varsity.roanoke.com

CHRISTIANSBURG - Trailing the top-ranked Group AA football team in Virginia by 21 points at halftime, all Christiansburg needed for an upset was two things:

A game-winning catch by a player with no career receptions and a clinching interception by a guy who dislocated his shoulder a week ago in gym class. Yeah, sure.

On a night when Timesland's rankings were turned upside down, Christiansburg staged a 22-point rally in the second half and shocked No.1 Salem 36-35 in a River Ridge District thriller.

Terrell Burkes' 5-yard touchdown run with 1:40 to play and the subsequent 2-point conversion pass from DeShaun Grandy to Nick Gill capped Christiansburg's comeback. Jordon Collins intercepted a pass in the end zone a few plays later to ice the improbable win.

"It's unbelievable, it's unbelievable," Christiansburg coach Tim Cromer cried out as the final seconds ticked away. "This is unbelievable. We just knocked off the No.1 team in the state."

Not even a cold blast from the water bucket shook Cromer from a victory he has been dreaming about since taking the Christiansburg job three years ago.

"This team never gives up," Cromer said. "That's the fourth comeback victory we've had in a row."

Now Christiansburg (6-0, 1-0) finds itself sharing first place in the River Ridge with unbeaten Cave Spring and Hidden Valley, a 31-6 winner over Pulaski County.

The first half gave little indication the Blue Demons would be staging a wild celebration on their home field.

Salem (5-1, 0-1) rolled up 330 yards total offense and raced to a 35-14 lead as Christiansburg's defense was reeling. Andre Hairston ran for 101 yards and two TDs in the second quarter alone for the Spartans, while speedster D'Juan Smith scored on an 11-yard run and a 57-yard pass from Matt Shawver.

Shawver hit Tony Spradlin on a 23-yard TD pass with six seconds left in the half. Cromer welcomed the intermission.

"That's the fastest team I've seen in three years in Southwest Virginia," Cromer said.

However, the Blue Demons opened the second half with a touchdown drive, then forced Salem to punt for the first time to change the momentum.

Christiansburg limited Salem's high-speed attack to just 78 yards in the second half and forced two turnovers.

The first was an interception by Shawn Asconi at the Salem 36 with the Blue Demons trailing 35-21 early in the fourth quarter.

Christiansburg needed just five plays to score, getting a big break when Andrew Hoffer's fumble after an 18-yard gain rolled out of bounds at the 1.

Hoffer's 1-yard TD sneak and the kick by Zach Boyd brought the Blue Demons to 35-28 with 8:04 to play.

Salem responded with a drive to the Christiansburg 40, but Smith got stopped short on a fourth-and-five run as Spartans coach Stephen Magenbauer elected not to punt.

"They were doing such a good job moving the football we felt like we really needed to score there, and that's the way it turned out," Magenbauer said.

Christiansburg ate up the 60 yards in just six plays. Hoffer's 35-yard pass to Boyd, who had a TD catch in the first half, put the ball at the 5. Burkes, who finished with 111 yards rushing on 22 carries, scored on the next play.

Salem lined up to block the extra point, but Christiansburg had other ideas. Grandy peeled back on a reverse, took the pitchout and found Gill in the end zone for a 36-35 lead.

"That's my first catch, but I knew we'd get it," Gill said. "We'd run it in practice all week. We knew what was going on."

Salem reached the Christiansburg 32 in the final minute, close to range for kicker Grant Hall. Instead, Shawver went for the end zone with 50 seconds left but the pass was picked off by Collins, who played the entire game in a brace after separating his shoulder a week ago in P.E. class.

"I saw it hanging up there and I knew I had a chance," Collins said.

Now Christiansburg's possibilities seem endless.

Salem14 21 0 0 - 35

Christiansburg14 0 7 15 - 36

S- Smith 11 run (Hall kick)

C- Thompson 6 run (kick failed)

S- Smith 57 pass from Shawver (Hall kick)

C- Boyd 24 pass from Hoffer (Hoffer run)

S- Hairston 1 run (Hall kick)

S- Hairston 4 run (Hall kick)

S- Spradlin 23 pass from Shawver (Hall kick)

C- Burkes 2 run (Boyd kick)

C- Hoffer 1 run (Boyd kick)

C- Burkes 5 run (Gill pass from Grandy)

SHS CHS

First downs 19 17

Yards rushing 188 175

Passes C-A-I 11-23-2 7-15-1

Yards passing 220 106

Penalties-yards 13-101 8-60

Fumbles-lost 1-1 1-0

Punts-average 1-36 3-48

Individual statistics

RUSHING - Salem, Hairston 20-113, Smith 7-38, Daniels 7-37. Christiansburg, Burkes 22-111, Hoffer 8-30, Alcorn 5-17, Thompson 7-12, Grandy 1-5.

PASSING - Salem, Shawver 11-23-2 220. Christiansburg, Hoffer 7-15-1 106.

RECEIVING - Salem, Spradlin 5-95, Webb 3-45, Daniels 2-23, Smith 1-57. Christiansburg, Boyd 2-59, Thompson 1-20, Buck 1-12, Collins 1-9, Alcorn 1-8, Burkes 1-(-2).