Speed kills

Ron Counts
Published: August 24, 2008

Speed is a valued commodity in any sport.

In baseball, the best hitters have serious bat speed and dangerous base runners have the speed to keep catchers on their toes. Skilled boxers know how to use impressive hand speed to compensate for a powerful opponent.

On the football field, speed can go a long way toward deciding the outcome of a game. Eastern View made that apparent during Friday’s lopsided victory over Culpeper, when the Cyclones racked 10 plays that went for 20 yards or more.

“We’re an athletic team,” EVHS coach Greg Hatfield said. “I thought we did a great job of flying around with the ball and we did a great job of running to tackle and to block.”

Because of the construction at EVHS, the Cyclones weren’t able to use their weight room during the summer, according Hatfield. So instead of hitting the weights to get ready for the season, the Cyclones hit the field.

“We ran a lot this summer and we focused on improving our explosiveness,” Hatfield said. “Our guys have natural ability, but we also worked on how to make cuts and how to look for cuts.”

It probably didn’t surprise many fans when EVHS senior Stevie Strother bounced the first hand off of the game to the outside and outran Culpeper’s defense to the endzone, but there may have been some awestruck spectators when junior Matt Case outran the Devils’ secondary for a 31-yard completion to set up Strother’s second score.

The packed stadium was probably just as surprised when junior Dashawn Robinson turned a 5-yard completion into a 77-yard touchdown after turning on the jets and beating the CCHS defense to the endzone, or when senior Blake Smith took the opening kick off of the second half and flew past scores of defenders for a 75-yard touchdown.

“It’s got to be hard when you have several guys on the field that can hurt you,” Strother said. “Before the game we said that no one man was going to bring us down when we get the ball.”

The Cyclones made good on that promise. It seemed like every time they touched the ball during the Cannon Ball Classic they were juking their way around the first, and sometimes the second and third, tackler.

Senior B.J. Minor — who was the 100-meter sprint champion in the Cedar Run District last year — showed his agility and his speed in the second quarter by taking a hand off up the middle, dancing around two tacklers and sprinting his way to a 25-yard gain.

EVHS quarterback Cody Whitlock, who hasn’t been known for his mobility in the past, even got into the act, scrambling for positive yardage on several occasions during the game.

“Cody worked really hard with us during the summer,” Hatfield said. “His mobility is going to allow us to do more offensively and keep defenses honest.”

While the Cyclones’ performance on Friday was far from perfect, they certainly showed that they have the elusiveness and the athleticism to make most defensive coordinators lose sleep.

“I think it will make us hard to defend,” Hatfield said. “I think the combination of our natural ability and our execution when guys get in space can take us along way, but it’s hard to tell until you get in a real game situation.”

Eastern View will get the chance to put their explosive offense to the test when they blow into Louisa and take on the talented Lions for their first game of the season on Friday.

“Speed never hurts,” Hatfield said. “But we have to use it properly. If we’re fast but don’t execute we’ll just be shooting ourselves in the foot.”