The Philadelphia Inquirer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania • Page 25

fie iPfiilabelpfxta Inquirer Section Calendar C3 College Basketball CIO" College Football C2 Horse Racing CIO High Schools C12 NBA C4 NFL C6 NHL C2 Outdoors C14 Sports in Brief C3 Coping with comparisons Penn State's Wally Richardson follows a very tough act. CI 2. I A Sunday, December 31, 1995 Philadelphia Online: http:www.phillynews.com mgles wm in a hg9 big -j. i i i 1 1 i3; ft if If mi rr OVi il i I' 1 li i mil ill ni liniriii. n.rmini-rn..' il Eagles show remarkable resiliency How can you not hand over your heart to this team of liquor-store clerks and truck drivers and other refugees from the real world who splattered the best offense in the NFL yesterday? Really now, if you had heard only the score before kickoff, 58-37, wouldn't you have assumed that Detroit was the one with the 58? Ray Rhodes has a way of rousing his team, but even he couldn't believe he'd end up with a laugher.

This had the look of a Super Bowl. Detroit generously played the part of the AFC team. So the Eagles learned exactly how much the home field is worth in the playoffs. And this is what happens to roofed teams that are forced to come outdoors and play in December and beyond. The Eagles obliterated the Lions in yesterday's NFC wild-card playoff game at the Vet, exposing them as just another domed fraud.

There were a lot of reasons for the machine-gunning, but none more compelling than this: The Eagles were much the tougher team mentally. Harder and hardier and heartier. The Lions didn't even get a real taste of the Northeast in winter, but they shriveled up and died a hothouse plant's death anyway. The first turnover and they were looking for the exits. Since 1990, when the Lions have played teams with See HEART on C8 Bill Lyon arms Detroit cornerback Ryan McNeil in a bid to get outside.

Garner The Philadelphia Inquirer RON CORTES piled up 78 yards on 12 carries. Crush Lions in Round 1 of playoffs By Frank Fitzpatrick INCJl'IKKR STAFF WHITER Veterans Stadium shook like the Market Street El in full throttle. The Eagles' lead resembled a Sixers first-period defi-Lions 37 cit. And Rodney Eagles 58 Peete, his index finger jabbing the sky in jubilant vindication, nearly outran his 18th and final first-half pass to the Lions' end zone. Peete's remarkable 43-yard touchdown heave to Rob Carpenter, on the last play of a nearly perfect hometown half, left the Lions stunned and still.

It sent the Eagles dancing to the locker room with a 38-7 lead. And it typified Philadelphia's wondrous fortune on an afternoon that would fill NFL record books and embarrass Lomas Brown for eternity. With a revived Peete throwing for 270 yards and three touchdowns, with a realigned defense intercepting six passes, and with 66,099 fans howling in green-tinged joy, the Eagles disassembled Detroit, 58-37, yesterday in a first-round NFC playoff game. "All week, all we heard about was how great Detroit was, how potent their offense was," coach Ray Rhodes said. "I think everybody overlooked this football team.

The lopsided victory, featuring the most points by two teams in NFL postseason history and the second-most ever for the Eagles, emphatically ended the Lions' seven-game winning streak and their season. "We never thought that just because we had been playing good football, the Eagles were going to roll over and die," said Lions coach Wayne Fontes, his job security in jeopardy again. "They beat us in every way possible." The win was the Eagles' first at home in the postseason since Jan. 11, 1981, when they defeated Dallas See EAGLES on C8 NFL Playoffs Wild-card round. jy-wmi Eagles 58, Detroit 37 Buffalo 37, Miami 22 ry Atlanta at Green Bay, 12:30 p.m., Ch.

29. Indianapolis at San Diego, 4 p.m., Ch. 10. help ignite our football team," said Eagles coach Ray Rhodes. "Charlie Garner is definitely one of them." Garner didn't hang around to discuss his contributions with the media.

Arkansas Fred, as he used to be known, caught eight passes for 109 yards and a touchdown in what was a throwback to his earlier seasons with the team, when he routinely turned in the brilliant catch to scorch cornerbacks throughout the NFL. Barnett's TD reception came in See BARNETT on C7 Missouri 95, Hawaii 89 Cincinnati 103, McNeese St. 69 Texas 74. North Carolina 72 Clemson 67, Campbell 43 Virginia 76, Liberty 48 Georgia 86, Jacksonville 59 Louisville 96, Towson St. 72 Coverage: C10-11.

i ffi ---i-ni Barnett and Garner serve special treats Detroit's Brown readily eats words m. 91 1 The receiver dished up a surprise package with his best performance of the season. The running back provided the initial spice. By Ron Rcid INQUIRER STAFF WRITER Starting their playoff season yesterday with an amazing 58-37 victory over Detroit, the Eagles confronted their fans like a banquet table offering too many good things to savor, many of them unexpected. Chief among the latter was the play of Fred Barnett, the Eagles' six-year veteran wide receiver who could hardly have chosen a better time to turn in his finest, most surprising performance of the year.

The familiar treat was Charlie Garner, the explosive running back who scored the game's first touchdown on a scintillating 15-yard run. He racked up 78 yards on 12 carries, as the game's leading ground-gainer, and set up a field goal with a 30-yard run. "We do have some guys who can The Eagles' Charlie Garner straight flection of how I felt about the guys in this locker room, about the type of team I thought we had. "I have to take my hat off to Coach Ray Rhodes and to the Philadelphia Eagles. They beat us, handily beat us.

The way we played, we could have played against a high school team today and not beaten them. You can't be the team to turn the ball over seven times and expect to win a playoff game." When the record-breaking 58-37 loss was over, Brown spoke on the field with several Eagles, including Rhodes. After a brief talk with reporters at midfield, Brown jogged toward the tunnel to the Lions' locker room. Dozens of Eagles fans were waiting in the stands above the tunnel, chanting "Lomas Lomas" and bowing toward the man who sprayed kerosene on the Eagles' competitive fire. "I told Coach Rhodes I would give him a call Tuesday," Brown said.

"I would rather keep our conversation between him and me. Me and Coach Rhodes go way back. When he was in San Francisco, he coached some Pro Bowl squads. And I've met him a See LIONS on C7 Dolphin loss Shula finale? The Bills ousted the Dolphins from the playoffs, 38-22, yesterday and the humiliating defeat may wind up ending Don Shula's long tenure in Miami. (i halo A head was guy football finally Now, image He'd predicted the wildcard game would be over quickly.

He didn't know how right and how wrong he would be. By Phil Sheridan INQUIRER STAFF WRITER Here it is, the recipe for Words a la Lomas: Saute lightly, adding a pinch of humility, and serve with a smile. "Yes, I'm eating it today," said Lomas Brown, the veteran offensive tackle who surprised friends and teammates last week by guaranteeing a Detroit Lions victory over the Eagles. Last week, Brown told reporters he expected the NFC wild-card playoff to be over early. He couldn't have known how right and how wrong he would be: It was the Eagles who took a 38-7 lead by half-time.

"They were the better team today," Brown said. "I have no problem admitting that. What I said was out of pure confidence. It was a re Villanova rallies after trailing Delaware. C1(L Snsid The Philadelphia Inquirer RON CORTES The Eagles' William Thomas (right) and Kurt Gouveia celebrate after Thomas scored in the fourth quarter on a 30-yard interception return.

College Basketball Barber new Hershey coach Bill Barber was named head coach of the AHL Hershey Bears. Meanwhile, the Flyers go for their second win in a row today, against Vancouver. C2. Osborne's is slipping year ago, Nebraska coach Tom Osborne hailed as the nice with the model program who won a national title. his program and are tarnished.

C2. 1 Villanova 71, Delaware 58 SMU 67 Oklahoma St. 49, Temple 4J UCLA 92, San Francisco 58 Georgetown 123St. Leo 65 Drexe; 68. Montana St.2 Connecticut 102.

Ha-t'o'd 63 Illinois 85, No. Carolina St. 76 nJfc nil ill, il nli mil i ili ii 11 nili iTl iiiiii "'i -1 n-lti A ii fri A lit iJh.