Wildcats bask in glow of first win

Mickie Moss Blacksburg defensive lineman Marquis Steadman now knows what it means to be a "Friday Night Warrior."

It's hard core.

Steadman and other Blacksburg football players received T-shirts with this message in the locker room shortly after a 35-12 victory over Dixie. The good feeling from the win has carried over onto the practice field.

"We had a good practice yesterday. It was good for our players to get their first win," Blacksburg coach Mickey Moss said. "We are looking forward to getting into region play and seeing how we stack up."

Blacksburg will have a stiff test in Friday's region opener against undefeated Christ Church.

Christ Church is 7-0 and fresh off a 70-0 victory over Southside Christian on homecoming. The Cavaliers are averaging 46.6 points a game and only giving up 17.7 points a game.

Left tackle J.K. Jay (6'6, 275 pounds) is considered one of the top offensive tackles in the country. Jay, a Clemson committment, was recently selected to participate in the Under Armour All- American game in January in Orlando, Fla.

"Christ Church has a good ball club," Moss said. "They're a very polished offensive team with good skill players. Defensively, they get pressure up front and are very well coached."

Dixie controlled the football almost the entire game in last week's loss to Blacksburg. The Wildcats had only three first downs and ran 24 plays in the game.

"Dixie was a power running team that ran the ball straight at us," Moss said. "They were able to convert in a lot of short yardage situations

on third and fourth down to keep our defense on the field." Blacksburg got big plays on offense, defense and special teams to earn the victory.

Josh Elmore ran for a 63-yard touchdown run and threw a 56- yard touchdown pass to Chris Hames. Chase Hames, Chris's brother, returned a blocked field goal attempt by Ryan Green for an 87-yard touchdown. Josh Ramirez had a 70-yard scoring run while Brandon Wilson had a 49-yard run.

"We have a lot of areas where we can improve. We have seen progress every week," Moss said. "We are now in region play. This is a whole new season. We just need to continue to work hard and get better."