AA Battlefield
Trick Play Saves Night For Talley, Chancellor
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Saturday, November 1, 2008
Chancellor junior defensive back Darian Talley paced the sideline, hanging his head.
He knew that his blown coverage assignments had helped James Monroe take a third-quarter lead last night in the No. 12 Chargers' biggest game of the season.
"My coverage was terrible," said Talley, who was part of a secondary that let James Monroe wide receivers Delonte Fleming and Devontae Atkins break touchdowns of 66 and 90 yards, respectively.
He also saw his teammate and Virginia-bound running back Dominique Wallace -- a 6-foot, 231-pounder who has rushed for more than 1,000 yards and 20 touchdowns this season -- on his back with trainers doing all they could to help Wallace beat cramps in his calves.
Like most of the Chancellor sideline, Talley was doing the math, watching the clock, hoping Wallace could recover. Then the coaching staff pushed Talley, who is also the second-string quarterback, into the game for a trick play.
"They called it, so I executed it," said Talley, who took a lateral from sophomore quarterback Micah Cunningham and threw a lob to a streaking Roderick Spruel for a 70-yard fourth-quarter touchdown that gave the Chargers a 21-17 victory at Maury Stadium.
The play gave Chancellor (9-0, 4-0) its first Virginia AA Battlefield District title since 2003 and first victory over James Monroe (8-1, 3-1) since the Yellow Jackets rejoined the district in 2005.
Before last night, James Monroe had defeated Chancellor in all three previous meetings by a combined score of 78-48. Chancellor's defense, which is also led by Wallace at middle linebacker, held the Yellow Jackets 22 points below their season average.
"I couldn't even walk," said Wallace, who rushed for 81 of his 135 yards and two touchdowns in the first half to put Chancellor up 14-7 before cramps limited him in the fourth quarter. "I knew me being out there would hurt [my team]. It's good for us to be able to spread the ball around like that."
Added Chancellor Coach Bob Oliver: "With Dominique and without Dominique, we have to take the pressure off the young man and show that the other kids could play and make plays, and this is a classic example."
No. 12 Chancellor 21 James Monroe 17
Old School: At halftime, former James Monroe standouts Richard Griffin and Quintrell Parker -- team captains of the 1996 (13-1) state championship team -- had their jerseys retired.
Atkins Diet: James Monroe senior wide receiver Devontae Atkins broke two tackles before taking John Jackson's pass 90 yards to put the Yellow Jackets up 17-14 with 2 minutes 46 seconds left in the third quarter.
