Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, October 30, 1993 TAG: 9310300168
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: JIMMY ROBERTSON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
It kept going and going and going.
Pulaski racked up a whopping 512 yards rushing, and Carl Lewis scored four touchdowns as the Cougars overwhelmed the Northside Vikings 63-21 in a non-district game at Northside.
Pulaski's win sets up a Roanoke Valley District showdown next week against Patrick Henry, which defeated Franklin County 33-6 Friday night. Pulaski, the No. 1 ranked team in Group AAA, is undefeated this year and will face a Patriot team that has won six straight games.
In a game which featured more than 700 yards of rushing offense, it was actually Northside that struck first.
Darius Henderson returned the opening kickoff 96 yards to start the offensive fireworks, and the extra point gave Northside a 7-0 lead.
That score was the only one Northside (4-3) would get in the first half as the Cougar offense took control.
On its first possession, Pulaski (7-0) went 61 yards in nine plays before Carl Lewis took it in from 11 yards, and the extra point tied the game at 7. Lewis, who rushed for 163 yards on 13 carries, carried five times for 34 yards on the drive.
"I just followed my blocks all night," Lewis said. "The offensive line did a great job of blocking to allow me to get into their defensive backfield."
Pulaski's Eric Webb intercepted quarterback Shane Whisnant's pass on the Vikings' next possession, and the Cougars took over on the Northside 30. A 21-yard run by Webb gave Pulaski a first down at the Viking 9, and on the next play quarterback Andre Eaves scored. The extra point gave Pulaski a 14-7 lead at the end of the first quarter.
"They just have so much team speed," Northside coach Jim Hickam said. "We over-pursued several times and their backs would cut back and run away from us."
Another Northside turnover led to Pulaski's next score. Whisnant fumbled the ball at the Viking 40 to give the Cougars good field position. Webb, who rushed for 95 yards on seven carries, rumbled 38 yards to the Viking 2, and on the next play, Lewis scored.
"I thought we were very sharp offensively," Pulaski coach Joel Hicks said. "Our offensive line did a good job and all the backs ran hard. Our running game worked well tonight."
Pulaski's last touchdown of the half came midway through the second quarter. After forcing Northside to punt on its next possession, the Cougars took over on their own 16. On the second play of the drive, Eaves went 63 yards up the sideline to set up Webb's 11-yard touchdown run that made it 28-7.
"I looked up and saw a huge hole," Eaves said of the run. "I took it down the sideline, but someone caught me from behind before I could score."
Eaves pulled a groin on the play and sat out the second half, but he said that he should be ready to play next week.
The second half was pretty much the same for Pulaski. On the Cougars' first two possessions of the half, Lewis scored on jaunts of 69 and 37 yards as Pulaski took control.
The one bright spot for Northside was running back Karim Thompson, who rushed for 164 of Northside's 204 rushing yards on 10 carries and scored two touchdowns. \
see microfilm for box score
Keywords:
FOOTBALL
Memo: shorter version ran in the Metro edition.