ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, November 17, 1996 TAG: 9611180132
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B9 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE
SOURCE: DANIEL UTHMAN STAFF WRITER
VIRGINIA FRESHMAN Antwan Harris returns an interception for a touchdown, proving his worth to the Tar Heels.
When he was a senior at private Ravenscroft High School in Raleigh, N.C., North Carolina's football program turned its back on him. Antwan Harris, a star runner and defensive back, was disappointed.
A turn of his shoulder, however, cast a much more disappointed feeling on the Tar Heels on Saturday at Scott Stadium. Harris, a true freshman safety, turned his shoulder toward the sideline to make North Carolina quarterback Chris Keldorf think he was covering the outer reaches of the field.
Harris was bluffing. Instead, he cut inside and intercepted Keldorf on Virginia's 5-yard line. Seeing nothing but empty turf ahead of him, he sprinted 95 yards for a touchdown that spurred the Cavaliers to a 20-17 upset victory.
``I looked at the quarterback and I said `Yes.' Next thing I know, he threw it into my arms,'' Harris said. ``When I looked up and saw nobody in front of me, I said, `Touchdown! Touchdown!' I just started breathing real hard and ran as hard as I could.''
Tar Heels tailback Leon Johnson was the only player that chased him, but after witnessing Harris' 4.2 speed for almost 40 yards, Johnson ended his pursuit.
Harris wanted to make it count, if only because it came on his first play of the game.
``He was running for his life, his scholarship,'' said Rick Lantz, Virginia's defensive coordinator. ``It was score, or go back home. And you know, he's a North Carolina kid.''
But he's not a Tar Heel. Harris said the Carolina assistant that recruited his district last year in the North Carolina Independent School Athletic Association wasn't interested in him or his peers, although his prep teammate, defensive end Stephon McQueen, a Virginia signee who was not admitted into school, is a Tar Heels redshirt. So Harris committed to Virginia.
``The coach recruiting my district didn't think I could play up to their standards,'' Harris said.
The same could not be said for Lantz, who late in the third quarter told Harris to go in the game on Virginia's next defensive series. When he gave the order, Lantz had no idea the next series would begin with the Cavaliers backed up on their end, but Harris made sure Lantz's word wasn't a bluff like his shoulder fake on Keldorf.
Harris also credited Lantz and cornerback Ronde Barber for setting him up for the interception. Lantz had seen the Cavaliers get burned on three inside slant passes to Octavus Barnes on North Carolina's third quarter, 80-yard touchdown drive. He told his defensive backs not to be fooled by any outside fakes. Barber coached and coaxed Harris just before the interception, yelling at him, ``Sit there! Sit there!''
``We were trying to get him to understand that guy's not coming out. Get inside,'' Lantz said. ``Well, Antwan did. That was good. How's that for an understatement?''
Just as subtle, but equally important was the play that preceded that ill-fated Tar Heels drive. Without a bad play gone good for Aaron Brooks, Virginia's sophomore backup quarterback, Harris wouldn't have gotten the chance for his pickoff.
Brooks was intercepted by North Carolina linebacker Brian Simmons at the UNC 35-yard line. Simmons charged downfield, similar to the way Harris ran just a minute later.
``I was chillin', just joggin' nonchalant,'' Brooks said. ``He kept running. Then I thought nobody was going to tackle him. I was like, `Oh, OK.'''
Brooks chased and snagged a piece of Simmons' helmet and jersey while forcing him out of bounds at the UVa 10-yard line. Without Brooks' pursuit, the Tar Heels would have had another sure touchdown. In the locker room after the game, former Virginia defensive end Eddie Robertson told Brooks, a player who has lacked praise this season, ``That was the stop of the game.''
Just as Brooks stopped North Carolina, Harris made Virginia go only minutes later.
``When Antwan Harris made that play,'' Lantz said, ``everybody's spirits went up. Their [Carolina's] spirits had to go down.''
Harris may have been just the man to do it. The Tar Heels downed his spirits last year. This year it was his turn.
LENGTH: Medium: 85 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: DON PETERSEN STAFF Rafael Garcia (left) celebrates hisby CNBgame-winning field goal with Virginia quarterback Tim Sherman on
Saturday night. The Cavaliers beat the Tar Heels 20-17. color