The Indianapolis Star from Indianapolis, Indiana • Page 21

4 The Indianapolis Star MONDAY, OCTOBER 13, 1986 Obituaries 30 Classified 31-38 PORTS PAGE 21 i pll Laguna 6th win for Rahal -V. 'i Sim. -iSi Colts lose as comeback, falls short iUJ awn By JOHN BANSCH STAR STAFF WRITER Jack Trudeau made profes-' slonal football fun again Sunday. So did Matt Bouza, Leonard Coleman and Albert Bentley. That threesome provided the fuel for a second-half rally which almost produced the first triumph of the season for the embattled, winless Indianapolis Colts, In the end.

however, it was loss No. 6, a 17-14 defeat administered by the New Orleans Saints (2-4) before 53.512 roaring spectators in the Hoosier Dome. There were 4,847 no-; shows and the actual attendance was the smallest since the Colts moved to Indianapolis in 1984. AH hope of victory turned into despair one minute and 47 sec-onds from the final gun. The death knell was sounded when Saints' linebacker James Haynes knocked the football loose from the grasp of Colts' tight end Mark Boyer at the New Orleans 12-yard line.

1 It i was the first fumble In Boyer's two years as a pro. He had to reach backward to catch 'a 4-yard pass from Trudeau and was attempting to turn upfield when. Haynes reached in from behind with his right hand to force the fumble. Rod Dowhower refused to pin the loss on Boyer. "The outcome certainly didn't come down to one play and one player," said the Colts coach.

"We made some critical offensive errors in the first half. We had our chances." "There are no excuses," said Boyer. "It was Just a good play on his part." was the catalyst in Related stories, Pages 22, 23 NFL results, Pages 24, 25 the rally, completing 16 of 29 passes after the break for 237 yards and both touchdowns. It was the first time since Bert Jones passed for 310 yards against Cincinnati on Oct. 11, 1981 that a Colt quarterback has surpassed 300 yards.

And. it was the most passing yards for a Colt QB since Jones threw for 357 against Miami on Sept. 27, 1981. Ironically, both of Jones', games were In losing efforts. Bouza was the recipient of both TD passes, slipping behind the Saints' secondary on a 24-yard scoring play in the third period and hauling in a 16-yard toss in the fourth period.

The wide receiver with the sure hands and the demeanor of a true professional athlete also caught a career-high seven passes for 94 yards. Coleman tied a club record with three interceptions. Two were in the end zone and the third came on a diving, sliding catch near midfield. Bentley. Inserted Into the lineup ahead of George Wonsley In an attempt to boost offensive production, snared seven passes for 99 yards and led the Colts in rushing with 44 yards on 10 carries.

New Orleans was leading, 1 7-0, when the Colts' offense finally began to click. The Saints had scored on an 18-yard Dave Wilson to Mike Jones pass in the second period; a 46-yard Morten Andersen field goal in the second quarter, and a 9-yard Jaunt See COLTS Page 23 Bws9fpi4 "mm 1 By ROBIN MILLER STAR ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR Monterey, Calif. Bobby Rahal continued his selfish sojourn Sunday afternoon at Laguna Seca Raceway. In winning the Champion Spark Plug 300 for the third straight year. Rahal racked up his sixth victory of the season which was also his fourth triumph in the last five CART shows.

Starting second (he did allow Mario Andretti to take the pole) in his Budweiser March, the 1986 Indianapolis 500 victor led 86 of the 98 laps in a masterful performance. Despite the fact he was only 1 .4 1 seconds ahead of runner-up Danny Sullivan at the checkered flag. Rahal was really never In danger. Sullivan got close a few times in the late going, but Rahal never faltered as the crowd of waited for the pass that never came. "Danny made it difficult for me and I was driving as hard as I could those last 10 laps," admitted Rahal, who upped his PPG Cup lead to nine points over Michael Andretti with two races remaining.

"I thought my car was handling better than most all day and fortunately it would do whatever I wanted it to do." Sullivan, who sliced a 6-sec-ond deficit on Lap 70 to a couple of car lengths by Lap 80, was realistic about his charge in the Miller American March. "I knew we could catch him but passing him was another matter," exclaimed Sullivan, who still has a shot at the title and trails Rahal by 28 points heading for Phoenix. "We had to back off the boost after our second pit stop and the fuel light came on with 19 laps left so we were happy with our finish." Young Andretti, who began the day two points behind Rahal, came home third In the Kra-coSTPLean Machine March. "My car ran fairly well today but we were a couple of tenths off the pace all afternoon," he explained. "And once Bobby (Rahal) got by my dad, he was long gone." Michael's reference was to the early going.

Polesitter Mario Andretti led the first eight circuits before Rahal dove under him going through Laguna's famous corkscrew corner. From that point on. the only time Rahal surrendered the top spot was for four laps during his two pit stops. He led by as much as 12 seconds before Sullivan caught up in traffic. "After I got by Mario, I was pacing myself, trying to be easy on the tires and gearbox," relat- See CART Page 29 3 y-lS: STAR STAFF PHOTOD.

TODD MOORE Colts' Mark Boyer fumbles ball after hit by Saints' James Haynes at the New Orleans line with 1 :47 remaining in game Sunday. tieteree Ureith was in Indianapolis, wasn her Sports Over Lightly By BOB COLLINS giving profound opinions to an uncaring readership. But enough of this is more than plenty. And I don't trust absent-minded referees who are liable to pull down their neckties and embarrass their trousers. Send him to Baltimore next week.

He can direct while the band plays the Anvil Chorus. Meanwhile, back to the playing fields of South Capital Avenue. It wasn't a bad football game. And even with our limited experience as people who stole a franchise from a city that didn't want it, we can tell a good one from a bad one. See COLLINS Page 23 he had been in the NFL 27 years and this was only our third time around.

See, it's our fault. Or, perhaps, he's heading into not-so-early senility. Most of us check our airline tickets. Don't know about you, but I don't care all that much for surprises. I'd Just as soon land at my destination.

Saves walking. Let's hope Dreith, somehow, found his way back to the aerodrome. Next time he might get run out of town on a rail. Unfortunately, nobody thought to ask him his name. The answer might have been Interesting.

It's a bit late to accuse me of sour grapes, since I've maintained a bad attitude throughout my checkered career of TELEVISION HAS turned sports officials, among others. Into hams. But what we got Sunday was a hunk of uncured pork. Referee Ben Dreith turned his best cheeh; to the camera, made sure no missing teeth were showing, and, in stentorian tones, said, "Time out, Baltimore." A fellow shouldn't knock a place he's never been, but I understand that as a major league football town, Baltimore ranks right behind Peoria. Dreith should have looked at the house.

There were 53,512 people In the Hoosier Dome Sunday. That's about two weeks' worth for Baltimore. On top of that, the game was played indoors. If he felt raindrops, he immedi- ately should have contacted a physician or a priest. If there is a life after sundown, Baltimore hasn't found it yet.

It's crab cakes or beddy-bye. Dreith explanation should win him a free trip to the 1988 Olympics as a Javelin catcher. The referee tossed it off by saying that Bosox won't die, upend Angels, 7-6 Ajstros get even with 3-1 win A.L. pennant in its 26-year existence, Henderson did not fail when he connected off Angels relief ace Donnle Moore, putting the Red Sox ahead 6-5. Henderson danced down the first-base line as his drive cleared the left-field fence, and his teammates streamed onto the field to greet him.

The blow left the Angels and their screaming crowd of 64.223 in stunned silence. Henderson, normally a late-inning defensive replacement, had entered the game In the fifth after Tony Armas injured his ankle. Yet in the sixth, a fly ball by Bobby Grich deflected off Henderson's glove and went over the center-field fence for a two-run homer that put California ahead i "I thought I had it all the ASSOCIATED PRESS Anaheim, Calif. The Boston Red Sox, stung a few hours earlier, turned stinger Sunday and stayed alive in the American League playoffs. The Red Sox, down to their final at-bat in the ninth Inning and again close to elimination minutes later In Game 5, twisted and turned past the California Angels 7-6 in 1 1 Innings.

The victory came one day after Boston suffered its most bitter loss of the season, an II-inning heartbreaker In which pitching ace Roger Clemens blew a three-run lead in. the ninth. The Red Sox now trail California 3-21n the best-of -seven series. Game 6 is scheduled for Tuesday night In Boston with Dennis "Oil Can" Boyd facing California's Kirk McCaskill. "These two ballgames might be the most exciting I've ever seen." Boston Manager John McNamara said.

Dave Henderson, a little-used reserve acquired late In the season by the Red Sox, was the hero. Henderson, whose defensive gaffe enabled California to take the lead in the sixth inning, capped a four-run rally In the ninth with a two-out, two-run homer and then hit a winning sacrifice fly In the 11th. "We're ballplayers. We fail most of the time," Henderson said. "I had to step out of the batter's box and gather my thoughts." But with California within one strike of' winning the first way." Henderson said.

"I should iv A c- in vA liiili limi.1 '-3 have caught it." ASSOCIATED PRESS New York Great Scott! He did it again. Pitching with Just three days' rest. Scott turned In a record-setting performance Sunday night, throwing a three-hitter as the Houston Astros beat the New York Mets 3-1 to even the National League playoffs at two victories apiece. "I'm sure I didn't have the velocity I did in Game 1," Scott, who pitched a five-hitter to beat New York 1-0 in the opening game of the playoffs, said. "But I got it over the plate.

Tm not unbeatable. If we hadn't scored any runs, we'd have lost." Not overpowering but nonetheless effective. Scott set playoff records for complete games, total strikeouts and consecutive scoreless Innings. "He's been the most dominating pitcher this season." Astros -Manager Hal Lanier said. "Over his last six starts, he's been overwhelming." Alan Ashby.

given a second chance when his foul popup wasn't caught, hit a two-run homer and Dickie Thon added a solo shot, accounting for all the runs off Mets left-hander Sid Fernandez. Rookie left-hander Jim De-shales (12-5) will start for the Astros In Game 5 today (2 p.m.. Channel 6) against the Mets' opening-game starter, Dwight i Sm N.L. Pate 27 Henderson, however, re deemed himself with his bat. His home run came after Don Baylor had hit a two-run homer earlier in the ninth off California's top pitcher.

Mike Witt. Witt, the Game 1 winner, took a 5-2 lead Into the ninth and needed just three outs to nail down a trip to the World Series. Bill Buckner led off with a single and Baylor connected one out later. After Witt got Dwight Evans on a popup, California Manager Gene Mauch brought In lefthander Gary Lucas to relieve Witt and' pitch to lefty Rich Ged-man, who had hit a two-run homer in the second. Lucas hit See A.L.

Page 26 UNITED PRESS INTERNATIONAL Boston's Dave Henderson (right) is greeted at home plate by teammates Dave Stapleton (center) and Bill Buckner after two-run homer put Red Sox ahead, 6-5, in the ninth inning..