From the November 16, 1994 edition of The New Castle Record
One of Craig county’s better football seasons ended on a disappointing note last Friday when the Rockets dropped a 22-12 game to Bland in New Castle. Craig led 12-0 midway through the third quarter, but couldn’t hang on and complete a .500 season.
“Our kids are so used to losing, they don’t know how to play when they’re ahead,” said Craig coach Greg Stick. “When the other team cranks it up, we’re left flat.”
The Rockets led 6-0 at the half on a 29-yard TD pass from Robby Huffman to Zachary Peters. Craig went up 12-0 when Huffman hit Peters again in the third period, and it looked like the Rockets were on a roll.
All of a sudden, however, they stopped rolling. Bland got one score back on a four-yard run and made the extra point to cut the lad to 7-6. Then the Bears took a 15-12 lead on a two-yard run by David Lambert with about four minutes remaining. Bland punched it home one more time for the final score.
“It was an evenly matched game,” said Stick. “We jumped right on them in the first half, but once the other team makes a run it’s hard for us to fight back. We were ahead at halftime in seven of our 10 games this year, but we ended up losing three of those in the second half.
Stick was also upset with a rash of penalties by Craig. The Rockets were hit with 11 penalties for 126 yards, including several personal fouls and one to taunting.
“We gave it away,” said a disgusted Stick. “Our conduct was bad. I push sportsmanship, and some of our kids showed a lack of character.”
On a brighter note, Huffman ended his brilliant high school career with a n outstanding game. Robby hit 11of 18 passes for 181 yards and two touchdowns. Peters caught four passes, Jason and Chris Blankenship had three each, and john Hall caught one pass. Hufman led the rushing with 35 yards.
Peters and Chris Blankenship, both seniors, had strong games in their swan song. Craig has six senior who will be missed, but Stick is optimistic the improvement can continue next year. Craig went from no wins in 1993 to a 4-6 record in ’94.
“Most of our line is coming back, and we have 10 ninth graders on the jayvee team,” he said. “I’m real optimistic about next year.”
