never... never... never

THE SOUTHWEST TIMES. PULASKI. VA.. SUNDAY. NOVEMBER 10,1991-PAGE A9
Cougars rally, win RVD title 24-2
Hicks gets
win No. 200
BYDANCALLAHAN
SWT Sports Editor
ROANOKE-- Pulaski County
High School staged a dramatic
fourth quarter rally, coming
from 14 points behind, to defeat
Patrick Henry 24-21 and win the
1991 Roanoke Valley District
football championship outright
Friday in Roanoke's Victory Stadium.
;
The final margin of victory did
not come until senior Brian
Duncan kicked a 31-yard field
goal with just four seconds left in
the game.
,
.
The Cougars will now head to
likely number one ranked Woodr
bridge (10-0) to open the Group
AM, Division 6 Northwest Region Playoffs Friday after finishing a perfect 4-0 in the RVD and
8-2 overall on the season.
The victory, shocking in how it
happened, was also the 200th
career triumph for head coach
Joel Hicks.
"The kids just wouldn't quit,"
said an extremely happy Hicks
after the game. "The middle two
quarters were really a problem
tonight. We just weren't a sharp
football team. We turned the ball
over too much, and we just
weren't playing with emotion,
but the fourth quarter...holly
cow, what an effort! For number
200 to come like this makes it ;
even more special," said Hicks.
He felt his team wasn't into
the game^ and after it scored
with ease on the first possession,
the edge was quickly gone.
<•
"We may have scored too easy.
When you're really not up for a
game, and then you get one
early, the reaction isn't always
.
staff photo by Donntew.ib
Please see COUGARS, page A12 UP AND AWAY...Darden Freeman teed it up, and Brian Duncan drilled game winning 31-yard field goal as PH defender tried in vain to block it
N-E-V-E-R...
N-E-V-E-R...
N-E-V-E-R
ROANOKE-- The Pulaski
County High School football
team gathered in a joyous locker
room in Victory Stadium around
its head coach Joel Hicks. The
chant was one not heard before.
locker Room
DanCallahan
"Never...never...never.
Never.. .never ...never.
Never.. .never.. .never!"
The meaning is obvious.
Under any condition, anywhere,
anytime...never give up.
Pulaski County didn't give up
Friday and overcame a 14-point
fourth quarter deficit to defeat
Patrick Henry, 24-21. The final
margin of victory came on a
31-yard field goal by Brian Duncan that split the heart of the
crossbar with just four ticks left
on the clock.
.
With less than seven minutes
• • •
to play, the Cougars were down
21-7, but this team has come
from behind so often this season
one had to expect that something
was left to happen, yet things
seemed a little more dismal then
usual because there appeared to
be a1 flatness to the game, PCHS
was having turnover problems,
and having trouble stopping PH,
even a simple quarterback
sneak.
But the good drive came in the
fourth. The defense picked up
the intensity. Two breaks presented themselves. Pulaski Co.
took advantage of both. PH
found a way to lose. Pulaski Co.
found a way to win.
This game was the perfect example that everything that de- I
termines a football game is not
just simple size, speed, and such.
Sometimes teams win because of
things you can't see...jnside
stuff. This Cougar team obviously has the right
Staff photo by Donnle Wall*
Please see CALLAH AN, page A12 Halfback Carl Lewis finds the hole and scores tieing touchdown in fourth quarter
Blundin's found the groove. Virginia routs N.C. State, 42-10
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Matt Blundin says he's
settled into a comfort zone. Some groove!
Blundin continued his season of perfection Saturday, hitting Larry Holmes with two first-half
scoring passes as No. 24 Virginia pounded No. 18
North Carolina State 42-10 in the Atlantic Coast
Conference.
t
The Cavaliers (7-2-1 overall and 4-2-1 in the
ACC) beat the Wolfpack (7-2, 3-2) for the-sixth
straight time and knocked them out of the ACC title chase.
Blundin, who entered the game with 184 attempts without an interception, completed eight of
10 passes for 192 yards and no interceptions in the
opening half. Virginia took a 35-3 lead at intermission with 320 yards of total o Tense.
'
"A lot of it has to do with comfort and getting the ,
experience of getting out there and being relaxed,"
said Blundin, who, backed up Shawn Moore the lowing a sack.
last two seasons. "I know where ray guys are.".
While Blundin was.picking apart the nationally
Blundin, who has completed 60 percent of his .ranked Wolfpack defense and the rushing game
passes,.ended the day 13 of 17 for 230 yards. The was churning out big gains in the opening half, the
6-foot-7 quarterback is 14 attempts short of Jack Cavalier defense turned back two early Wolfpack
Trudeau's NCAA mark of 215 straight attempts scoring opportunities after turnovers to roll to victory, ' : • • " •
without an interception set at Illinois in 1985. .
"It's probably the best half I've played all year," . Virginia tailback Terry Kirby fumbled on the seBlundin said. "I felt good about it. I was on the cond play from scrimmage at his own 38, but the
Wolfpack was stopped on downs and forced to
money."
, '
George Welsh, who has coached several NFL punt. . . ' " • ' •
Virginia struck quickly on its next series as it
quarteracks in his stint at Virginia, said Blundin
did on four of its five scoring drives in the first half.
is playing as well as any of them.
"He is playing about as well as he can play," Four of the Cavalier touchdowns came on drives of
Welsh said."Maybe he has one game left then he less than two minutes.
Blundin's 91-yard completion to Tyrone Davis
can throw some interceptions for the Chicago
set up Kirby's 1-yard plunge with 10:54 left in the
Bears or somebody."
Welsh also credited his offensive line for not al- first period. The pass play was the fourth longest
in Virginia history,
"It mainly hurt on the Scoreboard," Wolfpack
coach Dick Sheridan said of the long pass play.
"One play shouldn't get the defense or the team
down. Sure, it hurt. Even if you take that out, they
were still the better football team."
Keith Lyle's interception two plays later helped
set up Nikki Fisher's 11-yard scoring run before a
shocked and soaked Wolfpack crowd and representatives from seven bowl games.
"I was surprised we got 35 points in the first half
... considering how well their defense has been in
the past and this year," Blundin said. "We had that
nervousness coming in at halftime. I was nervous
the whole first half thinking they were going to explode any minute because that's the type of team
they are."
.
PAGE Al 2-THE SOUTHWEST TIMES, PULASKI, VA.( SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 10,1991
Cougars
Continued from page A9
Tight end-linebacker John
Akers
was a content senior folwhat you would like it to be. I
lowing
the game.
felt like we could have jumped'oil
PIT again, and this would, have • "This feels so good. I didn't like
bceii Fairly .easy, but we didn't to have to win that way. I'd
rather have jumped to a twobecause of the turnovers.
"I also want to credit PH. I touchdown lead and moved on
thought they played hard, and out. This was scary...but excitreally wanted to beat Pulaski ing," he smiled.
As for his "head coach, Akers
Co. They prepared well for us,"
said the team new about "200."
said Hicks. .
. . ' ' : • '
"We talked a little about it.
The coach also might have
Everybody
thought about the
added that it normally takes
200.
We
wanted
this to be the
four quarters to beat the Couteam
to
give
coach
Hicks his
gars. PI1 came up one quarter
200th win. People didn't think
.: short.
get much done. People
"Things got tough," said senior' we'd
didn't
even
know if we'd win four
wingback-linebacker Ricky Huff;
.games,
but
coaches, went to
"The game wasn't going our way, work with the
us. Coach Hicks
but we didn't quit. Pulaski Co. changed the, offense to help us,
doesn't quit."
.
arid did some other things he
'thought would help us, things
that he usually doesn't do. We
.just .sort of felt like if he was going to work so hard, and change
PC
7
0
0
17: 24
^ things to try and help us, we
PH'. „ Q 6
15
0
21
wanted to get this game for him.
I'm proud that we did," said
PC—Housel 6 yd. run, Duncnn PAT
7:401st • :
. ••'..'.'.'''
Akers.
PH—Marshall 42 yd. interception,
The game started like it would
PAT failed 9:34 2nd
:
be
a stroll to the* outright title.
PH—Noel 2 yd. run, Tt\ylor pass to
Even a 15-yard penalty didn't
Marshall 2 pt. PAT 7:57 3rd
PH—Taylor 65 yd. run, Nugue PAT
bother the Cougars on the way to
4:433rd
;
a nine-play game opening drive
PC—Housel 3 yd. run, Duncan PA'T
that ended when halfback J.J.
6:15 4th
.Housel swept over from six yards
PC—Lewis 1 yd. run, Duncan , PAT
1:54 4th
out. Brian Duncan kicked the
PC—Duncan 31 yd. FG, 0:04 4th
conversion for a 7-0 Pulaski Co.
lead.
'
PC
PH
The next two possessions en1st Down
17
13
ded with a fumble and punt for
Rushing
54-292
38-289
Passing
3-7-1 . 3-124
. the Cougars.. PH was seemingly
Passing yds.
24
26
muddling around with not much
Total Offense
316
315
happening.
•
Punting
3-32.0
3-29.0,
Then
suddenly
a
first
down
Fumbles
4-2
4-2
Penalties
4-39
3-19
Brad Burrus pass to the; right
Return Yds.
52
19
flat was picked off and returned
42
yards to the end zone by PH's
Rushing
David
Marshall. Still, .Albert
PC—Housel 18-94, Huff 11-85, Yates
Nugiie missed the conversion
14-59, Lewis 8-54, Webb 1-4, Burrus 2minusS.
kick, and PCHS remained out
PH-/Tnylor 11-135, Reynplds 15-87:
front 7-6.
:
Noel 11-71, Johnson 1- minus 4.
The ball keep moving fairly
Passing
well too, but another fumble and
PC—Burrus 3-7-1 24 yds.
a holding penalty ruined the
PH—Taylor 2-10-1 15 yds., Johnson
1-2-011 yds.
• ;
next two possessions. Pulaski
Reiieiving
Co. had over 180 yards of total
PC—Housel 1-13, Hunter 2-11
offense
the first half, and nine
PH—Williams 245, Burch 1-11.
first downs, but just the '7' to
Stat Sheet
Callah an
Continued from page A9
stuff.i.inside.
It was one of the more glorious
moments in the 18-year history
of Cougar football even though
there have been many the past
13 seasons.
It gave sple'possession of a seventh Roanoke Valley District
championship to PCHS... '
It marked the fifth time the
Cougars have come from behind
to win in 1991, and the second
time after being.down by 14 in
the fourth quarter...
It sends the team on the road
against Woodbridge after a vic'tory and in a good frame of mind
to open the Northwest Region; •
playoffs...
It was also yet another example that when:you tell Pulaski
Co. it's not.going to be very good,
or it can't get something done...it
usually does. The Cougars were
picked fourth.in the RVD in preseason/and weren't even expected to post a winning record.
This team'finished the regular
season 8-2...- .
It was also further proof that •
Pulaski Co.'s football program is
better at overcoming adversity '..than anybody else you can think
of. For various reasons, four absolute starters, and likely all
.two-way performers, were not al-lowed to play. It's/possible this
team is now even better because
of itIt also marked Hicks' 200th
career coaching victory, 109 of
which have come at PCHS. His
program will enter the state :•
playoffs for the ninth time in 13
,- .years.
, .
• . •
•"
"Wow," was the first comment
that came from Hicks in the
locker room. He had just been
presented the championship trophy on the field, and he gathered
his team around it, and later in
the evening formerly presented
it to Dr. Tom DeBolt, PCHS
principal, at a team dinner
which also consisted of at least
100 Cougar fans who didn't want
to stop celebrating.
"I love getting 200. It's a real
milestone in my career. I'm
ta proud of it, but getting it in a
game like this makes it even
more special.
"We lost our sharpness after
, the opening drive when we went
•' up. It must have been too easy.
In the second and third quarters
we didn't have.good sharpness,
ity level was not
jnental. We already
'-SnareoftheRVB
till'-, and the playoff berth was
.
.
.
Staff phblo by Donnl« Walls
(L-R); Brad Burrus, Darden Freeman, Matt Layman celebrate victory while disappointment obvious for PHI
show for it.
Taylor. Steve. Back wrapped
The third quarter Was a himself around it for Pulaski Co.
nightmare for the Cougars. atthePH41.
Their two possesions were foiled . It took eight plays this time,
by two hurtful penalties. Only but it didn't matter because time
two rather meaningless first was not a factor yet. Carl Lewis
downs were managed in the ran left to score from a yard out
middle of the
field.
. ( with 1:54 left to play. Duncan
Meanwhile PH seemed to take kicked the pat to tie the count at
control of the line of scrimmage 21.
• ' .••".'
and moved the ball with alarm"I never thought about going
ing ease.
for two," said Hicks. "There was
The Patriots received the se- still time left in the game, we
cond half kickoff and had a first had overtime if we needed it, and
goal eight snaps later at the the momentum."
Cougar four. Fullback Richard
On the ensuing kickoff DunNoel scored two plays later to can .drove number 23 to the end
end a 10-play, 69-yard drive that zone. PH started from its 20
took almost half the quarter.
again. Two plays later tailback
PCHS went three downs and Tuan Reynolds tried the middle
out. On the second play following of the Cougar defense and found
the punt PH quarterback Shawn it unyielding. He tried to bounce
Taylor ran a simple quarterback the play outside and to his left.
sneak and went virtually untou- He made another effort to twist
ched 65 yards, and suddenly the free, b u t couldn't.
.'•'..'•
margin was 21-7.
Defensive end Brian Redd was
already locked Up. Mentally, we
The Cougars then got.their chasing the play. He caught
just weren't sharp.
two third quarter first downs, Reynolds, and punched the ball
"But I don't want to dwell on
and at least moved the ball to 'loose.
-•••-'.'•
that. I'm so very proud of this
PH's side of the field. Following
"I got him from : behind," said
football team. We finally got. ; a punt, the Patriots took over at Redd. "He kept trying, to bounce
their own 1.2.
.
.
outside when he couldn't run inthem stopped, had a good drive,
and you could feel the adrenalin
The Pats garnered one first ' side. I just followed him, and
down, and that's when Pulaski tackled him from the backside. I
rise. In the fourth quarter we
played with great intensity and
Co. changed its defense to .a se- thought I touched the football,
emotion. You can't play perfect
ven-diamond, moving Akers into but I didn't know for sure until I
the rfiiddle of the line, and going saw it bouncing on the ground.
all the time. I also want to say
with only-one backer, two cor- I'm glad I made a big play," said
that PH is much better than a
ners, and a safety in the secon- Redd.
3-7 record. That team played us
dary.
; .
tough, and was well prepared.
Dane Eller jumped on the
With the Cougars inviting PH loose pigskin for Pulaski Co. at
. "But more than anything, I'm
to pass, the Patriots didn't after thePH20.
just so proud of my,team, our
coaches, and our fans are super. enjoying so much success on the
The first sha^came with 1:01
They may have gotten us going , ground. PH had to punt.
left on the clock. Huff ran for five
The Cougars took over at their to the 15. Housel then went left
as much as anything. We did
own^37, and the game began to down to the eight, but a holding
change our defense the fourth
• ;•'•• '• • • • ! - \ • ••'• • ..< penalty moved the ball back to
quarter. We moved one of our in- : turn:
side linebackers (John Akers) to
The drive covered 63 yards, the 20 again.
the nose and went with a seven- . and took 10 plays. Housel scored
This time Housel ran right fbr
man front. If PH was going to get from two yards out with 6:15 left seven to the 13, and Pulaski Co.
anything, it would have to pass. in the game. Duncan's kick made called timeout with eight seWe playedla simple oldconds left in the game.
the margin seven, 21-14.
fashioned seven-diamond.
As it is legal to do, PH called
Duncan kicked off to the end
Thank goodness it worked,"
zone. The 22nd time he has done back-to-back timeouts in an atbeamed HicksV
so this season. Three plays later tempt to ice Duncan who was
The 200th victory was also a
Noell fumbled a handoff from already on the field. He and holtime of reflection for Hicks who
spoke to the large gathering before dinner after receiving a gift
from the school and the Touchdown Club, a huge cake with a
big "200" on the top, and "Way to
go Slick" on the bottom.
"This is a good moment for me,
but I didn't get all those wins by *
*
myself. If not for my staff and
*
the support they gave me last
*
spring, I might not even be
standing here right now. I owe
*
my coaches more than you can
*
ever know.
'Hunting Supplies—Rifles & Shotguns By Remington,
"I love this team. This team"
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has heart. It has character. It •
'Knives by Case & Camlllus
flat out won't quit. This moment
*
'Handguns by Ruger, Smith & Wesson, and Colt
belongs to all of us. I really hope
'Bows by Bear, Pearson, Indian & Browning w/Arrows In
everyone feels that way...our
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together."
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*
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."•',.'•'•'.
'Duncan said it for the team.
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"Everything that happened
*
*
the fourth quarter was for coach
Hicks. I kicked that one for him.
He has done so much for each of
us, and given us the drive and .
leadership, That kick was my
*
gift to him, and the whole team's $
RtS^Pulaski.Va
too, As soon as it went through, I
980-7467 or 980-1428 after 5
thought that's 200," said Duncan.
HARDWARE!
"We Got It"
I
•I
der . Darden 'Freeman had
already chosen/their spot at the
21. It would be a 31-yard field
goal.
How did Duncan deal with the
three timeouts and three
minutes of dead air?
"I just talked with Darden. We
talked about practice, and how
many times we had done this.
It's the type situation you should
want. I don't think I felt nervous.
I didn't feel cold either.
"Everything went fine. I didn't
get any pressure. It was a perfect
snap. (Brad Burrus), a perfect
hold (Freeman), no seams, anil I
just kept my head down and followed through."
Duncan's kick went through
the heart of the uprights, and
pandemonium broke loose on the
Cougar side of Victory Stadium...24-21 Pulaski County...17
points in six minutes and 15 seconds!
Duncan rolled the kickoff on
the ground and the game was
over. Cougar players hoisted
.
Hicks up for a sweet ride to the
middle of the field. Fans rolled
out of the stands and onto the
field. Hicks was presented the
RVD championship trophy. His
reaction was,'Wow!'
Wow' about says it all for a
team that came behind to win for
the fifth time this season. Both
teams finished with over 300
yards of loffensle, and it's been
that kind of experience for the
Cougars in 1991.
This team, picked fourth in
the RVD, was a record breaking
offensive team. It set new marks
for rushing in a season, total
offense, and Burrus is the new
holder of the passing percentage
mark.
The Cougars had four runners
gain, over 50 yard.s on the
ground; Housel had 94, Huff 85,
Eric Yates 59, and Lewis 54.
It all adds up to a seventh
RVD title for PCHS, and the
ninth state playoff berth in 13
years.
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