Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, November 20, 1993 TAG: 9311200218
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: M.J. DOUGHERTY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PEARISBURG LENGTH: Medium
Giles made winning look easy Friday night.
First, the Spartans took the opening kickoff and, relying almost exclusively on tailback Peter Janney, marched down the field for a touchdown.
Then, as the game progressed, the defense began preventing the pass and stuffing the run.
And in the second half, fullback Maurice Milton started piling up touchdowns.
Those factors combined to propel Giles past Chilhowie 33-0 in the Region C Division 2 high school football semifinals.
The unbeaten Spartans (11-0), ranked No. 4 in the state in Group A, will host the winner of today's George Wythe-Lebanon game in the regional championship game Nov. 26 at 7:30 p.m.
The Warriors (7-4) saw their first trip to the playoffs since 1989 end quickly.
Milton's running in the second half spelled doom for Chilhowie. His 20-yard run in the third quarter gave the Spartans a comfortable 17-0 lead.
His runs of 13 and 1 yards in the fourth quarter put the game out of reach.
"It was old fashioned single-wing football," said Milton. "The line opened up big holes. All I could do was run [for the scores]."
And just as it became tougher and tougher for Chilhowie to stop Milton in the second half, it became tougher and tougher for Chilhowie to move the ball against the Spartans.
The Warriors came in with the intent to move the ball using the pass. And they did get most of their yards through the air. But they managed only 52 yards passing for the game and just 14 of those came after intermission.
"They double-covered our wideouts," explained Chilhowie coach Mike Sturgill. "Offensively, we didn't do anything in the second half. I don't know if we even had a first down."
Chilhowie didn't. And the reasons were a minus 6 yards rushing, four sacks, two interceptions and a lost fumble.
"I was just trying to get in," said Byron Sargent, who had a sack in each half. "I had a tough time getting in there - they've got a pretty good line. So I tried to get lower."
Brandon Steele had the other solo sack. The other two were team efforts.
Steele also scooped up the fumble and had an interception. Chris Bales picked off a pass in the second half.
The first half saw Giles take a quick lead and then rely on its defense to hold it.
Janney took the snap and ran right 11 times in 13 plays. He gained 72 yards on the 80-yard drive, including the last 6.
But that was it for the offense until after halftime. The two other drives ended with the Spartans turning the ball over on downs in Chilhowie territory.
The second of those came after usual starting tailback Raypheal Milton - who missed most of the game with a sprained left ankle - came in and attempted two passes. Both fell incomplete.
"We knew we weren't going to be passing much tonight," said Janney. "So we had to run it at them. That certainly was our plan tonight. We wanted to wear them out where they wouldn't want to come back."
by CNB