Christiansburg 23 Patrick Henery [Roanoke] 7

[gameball 10]

Demons stretch out to win

Christiansburg takes advantage of Patrick Asconi’s height advantage to get by Patrick Henry.

By John A. Montgomery

Special to The Roanoke Times

 

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At 6-foot-4 and 178 pounds, Christiansburg High’s Patrick Asconi is a post player for the Blue Demons basketball team.

 

In Friday night’s nondistrict football game against Patrick Henry at Merrill Gainer Field, Asconi played the post against the Patriots’ defensive backfield  with resounding success.

 

Asconi caught five passes for 178 yards and three first-half touchdowns, leading Christiansburg (1-3), the No. 3-ranked team in Timesland, to a 23-7 victory.

 

“We’d looked at some film had some good matchups,†Blue Demons coach Tim Cromer said.

 

PH corner Dominic Alexander and free safety Darren Thomas took turns attempting to cover the taller Asconi, who twice scored on receptions of 27 yards, sandwiched around a 77-yard bomb late in the second quarter.

 

“The wind was blowing against us [on the long touchdown] and I knew I had to come back for it,†said Asconi, who never before at any level had scored three times in one game, let alone the first half. Asconi outleaped Thomas in a jump-ball situation at about the PH 40-yard-line, and then ran in for the score when Thomas fell to the ground.

 

“I thought we played well,†said Patriots coach Bob Gray. “To be truthful, it was probably our best game all year. We gave up a couple of home runs when they threw the ball over the top of our heads, but I always tell our guys, 'you play pass defense with the front eight.’ When we put pressure on their passer, they didn’t complete many passes. When we didn’t. …â€Â

 

Christiansburg quarterback Wes Bond connected on 10-of-16 passes for 248 yards, with Asconi accounting for half of the catches and almost three-quarters of the yardage.

 

PH effectively throttled the Demons’ ground game, holding Christiansburg to less than 100 yards (34 carries for 95 yards).

 

PH also forced several turnovers (interceptions by junior linebackers Anthony Montgomery and Dominique Murrell) and a fumble recovery by Montgomery, but only managed to score after Montgomery intercepted a halfback option pass by Zach Chestnut near midfield in the second quarter and took the ball all the way to the Christiansburg 5.

 

Three plays later, Brandon Keith scored on a 2-yard-run.

 

Keith’s TD pulled the Patriots to within 9-7, and when freshman Xavier Stanley recovered the ball on what appeared to be an on-side kick, the Patriots gained the momentum.

 

Only it wasn’t really an on-side kick.

 

“We were trying to squib and just didn’t kick the ball very cleanly,†Gray smiled. “But, hey we got the ball.â€Â

 

The Patriots moved to Christiansburg’s 24 before turning the ball over on downs. That was one of three times PH had the ball within Christiansburg’s 30-yard line and came away scoreless.

 

PH kicker Tyler Whitney had a field-goal attempt blocked in the second half and the Patriots were stopped by the halftime whistle on Christiansburg’s 26.

 

“I thought we responded really well after a tough, emotional (38-34) loss to Bassett last week,†Cromer said.

 

Jevon Brown led the Patriots in rushing with 60 yards on 17 carries, while Keith added 41 yards on seven rushes. Thomas completed 5-of-15 passes for 88 yards.

 

The Patriots fell to 1-4.

 

Christiansburg 9 14 0 0â€â€23

Patrick Henry 0 7 0 0â€â€7

CB  Asconi 27 pass from Bond (kick blocked)

CB  FG Cox 24

PH  Keith 2 run (Whitney kick)

CB  Asconi 77 pass from Bond (Cox kick)

CB  Asconi 27 pass from Bond (Cox kick)

CH PH

First downs 15 10

Yards rushing 95 78

Passes C-A-I 11-18-2 5-16-0

Yards passing 274 88

Penalties-yards 6-78 9-65

Fumbles-lost 3-1 6-1

Punts-average 2-34.5 5.33.0

Individual statistics

RUSHING  Christiansburg, Chestnut 5-48, Evans 12-23, Johnson 12-54, Bond 5-minus 30. Patrick Henry, Meade 4-11, Keith 7-41, Thomas 8-minus 41, Brown 17-60, Payne 2-5, Murrell 1-2.

PASSING  Christiansburg, Bond 10-16-1-248, Cox 1-1-0-26, Chestnut 0-1-1-0. Patrick Henry, Thomas 5-15-0-88, Wilson 0-1-0-0.

RECEIVING  Christiansburg, Asconi 5-178, Johnson 3-42, Chestnut 1-26, Hampton 2-28. Patrick Henry, Smith 2-40, Keith 1-21, Payne 1-7, Manns 1-20.