The Anniston Star from Anniston, Alabama • Page 5

ipm fsr w--r Sports Uhf Ahmntim friar Saturday, April 27, 1985 r-z 7 5 in i p. Kin 1 xtivvl II II Ai i I if- Wirs 1 Star Pltt by Bddtt MtaMt Defensive tackle Gerald Williams (No. 98, far right) hopes to put on a show in Auburn's A-Day tonight on the Plains. Williams is tuned in for Tigers9 A-Bay a in- 1 By DARRYAL RAY SUr Sports Writer AUBURN He has seen what the Tune Drill can do to a man, and Gerald Williams wants no part of it. All those belly flops.

All those sprints. And all that yelling. That's why Auburn University's senior defensive tackle takes tonight's A-Day game very seriously. "I look at A-Day just as if it were a game in the fall," Williams said Friday afternoon. "I try to approach it in that manner, too.

Tonight, I'll try to think about what I will be doing in the game, how I should react to certain situations, and I try to block out all the distractions. "The distractions can get pretty tough sometimes, but I try to be cordial about it and go on about my business. I take A-Day very seriously." Take a spring intrasquad game seriously? Why in the world would anybody do that? "For one thing, there's bragging rights," said Williams, who will be lining up on the Blue squad for the 6 p.m. kickoff in Jordan-Hare Stadium. "A lot of bragging goes on when you split the team up like this.

We've had scrimmage games every Saturday and so far, I haven't been on a losing team. And since just about half the guys that were on my team during those scrimmage games will be on my team in the A-Day game. We don't want to lose." SO WHAT'S THE winner's reward? "Well, we haven't kind of rewards in the past," Williams said, "but I do know that after every Saturday scrimmage game for the past three weeks the losing team has had to do the Tune Drill and that's a little incentive." was the third-leading tackier among down linemen in the Southeastern Conference last fall. The other two were teammates Ben Thomas and Harold Hallman. He also had six sacks and eight tackles for losses totalling 44 yards.

He is known for playing his best in the "big games," such as his 15 solo tackles and three assists in last year's 17-15 loss to Alabama and his 17 tackles in the 35-27 loss to nationally-ranked Texas. HIS FALL PERFORMANCES have continued into the spring as the Tigers seek to improve upon last year's 8-4 record. For one thing, Williams has shed 10 pounds from last year's 270-pound playing weight and vows that he will enter the Sept. 7 opener against Southwestern Louisiana at 260 pounds. "I tot better at this weight," he said.

"It's really helped my quickness." And that quickness has helped him in other areas, too. "I think the most progress I've made this spring is on one-on-one blocking," Williams said. "I was a little weak on that, but I think I'm finally getting the hang of it." And yet, Williams remains humble in his self-appraisal. "In my opinion, I can never earn my spot," he said.1 "I'm never satisfied. I've got Ron Stallworth (a 6-5, 240-pound freshman from Pensacola's Woodham High School) pushing me hard right now.

So, I just have to get my cookies in a row so he won't beat me out." Which means tackle Rob Shuler and the rest of the White team offense may see more than they want of Gerald Williams tonight. After all, he has seen the Tune Drill defensive end positions and two more at the cornerback positions. When the coach-quarterback sounds his whistle and drops back, the guilty party must dive to the ground, belly first, and then sprint to one of the four coaches, changing his direction or belly-flopping with each blast of the whistle. "I've talked to some who have had to go through it," Williams said, "and they said that you are so tired and winded after the third sprint that you're just pushing yourself on heart the rest of the way." WILLIAMS CONSIDERS himself "lucky" to have avoided the Tune Drill, but most likely, it is his ability that has kept him out of trouble this spring. "I thought Gerald Williams was one of the best defensive tackles in the country last year," Tiger coach Pat Dye said before spring drills began.

"He has the potential to be an Ail-American. I wouldn't trade him for any defensive tackle in America, He has developed in every phase of the game and has been a solid player since he was a freshman. I think people will be hearing a lot about Gerald Williams next fall." And that's not all he said. "We feel like Gerald Williams is as good as any defensive lineman in the country," Dye said in another summation. "He played that way last year and we see no reason why he won't pick right up where he left off.

Gerald doesn't have any limitations. He has the quickness and strength and technique you need to be a great football player." Williams did turn plenty of heads last fall and usually, those heads belonged to opposing quarterbacks. With 123 tackles (two short of the team record), he Auburn's Gerald Williams The incentive, says Williams, is not to be punished. And punishment for a bad day's work on the Auburn practice field is the Tune Drill. "We have a grading system in every scrimmage where the coaches grade you on how well you've done that day or that week," Williams explained.

"If you don't make your grade or you lose that scrimmage, they have a little extra activity for you after practice. That "extra activity" is the Tune Drill, a conditioning drill where the guilty party (or parties) lines up in his position while one coach with a whistle acts as the opposing quarterback. Two other coaches line up at the If 1 1 1 I -2 I iSK Gamecocks fall to North Alabama Wildcats, Weaver qualify fqr ta te GSC Tournamont From Staff Reports CLEVELAND, Miss. The Jacksonville State Gamecocks are one game away from elimination in the Gulf South Conference North Division Baseball Tournament this morning. Friday afternoon, senior right; bander Robert Lopez ran his record to 11-0 by hurling the No.

2-ranked University of North Alabama Lions to an 11-1 win over Rudy Abbott's Jacksonville State Gamecocks in the second day of the division tournament. The Gamecocks, 19-22-1, will try to stay alive today at noon when they take on -the host 13th ranked Delta State Statesmen. Jacksonville upset the Statesmen 9-7 in Thursday's opener. Delta State, 30-18-1, beat West Georgia 6-2 Friday afternoon to advance into today's game. The Braves, who lost to Tennessee-Martin Friday morning, have been eliminated.

Lopez scattered six hits, all singles, over nine innings, walking four and striking out nine. The Lions, who scored one run in the first inning on a leadoff home run by centerfielder Cedric Land-rum and added another run in the third, broke the game wide open in thejfth with four big runs. Designated hitter Ben Cregeen's three-run homer was the big blow of the inning. UNA now 46-7-1. added two more runs in the sixth and seventh to put the game away.

JSU's lone run came in the sixth foot. "It was just a good ending to a very good track meet." Weaver's Fred Gay felt pretty much the same way. "In my opinion, this has been the most satisfying year we've had since I've been associated with the track team. "In our first tri-meet, we finished third. That's third out of three teams.

For our team to finish second in the sectionals, it took a lot of hard work by our athletes. They've come farther than any team I've ever had." The star of White Plains' excellent effort in the 1A-2A girls meet was Janet Hollingsworth. The Wildcat athlete shared 1A-2A girls Most Valuable Player honors with ASD's Jean Stallworth. For the day, Hollingsworth racked up first places in the 1600 meter walk, with a time of 6:02.09 and the 800 meters run, with a time of 2:37.8. Stallworth picked up first places in 100 meters, the 100-meter hurdles and the 300-meter hurdles.

TCTS's Brewster Fomby picked up first places in the long jump, the triple jump, and the 400 meters to win Most Valuable Athlete honors in the 1A-2A boys. In the 3A-4A girls competition, Lincoln's Melody Montgomery had a great performance with first places in the long jump, 100 meter run, 110 meter hurdles and the 800 meter hurdles to win tne Most valuable Athlete honor while in the boys competition, schoolmate Bernard Gaston reaped the honors. From Staff Reports The White Plains Wildcats and the Weaver Bearcats each qualified for the state track meets with brilliant performances in the Class 1A-2A and 3A-4A sectional meets at the Oxford Stadium track Friday afternoon. In the 1A-2A girls meet, defending state champion Alabama School for the Deaf held off White Plains 132-125 for the sectional championship. Wadley was third with a 69 point score.

ASD also won the boys competition, out-distancing White Plains again, this time by a 116 to 112 margin. The Silent Warriors won the meet with a first place in the final event of the meet, the 1600 meter relay. Talladega County Training School took third with a score of 102. In the Class 3A-4A competition, Weaver (74) finished third in the girls competition, finishing behind first place Holly Pond (113) and runnerup Lincoln (84) but the Bearcat boys qualified for the state with a second place in the competition. Litchfield of Gadsden won the boys competition with score of 88V4, ahead of Weaver with a 78 score and Lincoln with a score of 72.

"We did quite well," understated White Plains coach Randy Sparks. "We had a very good effort from all of our athletes and we're very proud ot tnem. ii itie boys the meet came down to the last event. The team that won won the track meet and ASD beat us by a on successive walks to Chris jGar-mon, Stewart Lee and Thomas Wilson, and a double-play grounder off the bat of Robert Duncan. JSUstarter and loser Steve Mar-riam, now 5-4 overall, went five and two -third innings.

He allowed eight UNA runs, walked six and struck out two. Senior Jay Stephens and freshman Carlos Sanderson finished, up. Senior catcher Thomas Wilson had two singles to lead Jax State at the plate, while Mark Hanson, Bill Lovrich, Gannon and Duncan added one single apiece. North Alabama got two hits and three RBI's from rightfielder Harry Shelton and Cregeen, outfielder Rusty Addison and catcher Mark Shrout also collected two hits. One of Addison's hits was a home run in the ninth.

The victory puts North Alabama into a commanding position in the three-day tournament. The Lions will play the survivor of the Jacksonville-Tennessee-Martin contest for the GSC North championship. If UNA wins, the defending lead-ue champion Lions move into their second consecutive GSC cham-pionsiup series against we winiici of the South Division tournament being held in Livingston. SUr Phot by Paul Hqn Ashville's Ronnie Mostella heads for home.