THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, September 2, 1995 TAG: 9509020569
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PATTI WALSH, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE LENGTH: Short : 42 lines
The Bill Lyons era at Oscar Smith got off to a roaring start as the Tigers pounced on Maury, 14-0, in the season opener for both schools Friday night.
Lyons was making his debut as the head coach at Oscar Smith. The win marks Oscar Smith's first at two-year-old Tiger Stadium after an 0-5 finish in its inaugural season at the new field.
The Tigers jumped on the Commodores in the first quarter when Byron Harvin scored from a yard out after Oscar Smith recovered one of Maury's six fumbles on the 20-yard line.
The Commodores, who got their only win in a 1-9 season at the hands of Oscar Smith last fall, never threatened. Maury amassed 193 yards of total offense, but picked up 76 yards in penalties. The Commodores' William Black led all rushers with 104 yards.
After a downpour at halftime, nearly 200 spectators left, but the Oscar Smith offense remained.
With 26 seconds left to play, Tiger quarterback Jamar Lewis hit Kelvin Bethea with a 23-yard touchdown pass to ice the victory.
``I feel great,'' Bethea said.``The fellas told me they would block for me and they did.''
Bethea, who only had only rushed for seven yards at halftime, finished the night with 83.
``We wanted to keep a fresh tailback,'' said Lyons, the head coach at Warwick for 13 years prior to taking the Oscar Smith job. ``He told me during the timeout that he was going to score on the next play.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo by RICHARD L. DUNSTON, Staff
Maury's William Black, right, gets free of Oscar Smith defenders on
some nice blocks. He led all rushers with 104 yards in a losing
effort.
by CNB