Saturday, September 04, 2004
Curtis jump-starts Colonels
Mijuan Curtis runs for 118 yards and two touchdowns on his only two carries for Fleming.
Magna Vista, playing its first football game since consolidating with Henry County rival Laurel Park, encountered a familar obstacle Friday night in William Fleming as the Colonels opened their 2004 season with a 24-12 victory. Senior flanker Mijuan Curtis scored touchdowns both times he touched the ball from scrimmage and Timesland's No.1 team held Magna Vista to 3 yards rushing in rolling to its third win over the Warriors in two seasons.
Curtis scored on runs of 76 and 42 yards on his only two carries of the night. Don't the Colonels think about ways to get the speedster the ball more often?
"All the time," Fleming coach Keith Smith said. "We want to get Mijuan the ball. We need to get Mijuan the ball. Mijuan does what he does. He's a player. He does what we ask him to do."
With regular tailback Dwayne Priest limited by a sprained ankle, Fleming's coaches needed Curtis for a couple of carries at tailback.
Talk about making the most of an opportunity.
Curtis ripped off a 76-yard sprint to give Fleming a 6-3 lead in the second quarter, then broke a tackle at the line of scrimmage on a powerful 43-yard TD run to put the Colonels up 17-6 with 1:34 left in the third quarter.
Curtis also intercepted a pass and returned it 63 yards for an apparent TD that was nullified by a clipping penalty.
The 5-foot-10, 160-pound Curtis wasn't complaining about not getting the ball more.
"I don't care about touches, we're a team," Curtis said. "I was playing out of position, but I'm going to do what the coaches want me to do. I'm not worried about me. We want to get back where we were last year - the state championship."
Fleming reached the Group AA Division 4 final with a 13-8 semifinal victory last year over Magna Vista. The Colonels also defeated the Warriors 34-13 in the 2003 season opener.
While Magna Vista trailed just 9-6 at halftime on a pair of field goals by Alan Koger, the visitors from Roanoke dominated the second half. The Colonels finished with 311 rushing yards, getting 118 from Curtis, 72 from sophomore Jerome Fleming and 52 from quarterback Dere Hicks. Fleming's final TD was a 1-yard run by Hicks.
The Colonels had plenty of running room in the final two quarters.
"We scrimmaged against E.C. Glass last week and we lost that scrimmage," Curtis said. "We went back and practiced and did some conditioning and it paid off tonight."
Magna Vista coach Joe Beckelheimer said his team did not get tired.
"I don't think fatigue was a factor," Beckelheimer said. "I thought we came out aggressive, but their cutbacks work well against an aggressive defense. We've got to do a better job staying with the play."
Magna Vista had little success against Fleming's defense, hurting its cause by dropping two touchdown passes including one by heralded receiver Carlos Wade, who was limited to two receptions for 30 yards.
Matt Duffy completed 10 of 21 throws for 136 yards for Magna Vista. Backup Matthew Brown played sparingly and threw twice.
William Fleming 0 9 8 7 - 24
Magna Vista 3 3 0 6 - 12
MV - FG Koger 36
WF -Curtis 76 run (kick failed)
WF - FG Dempsey 35
MV - FG Koger 39
WF - Curtis 42 run (Fleming run)
WF - Hicks 1 run (Dempdey kick)
MV - Williams 9 pass from Duffy (pass failed)
First downs 9 9
Yards rushing 33-311 27-3
Passes C-A-I 3-9-0 10-23-1
Yards passing 11 136
Penalties-yards 12-106 7-45
Fumbles-lost 2-1 3-1
Punts-average 4-34 6-36
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING - WF, Curtis 2-118, Fleming 12-72, Hicks 7-52, Priest 7-36, Lawton 3-20, Robertson 1-11, Webb 1-2. Magan Vista, Smallwood 6-14, Spencer 11-10, Jefferson 1-(-1), Watkins 1-(-2), Brown 1-(-6), Duffy 7-(-13).
PASSING - William Fleming, Hicks 3-9-0-11. Magna Vista, Duffy 10-21-1-136, Brown 0-2-0-0.
RECEIVING - William Fleming, Alexander 1-11, Hairston 1-6, Lawton 1-(-6). Magna Vista, Williams 2-31, Wade 2-30, Jefferson 2-24, Spencer 2-10, Watkins 1-22, Simmons 1-14, Preston 1-5.
