THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, October 23, 1994 TAG: 9410200169
SECTION: CAROLINA COAST PAGE: 27 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Sports
SOURCE: BY JEFF ZEIGLER, CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: BARCO LENGTH: Medium: 70 lines
THE RIVALRY between Manteo and Currituck County has been intense over the last few years, and last Saturday's football game between the Redskins and Knights was no exception.
First of all, there was a lot on the line. The loser would be in jeopardy of missing the 2A playoffs.
The Redskins wanted it just a little more, perhaps for coach Moncie ``Punk'' Daniels' last season. Jeff Wescott scored on a 27-yard run and Jake Twiford booted the game's only extra point to lift Manteo to a 25-24 win over Currituck in a game played in gale-force winds.
The Knights had taken a 24-18 lead with 5:40 to play in the game on a 10-yard run by quarterback Justin Hill. The touchdown ended a 10-play, 67-yard drive.
But Manteo took over on its own 43 and marched in time-consuming fashion to the Currituck 27. Included in the drive was a 10-yard pass play from Lee Martin to Larry Tolley, one of only two passes completed in the entire game.
From the 27, Wescott took a handoff and ran for the touchdown on a third-and-1 play with 1:44 to go in the game. Twiford set up for the extra point kick into the wind. He had missed an extra point that would have given the Redskins the lead earlier in the fourth quarter, but this one split the uprights and gave Manteo the victory.
Wescott rushed for 158 yards on 24 carries and scored two other touchdowns. He led off the scoring with a 5-yard touchdown run at 6:27 of the first quarter. The Knights then took a 12-6 lead in front of their homecoming crowd on two touchdown runs by Ryan Seymore. Seymore, who rushed for 149 yards on 29 carries, scored on a 13-yard run to tie the game at 6-6 with 11:52 to play in the first half, then gave the Knights the lead at 12-6 on a 4-yard run with 5:10 to play in the half.
Manteo capitalized on a Currituck mistake late in the first half. Currituck's Hill threw a pass into the hands of Manteo's Tolley with 1:24 to play in the half. With the ball on the Currituck 9, it took the Redskins just two plays to score. Wescott punched it in from the 7 to tie the game at 12.
The Knights took the lead again with 5:10 to play in the third quarter on Seymore's 13-yard run.
Manteo came back on its next possession to tie the game at 18 on a 1-yard keeper by Martin with 10:45 to play.
The Manteo-Currituck rivalry dates back to when the two teams played in the 1A Albemarle Conference. Daniels said the two teams always play each other hard, no matter what their records.
``Every year the game is right down to the line,'' Daniels said.
The wind, which saddled Manteo's usually active passing game, forced the Redskins to run.
``We felt like we could run the ball against Currituck, but unfortunately they could also run the ball against us,'' Daniels said.
With the win, Manteo kept pace with conference leaders Southeast Halifax and Plymouth for the two 2A playoff spots.
With the loss, the Knights are nearly out of the playoff picture, something that coach Donnie Simpson is not used to.
``We're in a hole, there's no question about it,'' Simpson said. ``I would think a team with two losses wouldn't make it (to the playoffs).'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by DREW C. WILSON
Perhaps the impetus in the Manteo High Redskins' win Oct. 14 was
that this is football coach Moncie ``Punk'' Daniels' final season.
by CNB