THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, August 31, 1996 TAG: 9608310737
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LEE TOLLIVER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: 37 lines
Ronyell Whitaker's interception was a fitting way to end a 24-13 Lake Taylor victory over Salem on Friday at Norview's Chittum Field.
Whitaker had been a one-man show on offense as well as defensive stopper at free safety. The interception capped a near-perfect performance.
``I'm surprised at how well I did tonight,'' Whitaker said. ``I had the jitters before the game. You know, it's the first game and it's time to finally play someone in a real game.
``I guess I was trying to start off where I left off last year and the interception made it nice.''
Whitaker made everything nice for Lake Taylor and miserable for the Sun Devils in the season opener for both teams.
He accounted for 16 of his team's 24 points - all in a first half in which Salem seemed helpless to stop the junior sensation. Whitaker racked up 152 yards on only eight attempts in the first two periods.
After quarterback Jim Mitchell hit Jasper Leportre on a 16-yard touchdown pass, Whitaker got in the scoring by catching Mitchell's conversion pass.
Whitaker then scored on a 29-yard run three minutes later and ran in his own conversion for a 16-0 lead only eight minutes into play.
``Jeez, he's gonna be the only high school player to win the Heisman Trophy,'' a Salem coach shouted after Whitaker's conversion run.
Whitaker wasn't finished - he scored on a 72-yarder two minutes into the second quarter. He finished with a game-high 213 yards on 22 carries.
Salem finally got on the board with no time left in the first half on Kevin Miller's 23-yard field goal. He added a 27-yarder in the fourth quarter and hit the conversion kick following Donald Eldridge's 8-yard touchdown run late in the third quarter.
Reggie Murphy led the Sun Devil's ground attack with 89 yards on 11 attempts. by CNB