Asbury Park Press from Asbury Park, New Jersey • Page 25

Dallas back on track, crashes Giants, 28-7 -0 fp (J 9 I -1 VAX At By BOB SANSEVERE Press Staff Writer IRVING, Texas The Giants' locker room was quiet. Eerily silent. Only one sound, the constant whining sound of hairdryers, could be heard. The bruise on Phil Simms' side, the one almost as big as the state of Texas, did all the talking. It told you the Giants had lost.

The Dallas Cowboys beat the Giants, 28-7, yesterday. Roger Staubach threw three touchdowns to Drew Pearson. The team known from the cornfields of Nebraska to the ice caps of Alaska as America's Team was back after a three-week vacation. "We just made too darn many mistakes," said Ray Perkins, Giants coach. "You can't make them against Dallas and hope to win." After beating the Giants four weeks ago with a field goal in the final seconds, the Cowboys lost three straight.

Three straight stingers. Washington, Philadelphia and Houston scored 95 points. The team that had gone to 13 playoffs in the last 14 years and played in five Super Bowls in the 1970s was on the verge of sinking deep into the heart of Texas. Not now. The Cowboys (9-5) can make the playoffs by beating Philadelphia (10-4) and Washington (9-5), the two teams challenging tnem for the NFC East supremacy.

The Giants, meanwhile, must beat St. Louis and Baltimore to finish .500. The loss to Dallas dropped them to 6-8. Any thought of evening their record yesterday went out of everybody's mind in the fourth quarter. The Roger and Drew Pearson Aerial Show made it 21-7.

Time: 4:37 left, third quarter. Distance 44 yards. Then the Cowboys' defense put on a show of its own. Goal-line stand. Simms' pass to tight end Gary Shirk was good for 47 yards.

To the Dallas four. Fullback Ken Johnson banged the right side. One Billy Taylor right for two. Third down. On the one.

Taylor slammed into a thick Cowboy wall and lost a yard. Fourth down and two. Go for it or send in Joe Df.nelo for a field goal? It was still early in the fourth quarter. The third quarter had ended on second down. Not a blink of indecision on Perkins' part.

Go for it. Simms, back to pass, was like a helpless beetle caught in a venus flytrap. Dave Stalls, Larry Bethea and Harvey Martin smothered Simms. The Cowboy offense took over. And took off.

And went 92 yards. Tony Dorsett skittered right for a two-yard score. Earlier in the game, he became the second player in NFL history Green Bay's John Brockington was the first to rush for over 1,000 yards his first three years as a pro. But it was the goal-line stand that beat the Giants. Knocked the breath out of their win-hungry stomachs.

"After the long pass set us up," Perkins said, alluding to the Simms-to-Shirk strike, "I felt there was no way they could keep us from scoring. Especially when we got inside the five." But when Taylor was thrown backwards and Simms was sacked, the Cowboys proved there was a way. "I made a mistake," Simms said. "I See DALLAS, page B10 x' 4 v. 1 i I it )in rntf- I''- iff I mil lri'--4 -v hfcaaiinJ wJ Associated Press Cliff Harris of the Dallas Cowboys (43) almost intercepts quarter yesterday.

pass intended for Ernest Cray (83) of the Giants in first Dallas. Sports Business 11 Classified 12 Will Grimsley 2 Elliott Denman 3 Racing 4 NBA 8 NHL 8 JohnGeiser9 Mariners disdain tie nip Brick, win title 1ciff -J Wf.) 4 A Aaron Kyle (25) also defends for By GARY SCHOENING Press Staff Writer EAST RUTHERFORD When he finished turning cartwheels and somersaults on the carpeted floor of Giants Stadium, when he finished stroking his freshly shaved head, and when he finished playing "The Impossible Dream" to his kneeling, skin-headed players, Bob Fiocco explained why he made the decision. "I've never played for a tie in my entire life," said the man who says he has coached his last football game at Toms River North. "I play to win; that is the only way I play and that's the only way my kids play." By electing to go for a two-point convert sion and disdaining an extra point that could have meant overtime, the Mariners scored their 14th and 15th points of the game. It marked the second time in as many weekends they had scored 15 against Brick Township, but this time it was enough to propel North to the NJSIAA South Jersey Group IV championship, 15-14.

With North trailing 14-13 after the Mariners had scored with 4:59 to go, offensive coordinator Bob Hermani dispatched plaeekicker Rich Lynn and the rest of the PAT squad to the field. Fiocco would not hear of it and signaled for a timeout. After instructing his team on the field and whipping up fan support as he headed back to the bench, Fiocco barely turned around in time to watch quarterback Bob Mangold start an option play to the right. As a mob of Brick defenders zeroed in on the signal caller, he calmly tossed the ball to Kevin Cassidy, who swept the right side and tiptoed into the right corner of the end zone for the two points. "With an overtime, I was kicking the ball," Hermani said.

"It was his play, he called it. Give him credit, it was a good call, too." "We were in our goal-line defense and we were ready for it," said Brick coach Warren Wolf of the option play. "We knew it was coming, but they executed well." By winning. North, 9-2, kept the SJ IV crown in Toms River (Toms River South won it last year), avenged its 24-15 loss last Saturday to the Green Dragons for the Class A South championship, won its second straight 15-14 NJSIAA playoff game (having beaten Pennsuaken by the same score Nov. 17), and handed Brick (9-1-1) its only loss of the year.

The North loss to Brick, Fiocco said, may have given his team the upper hand. "I think the key factor in the game was that Mr. Wolf and his assistants were worried about us," he said. "But when we walked by their locker room before the game, we could see their kids weren't worried about us. They figured they'd kick our butts all over here." Down 14-0 in the second period, the Mariners rallied for a touchdown and scored again in the fourth period to win the game.

"What a comeback; you could never top this in a million years," Fiocco said. "They'll never be able to change the score on that scoreboard. And all against the man I consider to have done the most for Shore Conference football." Nevertheless, the man who turned the football fortunes of the Mariners around says he will stay away from coaching "for. a while." The shaved heads was reminiscent of 10 years ago when Toms River South, with Ron Signorino as its head coach and Fiocco as its defensive assistant, shaved their heads in a show of team unity that both men felt helped the team beat Brick that year. "It helped this year, too," Fiocco insist- Asbury Park Press Bob Mangold of Toms River North (7) scrambles for Brick close in.

North defeated Brick, 15-14, to win the yardage as Vin Ciulla (55) and Steve McCourt (50) of NJSIAA South Jersey Group IV football championship. Vermeil is thinking ahead after Eagles Clinch berth Asbury Park Press Mon. Dec. 3, 1979 by a single game with two left to play. The elated Vermeil said "I get such a kick out of seeing the team win, especially for players like Wade Key, John Bunting and the others who have been around after years of losing.

Then there is a veteran like Claude Humphrey who has never been in a playoff. "It's just great to see people do what they've always wanted to do." Center Guy Morriss, who has been around for seven years, agreed, saying "It's hard to believe we are 104. It wasn't that long ago that we were 4-10 but there will be no more seasons like that. "For a change this was a fun game. Detroit played tough for three periods.

They were doing the job but it was like nothing was important to them. "After a while they all began to holler at one another and seemed disorganized." The Lions, who own a 2-12 record, offered little opposition even though they committed only one turnover. It turned out to be a sluggish game with penalty flags flying for 105 yards against the Lions and 85 against the Eagles. While Detroit struggled, the Eagles finally put one together. "I kind of thought this might be the time we would play a good game for our Vermeil admitted.

"It was a day that Ron (Jaworski) was sharp and the defense played so very well. Of course the breaks helped. This was something these loyal fans deserved." Well the loyal fans had enough to cheer about. The Polish Rifle had a big day, throwing for 233 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Big Harold Carmichael caught five of the aerials, good for yards, and both of the touchdown passes.

Billy Campfield returned a kickoff for 92 yards and a score while Wilbert Montgomery had his seventh 100-plus yard game of the season and the 14th of his career. Then there was Tony Franklin, bare foot and all, out on the frozen surface of Veterans Stadium. While the day was cold, Franklin See EAGLES, page B9 By BILL KING Press Staff Writer PHILADELPHIA "I think right about now we will raise our sights to the divisional championships." These were the words of a coach who doesn't make predictions or look further ahead than just one week. But Dick Vermeil had reason to look ahead to bigger and better things yesterday after his Eagles had demolished the Detroit Toms River North football coach Bob Fiocco leaps into the arms of Mariner defensive end Rich Preuster following North's victory over Brick. Jets defeat Colts, silence boo birds Lions 44-7 and had assured themselves of a place in the playoffs.

For the first time since he had taken over the club in 1976, the Eagles won big and easy. Their 10-4 record keeps them in first place in the Eastern Division of the NFC and sets up a very important game next Saturday. That's the day the Dallas Cowboys come to town and attempt to regain a share of first place. Both the Cowboys and the Washington Redskins won yesterday and trail the Eagles Associated Press Russ DeSantis Asbury Park Press "Turmoil, turmoil," yelled one player as he passed a large assembly of reporters, evoking a week's worth of melodrama that was played up by the press. "Boo!" taunted another, directing his editorial comment at one specific New York writer, a writer whose typewriter had spewed a particularly large dose of venom.

There was relief for these Jets. Relief from the trauma of having lost four of their last five games. Relief from ignominious behavior on the field. Relief from intramural bickering. Relief spelled W-I-N.

"We came together," said offensive tackle Marvin Powell. "When you lose especially like we did Monday night your feelings are hurt," he continued. "And I guess it's a natural, human thing to start nit-picking and griping." "We picked our heads up," added safety Burgess Owens. "The guys have been frustrated all year, we all expected a lot more out of the season." See JETS, page B9 Mf iil iSLal oL By BILL HANDLEMAN Press Staff Writer NEW YORK The New York Jets had just cleaned the Baltimore Colts' clock, a struggle of struggling also-rans. There was a bitter wind swirling around Shea Stadium, which might have explained the 12,628 no-shows.

Moreover, there was the nasty memory of a nationally-televised 30-7 Jet embarrassment, at the hands of Seattle Monday night. And, there was the bald-faced truth that the Colts, without Bert Jones, are big time losers. So, big deal this win, right? Exactly, if you are a New York Jet. "I guess you'd have to say that the best thing about this game is that we won," said Walt Michaels, the Jet coach who, along with quarterback Richard Todd, has been an easy mark for fans and press alike of late. Yes, it was a big deal.

You could tell. As the players rushed through the runway toward the warmth of the locker room after the game, two forceful, emotional remarks seeped through the professional veneer, suggesting Just how big a deal it was. Al Baker of the Detroit Lions intercepts pass as Stan Walters (75) and Jerry Sizemore (76) of Philadelphia move in for the tackle. See MARINERS, page B10.