The Anniston Star from Anniston, Alabama • Page 23

Sunday. November 14. 1999 Paae 7C NFLState Rattay sizzles, Blazers fizzle in rout Today on TV San Francisco at New Orleans, WBRC-6, noon Miami at Buffalo, WIAT-42, noon Green Bay at Dallas, WBRC-6, 3 p.m. Denver at Seatlle, ESPN, 7:20 p.m. Subject to change Today's other games Carolina at St.

Louis, noon Cleveland at Pittsburgh, noon Indianapolis at N.Y. Giants, noon Kansas City at Tampa Bay, noon Minnesota at Chicago, noon Tennessee at Cincinnati, noon Washington at Philadelphia, noon San Diego at Oakland, 3 p.m. Baltimore at Jacksonville, 3 p.m. Detroit at Arizona, 3 p.m. Buffalo looking to fry Fish Dolphins-Bills game huge for AFC East By Dave Goldberg Associated Press If the Buffalo Bills and Miami Dolphins played in any division but the AFC East, today's game in Buffalo wouldn't be quite so important.

But the Bills' 6-3 record, better than all but two teams in the entire NFC, is good for only fourth place in the division. That makes this game especially critical to Buffalo it looks like there will be AFC teams missing the playoffs despite 10 wins, and the Bills could be one of them. -NFL extra-point kick and two-point conversion attempt after two of its scores. The offensive duel continued in the third quarter, but the Tigers ran out of steam in the fourth quarter while North Alabama continued to pile up points and yardage. The Lions had 600 offensive yards for the game, compared to 220 for West Alabama.

Zack Keys caught eight passes for 1 20 yards for North Alabama. Michael Allen rushed seven limes for 8 1 yards to lead the Tigers. Tl SKEGEE 51, SAVANNAH ST. 36 In Tuskegee, Michael Scott rushed for 191 yards and two touchdowns and returned a kickoff 93 yards for another score to lead Tuskegee. Trailing 20-1 7 going into the second half, the Golden Tigers (8-2) broke the game open with 27 points in the fourth quarter, including both of Scott's touchdowns.

He scored on a 3-yard run late in the third quarter and again on a 17-yard run with (3-6, 1-2 SWAC) from a chance to win the Eastern Division SWAC title. Braves quarterback Damion Ford threw for 307 yards and four touchdowns, including three to Marco Walder. Ford was intercepted three times with one returned 36 yards for a touchdown by Jason Boykin for Alabama (6-5. 3-1). Alabama scored all their points in the first half, leading 35-20 at the break.

Fields scored on runs of 34 and 14 yards. Hambrick caught scoring passes of 39 yards on the opening drive of the game from quarterback Tony Bellamy. He and Melvin Gideon connected on a 21 -yard touchdown pass in the second quarter. NORTH ALABAMA 51, WEST ALABAMA 33 In Livingston, T.D. Jones rushed for 108 yards and two touchdowns and Tyler Peterson passed for 198 yards and two TDs to lead the Lions.

Both teams scored three touchdowns in the first half, but the Lions (5-6, 5-4 Gulf South Conference) led 21-19 at halftime because West Alabama (1-10, 1-8) missed an. 12:19 remaining. ISpot Sate 1 1 2 New Used Suburbans Tahoes in Stock State short of their per-game average, and trailed 14-12. Then the Rattay machine took over. He threw three third-quarter scoring strikes and another in the fourth, needing just 15 plays to execute the scoring drives.

The Bulldogs went over 40 points for the sixth time this year despite holding the ball just 22 minutes, 58 seconds. The offenses were a study in contrast. Louisiana Tech had 20 rushes for 17 yards while UAB ran 56 times for 270 yards. Rattay threw a pair of scoring passes to James Jordan and hit Bobby Ray Tell on a 35-yard TD strike. Daniel Dixon rushed for 73 yards and two touchdowns for UAB and was 14-of-27 for 144 yards passing.

His 26-yard run with 1:52 left in the first half made it 14-12. He added a 2-yarder in the fourth quarter. ALABAMA ST. 42, PRAIRIE VIEW 27 At Montgomery, Cedric Dupree passed for 220 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for two more scores to lead Alabama State. The Hornets (2-8 overall, 1-3 Southwestern Athletic Conference) got all the points they needed in the first half, including Damian Swain's 99-yard kickoff return and reception of a 69-yard scoring pass from Dupree.

Prairie View (2-8, 0-4) finally got its offense rolling in the second half, with Josh Barnes hitting Deontay Wilson with two TD passes of 14 and 5 yards. DeMelvin Kelley scored on a 4-yard run in the third quarter and caught a 5-yard TD pass from Jamaal Foster in the fourth. Alabama State added an insurance touchdown on a 2-yard run by Renard Ross with 1:32 remaining. The Hornets had 276 offensive yards to 360 for Prairie View, but the Panthers were hampered by 11 penalties for 108 yards. Alabama State's Kenneth Watson had four catches for 75 yards and Swain had two for 78 yards.

Prairie View's Wilson finished with seven receptions for 109 yards, and Barnes was 13 of 23 for 147. ALABAMA 35, ALCORN ST. 26 At Lorman, Kenyon Hambrick caught two touchdown passes and Kelly Fields ran for two others as Alabama picked up the win. The loss eliminated Alcorn State I Slight Hail Damage Stk. 1 01 NEW '99 CHEVROLET SUBURBAN LT, 4 wheel.

Leather, Loaded, Trailor PK, Dual Air. Was $41,550 now $35,87 Louisiana Tech cruises past UAB Associated Press BIRMINGHAM That story about the tortoise beating the hare? It's just a fable. Louisiana Tech's Tim Rattay and Co. easily outpaced the more plodding option attack of UAB in a 41-20 victory Saturday. Rattay threw for 466 yards and five touchdowns to move into second place on the major-college passing yardage list, leading the Bulldogs (8-2) to their eighth straight win.

UAB fell to 4-6, guaranteeing a fifth straight losing season. "We've seen offenses like this, but we haven't seen a quarterback like that," UAB strong safety Kris Neal said. "There's really not much you can do." Rattay has 12,341 career passing yards, moving past Louisville's Chris Redman (12,196) to trail only BYU's Ty Detmer Rattay has played only three major-college seasons to four for Detmer and Redman. Rattay 's 112 career TD passes rank third behind Detmer (121) and Florida's Danny Wuerffel (114). Rattay and Redman each have one game remaining.

"Tim Rattay is the most productive quarterback in the history of the game," Bulldog coach Jack Bicknell said. "He's close to Redman and Detmer, but he's a whole year behind them." Rattay, well on his way to leading the nation in total offense for a record third straight season, played one year of junior college ball. He was 25-of-35 with no interceptions in his 11th career 400-yard effort Saturday. Delwyn Daigre caught two of his four second-half TD passes and shredded the nation's 10th-rated pass efficiency defense for nine receptions and 235 yards. His 67-yarder in the fourth quarter polished off the scoring.

The Blazers were coming off a 36-17 win over No. 24 East Carolina. The Division I-A independent Bulldogs are trying to secure their first bowl berth since 1990, having lost only to Florida State and Texas The Blazers managed to use their option attack to keep up with the high-flying Bulldogs for a half. They totaled 236 first-half yards, 38 to 5.00 $100,000 a adsmobiie Heflin, AL if Ross Street, Heflin A 256-463-2151 1.800-239-7080 put up with Kingdome noise. CAROLINA (3-5) AT ST.

LOUIS (6-2) The Rams lost at Tennessee and Detroit, but they have little to be ashamed of. Now the schedule gets easy enough to give them a shot at home-field advantage for the NFC playoffs. They deserve it they could have won both road games, Kurt Warner stayed hot and they showed the resilience that marks a class team. George Seifert has brought discipline to the Panthers, who are coming off a 33-7 win over Philadelphia. But their wins are against teams that are a combined 6-22.

MINNESOTA (5-4) AT CHICAGO (4-5) The Vikings have won three straight since Jeff George took over for Randall Cunningham and could yet fulfill predictions they'll represent the NFC in the Super Bowl. Still, they lost at home 24-22 to the Bears, who are coming off their first win over Green Bay in 11 starts. Jim Miller, who replaced the injured Cade McNown who replaced the injured Shane Matthews will be the quarterback for Chicago, paying its first home game since the death of Walter Payton. DETROIT (6-2) AT ARIZONA (2-6) In September, most people thought the records might have been reversed when these teams met. But the Lions have replaced Barry Sanders with the troika of Reggie Rivers, Greg Hill and Sedric Irvin.

Gus Frerotte came on at quarterback last week after Charlie Batch bruised his thumb and pulled out the Rams game. Frerotte may start again, this time against Dave Brown, who's been filling in for Jake Plummer. SAN FRANCISCO (3-5) AT NEW ORLEANS (1-7) After two decades of superlative play, the Montana-Young era is over. The quarterback this week is Steve Stenstrom, 1-6 lifetime as a starter, in place of Jeff Garcia. The Saints have found every way possible to lose, including allowing 31 points to the Bucs and Giants, eight points more than either of those teams have scored against anyone else.

SAN DIEGO (4-4) AT OAKLAND (4-4) The Chargers have lost three straight, their defense sinking under the weight of Erik Kramer and Jim Harbaugh, who are responsible for 16 of the 18 Chargers turnovers in the last four games. The Raiders are the perfect .500 team none of their games has been decided by more than a touchdown. WASHINGTON (5-3) AT PHILADELPHIA (2-7) Donovan McNabb finally starts at quarterback for the Eagles, who play almost everyone tough at home, but got beaten 33-7 in Carolina last week. A stat that defines this game: The Eagles have scored more than 17 points twice. The Redskins have only scored as few as 17 once, in last week's 34-17 loss to Buffalo.

BALTIMORE (3-5) AT JACKSONVILLE (7-1) TENNESSEE (6-2) AT CINCINNATI (1-8) CLEVELAND (1-8) AT PITTSBURGH (5-3) The AFC Central at a glance: one very good team (the Jaguars); one decent (the Titans); one average (the Steelers); and three bad ones. Baltimore bad? Remember that despite some outstanding defensive players, two of the Ravens' three wins are over the Browns and that their quarterback is Tony Banks, a desperation move after Scott Mitchell and Stoney Case failed. A stat on Cleveland-Pittsburgh: the Steelers beat the Browns 43-0 on opening night in Cleveland. In four home games since, they've done no better than match that 43 points. The Titans have gone seven quarters without a touchdown since putting up 21 points in the first period of their win over St.

Louis two weeks ago. That should change this week the Bengals are allowing 31 points a game. Jacksonville is one of the few teams in the NFL good on both offense and defense. Despite Fred Taylor's injury problems and a sub-par Mark Brunell, the Jaguars are averaging 26 points a game and allowing less than 10. Laugh the way "We have three teams sitting in front of us, but they're all within our grasp," says Doug Flutie, who led Buffalo to a 34-17 win in Washington after spending the previous week reading and hearing demands that he be benched.

"This game will decide whether we're making a legitimate run at winning the AFC East or we're just fighting to make the playoffs." Miami (7-1 has more of a cushion. But it hardly wants to lose to the Bills, who won 23-18 in Miami six weeks ago, the Dolphins' only loss. If they lose to Buffalo again, they'd be in trouble if the division title comes down to tiebreakers. The Dolphins could have their own quarterback controversy. Damon Huard has played the major role in four straight wins after Dan Marino left the New England game with a sore shoulder.

Huard backers note that in the loss to the Bills, Marino threw two interceptions, lost a fumble and converted one of 14 third-down situations. INDIANAPOLIS (6-2) AT NEW YORK GIANTS (5-3) An interesting test for the Colts, the current favorite to become the team of the next millennium. Four of their five wins have been indoors at home. This one is against a good defensive team in a stadium where the winds swirl unpredictably. The Colts beat the Jets there earlier this year only because of an ill-called pass by Bill Parcells that was ill-thrown by Ray Lucas.

The Colts' young trio of quarterback Peyton Manning, running back Edgerrin James and wide receiver Marvin Harrison is drawing comparisons to Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith and Michael Irvin. "It's like a three-headed monster," says Giants linebacker Jessie Armstead. "You cut one of them off, and you've still got to deal with the other two. Any one of the three can kill you." GREEN BAY (4-4) AT DALLAS (4-4) This was THE game a few years ago. Now it's simply a contest between two hurting teams.

"I'm the leader of this team and I say we'll go 12-4," said Brett Favre after Ryan Longwell's game-ending field-goal attempt was blocked by Chicago in a one-point loss. Favre is playing with a sore thumb. But Aikman, Smith and Irvin are all out for Dallas, the first time all three have missed the same game since they became teammates in 1990. KANSAS CITY (5-3) AT TAMPA BAY (4-4) Two of the teams that define 1999, the Bucs more so because they're a defense without an offense. Sure, they scored 31 last week against New Orleans as Trent Dilfer came back, but the Saints have made a habit of allowing bad offenses to score 31.

And Dilfer has made a habit of following good games with bad ones. The Chiefs' main reaction to last week's loss in Indianapolis was to sign Scott Bentley, who can kick off deeper than Pete Stoyanovich. DENVER (3-6) AT SEATTLE (6-2) Not only has Mike Holmgren made the expected improvement in the Seahawks, but he now adds Joey Galloway to the mix. His plans are to have him run the slants Jerry Rice used to run in San Francisco. Holmgren is mum whether Galloway will play after holding out half a season.

But the Seahawks win with defense and will be going after Chris Miller, Denver's only healthy quarterback, also will have to the bank Premium Money Market Account 4.50 APY 425 APY $29,999 1 9,999 100 Under $5,000 4.75 APY $20,000 We think this might tickle your fancy. We're offering the new AmSouth Premium Money Market Account that will yield high rates and put you in high spirits. We understand you need great rates, so we're meeting your needs with great rates. Come by any AmSouth branch or call l-800-AMSOUTH and talk to us about it. We feel it will bring a smile to your face.

JVmSouth bank THE RELATIONSHIP PEOPLE 1999 AmSouth Bank. Member FDIC Annual Feel could reduce the earnings on the account Percentage Yields (APYs) are accu-atc as of date of publication and are subject to change daily. The minimum Up to six transfers per statement period three of which can be made by check This offer is not available for public balance required to open the account is 000. entities or businesses Some restrictions ma apply. 05935S.