
DATE: Saturday, November 29, 1997           TAG: 9711290494

SECTION: SPORTS                  PAGE: C8   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: STAFF REPORT 

                                            LENGTH:   49 lines

HAMPTON TAKES AIM AT THE STATE'S CONSECUTIVE WINS RECORD CRABBERS CAN TIE MARK VS. PATRICK HENRY TODAY.

Hampton can tie the state record for consecutive football victories when it meets Patrick Henry-Ashland today in a Group AAA Division 5 semifinal game at Todd Stadium.

Lunenburg Central, a Group A school in Victoria, holds the record of 39 straight wins set from 1986-1988. Hampton (11-0) has won 38 straight games, dating back to the second game of the 1995 season.

Hampton's winning streak already includes Patrick Henry among the victims. The Crabbers crushed the Patriots 51-0 in last year's state final at Virginia Union.

The difference, as always, figures to be Crabbers quarterback Ronald Curry.

He needs only 57 yards of total offense to stretch his state career record to 11,000. Curry has passed for 7,806 yards and 84 touchdowns and rushed for 3,137 yards. He has scored 91 TDs, including kick and interception returns.

Patrick Henry (11-1) lost 16 starters off last year's team, and the effect has been most pronounced on defense. The Patriots have allowed 131 points, an average of almost 11 per game.

Patrick Henry hopes to limit the defense's exposure to Curry by establishing a ball-control ground attack. Quarterback Dominic Smith leads the Patriots in rushing with 832 yards, followed by fullback Ricky Gray with 804. Brian Rollins, the middle linebacker, has supplemented the attack the past two weeks by rushing for 190 yards.

The Patriots are ill-suited to play catch up, as Smith has completed only 34 percent of his passes for 651 yards.

Also today, Kecoughtan (10-1) visits Varina (11-1) in a Division 6 semifinal. The Warriors beat Tallwood and Western Branch in advancing to the semifinals for the second straight year.

Varina upset unbeaten Thomas Dale 14-7 last week. The Blue Devils are coached by Ed Bulheller, who coached previously at Wilson and Princess Anne, and feature an offensive line that averages nearly 300 pounds per man.

GROUP AAA STATE FOOTBALL SEMIFINALS

Division 6

Who: Kecoughtan (10-1) vs. Varina (11-1)

Where: Varina High School

Time: 1:30 p.m.

Division 5

Who: Hampton (11-0) vs. Patrick Henry-Ashland (11-1)

Where: Todd Stadium

Time: 1:30 p.m.