored from the 1.
Midway through the final quarter, Cox mopped up the Terriers. He galloped 51 yards on three running plays, scoring on a 27-yard run to put up his fourth touchdown.
The game was costly for Byrd, which has Northside and Salem the next two weeks. Wide receiver Jamie Fuqua, who caught four passes, dislocated or broke his elbow near the end of the game.
see microfilm for box score
LENGTH: Medium: 75 linesby CNB