VHS Takes Care Of Battle

BY SPENCER CAMPBELL
BRISTOL HERALD COURIER

BRISTOL, Va. – Brand new coaches stalked both sidelines, and each offense had sparkling new spread formations with which to play.

But when the final seconds ran off the scoreboard, the end result was a familiar one.

Running back Damon Dock rushed for 196 yards and three scores and safety Antwone Hunt returned two interceptions for touchdowns, leading Virginia High to a 56-17 blowout victory over Clinch Mountain District rival John S. Battle on Friday night.

It was the Bearcats’ 11th straight win over the Trojans, who haven’t beaten their Bristol rival since 1998.

In the newest edition of the cross-town rivalry that pitted Trojans’ first-year Ryan Witten against Bearcats’ first-year coach Chris Thurman, Dock stole the show. On the game’s first play from scrimmage, the senior split the Battle defense for a 71-yard touchdown run.

“I didn’t really get any stats [against Sullivan Central in week one] so I was trying to come out and run hard, get my stats, get this game over with and get ready for Tennessee High,” Dock said. “I’m proud of my team, though. We made a big improvement from last week.

“We like the [spread offense]. It’s a lot better than trying to pound the ball down the middle because we don’t have strength like that. But we got speed. We got a lot of speed.”

Dock’s and his teammates’ speed were evident during the first half of Friday night’s contest. Virginia High (2-0, 1-0) rushed for 249 yards on 21 carries before intermission, on its way to a 42-14 halftime lead.

Dock accounted for 198 of those first-half yards, after failing to find the end zone against Sullivan Central.

“We did not run him enough last week,” Thurman said. “I wanted to get the ball in his hands and we did that tonight. I thought the kids played all right. I was satisifed. We made some improvements from last week. We got the ball a little more to Damon this week, and he showed what he can do.”

However lopsided the final outcome was, the Trojans (1-1, 0-1) were not willing to let the Bearcats run away with the game early in the first half.

After staking Virginia High to a 14-0 advantage, Battle’s Jeremiah Denton trimmed the lead to seven with a three-yard run. Virginia High again increased its lead to 14 in the second quarter, 28-14, but the Trojans were driving, in hopes of closing the gap, with less than three minutes remaining in the half.

That’s when Hunt stepped in front of a Denton halfback pass at the Bearcats’ 18-yard line and returned it for a touchdown, effectively ending the Trojans’ dreams of a comeback.

He added another interception return on Battle’s second possession of the second half.

“The only thing I had to do was pay attention to the quarterback,” Hunt said. “I saw him throw it to the other side so I could pick it off. It was easy.”

It was anything but an easy night for Battle’s new coach.

After winning in his head coaching debut last week against Twin Springs, Friday’s loss showed Witten just how far his Trojans have to go.

“They’re a really good football team. We knew what we were coming into,” Witten said. “We’re taking baby steps right now. Our effort, our kids didn’t quit. Hats off to [Thurman]. Those kids are fast, they’re big, and they bought into his system. Our kids have bought into our system, we’re just not ready to make that step yet.”

Virginia High 14 28 7 7–56
Battle 7 7 0 3–17
Scoring Summary
VH – Dock 71 run (Frye kick)
VH – Bowers 5 run (Frye kick)
JSB – Denton 2 run (J. Owens kick)
VH – Bowers 1 run (Frye kick)
JSB – Leab 8 pass from J. Owens (Owens kick)
VH – Dock 33 run (Frye kick)
VH – Hunt 82 interception ret. (Frye kick)
VH – Dock 16 run (Frye kick)
VH – Hunt 25 interception ret. (Frye kick)
JSB – J. Owens 31 field goal
VH – Singleton 23 run (Frye kick)
Team Stats
First Downs: VH 15, JSB 13; Rushes-Yards: VH 34-305, JSB 32-100; Passing Yards: VH 72, JSB 70; Comp.-Att.-Int.: VH 5-18-0, JSB 11-30-2: Fumbles-Lost: VH 2-2, JSB 3-3; Penalties-Yards: VH 9-95, JSB 1-5; Punts-Average: VH 2-36, JSB 5-34.4