ROANOKE TIMES

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, October 21, 1993                   TAG: 9310210103
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-8   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: RALPH BERRIER JR. STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SHAWSVILLE                                LENGTH: Medium


QUARTERBACKS ARE IN SEASON FOR SHAWSVILLE'S LEON EAST

Until last Friday, Leon East's calendar never deviated from its pattern of seasonal changes. Wintertime was hunting season, spring and summer were fishing season, and fall was football season.

Then, maybe because of a change in the alignment of the planets or perhaps that wacky greenhouse effect, a new season emerged on the calendar.

Last Friday in Shawsville, it was quarterback season.

Shawsville High's football team hunted down Craig County quarterback Robbie Huffman and sacked him eight times in a 7-0 nondistrict win. East, an avid outdoorsman who who hunts other types of wildlife in the off-season, led the hunting trip with four sacks.

The junior linebacker bagged all sorts of opposing prey in garnering his 12 tackles. Running backs had bull's-eyes stitched to their jerseys and East kept them in his cross hairs. By the end of the night, Huffman had been all but stuffed and mounted by East. There wouldn't have been enough space in a trophy room for all of East's haul.

"Can you imagine," East said, "a room with a bunch of heads with helmets on them?"

East chuckled and shook his head at the grotesqueness of such a thought, but there was no scoffing at his defensive play. Using coach Jerry Cannaday's game plan to blitz exclusively up the middle, East raced unscathed through the offensive line and spent more time in the backfield than some of Craig County's running backs.

"Coach told me before the game, `We're going to blitz you more,'" said East. "I said, `OK.'

"They never stopped it. They never acted like they wanted to pick me up [and block the blitz]. In the fourth quarter, a guy tried to roll-block me, but I think that was an accident."

Cannaday knew that Craig's shotgun offense and one-back set were vulnerable to blitzes. In the second half, East said he was blitzing every two or three plays.

"We felt like Craig County would throw the ball seventy five percent of the time," said Cannaday. "We knew we couldn't give their quarterback time to throw."

Although it was odd that Craig County's offensive line paid little attention to East, he has actually gotten used to going unnoticed on the football field. On offense, he is a tight end whose primary responsibility is to pass-block instead of pass-catch. Last year, as a fullback, he mostly blocked for tailback Jason Booth, who gained 1,167 yards.

In fact, he almost felt like apologizing to his teammates for having such a high-profile performance.

"I asked the other 'backer [Ben Basham] if he minded that I was blitzing so much," East said. "He said he didn't care."

East's fine game was a major part of a solid defensive effort put forth by the Shawnees, whose lone score came on Darrell Bibb's 47-yard touchdown pass to Daniel Hatcher in the third quarter.

"We've been consistent on defense because, unlike on offense, we haven't had any injuries," said Cannaday.

East has been one of the most consistent defensive players despite standing an unimposing 5-foot-10 and weighing 165 pounds.

"I don't look at myself as a guy who can scare other people," said East. "But I can handle my own on the football field."

He also knows his way around the woods or a creek bank. He only kills what he will eat, and he keeps no reminders of his game save for the venison steaks he loves.

"The only thing I ever thought about getting mounted was a pretty big fish," he said. "It was a large-mouth bass, sixteen and a half inches long, that weighed two and a half pounds."

Shawsville has won only twice in six games and is no threat to make the playoffs. East, however, will maintain his own post-season plans.

"Rifle season starts the Monday after football season's over," he said.

Until then, it's still open season on quarterbacks.

Other performances of note:

Narrows' star tailback Whitey Blankenship had another stellar night by carrying 21 times for 201 yards and three touchdowns in the Green Wave's 34-0 pasting of Bland County.

Pulaski County's 45-6 pounding of Salem was made possible by 117 yards and a touchdown from wingback Carl Lewis, two touchdowns each from Eric Webb and Brian Redd, and 81 rushing yards and 51 passing yards from quarterback Andre Eaves.

Peter Janney rushed for 131 yards and a touchdown and Raypheal Milton had 124 yards and two touchdowns in Giles' 30-28 come-from-behind win at Radford. The Bobcats' Cornell Wesley rushed for 176 yards and scored three touchdowns in a losing effort.

Mischa Alexander threw a 29-yard touchdown pass to Kevin Wright with 15 seconds left, then hit David Epperly for the game-winning 2-point conversion in Christiansburg's 22-21 win at Richlands. Tailback Andra Beasley rushed for 116 yards and scored a touchdown in the Blue Demons' win over last year's Group AA Division 4 champions.



 by CNB