"I
don't want to take anything away from Keyser. They played
a heck of a game," stated Fort Hill coach Mike
Calhoun, who had coached the Golden Tornado for four
seasons before taking the Sentinels' helm in July.
"I
was a little disappointed in our execution of responsibilities.
We didn't take advantage of what we had early and we
had a lot of blocking problems against their four-four
defense which we didn't expect.
"They
are so strong and our offensive line couldn't handle
them in the second half. They were putting tremendous
pressure on Jeff Brode and he just couldn't get the
flow of the offense going. Our defense had to win the
game."
"This
was their big game and they were up for us. They played
with intensity and emotion the whole game. I would have
rather had an off week this week because it's just tough
to prepare the week before Allegany. It was really tough
coming down here and facing their Homecoming."
In
the contest to see who was going to "out-pysch"
who before the start of the game, Calhoun didn't bring
his Sentinels back onto the field until about two minutes
before kickoff. When they came out the entire Keyser
team turned their backs on them."
A
20-yard return on the opening kickoff by Kevin Holderby
got Fort Hill started at its 35 yard line. Calhoun didn't
wait long to bring out the bag of tricks and on the
first play Furstenburg took the ball on the end-around
play and gained nine yards.
After
an incomplete pass, Eric Beal went right for 16 yards
and a first down at the Keyser 40. After a two-yard
run by C.G. Wilson, Brode went right on the bootleg
play and gained 18 yards behind a block by Steve Michael.
Beal
went up the middle for four yards and then came the
trick again.
Thinking
it worked once let's try it again. Calhound again sent
in the end-around play. Furstenburg went the 16 yards
around the left side for the touchdown. Vince Lai kicked
the extra point for a 7-0 lead with 8:34 left in the
first quarter.
Calhoun
noted that he didn't put in the end around with Furstenburg
as a trick play although he hadn't used it all year.
"We
run the reverse with a lot of different people and we
had been running the play with Snyder," explained
the Fort Hill coach. "We felt we needed a big strong
guy that can break tackles to run it in this game and
Furstenburg is six-foot and 185 pounds."
Crites
then fumbled on Keyser's second play from scrimmage
and Furstenburg recovered the ball at the Golden Tornado
36-yard line.
But
All-America candidate Shannon Vissman, who was all over
the firld from his linebacker spot, sacked Brode for
a three-yard loss. C.G. Wilson was held for no gain
and Brode threw an incomplete pass that brought on the
punter.
The
teams then exchanged punts before Steve Hess recovered
a Mitchell Bruce fumble at the Keyser 36-yard line on
the first play of the second quarter. But then Mark
Liller picked off a Brode pass on the next play and
returned the ball 21 yards to the 27 yard line to start
the only Golden Tornado drive that ended with a score.
A
four-yard run by Phil Mele and a pair of eight-yard
gains by Crites and Smith pushed the ball to the 47.
Bruce then ran twice for nine yards and a four yard
keeper by Smith got a key first down. Bruce, who is
only a sophomore, then broke loose for a 25-yard run
to the 12-yard line where Holderby made a shoestring
tackle.
Crites
went six yards on first down and then two blasts by
Vissman and two personal fouls on Fort Hill moved the
ball within inches of the goalline. Smith went over
on a quarterback sneak with 6:23 left in the second
quarter to cap a 12-play 73-yard march.
Coach
Doug Jennings decided to go for the two points instead
of going to his dependable kicker Dave Dawson. Mark
Farris took the pitch from Smith but was hauled down
by Fort Hill end Steve Hess just short of the goalline.
Holderby's
25-yard kickoff return put the ball on the Fort Hill
35-yard line. On the first play Brode dropped back short
for a pass. Unable to get the ball off under pressure
he took off running for his life and 65 yards later
he had the final six points of the game with 5:43 left
in the first half. Lai was wide on the kick for the
extra point.
Keyser
threatened on its first possession of the second half
and moved to the Fort Hill 23-yard line before Holderby
intercepted Smith's pass in the end zone.
Fort
Hill was nailed back at its own six-yard line after
a perfect coffin-corner punt by Phil Mele, but was able
to move out to the 17 on its only first down of the
second half on Eric Beal's 10-yard run.
Another
Keyser scoring opportunity fizzled when Steve Michael
pounced on a errant pitch by Smith at the Fort Hill
16 at the start of the fourth quarter.
The
Keyser defense gave the offense one more chance when
it got the ball back with just over one minute left.
Smith,
who completed four of 12 passes for 90 yards, hit Randy
Rotruck for 19 yards and after two incompletions came
out in an unusual set that caught the Fort Hill defense
off guard and resulted in the 51-yard pass to Crites
that almost saved the night.
Outstanding
on defense for the Sentinels were Hess, Snyder and linebacker
Todd Appel. Vissman, Smith, Harman, Parrill, Smith and
Rick Dolly led the Keyser defense.
Keyser
had 196 yards rushing to go with Smith's 90 yards through
the air. Fort Hill had 184 yards on the ground with
156 of those in the first half. Brode completed no passes
in eight attempts.
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