THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, October 9, 1994 TAG: 9410090178
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C7 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ED MILLER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 61 lines
Brother, can you spare an extra point?
Things would have been a lot easier for Norfolk State if the Spartans had made a few more of them Saturday, in a 50-48 win over Winston-Salem State.
The Spartans needed eight touchdowns to beat the Rams, when they could have done it with seven.
The culprit was missed extra point attempts, something that has hurt the Spartans all year.
With eight touchdowns and the accompanying kicks, the Spartans would have had 56 points. Seven touchdowns and PATs would have given them 49.
Instead, the Spartans managed just two extra points, on a pass from Aaron Sparrow to James Roe. They missed one attempted kick and six other two-point attempts.
``It's a problem for us, but something we just have to deal with,'' coach Darnell Moore said.
Moore said kicker Johnnie Harrell has been kicking well in practice. But when Harrell badly missed a PAT attempt after Norfolk State's first score, Moore decided to go for two from then on.
In defense of Harrell, he is not a natural kicker. He was pressed into service when Ryan Anthony, a freshman from Canada, changed his mind about coming to school.
Harrell is 0-for-4 in PAT attempts this year. Backup quarterback Ryan Weiss is 4-for-6, but has had problems with his trajectory, Moore said. Weiss had a kick blocked against Elizabeth City State.
``The last thing we need is somebody to block the ball and run down the field for two points,'' Moore said.
Look for Norfolk State to continue to go for two most of the time.
DEJA VU ALL OVER AGAIN: It wasn't 54-54, but Saturday's game was remarkably similar to last year's thriller in Winston-Salem.
The yardage total of 1,086 was just nine short of last year's game. Like last year, Norfolk State scored twice in the final four minutes. Like last year, Winston-Salem put together long drives, while Norfolk State struck quickly.
``The difference is, we won,'' Moore said.
Which is a big difference.
SHORT HITS: Given the outcome, Moore was willing to overlook a dropped pass by freshman receiver Reggie Bureau. Bureau, a burner from Gonzales, La., sped past his man on a post pattern but dropped a perfectly thrown pass from Aaron Sparrow on the 8-yard line with 1:30 left. ``A freshman dropped the ball, but we'll throw to him again,'' Moore said. ``He's going to be a good player.''. . eight catches Saturday, he has 18 in the last two games. . . .Andre Nixon led the Spartans with 17 tackles, while James Walton had 15. But the defense obviously didn't have the kind of day Moore would have liked. Before the game, he said he expected the Spartans to have one of their better efforts. Instead, it gave up six touchdowns, excluding the one Winston scored on a fumble return. ``We didn't expect to give up as many points as we did, but we stopped them when we had to,'' linebacker Richard Montgomery said. by CNB