The Roanoke Times from Roanoke, Virginia • 19

Sports THE ROANOKE TIMES MONDAY SEPTEMBER 5 2005 PAGE 2 This sister act goes to Venus Serena Williams (left) saw her sister win pull even in the sibling rivalry and advance to the US Open quarterfinals MT Miami at lorida State The Hurricanes try to run their winning streak to seven over their intrastate rivals in their second matchup as ACC rivals 8 pm WSET Virginia Tech 20 NC State 16 H) I IJ II ECH GETS AWAY CLEAN Beamer rolls a 7 in the 2nd half RALEIGH NC The kicker buckled his chin strap and prepared to run onto the field Behind him teammates shouted and waved their arms like fans imploring Virginia Tech1 coach rank Beamer to roll the dice on fourth and inches Back went the kicker Out went the offense Away went the fear No risk no roses or too long the Hokies had played Sun day game like they were double digit underdogs just trying to keep it close But that all changed in the first drive of the second half when Tech finally realized it was the better team The result of the play was a first down the result of the drive was a chip shot score tying field goal and the result of the game was 20 16 Hokies over NC State a nerve fray ing victory that kept all the lofty goals of the season within reach Get out of Raleigh with a win all Tech wanted matter if it was ugly which all signs indicated it would be matter if quarterback Marcus Vick get to show off all his wares But that play it safe men tality can be detrimental as the ilokies found out in the first half The game started omi nously with one of those maybe we should have opened with Arkansas State timing miscues you often see early in the season As Vick dropped back and handed off to Mike Imoh on the first' play the tailback got tangled up with the quarterback and stumbled forward for a one yard loss See MCARLING 5 He did Is Mcarling aaioniticfarbng iatroanokecom 981 3222 MATT GEN 1 RY The Roanoke Times 1 i A 'f JbwWrSfev QisjX ''i' 1' wHLilB Virginia Will Montgomery (66) carries quarterback Marcus Vick (5) for extra yardage during the Hokies' season opening victory over North Carolina State Barry Booker (left) and Jimmy Williams (right) sack State quarterback Jay Davis during the second quarter Sunday i 7 JBk 7 Mr JJH ERIC BRADY I The Roanoke Times NEXT GAME Virginia Tech at Duke Noon WXR mistakes help Hokies By Randy King randykingroanokecom 981 3126 RALEIGH NC better to be lucky than good Just ask Virginia football team In a contest in which most of the key figures on the stat sheet pointed in North Car olina favor eighth ranked Tech wound up with the edge in the only numbers that counted Sunday night The bright liehts shining on the big scoreboard of Carter inley Stadium verified such: Virginia Tech 20 North Carolina State 16 Despite being outgained by almost double State held a 438 232 edge in total yards Tech took advantage of some bonchead decisions and stupendous penalties by the Wolfpack to escape or most of the evening the I nat ion al titlc aspirations appeared to be on a respi rator But despite dominating the game State could never put Tech away The Hokies hung around until the started beating itself with the same bugaboos that sabotaged it last season penalties and turnovers With the game tied at 13 early in the fourth quarter State punt returner Darrell Blackman committed a cardinal sin that wound up costing his club the game Standing inside his own 10 yard line to field Tech punter Nic boot Blackman began backpcdaling when the ball was in the air threw his right hand up to signal for a fair See HOKIES 4 MORE INSIDE Game notes Page 5 Busch Tracking contenders for the final spots in the Chase for the Nextel Cup: Driver Points off 10th 8 Carl Edwards 85 9 MattKenseth TT 16 10 Jamie McMurray 11 Ryan Newman ffT 12 Jeff Jordon 30 13 Elliott Sadler 52 14 Dale Jarrett 117 "15 Kevin Harvick 131 20 tops hectic race By Dustin Long The Roanoke Times ONTANA Calif Kyle Busch became the youngest win ner in series history Jeff Gordon fell out of the top 10 in points And Dale Earnhardt Jr was eliminated from the championship chase in a hectic Sunday night of NASCAR Nextel Cup racing that went to overtime at the Sony HD 500 at California Speedway Matt Kenseth and Jamie McMurray climbed into the top 10 in points as Gor don and Ryan Newman fell out The title chase field will be set after race at Richmond Busch a 20 year old rookie is the youngest winner by four days Donald Thomas had been the youngest winner after his victory in 1952 at Lakewood Speedway in Atlanta Busch announced in Victory Lane he would donate his win nings to the relief fund for Hur ricane Katrina Greg Biffle finished second with Brian Vickers pole sitter Carl Edwards and Tony Stewart completed the top five Kasey Kahne Kenseth McMurray Ricky Rudd and Joe Nemechek finished sixth through 10th The points standings saw a big shift at the bottom of the top 10 Kenseth moved from 11th to ninth McMurray went from See ONTANA 3 TISO Kyle Busch becomes the youngest winner in Cup history Down to the last 9 innings Brandon Chaves dives for first base as Salem's Mario Garza awaits the throw The Hillcats beat Salem but the Avs remained in a tie for first in the Carolina League Southern Division See story page 7 'KSV' y'AJL JOE HUDDLESTON I Special to The Roanoke Times Inside this section NL NOTES With Denver not likely to make Jerry Rice one of its top three SmI receivers future Hall of amer Jerry Rice ponders retirement VIRGINIA OOTBALL Cavaliers Ahmad Brooks and Wali Lundy have plenty of time to get healthy 8 MLB Ken Griffey Jr ties Mickey Mantle for 12th place on the all time home run list 81.