The Baltimore Sun from Baltimore, Maryland • Page 61

The Sun Sunday September 26, 1999 Page7E College Football ACC Morgan meets its match, comes out ahead; NextforMorgan Opponent Florida Site: Bragg Memorial Stadium, Tallahassee, Fla. When: Saturday, 7 p.m. Record: 2-2 Yesterday: Beat South Carolina State, 76-17 Bears give rookie eoaeh Mitchell 1st, 24-21, over lowly Rhode Island By Dan Hicklinq SPECIAL TO THE SUN KINGSTON, R.I. Shining moments have not been plentiful for the Morgan State football team, as evidenced by its one win in 15 previous starts. Yesterday, however, provided the Bears with a welcome respite from their futility, as they met Rhode Island, which is equally acquainted with suffering.

Morgan broke its six-game losing streak dating to last year, while extending the Rams' own skid to six, with a 24-21 win before 2,067 at Meade Stadium. The Bears (1-2) came in a little undermanned and perhaps a little rusty, given their long layoff because of the hurricane-induced postponement of last week's game against South Carolina State. Their leading rusher, tailback Ali Culpepper, suffered turf toe in practice and missed the game. "We're pretty good runners ourselves," said Bears quarterback Willie McGirt, who dashed 47 yards in the first quarter to give Morgan State a 7-0 lead. Andre Bryant had touchdown bursts of 13 and 3 yards, and K.C.

Vasquez booted a 32-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter to give rookie coach Stanley Mitchell his first win. "We've been working so hard for this game," Mitchell said. "As long as we stayed in it, we knew we had a chance to win it. Our ballplayers stayed up for it." pected with two struggling teams. Rhode Island had to take three cracks at keeping the opening kickoff in bounds.

On its first se ries, Rhode Island went from first-and-five at the Morgan 39 to a sec-ond-and-35 on its own 30, before finally fumbling away to the Bears, i Morgan moved to the Rams' 11 after a 40-yard pass from McGirt to Marc Lester, but McGirt was picked off at the 7 by Chuck Wesley. The Bears scored on their next two series, beginning with a 47r yard run by McGirt on a quarterback keeper down the left sideline. Another Rhode Island turnover gave Morgan the ball at the Ranis' 46, and two plays later, Bryant ran it in from the 13 to boost the lead to 14-0. After two Rhode Island touchdowns, Morgan opened a 24-14 lead on Vasquez's field goal witji 12:50 to play in the game. "This team has been losing for so long," said Mitchell, "that we don't know how to win.

We felt if we could win the first game, it will make it easier to win some Morgan St. Rhode Island 7 J4 7 7 First quarter MSU McGirt 47 run (Vasquez kick), 0:35. Second quarter MSU Bryant 13 run (Vasquez kick), 11:56. URI Jamison 6 run (Szczesniak kick), 6:56. Third quarter URI Mastrole 1 run (Szczesniak kick), 11:07.

MSU Bryant 3 run (Vasquez kick), 6:10. Fourth quarter MSU FG Vasquez 32, 12:50. URI Mastrole 3 run (Szczesniak kick), 3:23. 2,067. MSU 16 35-183 128 10-16-2 15 3-34 00 11-96 24:31 URI 30 39-135 346 30-50-0 1 3 33 0-0 19 138 34:03 First downs Rushes-yards Passing Comp-Att-Int Return Yards Punts-Avg.

Fumbles-Lost Penalties-Yards Time of Possession Rushing Morgan McGirt 11-83, Green 8 58, Bryant 13-37, Warren 2-6, Walters Hminus 1). Rhode Island, Jamison 16-100. Williams 4-22, Mastrole 16-10, Nedimyer 1-5, Grasso Hminus 1), Bir-kett Hminus Passing Morgan McGirt 10-15-2-128, Brown 0-1-0 0. Rhode Island. Mastrole 30-50-0-346.

Receiving Morgan Lester 6 93, Collins 2-33, Warren 2-2. Rhode Grasso 7-72, Jamison 6-77. Williams 4-31, Eberheim 3-40, Henry 3-33, Bir-kett 2-34. Wellington 2-26, Ray 2-22. Gibson 1-11.

Towson fumbles away game to Columbia Morgan came out on top, even though it lost some statistical battles. The Bears were outgained 481-311, including 346-128 through the air, as Rhode Island (0-3) held the ball for 34 of the 60 minutes. "You can take all the stats, throw in a dollar, then get yourself a cup of coffee," Rhode Island coach Floyd Keith said. Matters began as might be ex- Columbia quarterback Mark Stoutenberg threw a poor pass that Crestwell picked off and returned 32 yards to set up a short Towson score. Lee dumped a pass to Corle in the flat, and the senior tailback did the rest, juking Columbia free safety Jarrett Keys to finish the 29-yard score.

But Lee appeared shaky with out the security of Corle in his backfield. He engineered just one long drive and was nearly intercepted three times. Combs said he has to take part of the responsibility for his team's lack of preparedness. Some players said the Tigers may have been resting on their early-season laurels. "Coach said you've only got to get up 1 1 times in 365 days," Tigers safety Dennis Cligett said.

"Maybe we were thinking we were pretty good. But the concentration we needed certainly wasn't there." tit laTX 1 i Lt' ASSOCIATED PRESS Flying defense: Wake Forest quarterback Ben Sankey gets stopped by Adrian Wilson's hit, but Demon Deacons kept upper hand in beating the Wolfpack for just the second time in 12 games. ACC standings Conference Overall W-L Pet. W-L Pet. School Florida State 3-0 1.000 4-0 1.000 Clemson 1-0 1.000 1-2 .333 Virginia 2-1 .667 2-1 .667 Wake Forest 1-1 .500 2-1 .667 Maryland 0-0 .000 3-0 1.000 Duke 0-0 .000 0-3 .000 Georgia Tech 0-1 .000 2-1 .667 N.C.

State 0-2 .000 3-2 .600 N.Carolina 0-2 .000 1-2 .333 Yesterday's results Florida State 42, N. Carolina 10 Wake Forest 31, N.C. State 7 Virginia at Brigham Young Thursday's game Maryland at Ga. Tech, 8 p.m. Saturday's games Duke at Florida State, noon North Carolina at Clemson, noon Virginia Tech at Virginia, 6 p.m Rutgers at W.

Forest, 6:30 p.m. carried 31 times and scored on runs of 3, 1 and 6 yards as Wake Forest (2-1, 1-1 ACC) defeated the Wolfpack (3-2, 0-2) for just the second time in 12 games. "We're going to make our living running the ball," said coach Jim Caldwell, whose Demon Deacons averaged just 65 yards rushing last year but had 266 on 66 carries Saturday. "People say it's more entertaining to throw the ball. I'm more interested in winning games than being entertaining." Key to that game plan was the blocking of freshman fullback Ovie Mughelli.

"Being behind Ovie, that was fun!" Kane said. "They didn't want to hit him. He's a freak of I got to pick and choose holes today. I had a good time. It brought me back to high school days." The Wolfpack looked stunned and passive throughout the game.

Wake Forest led 14-0 in the first five minutes and N.C. State never caught its balance. It took 25 yards in Wake Forest penalties to spark the Wolfpack's only scoring drive. Vanderbilt 31, Duke 14: Greg Zolman's three touchdowns two rushing, one passing helped keep the host Blue Devils winless and send the Commodores (3-1) off to their best start since going 4-0 in 1984. The Blue Devils offense continued to sputter but did cross one hurdle, reaching the end zone for the first time this season.

State summaries Western Maryland 36, Ursinus 15 0-15 13 36 W. Maryland First quarter WM Sermarini 20 run (Sandrock kick) DeGiosio 2 run (Noone kick) Second quarter WM Powell 1 run (kick failed) Third quarter WM Smith 10 pass from Sermarini (Sermarini run) WM Safety Sharkey 11 pass from Vecchio (Vecchio run) Fourth quarter WM Sermarini 15 run (Sandrock kick) WM Sermarini 12 run (kick blocked) iff Km GULFSTREAM 5 Special teams miscues end Tigers' unbeaten run, 28-13 By Joe Schad SPECIAL TO THE SUN NEW YORK Towson's day of football ended the same way it began yesterday afternoon at Columbia with a special teams disaster. The Tigers' 28-13 loss before 2,325 at Wien Stadium in Manhattan was keyed by a 69-yard punt return that opened the scoring for Columbia, and a muffed kickoff return by Towson ended it. "I didn't see the focus or attention to detail that I saw during the previous week," Towson coach Gordy Combs said. The Tigers (3-1) put up deceptively impressive offensive numbers.

They out-gained the Lions (1-1) 388 yards to 253, and starting quarterback Joe Lee threw for 295 yards, completing 28 of 56 passes. But Lee was under pressure all afternoon. He was faced with terrible field position, a few dropped passes, and a minor injury to senior running back Jason Corle, the epicenter of the offense. Still, it was two letdowns on special teams that destroyed the Tigers' chances of moving to 4-0 for the first time since 1993. Columbia wide-out Justin Meadlin's punt return to give the Lions a 7-0 lead late in the first quarter.

Towson responded with two field goals and a touchdown to take a 13-7 third-quarter lead, but two backbreaking plays against the Tigers came in the fourth quarter. Columbia scored on its only sustained drive of the game to take a 14-13 lead late in the third quarter. On Towson's next possession, Lee was drilled by linebacker Jason Bivens and fumbled. Columbia recovered at the Tigers' 29, where Lions tailback Norman Hayes capped the drive with a 2-yard touchdown run for a 21-13 lead with 5:21 left in regulation. The Tigers would have had a chance to drive for a tying score, but Darnell Evans fumbled away the ensuing kickoff.

Columbia's Chris Schaffer scooped up the ball and ran it into the end zone. Later in the game Evans sustained an- JH Bernstein 95 kickoff return (Andrade kick) KP DeBruhl 16 pass from Turpen (Warren kick) 100 Equity Loans jfla. State Irofls on, 142-10 over IN. Carolina Wake Forest surprises No. 25N.C.

State, 31-7 PROM WIRE REPORTS Just two years ago, Florida State-North Carolina was a top-five matchup. Yesterday, it amounted to just another blowout i for the No. 1 Seminoles. Florida State (4-0, 3-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) put this one away early, scoring four touchdowns before the first quarter was half over en route to a 42-10 victory in Chapel Hill, N.C. The Seminoles ran their record to 32-4 as the nation's top-ranked team and coach Bobby Bowden moved within four victories of 300.

"It looked like in the first quarter they simply were not going to be able to stop us," Seminoles coach Bobby Bowden said. "Then we substituted a lot of people and we lost continuity." Bowden played a whopping 52 players in the first quarter and 70 in the game. "As soon as we started substituting the engine cut off," Bowden said of his offense. "We just shut down and never could get the thing cranking again." The Tar Heels (1-2) are off to their first 0-2 ACC start in a decade with games at Clemson and No. 10 Georgia Tech next on the schedule.

Sophomore quarterback Ronald Curry had three passes intercepted, fumbled once and was sacked five times. "It was like a nightmare we couldn't wake up from," North Carolina coach Carl Torbush said. "By the time we got out of it we were down 28-0. It was just boom, boom, boom, boom." Wake Forest 31, No. 25 North Carolina State 7: Morgan Kane led the Demon Deacons' new-look rushing game with 147 yards and three touchdowns in the surprisingly easy win at home.

Kane, who came in averaging a league-leading 138 rushing yards, W. Maryland beats Ursinus Green Terror wins 24th regular-season game in row FROM STAFF ANDWIREREPORT8 Quarterback Ron Sermarini ran for a career-high 142 yards and three touchdowns, two in the final seven minutes, as Western Maryland defeated Ursinus, 36-15, yesterday in a Centennial Conference game in Westminster. The Green Terror won its 24th consecutive regular-season game. Down 23-15 early in the fourth quarter, Ursinus (2-1, 1-1) drove to the Green Terror 18 before Marvin Deal intercepted a fourth-down pass. Western Maryland (4-0, 2-0) drove 99 yards in 11 plays to make it 30-15 on Sermarini's 15-yard scramble with 6:47 left in the game.

After a short Bears punt, Sermarini ran 12 yards to cap a 33-yard drive with 3:02 remaining. Kings Point 24, Johns Hopkins 20: Jeff Turpen's 16-yard touchdown pass to Jay DeBruhl with 3:57 left lifted the Mariners (2-2) over the visiting Blue Jays (2-1). Turpen threw for 136 yards and two TDs and ran for another. Trailng 17-13, the Blue Jays moved ahead on Harrison Bernstein's 95-yard kickoff return, which tied a school record. Frostburg State 24, Methodist 10: Jason Henry threw for two touchdowns, including a 59-yar-der, to lift the Bobcats (3-0) in Fayetteville, N.C.

Frostburg managed only 232 total yards, but it capitalized on four turnovers by Methodist (0-4). Greensboro 42, Salisbury State 14: The host Pride (2-1, 2-1) scored 21 unanswered points in the second quarter en route to an Atlantic Central Conference win. Salisbury (1-2, 1-1) was hurt by five interceptions. Livingstone 42, Bowie State 14: Carlton Jones and D'Andre Hopper combined for 295 rushing yards and four touchdowns as the Blu Bears (2-2) defeated the host Bulldogs (2-2). 9U 410-740-0701 Apply on line at www.callgulfstream.com Do you need radio? digital cell phone? Next for Towson Opponent Holy Cross Site: Minnegan Stadium When: Saturday, 1 p.m.

Record: 1-2 Yesterday: Lost to Harvard, 25-17 other injury to the anterior cruciate ligament he tore last season. "We preach special teams," Combs said. "That's what makes this so disappointing." The Tigers' high-powered offense was slowed by an aggressive Columbia defense, which came after Lee all day. "We saw a lot of stunts and blitzes," Lee said. "Sometimes you click, sometimes you don't." The Tigers didn't.

A key reason was the absence of Corle, who suffered a high ankle sprain in their first series, and finished with just 3 yards rushing on five carries. One of the few bright spots for Towson was junior free safety Ricky Crestwell, a Temple Hills native and graduate of Potomac High who intercepted two first-half passes, his fourth and fifth of the season. Crestwell's first interception set up a touchdown that gave the Tigers a 10-7 lead. Towson Columbia 0 10 1 0-11 7 7 14 IS First quarter Meadlin 69 punt return (Kravte kick), 3:20. Second quarter FG Kuhc 29, 3:41.

Corle 29 pass from Lee (Kulic kick), :37. Third quarter FG Kulic 28, 11:41. Cavanaugh 10 pass from McCall (Kravitz kick), 6:59. Fourth quarter Hayes 2 run (Kravitz kick), 6:21. Schaefer 11 fumble return (Kravitz kick), 5:11.

2,325. TU 20 27-93 295 28-56-0 39 7- 41 53 8- 67 33:27 Col 16: 42-174 79 12-24-2 143 8-44 1-1 7-77 26:33 First downs Rushes-yards Passing Comp-Att-Int Return Yards Punts-Avg. Fumbles-Lost Penalties-Yards Time of Possession Rushing Towson, Read 15-89, Harris 4-17. Corle 5-3. Columbia, Hayes 22-124, Reese 18-67, Meadlin 1- (minus 3), McCall Hminus 14).

Passing Towson, Lee 28 56-0-295. Columbia, McCall 8-15-0-48, Stoutenberg 4-9-2-31. lecefvlng Towson, White 7-112, Corle 7-87, Deal 5-47. Columbia, Hayes 3-9, Dawkins 2-25, Pease 2- 16. kins 1-6, Swann 1-2, Hale 1-(-4).

Methodist, Marion' 6-78, Kearney 2-23, Mebane 2-20, Brown 2-9, Wilker-. son 2-6, O'Kier 1-10, Brown 1-6, Jackson 1-5, Dira 1-(-20). Greensboro 42, Salisbury State 13 Salisbury State 7 0 0 11 Breonsboro 7 7 7-41 First quarter SS Dent 6 run (Jacko kick) McAuley 1 run (Thomas kick) Second quarter Gholson 13 run (Thomas kick) Layman 9 run (Thomas kick) Gholson 1 run (Thomas kick) Third quarter Bauer 21 pass from Wilder (Thomas kick) Fourth quarter McAuley 21 pass from Wilder (Thomas kick) SS Avery 26 run (pass failed) Livingstone 42, Bowie State 14 Livingstone 0 28 14 0 41 Bowie State 7 7 0 0 14 First quarter BS Hawkins 60 punt return (Mertz kick) Second quarter I Hopper 39 run (Roberts kick) Jones 23 run (Terry kick) Jones 24 run (Terry kick) Gainey 64 pass from Hopper (Terry kick) BS Bryant 10 pass from Whitehead (Mertz kick) Third quarter Gainey 33 pass from Hopper (Terry kick) Jones 13 run (Terry kick) i a pager? 2-way Do you always nod your head that much? How business gets done." NEXTEL AulHoHUtO HUAlLtR HHIUHlHH of Baltimore, Inc. 410-646-2600 "1998NEifTELCommimK'atiorrs AH ngt'ls Reserved Nextei The Nextei Logo fxtei Business Networks and" Nexlei DifecJ conrct Iradenarks and or sevtce marKs o( Nexle! Convrnni-LaticHis Int Motorola Ident ilQOO Rip; rSnn pup WW ttffK i-rv twilf-for) o' Ml' Inr JH First downs 17 14 Rushes-yards 35-106 40-186 Passing 274 136 Return Yards 0 44 Comp-Att-Int 17-30-2 12-23-0 Punts 5-173 8 369 Fumbles-Lost 1-0 1-1 Penalties-Yards 3-20 0-0 Time of Possession 30:58 29:02 If you are what you drive, why not have a little fun? Model DC435 '99 INTEGRA LS '99 2.3 CL 10,900 The the A Hushing: Hopkins, Gentile 20-80, Sache 3-13, Marto-ranna 4-9, Heleniak 3-6, Monica 2-6, Jensen 1-0, Rocca 2(B). Kings Point, Fredericks 23-91, Turpen 11- 59, Johnson 4-25, Felch 1-8, D'Orazk) 1-3.

Passing; Hopkins, Heleniak 11-23-213-1, Rocca 4-4-24-0, Monica 2-3-37-0. Kings Point, Turpen 12- 23-136-2. Receiving; Hopkins, Skinner 5-53, Gentile 4-59, Baylin 4-45, Martoranna 2-99, Cairns 2-18. Kings Point, De-Bruhl 5-102, Maurel 4-27, Fredericks 3-7. Frostburg State 24, Methodist 10 Frostburg State 10 7 0 7 Methodist 0 17 0 24 10 First quarter FS Mood 69 pass from Henry (Angman kick) FS FG Angman 28 Second quarter FG Keever 28 FS Cooper 21 pass from Henry (Angman Kick) Third quarter Mebane 21 run, (Keever kick) Fourth quarter FS Mood 2 pass from Jackson (Angman kick), 10:39 Att.

687. WM 20 21 30-21 43-240 234 166 22-41-3 14-25-0 7-241 6-218 0-0 3-0 7-60 8-59 29:17 31:43 soul of a race car and body of a luxury car. luxurious sports car? You drive it and decide. First downs Rushes-yards Passing Comp-Att-Int Punts Fumbles-Lost Penalties-Yards Time of Possession Rushing: Ursinus, Duncan 9-36: DeGiosio 9 36, Wilson 1- 5, Vecchio 11-(-56). Western Maryland, Sermarini 15-142, Parker 16-64; Kendorskl 6-25, Johnson 2-6, Hain 1-3, Powell 1-1, Harris 1-0.

Passing; Ursinus, Vecchio 20-36-197-1, Cammuso 2- 3-37-0, Stauffer 0-2-0-0. Western Maryland, Sermarini 14-44-166-1, Harris 0-2-0-0, Culbertson 0- 1-0-0. Receiving: Ursinus, Stauffer 7-75, Sharkey 5-81, Williams 4-22, Sell 2-22, Nangle 214, Michel 1-17, Barr 1- 7. Western Maryland, Jackson 4-53, Smith 4-26, Powell 2-44, Parker 2-21, Garza 1-12, Ellis 1-10. Kings Point 24, Johns Hopkins 20 Hopkins Kings Point 10 7 7 -10 First quarter JH Martoranna 76 pass from Heleniak (Andrade kick) JH FG Andrade 25 KP DeBruhl 36 pass from Turpen (Warren kick) Second quarter KP Turpen 4 run (Warren kick) Third quarter JH FG Andrade 34 Fourth quarter KP FG Warren 27 I 27 19 56 448 28 97 140 237 82 159 7-22-0 16-44-4 6-218 7-246 0-0 00 3-20 3-2 31:00 28:09 FS MC First downs 16 12 Rushes-yards 50-107 26-79 Passing 125 137 Return Yards 9 0 Comp-Att-Int 10-26-1 18-39-2 Punts 4-21 6-26 Fumbles-Lost 1-0 1-1 Penalties-Yards 8-61 9-61 Time of Possession 30:09 29:51 Model YA325 approval.

Vehicles subject to tor aetaiis. '99 Integra Stk 9273. '99 CL Stk 8984. Prices Include all manufacturer's rebates programs, dealer discounts. All vehicles plus tax.

tags i freight. TL dealer installed First downs Rushes-yards Passing Return Yards Comp-Att-Int Punts Fumbles-Lost Penalties-Yards Time of Possession Rushing: Livingstone, Jones 20-160, Hopper Stephens 6-57, Barnhardt 2-35, Kirkpatrick 7-29, Gal-: ney 5-20, Morrison 1-7, Hopkins 1-6. Bowie State, Hawkins 8-39, Perrin 6-27, Page 6-19, King 2-7, Whitehead 6-5. Passing; Livingstone, Hopper 7-14-0-140, Kirkpatrick 0- 7-0-0, Gainey 0-1-0-0. Bowie State, Whitehead 16 44-4-237.

Reeehring: Livingstone, Gainey 2-97, Hayes 2-23, Wilson 1-12, Turner Ml, Jones 1-(-)3. Bowie State, Bryant 7-111, Hemsley 5-97, Jeffries 2-21, Matthews 1- 12, King 1-(-4). accessories additional. Financing lor 36 mo's. Subject to credit pnor saw.

umiua time oner bee i-raiwei WeftiJcyA Rushing; Frostburg, Hale 23-51, Hopkins 5-40, Henry 2- 12, Swann 3-7, Wood 3-2. Jackson 13-(-1), Loss 1-(-4). Methodist, Mebane 9-43, McDonald 5-18, Floyd 3- 17, Rountree 3-7, Leak 2-6, O'Kier 4-(-12). Passing; Frostburg, Henry 6-19-123-2, Jackson 4- 6-2-1Hale 0-1-0-0. Methodist, Rountree 9-23-91-0, O'Kier 8-15-66-0, Piering 1-1-(-20)-0.

Receiving; Frostburg, Cooper 6-60, Mood 2-61, Hop.