Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, November 20, 1993 TAG: 9311200238
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JIMMY ROBERTSON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RUSTBURG LENGTH: Medium
Salem's dominance in the Group AA Region III Division 4 football playoffs came to end Friday night as the Rustburg Red Devils pounded the Spartans 27-6.
Salem's loss ended a string of four regional titles dating to 1989. It also marked the first time Salem had played a regional playoff game on the road in that span. The Spartans had gone 9-1 in regional play since dropping from Group AAA to Group AA, with all 10 games played at Salem Stadium.
The loss also prevented Salem head coach Willis White from gaining the 150th victory of his career.
"I'm more disappointed in losing the game than not getting the milestone," White said. "I am proud of our kids because they played hard, but we were simply manhandled at the line of scrimmage and we made too many mistakes to win."
The mistakes for Salem (7-4) started in the second quarter. After taking over from Rustburg on downs at their 25-yard line, the Spartans marched to the Red Devils' 36 before facing a fourth-and-one decision. White opted to go for it, and running back Marcus Parker was stopped short by a swarming Rustburg defense.
The Red Devils (11-1) responded with a seven-play, 66-yard drive that ended with quarterback Telly Anthony hitting Mark Creasy for a 15-yard touchdown pass. The extra-point kick gave Rustburg a 7-0 lead.
"I ran a simple out pattern, but the defender [Colin Hudson] fell down," Creasy said. "Telly put the ball on the spot and I took it in."
Another Salem mistake led to a Red Devils touchdown before halftime. Spartans quarterback Kevin Feazell, who threw three interceptions, tried to hit a receiver on a post pattern, but Kevin Jones picked off the pass to give Rustburg the ball at its 29. A six-play, 71-yard drive ended with Anthony hitting Creasy again for a 39-yard scoring strike. The extra point gave the Red Devils a 14-0 lead at halftime.
"We probably should have thrown the ball," said Paul Wheeler, Rustburg's coach. "We need to become more balanced, but Salem was doing some things on defense that we had not seen, so we stuck with our running game."
The second half was pretty much the same as the first - Salem miscues leading to Red Devils touchdowns. Early in the third quarter, Spartans punter Nathan Routt could not handle a high snap and was swarmed at the Rustburg 3. On the next play, Tyrone Scott, who rushed for 71 yards on 19 carries, scored. The extra-point attempt was no good, but the Red Devils led 20-0.
"The game probably should have been 7-0 going into the fourth quarter," White said. "But give them credit. They took advantage of our mistakes like good teams are supposed to do."
Rustburg's defense put the game out of reach midway through the fourth quarter. With the Spartans on the Red Devils' 4, quarterback Seth Moore, who had replaced Feazell, rolled out and threw. His pass was picked off by Jones, who took it 99 yards for a touchdown.
That interception capped an outstanding effort by the smaller Rustburg defense. The Red Devils held Salem's vaunted running attack to 71 yards and gave up only six first downs. Rustburg intercepted four passes, recovered one fumble and did not give up a first down until the nine-minute mark of the second quarter.
"We really did not do anything special against Salem," Wheeler said. "We just used our speed and swarmed to the ball."
The Spartans averted a shutout by scoring late in the game, when Moore hit Mike Prater for a 17-yard touchdown pass.
by CNB