Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, August 12, 1995 TAG: 9508140127
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JAMES C. BLACK STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The Rush makes its National Minor League Football debut with its regular-season opener against the Central Pennsylvania Piranhas at 7 p.m. in Victory Stadium.
Roanoke is coming off a 36-7 victory over the Carolina Stars in last Saturday's exhibition contest at Victory Stadium.
The Piranhas, a Mid-Atlantic Conference foe of the Rush, were defeated 29-12 by the West Virginia Lightning last weekend.
The Rush accumulated 356 total yards against Carolina with 241 coming by way of the running game. Tailback Ranall White ran for 118 yards, 98 in the first half.
``The offensive line did an excellent job,'' said head coach Denie Marie. ``I like the way we ran the football and the passing game was well for the amount of passes we threw.''
Rush starting quarterback Fred Lassiter was 6-of-9 for 115 yards.
The Rush defense allowed just 235 yards of total offense.
``Defensively, we applied pressure,'' Marie said. ``There were a lot of black & gold jerseys around the football.''
But for all the success Roanoke had last week, there was at least one kink the Rush coaching staff would like to iron out - the kicking game.
Place-kicker Dustin Fonder missed field goals of 20 and 31 yards in the first half.
``If we have opportunities to put points on the board, we have to score three or seven points,'' Marie said.
Fonder, who was the NCAA Division III soccer player of the year in 1993 when he was a senior at Roanoke College and who was a midfielder for the Roanoke RiverDawgs of the United Systems of Independent Soccer Leagues this summer, is believed to be playing organized football for the first time.
Frank Fitzgerald, a former wide receiver and kicker at Salem High, has been kicking in practice this week and will assume the duties in tonight's game.
``We will bring Dustin along and get him used to the aspect of kicking a football,'' Marie said.
The Rush will also have its eyes on defensive tackle Jerome Preston, the team's most recent acquisition and Virginia Tech's MVP in 1992 .
Preston, who's been to camp with the NFL's New York Giants, had limited playing time in last weekend's contest.
by CNB