THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, October 1, 1994 TAG: 9410010439
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PAUL WHITE, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 54 lines
To hear Lake Taylor's Mario Elliott tell it, all he ever needed was a chance.
Elliott, a junior best known for his exploits as a quarterback and defensive back, nailed a 36-yard field goal in the fourth quarter to lift the Titans past eighth-ranked Norview, 10-7, Friday night at Chittum Field.
``I've never really had a chance in a game situation like this,'' Elliott said. ``I'm just glad the coaches showed so much confidence in me.''
With the game tied at 7-7 and 4:33 remaining in the game, the rightfooted Elliott blasted the ball straight-on out of Ronyell Whitaker's hold, sending it sailing over the crossbar with some 10 yards to spare.
The kick settled a hard-hitting affair dominated by two quick, aggressive defenses. The underrated Pilot defenders held Lake Taylor rushers to less than 150 yards (136) for the third straight game, while the Titans' defense put the clamps on Wayne Bacon, who came into the night as the area's leading rusher.
Bacon, he of the 427-yard effort against Kellam, ran for just 46 yards in 20 carries as he was keyed on, pursued and finally gang-tackled nearly every time he touched the ball.
``We concentrated on the guy,'' Lake Taylor defensive end Alan Hyman said. ``We weren't going to let him run all over us. We wanted to prove to ourselves and everyone else that Lake Taylor's no joke.''
The Pilots (2-2, 0-1 in the Eastern District) aren't laughing. After averaging nearly 500 yards total offense the past two weeks, Norview managed just 171 against the ball-hawking Titans (3-2, 1-1).
Seventy-four of those yards came on the Pilots' final drive. After Elliott's field goal, Pilot quarterback Jorice Mason completed six of eight attempts to march Norview from their own 15 to the Lake Taylor 25 with 33 seconds left.
But the drive stalled when Hyman sacked Mason for a seven-yard loss. The ball popped free, but officials ruled the play dead at the spot of the sack.
An incensed Norview coach Will Robinson claimed several seconds ran off the clock as the players chased the loose ball, costing his team a shot at a game-tying field goal.
``We coaches are judged by administrators and the press for wins and losses, but other people who are involved in the game have no checks and balance system,'' Robinson declared in his lone post-game comment.
The Pilots did get off one last play, in which Mason scrambled to the Titans' 11 before being tripped up as time expired.
The Titans' lone touchdown came on a four-yard run by Keyoki Wilson in the second quarter. Norview answered on its next possession when Tracy Lewis hauled in Mason's 33-yard strike. by CNB