The Indianapolis Star from Indianapolis, Indiana • Page 18

Sports The Indianapolis Star SATURDAY, AUGUST 15, 1987 B-4 Colts looking to beat up on Lions tonight WR Bill Brooks (80). Walter Murray (86). Bvron Williams 116) QB Gary Hogeboom (7). Jack Trudeau'(lO), Blair Kiel (51 HB Derrick Ramsey (88). John Brandes (41) RB Albert Bentley (20).

George Wonsley (34). Owen Gill (44). David Adams (30). Greg Allen (27) DEFENSE ROSTER LE TJonnell Thompson (99). Harvey Arm strong (79).

Booker Reese (67). Mark Studaway (62) NT Bill Elko (96). Scott Kellar (94). Isaac Williams (61) RE Jon Hand (78). Byron Darby (72).

John Haines (90). Jim Reynosa (91) LB Johnie Cooks (98). Orlando Lowry (59). Brian Bulluck (58) LB Cliff Odom (93). Jeff Leiding Bob Ontkol511 24 passes for 255 yards and two touchdowns and ran for another TD.

Offensive coordinator John Becker wants to run what he calls "a very base attack" tonight. "We want the players to execute, we don't want a lot of confusion out there," he says. "It is difficult to evaluate young players If you put them In a real stress situation. We want them to feel 100 percent comfortable. We aren't going to attempt to deceive anyone." 6ne of four busses transporting the Colts from the airport to their hotel was involved in an accident Friday evening on rain-slick 1-75 but no one was injured.

A car spun in front of the bus and the roof of the automobile was ripped off the vehicle. Detroit will start Chuck Long, the highly-paid draftee from Iowa of a year ago at quarterback and five new faces on defense end Reggie Rogers, nose tackle Jerry Ball, cornerback Rod Hill, llne- backer Shelton Robinson and strong safety William Graham. Rogers was the Lions' No. 1 pick this year and Ball was taken in round three. OFFENSE ROSTER WR Matt Bouza (85).

Roy Banks (45). Mark Bellini (87). Dameon Rellly (36) LT Bob Brotzki (74), Chris Gambol (73) LG Ben Utt (64), Randy Dixon (69) Ray Donaldson (53), Gary Walker (60). Travis Simpson (54) RG Ron Solt (66). Joel Patten (68) RT Joel Patten (68).

Kevin Call (71). Kelly Thomas (63) TE Pat Beaoh (81). Tim Sherwln (83) secondary and Scott Kellar in the middle of the line. The defense will have to play well for Indianapolis to defeat the Lions. Offensively, there might not be much firepower because of health problems in the line.

Right tackle Kevin Call most likely will not play because of an ailing shoulder. Rest Is the best cure for his problem and there is no reason to risk further injury in a somewhat meaningless contest. Joel Patten, a free agent who has been earning paychecks playing football since 1980, is scheduled to replace Call. Dob Brotzki may or may not start at left tackle in place of Pro Bowler Chris Hinton. sidelined by arthroscopic knee surgery in June.

Brotzki, a second-year man who played very briefly In 1986. has a bruised knee. He needs the work. If Brotzki cannot play. Chris Gambol, the 303-pound third-round draft pick from Iowa will start.

Because of the line ailments and Detroit's history of having trouble stopping the running game, look for the Colts to rely heavily on their ground game. Running backs Albert Bentley, George Wonsley and Owen Gill are all primed to operate out of the one-back set. Gary Hogeboom. the man Meyer terms the "nucleus" of the offense, will start at quarterback. Meyer Is not certain how long Hogeboom will play.

There are two factors which will affect that decision the tempo of the contest and the ability of the patched-up line to protect the quarterback. Hogeboom has played Just one quarter at the Silverdome during his professional career, but it was 15 minutes no one will ever forget. The Colts" QB played the final period for Dallas In a 28-21 loss to Detroit in 1 985. Hogeboom completed 1 7 of By JOHN BANSCH STAR STAFF WRITER Pontiac. For the last three weeks, the Indianapolis Colts' defensive unit has been beating up on its own offensive teammates.

Tonight. In a sparsely-populated, steamy Pontiac Silverdome. the defenders will have an opportunity to destroy the Detroit Lions In the National Football League preseason opener for both teams (7:05 p.m.. WIBC-1070AM and WTHR-Channel 13). The 80.638-seat.

non-air conditioned domed stadium Is expected to be less than half full at i kickoff. No one is more eager than Coach Ron Meyer to see if what has transpired In practice is fact or fiction. He is well aware that the lack of aggres- siveness by the defense was one of the major problems in 1986. "I don't really know what we will see tonight," Meyer says of a unit which had just 24 sacks In 16 games. "They've looked quick getting off the ball and pressuring our quarterbacks, now I want to see what problems they can create for the opposl-.

tion quarterback." observes the man who Is beginning his first full season as coach of the Colts. Meyer's battle plan calls for the Colts to blitz more than they did while posting a 3-13 record last autumn, but he does not anticipate a lot of stunts In the defensive line tonight. That will come when regular-season play begins Sept. 13 against 'Cincinnati In the Hoosler Dome. There will be two new faces In the defensive unit veteran free agents Willie Tullis at left corner and nill Elko at nose tackle.

Both have been Impressive In training camp to move ahead of starters from a year ago John Holt In the LB Dave Ahrens (57). June James (95) Ed Grimsley (52) LB Duane Bickett (50). LaMonte Hunley (36) LC Willie Tullis (42). Kenny Daniel (23). John Holt (21) RC Eugene Daniel (38).

Chris Goode (37), Bryant Jones (33) SS Leonard Coleman (31). James Noble (29), Pat Ballage (40). Mike Prior (39) 1 FS Nesby Glasgow (25), Freddie Robinson (17), Jim Perryman (43), Tate Randle (35) SPECIALISTS ROSTER Rohn Stark (3) Dean Biasuccl (4) PR Willie Tullis (42), Mark Bellini (87). Bill Brooks (80) KR James Noble (29). Kenny Daniel (23), Albert Bentley (20).

Mario pleased with pole spot at Pocono 500 STAR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT mrin a iwiwii Ht Rahal expressed disappointment at not getting his second pole of the year "because I thought we had a shot. We've been chasing a handling problem with the car since we got here. We've been circling it but we haven't hit it yet." Andrettl's fifth pole of the year and 61st of his career is his first at Pocono. It also means he Is one of only three drivers (others are Mears and Tom Sneva) to have won poles at all three current Triple Crown tracks. The day's events also left the defending race champion with a monopoly on smiles In the Andrettl family.

Son Michael, fastest in Thursday's first practice session, wound up qualifying fifth at 195.173 in the Kra-coSTP 87C. On Michael's left in the second row is Roberto Guerrero at 198.636 in the True-ValueSTP March, while Scott Brayton claimed the sixth spot with a 194.012 in the AmwayAuto Style March. The rest of the Top 10 included A.J. F6yt at 193.736. Al Un-ser Sr.

at 193.698. Al Unser Jr. 193.407 and Geoff Brabham 192.781. Pancho Carter missed a probable first six start when he scraped the wall with the Hardee's Machinists Union March exiting Turn 2 on his first quali drcttl got a pleasant surprise Fri-1 day as the first 25 spots In the field for Sunday's Quaker State 500 were filled at Pocono Inter-." national Raceway. He won the pole.

"I wasn't too confident going rout." he said after touring the 2.5-mile tri-oval at 200.915 miles per hour. "We had been having an electrical problem in practice, and it had put me be-Vhind In chasing the race track. "We hadn't run the setup I went out to qualify with. I had no idea what was going to hap-t pen, so on the first lap I Just felt my way around. If I had known 'how well the car was going to hold, I would have stood on it harder that lap while the tires "'were still at there best." As it was.

there still was enough left in the Goodyears on Andretti's Hanna Auto Wash Lola for him to edge Rick Mears and the Pennzoll March 86C for the top grid spot in Sunday's 200-lap chase. Mears claimed the middle of "the front row with a 200.611 mph lap, while CARTPPG Indy Car World Series point leader Bobby Rahal claimed the outside at 198.820 in the Budweiser TrueSports Lola. Both Andrettl and Mears made major leaps forward from their practice speeds, while Ra-. hal quickest when it didn't count at 199.053 slumped slightly. Mears, who Is trying to break i a two-year wlnless streak In the race that produced his last vie- tory, wasn't surprised to see speeds reach 200 despite i CART's 3-inch cut in turbo- charger boost.

He was, however, surprised to find himself doing It. "As soon as I saw speeds getting over 195. I thought 200 'was in reach," he said. "I just dldn't think we had quite enough to do It." ASSOCIATED PRESS Lost head play Roland Banks of Boonton, N.J., sun during the Rutgers University foot- head between his shoulder pads ana' avoids the questions and the afternoon ball team's media day by hiding his under his jersey. Bosworth inks record contract to slightly more than $1.1 fying lap after turning a 195.1 final warmup.

He finished the lap at 191.665 and will start 15th. Ills was the last of three contact incidents during the day. In practice, Johnny Rutherford foreshortened the nose on the Vermont American March and had to qualify his backup car (12th at 192.308). Rookie Davy Jones damaged just about everything but the tub on the right side of his Copenhagen 86C and will have to qualify today. Knox compared the agree ment with Bosworth to that of Hall of Fame quarterback Joe Namath.

who signed with the New York Jets in 1965 when Knox was a Jet assistant. "But the bottom line is, can the guy produce?" said Knox, adding he believed Bosworth would have little trouble playing in the nfl. Bosworth. whose controver Cubs hammer Mets for 4th straight time sial manner tainted the end of his college career, said Knox "won't muzzle me. but I won't put mv foot in mv mouth like I did in Oklahoma.

I have learned from experience." He said despite what many people believe, he does not like a UNITED PRESS INTERNATIONAL Seattle All-American linebacker Brian Bosworth Friday signed the largest contract ever awarded an NFL rookie 10 years for $1 1 million with the Seattle Seahawks, two months after pledging he would never play for them. "We were looking for something that would knock us silly and this one knocked me on my butt," the former Oklahoma star said. "It's big." The contract Includes a $2.5 million signing bonus. Bos-worth's agent had said the player would never agree to play in Seattle after the Seahawks grabbed him in the June 12 NFL supplemental draft. "I'm extremely happy with being In Seattle for 10 years." Bosworth said.

"I am ecstatic about being here in Seattle excited by the opportunities that Coach (Chuck) Knox, Mr. (team President-General Manager 1 Mike) McCormack and Mr. (John) Nordstrom (one of the team's principal owners) have given me here. I look forward to the opportunity as quickly as I can in my new profession." Bosworth's parents, Kathy and Foster Bosworth, Joined their son at the news conference that was also attended by McCormack and Nordstrom. Seahawks officials said Bosworth agreed to a 10-year deal that includes a $2.5 million sign- It -T lot of media attention.

"But I want people to under stand that I am here to win football games." he said. "I couldn't care less about people UNITED PRESS INTERNATIONAL Newly-signed Seattle Seahawk Brian Bosworth gets into a car at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport Friday. winning the final two games of a four-game set last week. The Mets led, 1 -0. when Dave Martinez started the Chicago fifth with a double.

Ryne Sand-berg sacrificed before Martinez scored on a sacrifice fly by Leon Durham. Andre Dawson doubled with two out and Jerry Mumphrey was walked intentionally. More-land hit a 3-1 pitch over the left-field seats for his 22nd homer and a 4-1 Chicago lead. Dawson and Mumphrey hit consecutive pitches from reliever Jeff Innis for homers in the seventh inning, extending Chicago's lead to 6-1. For Dawson, it was his National League-leading 36th homer.

The Mets had scored in the third inning. Len Dykstra singled and raced home on Keith Hernandez's double. UNITED PRESS INTERNATIONAL Chicago Keith Moreland slammed a three-run homer and Scott Sanderson and two reliev-; ers combined on a six-hitter Frl-'' day to pace the Chicago Cubs to their fourth straight victory over INew York, a 6-1 decision over the Mets. Sanderson (6-6) gave up three hits and one run In five innings. He left the game with an aggravated right groin muscle.

Drew Hall hurled three innings of two- hit relief before Jay Bailer pitched the ninth. 'h. John Mitchell (3-5) held the Cubs to one single in each of the first four innings before giving up four runs in the fifth. The Cubs have now beaten the Mets in the first two games this four-game series after in other cities hating my guts. In fact.

I thrive on that. I also will thrive on the support I get from my home fans. I hope they love me." The Boz arrived In Seattle like a visiting dignitary and was ushered with his agent, Gary Wi-chard. to a private car waiting on the tarmac at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. They were driven to a hellcppter for a short flight to Seahawks headquarters in Klrkland.

More than '100 screaming Seahawks fans were at the airport to greet Bosworth. ing bonus, with $2 million deferred until 1997 to 2000. In his first year. Bosworth will receive a base salary of $300,000 plus the $500,000 signing bonus. He will receive raises of $100,000 a year to his base salary through 1996.

when he will earn $1.2 million. Miami quarterback Vinny Testaverde. the No. 1 pick In April's draft, had signed the largest previous rookie deal a six-year. package with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

The contract places Bosworth. who won the Butkus Award as the nation's top college linebacker in his last two seasons, at a salary level close to running back Curt Warner, the highest-paid Seahawk. Warner last spring signed a four-year contract that w'ill pay him $900,000 this year and Increase.