THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, November 25, 1995 TAG: 9511250362
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JULIE GOODRICH, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE LENGTH: Medium: 79 lines
Luck ran out for Deep Creek just 7 yards from the Hampton end zone as quarterback Arnie Powell was intercepted by Darnell Hollier with 30 seconds left to play and the Crabbers held on for a 24-19 win Friday in the Division 5 Eastern Region final at Oscar Smith High School.
``Once we got on track we played good football. We had our shots and came up a little short,'' said Hornets head coach Jerry Carter.
The last-second loss mimicked the 1994 Eastern Region final between the two teams, but that time Deep Creek came out ahead 48-42 on a touchdown catch with three seconds left.
Deep Creek (11-1) scored with 1:24 left to play in the fourth quarter when Angelo Sykes completed a 13-play, 65-yard drive with an end zone plunge from the 2. The two-point conversion failed, leaving the Hornets down by five and needing a touchdown to win the game.
Carter then called for the onside kick. Joe Verdi executed the play to perfection with a high bouncing kick that split two Hampton players before Hornets junior Henry Martin pounced on the ball at the Crabbers' 46.
Deon Dyer got the ball first, busting through the middle of the offensive line for a 6-yard gain that put him over 300 yards for the game. After two incompletions, Powell took off on the option on fourth-and-5, sweeping left behind a wall of blockers for a 19-yard gain to the Hampton 21 with 49 seconds left.
Powell threw another incompletion, then was flushed out of the pocket by a swarm of defenders for a 4-yard loss. Facing third-and- 14 with 36 seconds left, Powell looked for Sykes over the middle, but Hollier dove in front of the attempt to snare the ball at the 7.
``We knew we could have scored there, but (Hollier) got the interception,'' said Hornets linebacker George Miller.
Dyer, a senior for Deep Creek, was almost superhuman in the loss, rushing for 301 yards on 34 carries and routinely dragging four and five Hampton defenders on his back in an attempt to gain extra yardage.
While Dyer was doing everything for the Hornets the Crabbers relied on sophomore quarterback Ronald Curry, who threw for 227 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 120 yards and another score.
Although Curry was intercepted twice by Miller, only the third and fourth times he has been picked off this year, he engineered a perfect fourth-quarter drive that resulted in the game-winning touchdown, then switched to the other side of the ball and starred for the Crabbers defensively.
``We knew they were going to throw the ball, but Curry was the difference in this game,'' Carter said. ``We just couldn't contain him.''
After a scoreless first quarter, Curry staked Hampton (11-1) to a 12-0 lead at the half on touchdown passes to Kenneth Jackson and Ahmed Hawkins.
Powell got Deep Creek on the board with a 36-yard touchdown run in the third quarter, but the Crabbers answered on their next possession with Darryl Smith's 32-yard score that gave Hampton an 18-7 lead with 1:30 left in the period.
Then Dyer took over. After a 14-yard Powell sweep gave the Hornets first down at the Crabbers' 32, Dyer surged through the line for a 17-yard gain. Dyer opened the fourth quarter with a 9-yard rip off left tackle, followed by a 6-yard run to the Hampton 21.
Powell's 24-yard completion to Carlos Perry made it first-and-goal from the 7, and Dyer chewed off the final yardage on two carries, scoring from the 2 with 9:06 left to play.
Curry came back on the next drive, capping a 69-yard drive with a touchdown run from the 8 for the winning score before Deep Creek started its last-minute heroics. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo by BETH BERGMAN, The Virginian-Pilot
With Barc Bacote of Hampton draped over his back, Deep Creek's
Terrence Mack loses control of the ball during first-half action
Friday night.
Photo by BETH BERGMAN, The Virginian-Pilot
Hampton quarterback Ronald Curry, right, scrambles away from Kevin
Parker of Deep Creek. Curry passed for 227 yards and two touchdowns
and ran for 120 yards and a TD.
by CNB