DATE: Saturday, September 27, 1997          TAG: 9709270768

SECTION: SPORTS                  PAGE: C1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY JAMES C. BLACK, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: NORFOLK                           LENGTH:   40 lines

CHURCHLAND UPSETS BOOKER T.

As expected, defensive speed, tenacity and discipline were the keys to Friday night's Eastern District opener between second-ranked Booker T. Washington and No. 7 Churchland.

The surprise was that it was the Truckers who accounted for the big hits and stops, not Booker T. Washington, which came in with the area's top-ranked defense.

The Truckers recorded a sack and interception on Booker T.'s final drive to cap a 13-6 victory before Booker T.'s homecoming crowd.

``We didn't think they played a team yet that was as strong and as fast as we were,'' said Churchland coach Ken Taylor, whose Truckers fell to top-ranked Western Branch last week. ``We told the kids all week, this is not a fancy game. If you score twice, you are likely to win.''

And the Truckers (3-1, 1-0 district) stopped a serious Bookers scoring threat with less than five minutes left in the game.

Booker T. (3-1, 0-1), drove to the Truckers' 7 following a pass interference call.

But on first down, quarterback Dominic Perry, chased out of the pocket as he had been all night, slipped and fell for a 23-yard loss.

One play later, Churchland's Mike Allen picked off a scrambling Perry's pass and returned it to the Truckers 46 with 3:40 left.

``We just stepped up and made the big plays when we needed to,'' Allen said.

Churchland got on the board quickly thanks to its special teams. The Truckers recovered Purnell Salter's fumble on the opening kickoff. That led to Chatame Ward's nifty nine-yard touchdown run up the middle to give the Truckers an early 7-0 lead.

On one of Perry's rare escapes, the Booker T. quarterback avoided a Trucker defender before hitting Salter with an 18-yard touchdown pass with 8:50 left in the second quarter. However, the Bookers' PAT kick failed.

Donta Britt then capped the scoring with a 28-yard run with 3:40 left in the first half for Churchland.

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