THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, December 11, 1994 TAG: 9412110244
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C14 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JULIE GOODRICH, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium: 60 lines
Going into the Group AAA, Division 5 championship, Deep Creek knew one of the biggest obstacles standing in the way of a state title would be Patrick Henry-Ashland quarterback Daninelle Derricott and his monster of an offensive line.
A dual threat on the run or through the air, Derricott had rushed for 1,293 yards and passed for 1,202 behind an offensive line that averages 280 pounds.
Although Derricott's passing ability wasn't in evidence on Saturday (he failed to make a completion in four attempts and was intercepted once), the senior burned the Hornets on two bootleg fakes that led to the Patriots' first and last touchdowns in a 21-7 win.
``Those bootlegs are what hurt us most. Without those two plays we're still in the ballgame,'' said Deep Creek defensive coordinator John Dukes. ``He didn't throw them and ended up turning the corner on us for big gains. He's a good athlete, and that's what it boiled down to.''
Patrick Henry (14-0) went nowhere in its first possession of the game and stalled at the Hornets' 47 midway through the first quarter.
Facing third and 7, Derricott dropped back to throw. He tucked the ball away on the fake and scrambled to the right side, then up across the field for a 37-yard gain.
Three plays later the Patriots took a 7-0 lead on a one-yard touchdown leap by Okema Lewis.
``We just didn't contain (Derricott),'' said Dukes. ``The linebacker trapped him behind the line of scrimmage, but he didn't make the tackle.''
Leading 14-7, Patrick Henry took the ball with five minutes left to play in the third quarter.
Facing third and 3 from his own 41, Derricott called his own number and ran the ball on a quarterback keeper.
The Hornets' met Derricott at the line of scrimmage but allowed him to escape, and Derricott broke free for a 13-yard gain to put the Patriots in Deep Creek territory.
Later in the drive, a motion penalty put Patrick Henry in a third and 10 situation. Derricott again dropped back to pass, then scrambled through the line and out into the open for a 15-yard gain.
A minute into the fourth quarter Derricott capped off the scoring drive with a 9-yard touchdown, his 17th of the season, for a 21-7 Patriots lead.
``Basically we wanted to shut them down up the middle, but we didn't wrap up and make the tackles,'' said senior lineman Wes Cochran, who recovered a Derricott fumble at the Deep Creek 7 with six minutes left to play to prevent Patrick Henry from scoring again. ``The quarterback was real hard to get a hold of. . . he was real quick and had great speed.''
Derricott finished with a game-high 119 of the Patriots' 302 yards. O'Neil Terrell carried the ball 17 times for 89 yards, including a 19-yard touchdown run in the second quarter. Running backs Lewis and Ricky Wilkerson chipped in with 51 and 43 yards respectively.
``We worked hard on stunting, something we don't normally do a lot of, and we missed some tackles because of it,'' said Dukes. ``We gave up 40-50 pounds a man on the line, but we didn't quit at the end. I'm real proud of them.'' by CNB