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Bobcats Crush Southampton Indians 4]-20 To Capture 2nd Straight State ChampionshipBy DAVE BESETLabel It Shangri-la or The Impossible Dream. Name 1k what you please, but whatever you call It came true at tiny Courtland, Saturday afternoon. There those amazing Radford High Bobcats of coaches Norm Llneburg, Ron Lind on, and Rom Matloch prowled through the peanut land of southeastern Virginia for a 41-20 victory over Southampton High, to win their second consecutive AA state footballchampionship.By doing so the Bobcats ran their winning streak whlchbegan Friday October 2, 1970, to 32 consecutive victories. They are also undefeated tn their last 33 games, and completed their second straight 13-0 season.As exhausted Llneburg said on the bus later that night, They are an amazing bunch of football players expeclally those seniors. They are just tremendous.Although RHS put 41 points on the scoreboard, the victory .before the estimated 6,000 fans Including at least 2500-3,000 Bobcat rooters, was not an easy one.The home town Indians hit hard, the hardest the Bobcats were bit all season as they admitted afterwards. Despite the faot they trailed 0-20, 6-26 at halltlme, and 6-34 In the third' quarter, Coach Wayne C03by*s Tribe never quit. They battled on to win the statistics only to lose the war!Indeed they battled till themark set last year in 13 games. His 24 touchdowns and 148 points this season are also school records.Morton also turned the game upside down In the words of Coach Cosby with his 95 yard td run with the klckoff In the final seconds of the first half. That td upped the Cats into a 26-6 halftime advantage, and for all purposes nailed down the decision.It Wtis Morton's 24th td of the season. His 23rd came on a 21 yard scamper In the first period to up the Cats into a 7-0 lead.Then there was Kenny Alderman. The Cat quarterback passed for 206 yards (11-23-0) and two touchdowns to up his season stats to 1849 yards, and 28 td passes. That's Ken’s bag.Catching the ball as usual were a flock of receivers. Bill Brown latched on to four for 98 yards, and went out In a blaze of glory with a long bomb of 39 yards for six points to make It 13-0 In the second quarter. It was his 14th td of the season.Brown also through the key block that had sprung Morton loose on his 21 yard scamper, so you might credit him three, points for that too.And wldeout Mike Mauck grabbed three passes for 64 yards including a 25 yard grab for six points, his 9th touchdown.As usual Ralph Fisher made his presence felt. The fullback-linebacker knocked people down for Morton to run, yet found timethe 30, and raced untouched up the middle, for a 95 yard td scamper. It compared favorably with his 85 yard td run last year as the Cats edged Covington 14-10 in the semi-finals.Alderman’s PAT for two failed and it was 26-6 at halftime.With 5; 19 to go In the third period, Alderman nailed Mauck for another slx-polnter to up the lead, 34-6 as the Cat quarterback also passed to Morton for two points on the PAT,But Barnes again brought the Indians back with a 57 yard march following the klckoff. The payoff came with 4t06 to go in the third quarter on a long bomb to Cliff Bryant who beat Mauck for a nifty catch In the end zone. The play covered 35 yards. Barnes then booted the extra point, 34-13.Then the Bobcats put it together for their final td drive of the season, this one for 63 yards after Ralph Fisher had recovered a Tribe fumble at RHS 37, Fisher and Morton did the running, and Brown had a 25 yard pass reception to help the cause. Then Fisher went over from the 14, his eighth td of the season, early in the fourth quarter.Later he was to come out of the game after devastating Indian fullback Jackie Robertson with a head on tackle. It marked the second time Robertson was forced to leave the contest. But when Fisher was heard to remark that Those guys sure didn't look like Wy-theville players I know, theSouthampton running back Randy Harrell is dropped by a crushing tackle made bv Bill Brown while (60) Tony DeHart and (23) Dannv Akers come up to assist. In the background Mike Morrison - (88) and Ralph Fisher (33) take out Southampton blockers (65) Maryland Poe and (52) Leroy Thompson. The Bobcat defense stopped the triple option attack of the Indians cold. TheCat defense allowed 150 yards rushing on 40 carrys and allowed 20 points scored on them through the air in their final game. The Cats gave up a total Of 52 points in 13 ball games to set a new school defensive record, (journal 'photo by Janie Trobaugh).
Newspaper Details
Radford News Journal
Radford, Virginia, US
Mon, Dec 11, 1972
Page 7
Full Page
Clipped by
Radford P.
USA 11 Dec 2023
Other Publications Near Radford, Virginia
Radford Times Journal
Radford Journal Weekly
Radford News Journal
