THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, October 26, 1996 TAG: 9610260520
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C7 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY REA FARMER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH LENGTH: 43 lines
Churchland's high-risk option offense played right into the hands of the Norview defense Friday night.
The Pilots, hungry for a win to keep their Eastern District title quest alive, grabbed six of the Truckers' nine fumbles en route to a 22-14 victory at Churchland.
With the win, Norview continued its recovery from a struggling start. The ninth-ranked Pilots suffered three early losses, but have now improved to 5-3 overall and are 4-1 in the Eastern, tied with Booker T. Washington for second in the district and trailing Norcom, undefeated in district play.
Norcom faces those two schools the next two weeks.
``Booker T. beat us once at the beginning of the season, so they think they can beat us again,'' Norview quarterback James Whitley said. ``We've got to win our next one. I'm not even worried about Norcom yet. We have to deal with Booker T. first.''
Whitley virtually willed the Pilots to victory over the seventh-ranked Truckers, throwing three touchdown passes and rushing for 66 yards. Larry Austin was absent from Norview's offense with an injury and Joe Jordan and Eric Hines played with injuries.
``It came from the heart,'' Whitley said. ``This shows a lot of character. The offensive line played their butts off. They buckled down and we let the big guy go for it.''
The big guy was David Martin, who hauled in touchdown passes of 37 and 25 yards. Brian Faulk got the other score on a 6-yard catch.
``After the Maury loss, we got together and talked,'' Norview coach David Heath said. ``We knew we didn't want to get in the position of a playoff. We made a commitment to a four-game season. They've won the first two.''
Both Norview and Churchland (5-3, 2-3) scored on their opening drives. Churchland responded to Faulk's touchdown when freshman quarterback Brandon Hall raced 6 yards for a touchdown. He also ran in the conversion, tying the game 8-8.
With 6:19 remaining in the half, Churchland's Jamin Elliott intercepted Whitley in the end zone, but the Truckers fumbled two plays later to set up Martin's second touchdown.
Five minutes into the third quarter, Hall scored on a 2-yard run. by CNB