THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, September 2, 1994 TAG: 9409020781
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DENISE MICHAUX, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Short : 47 lines
It was supposed to be the debut of ``Air Maury''.
But the Commodores didn't need to leave the ground to hand Oscar Smith a 25-7 loss in the season opener for both teams at Chittum Field on Thursday. The loss was the Tigers' 14th straight dating back to the 1992 season.
``We know we can throw the ball,'' Maury head coach Bobby Pannenbacker said. ``When we found out we could run against them, we wanted to do it.
``We weren't able to run the ball at all during our scrimmages the last couple of weeks, but we did a lot of throwing and I know we can throw it.''
In fact Maury quarterback Todd Davidson didn't even attempt a pass until midway through the second quarter.
Junior fullback William Black led the rushing attack with 110 yards on 18 carries and a pair of touchdowns. Halfbacks Mario White and Charlie Brown added one touchdown apiece as the Commodores totaled 218 yards on 48 carries.
Both teams were able to capitalize on the other's mistakes as Jeff Smallwood recovered two second quarter fumbles which Maury converted into back-to-back touchdowns to take a 19-0 halftime lead. Smallwood would grab one more fumble before the night was over.
Oscar Smith got on the board when a play the Commodores pride themselves on succeeding at went awry.
On fourth-and-six, Davidson punted, but Maury got called for illegal procedure and Oscar Smith wanted the Commodores to kick it again.
Pannenbacker called for the fake and Davidson looked down the right sideline for a receiver. The one he found was wearing the wrong color jersey and Terry Harris returned the interception 50 yards for the Tigers' only score.
``That was costly,'' Pannenbacker said. ``It was a gamble, but we run that play all of the time. It is risky, but it has worked for us more often than not.''
While the running game got the job done Thursday, Pannenbacker saw a lot of room for improvement.
``I think we still need a little bit of conditioning,'' Pannenbacker said. ``I noticed we were losing our legs a little there in the fourth. I was surprised. I thought we were in better condition than that.'' by CNB