THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, November 20, 1994 TAG: 9411180207
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 28 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Sports
SOURCE: BY GARY EDWARDS, CORRESPONDENT
LENGTH: Long : 125 lines
THE COMMUNITIES OF Larkspur/Salem and Woodstock vied for gridiron supremacy at Princess Anne Park two Saturdays ago - going head-to-head in two of the Virginia Beach Department of Parks and Recreation city championship games.
The Larkspur/Salem Lions met the Woodstock Mustangs in the 120-pound division. The 140-pound L/S Lions played the Woodstock Rams.
And wouldn't you know it. Nothing was decided, as the associations spilt.
The 120-pounders play on an 80-yard field; the bigger boys play on the standard 100.
Coach Charlie Bensten brought his 120-pound Lions into the title game with a 7-1-1 record. Their only loss came against Woodstock, 14-6, in the regular season. They were tied by the Kempsville Chiefs, 8-8.
``An excellent defense,'' Bensten said when asked what accounted for his team's success. ``We only gave up one rushing touchdown and 62 yards of total offense in nine games.'' Opponents managed 22 points in those games.
Woodstock coach Sid Pearl's 120-pound teams are no strangers to title games. His 1991 and 1992 squads won city championships.
``We have a lot of first-year kids playing,'' said Pearl. ``We lost our first game, 2-0. The kids looked a little mystified.''
The Mustangs got de-mystified and finished with eight consecutive wins to complete the regular season with an 8-1 record, good for first place.
Neither team could get on track on offense during the early going. Larkspur/Salem's vaunted defense completely stopped the Woodstock wishbone and I-formation attack.
The Lions also had trouble moving the ball until late in the first quarter, when L/S running back Keshaun Blunt broke open for a 22-yard run around right end. The quarter ended with the Lions on the Mustangs 4-yard line and the score, 0-0.
Running back Delmus Coley quickly changed that. He took a handoff and roared up the middle for a touchdown to give L/S a 6-0 lead. A pass for the extra point fell incomplete.
Blunt scampered for another 20 yards midway through the second quarter to set up a touchdown run of three yards by fullback Jerome Wilson. Blunt added a 2-point conversion to give Larkspur/Salem a 14-0 lead at the half.
Woodstock did not gain a first down and was held to 13 yards on offense in the first half. The team had led the league in scoring with 178 points during the season.
``We goofed off all week in practice and now it shows,'' Pearl said to his team at halftime. ``We gotta pick it up. We have a full half to come back.
``Right now, they want it worse than we do. We're one step away from making some big plays, but we're getting beat on both sides of the line.''
The Mustangs recovered an on-side kickoff to open the third quarter, but still could mount no offense. Three plays left them short of a first down and they had to punt.
Blunt continued to rip 5 and 6-yard gains through the Woodstock defense. The Lions took the ball down to the Mustangs 3-yard line and looked ready to add to their lead when quarterback Brandon Workman dropped back to pass. Workman threw the ball toward the sideline, but Woodstock cornerback Morris Webb stepped in front of the receiver and picked the pass off - taking it all the way for a touchdown. The extra point attempt failed and the third quarter ended with the Lions ahead, 14-6.
Larkspur/Salem marched down the field with the kickoff only to fumble on the Woodstock 8. Woodstock recovered. On the second play, Woodstock used some sleight-of-hand razzle-dazzle and nearly pulled off a comeback. Quarterback Jake Handlin handed the ball off to pulling guard Zack Sweitzer who raced down the sideline, headed for an apparent touchdown.
But L/S defensive back Marcus Watts caught Sweitzer from behind five yards from the goal line. Woodstock failed to move the ball in for a score and the Lions took over on downs.
Blunt raced for a 50-yard gain and sealed the fate of Woodstock and the title hopes of Larkspur/Salem. The Lions won their first 120-pound title, 14-6, and Blunt talked about his best day as a running back.
``I didn't want us to lose the game,'' said Blunt, about his 100-yard-plus day.
Coach Bentsen gathered his team together to remind them of the victory celebration, including a pizza party and a trip to the Oyster Bowl game later in the day.
IN 140-POUND ACTION:
The Larkspur/Salem Lions and the Woodstock Rams spent most of the first quarter moving the ball between the 30-yard lines. The game was a defensive struggle and punting contest in the first half.
L/S twice looked like they might break the 0-0 deadlock. They intercepted a Rams pass and returned it to the Woodstock 15-yard line; they also recovered a fumble. But they did not convert either for a score.
Woodstock returned the favor by stopping the Lions passing game cold, containing L/S quarterback Matt Carasella and running back/-receiver Eric Wynn.
An unlikely leader of the Larkspur/Salem defense was nose guard Shannon Seaton - a girl. She sat through coach Jimmy Gilbert's verbal blast just like the boys.
What, Gilbert wondered aloud and not so gently, was his team doing out there? Did they want to win the championship?
If so, he added, they better start playing like it.
Woodstock coach George Lattimore also has been around for a while. He must have been delivering a pep talk similar to Gilbert's because the Rams came out in the second half and marched down the field with the kickoff.
Woodstock's straight ahead, power attack from the I-formation and the wishbone ate up chunks of yardage.
Running back Victor Vann ran for 40 yards around right end to put the ball on the L/S 7-yard line. Two plays later, Vann dashed in to put Woodstock up, 6-0.
It was one of two touchdowns Vann scored. They turned out to be the only scoring in the game.
Woodstock's last touchdown came after Corey Trusty intercepted a Carasella pass at midfield as the third quarter ended.
Vann punched the ball in from the 3 to bring Woodstock another title.
Afterward, Lattimore asked for quiet long enough to praise his team's seasonlong dedication.
``We've had champions before,'' he said. ``But you are the only undefeated, untied champion in Woodstock (140-pound) history.''
Vann, who played quarterback on last year's team, said moving to running back was fine with him.
``I was a scrambling-type quarterback, so I get to run all the time now,'' he said. ``I like to play defense, too.''
The 13-year-old eighth-grader will move on to high school next season where he hopes to continue to do both. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by PETER S. SUNDBERG
Although on his knees, Morris Webb managed to tackle Lion Jerome
Wilson.
by CNB