THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, October 21, 1995 TAG: 9510210431
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JULIE GOODRICH, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE LENGTH: Medium: 51 lines
On Friday, top-ranked Deep Creek proved that a good team can play badly and still win.
After building a 16-point lead in the first half courtesy of Deon Dyer's three touchdown runs, the Hornets completely lost their ability to find the end zone, sputtering to a 28-12 win at Oscar Smith in a Southeastern District matchup.
``We played as poorly as I've seen all year. We had the chance to put them away, we just didn't,'' said Deep Creek coach Jerry Carter.
In the second half, the Hornets had two drives end in punts and two end in fumbles, one at the Oscar Smith 17.
``Certain teams . . . it's not the big game, but we need to get that in our minds. We need to put teams away quicker,'' said Dyer, who finished with 166 yards on 15 carries. ``Hopefully we can break that cycle.''
Dyer's efforts lifted his season totals to 962 yards rushing and 17 touchdowns.
Midway through the second quarter it looked as if the Hornets (7-0 overall, 4-0 district) would roll over the Tigers (3-4, 2-2) with ease.
After a key third-down completion by quarterback Arnie Powell to George Miller kept Deep Creek's first possession of the quarter alive, Teray Frost capped a 55-yard drive by motoring 29 yards for the touchdown.
The Tigers were forced to punt on the following possession, but the snap was low and bounced in the end zone.
Oscar Smith's Latron Cox recovered, but instead of taking the safety he advanced the ball to the 4. Dyer scored on the next play to give Deep Creek a 21-6 lead.
Dyer struck again less than two minutes later, burning the Tigers with a 71-yard touchdown run with 5:42 left in the first half.
Oscar Smith quarterback Jamar Lewis connected with Moses Johnson for a 21-yard touchdown with 36 seconds left in the quarter, his second TD toss of the game, to cut Deep Creek's lead to 28-12.
As fast as the scoring came in the first half for the Hornets, it disappeared just as quickly in the second. Deep Creek's first three possessions were three-downs-and-out; the only sustained drive came late in the fourth and ended with a fumble in the Tigers' red zone.
``What concerns me about this team is we play down to our competitors. We don't play at our level,'' Carter said. ``These kids have been through the wars enough to know they can't do that.'' by CNB