The Roanoke Times du lieu suivant : Roanoke, Virginia • 21

pThe Roanoke Times Hokies show heir special hams of old GREENVILLE NC Earlier this Jveek rank Beamer was talking about that crowd" at East Caroli na Was the Virginia Tech coach per haps talking about the second largest gathering in Dowdy icklen Stadium history? He have been talking about the ECU football team which in bright lights game with the Hokies blew up faster than Lee Cor lightning fried rental car at the BCA Bowl In a game al most as stunning in its early one sidedness as Syra 62 0 pasting at Tech last season the lOth ranked Hokies manhandled the Pirates 45 28 and even need a great game by quarterback Michael Vick to leave the Pirates purple If there were anything more ridicu lous than ECU coach Steve early week remark that Vick would have had to sit behind Pirates QB David Gar rard had the Heisman Trophy candidate headed to the closest Division I pro gram to his Newport News home it was the difference in special teams Then game week remarks also included: that gets a kick blocked shoot at Aw shoot Coach It could be a crowded morning on tlje rifle range Tech blocked two kicks in the first half The first was a punt Cory Bird brought back for a touchdown The oth er was Larry fingertipping of a field goal attempt Logan sheepishly tried when down 31 0 late in the first half offense really find its legs until late in the third quarter after ECU had applied makeup to a bad blush job with a pair of touchdowns In the fihst half the Hokies need Vick to make plays The Pirates needed Garrard td shine under the bright lights The big QB had good numbers but made little impact i The) Hokies looked much like those Beamer Ball clubs before last regular season perfectionists turning games bn an fourth down leaking time of possession meaningless and sustained drives a luxury When Tech lost the Sugar Bowl for the 1999 national title to lorida State tlie difference was that the Seminoles JACK BOGACZYK w)ere superior on special teams un common for the Hokies to lose that bat tle Birc punt block runback and An dre 87 yard punt return were 59th and 60th touchdowns by tlie defense or special teams in Beamer 's 13 plus seasons on his alma sideline including 35 in the last 62 games With three kick blocks this season Tech already has one more than in when the special teams emphasis skewed toward the return game Block ing kicks will alleviate some of the play niaking pressure from a young defense tljat is quick and attacking but needs to pjay scheme basics before it learns to go blitz crazy i What also has become obvious is that the Hokies fazed by playing oh the road before crowds like the Sports BASEBALL REPORT C2 AUTO RACING C4 SCOREBOARD WEEKEND TV I C6 OUTDOORS C8 Sports newsonline or the latest sports news and scores go online at IMMkeUfflelipin ffllAYSJRTEMBER 8)2000 I kZSECTION GAME 2 Virginia Tech 45 East Carolina 28 SpeetaS sight for HMes t' I tw 1 vtfli 1 aw i i tl we i1 a uysMwatft ERIC BRADY 77? ROANOKE TIMES Hokies free safety Willie Pile wraps up East Carolina quarterback David Garrard for a sack in the first half Thursday night TB8 jKf MATT GENTRY THE ROA NOKE TIMES At left Andre Davis streaks to a TD on a punt return At right Richard Alston falls in the hands of Dan Wilkinson (left) and Jim Davis The kicking units are responsible for 17 points in a first half that ends with Tech ahead 31 0 By RANDY KING THE ROANOKE TIMES GREENVILLE NC Be fore his club met Virginia Tech East Carolina football coach Steve Logan said cut it this time for the Pirates really would rather get beat 50 to nothing I think and go to the next Logan remarked close and losing and getting a pat on the back is not the Logan almost got what he asked for Thursday night Quickly dampening festivi ties for the 45123 partying fans at Dowdy icklen Stadi um lOth ranked Tech rode big plays by its special teams and defense to a 31 point halftime cushion and crushed mistake prone ECU 45 28 The game nearly that close however as the Pirates scored two meaningless touch downs in the game's final 3:39 or a change the Hokies (2 0) require any heroics from their main man Michael Vick Heisman Trophy candidate was a regular cast member in prime time show throwing for 106 yards and one touchdown He rushed six times for 13 yards think we upstaged Tech linebacker Nick Sorensen said of his team mates he still made some plays a lot of people did say some things about our defense this week that we like We wanted to come out and show we could play Tech need big num bers from Vick and the offense this time This Hokies hoedown got its most of it kicks from special teams that burned the Pirates almost every way imaginable How special were kicking units? Put it this way they were directly responsible for 1 7 points in a first half that ended with the Hokies leading 31 0 I thought we 'came into a tough situation and did some things early to get us Tech coach rank Beamer said kicking game can take control of a game early and what we did The demolition started ear ly in front of the second largest crowd in ECU history After watching its first drive fizzle when an illegal for mation penalty wiped out a 52 yard pass to the Tech 5 ECU lined up for what would be the start of its woes in the kicking department Slowed when he had to PLEASE SEE TECHC7 4(5123 that filled Dowdy icklen Be fore Vick brought an added attraction t) the traveling Hokies Tech was win ning big on the road I The Hokies have won 20 of 25 regular season road games since start of the '95 season three of those loss el were in the Carrier Dome where Syr acuse will test Tech again Oct 21 Since the Big East Conference began round robin play only non conference road loss was at Virginia in This was supposed to be the start of a 'tougher road schedule that takes the Hokies from ECU to Boston College Syracuse Miami and Central lorida i What it was was more of the same The Hokies have Charlie Brown oh their roster but they are a bunch of blockheads again i Jack Bogaczyk can be reached at' 981 3124 or jackbroanokecom Spencer Christley has been graciously accepted in Salem since deciding to attend Salem High School rather than Cave Spring which is the district where he lives He was an all state nose guard last year and will play middle linebacker and tailback this season 1 1 8'' 'I MANDI WRIGHT THE ROANOKE TIMES Salem captain bom to play football Early start pays off Spencer interest in football goes back to his days in diapers and now he has a leading role for the Spartans By DANIEL UTHMAN THE ROANOKE TIMES Spencer flesh made of pigskin it only seems that way He is a foot ball player by birth he was in said his fa ther Mike get one of those plastic footballs like they throw out in the stands watch on TV and when they came out of the huddle hike it with oldest sister Anna remem bers how he insisted on watching football on television instead of cartoons when he was 3 years old Anna would get on her knees and play football with Spencer and his younger brother Patrick far back as I can remember he has loved football" Anna said Spencer still loves foot ball specifically Salem High School football or the past three years whether as a sophomore outside line backer a junior and all state nose guard or a senior middle linebacker and tailback Christley has devoted himself to the varsity He calls the defensive plays cleans the locker rooms lifts as many weights as his body can handle and watches film until sunset can do just about any PLEASE SEE CHRISTLEYC5 i ootball standings games of the week C5.