THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, November 4, 1995 TAG: 9511040512
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JULIE GOODRICH, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE LENGTH: Short : 41 lines
With a 32-8 win over Oscar Smith barely on the books Friday night, the fourth-ranked Western Branch Bruins formed a huddle and began calling out to each other the phrases that have guided their season.
``Deep Creek, fellas! Bring it on!''
Western Branch was all business against the Tigers, overcoming the absence of leading rusher Shyrone Stith in a victory that set up a showdown with top-ranked Deep Creek next week for the Southeastern District title.
Both the Bruins and Deep Creek, who defeated Great Bridge 34-0, are 6-0 in the district.
``We called this a playoff game. We had to win it to get to Deep Creek,'' said Bruins receiver Darren Walton. ``We've done everything we had to do up to this point.''
Although the absence of Stith, who is out with a swollen kidney, showed in the running game - Western Branch's leading rusher was former junior varsity star Keith Burnell, who carried nine times for 48 yards - the Bruins compensated with a solid passing game and stingy defense.
Walton put Western Branch (8-1, 6-0) ahead by taking the opening kickoff 73 yards for a touchdown, and Malik Cook capped a seven-play, 93-yard drive with a touchdown run from the 2 early in the second to put the Bruins up 15-0.
Oscar Smith (5-4, 3-3) scored with a second left in the half on a 15-yard completion from Jamar Lewis to Moses Johnson, but Western Branch squashed any momentum by recovering a Kelvin Bethea fumble on the Tigers' first play of the third quarter.
The Bruins went the other way with machine-like efficiency, and Cook notched his second touchdown with a 9-yard burst midway through the period.
In the fourth quarter, Daniel Dussia hit a 34-yard field goal and Daryl Walton found Idris Sherard with a 17-yard TD pass. by CNB