Clarion-Ledger from Jackson, Mississippi • Page 27

BASEBALL 7-8 SCOREBOARD 11 OUTDOORS 12 TO SHARE TIPS, IDEAS: Contact: Mike Knobler, sports editor Jackson area: 961-7293 Toll free: 1-800-222-8015 Fax: 961-7224 Email: Mknoblerjackson.gannett.com THE CLARION-LEDGER JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI SUNDAY, JULY 27, 1997 RICK CLEVELAND Columnist The Clarion-Ledger fflOTffllfi) A i Felician's goals send Jackson to regionals Ii I V) 42 years later, Webb remembers Hogan's precision Canton Country Club golf pro Robbie Webb was a 15-year-old Mississippi junior champion in 1955 when he went to Lafayette, to play in a national youth championship. forty-two years later, he remembers the trip's highlight as if it had happened last week. "They had Ben Hogan there to do a golf clinic forlus," Webb says. "He was my idol. Hell, he was every junior golfer's idol back then.

This was after he' had come By Mark Alexander Clarion-Ledger Start Writer 1 mm 1 back from the wreck that almost killed him and won a bunch more 1967 Masters showed what made Hogan special, 2D Mi 'J I -Iv: -i I tta Jackson Chargers midfielder Lester Felician's feet are so fast it sometimes appears he has three. Saturday night, those nifty feet helped the Jackson Chargers win the Premier Development League's Mid-South Division Championship. Felician scored two goals one with each foot in a four-minute span early in the second half as Jackson waltzed past Cincinnati 3-0 in front of 1,200 adoring fans at the Sports Club. It was the 15th and ammammmmmmmmmmam 16th goals of the sea- son and third in the We' ve struggled to past two nights for score g0as this the 26-year old from Arima, Trinidad, who SCaSOn 8t tlRieS) DUt Ilnrei1! we came through scoring and total points. tonight." rtZVZ Chargers defender coach Hannibal Najjar Dwyane DerniTlin after a brief post-game celebratory dance.

"He's got such quick feet and he's got a quick mind especially when he's in the attacking mode. He's so nimble. He's not a fast player but he's real crafty. It's hard to stop him." Felician's two second-half goals padded Jackson's 1-0 halftime lead and enabled the Chargers to pull away from the Riverhawks who had beaten the Chargers twice this year by identical 3-2 scores. The win puts Jackson into next week's regional championship against the winner of Saturday night's Coco Flordia matchup.

Pending the outcome of that match, Jackson could be a host site next Friday. "We could' ve won both of those games (against Cincinnati), but we let them go," Chargers defender Dwyane Demmin said. "We had numerous opportunities to score, and we didn't capitilize. Tonight, we capiti-lized on them. We've struggled to score goals this season at times, but we came through tonight." "We had about six good chances of scoring, and we scored three times," Najjar said.

"That's better than we did all year." Felician put Jackson up 2-0 early in the second half and then four minutes later turned in the offensive play of the hot, humid night After receiving the ball at the top of the box, Felician juked a defender (picture Tim Hardaway's cross-over dribble) and then rifled it past Cincinnati goalkeeper Chris Wanamaker using his left foot "I was looking for someone to give the ball off to but nobody was open," said Felician, who scored the game-winning goal Friday in Jackson's 1-0 semifinal victory over Lexington "I just shook the guy and then I saw the goalkeeper advancing so I put it past him." "I think the best way to describe that move was shake-and-bake," joked Najjar. Jackson dodged several bullets in the first half before midfielder Dominic Schell delivered one of his own from point-blank range to give the Chargers a 1-0 halftime lead. Schell's goal, which came with under two minutes remaining in the first half, came on an assist from Dwyane Demmin. That goal, as it turned out was all the offense needed by the Chargers, who played air-tight defense anchored by goalkeeper David Austin. The Riverhawks scored seven goals in their semifinal win over Alabama Friday night "Our defense was impeccable," Najjar said.

ii i i urn ii Greg JensonThe Clarion-Ledger Shauwn High (center) of the North is double-teamed by Saturday's All-Star boys basketball game at Mississip-the South's Ray Waddell (left) and Troy Moore during pi College. The South claimed a 72-54 victory. South boys, North girls hold sway major tournaments. This was after they made the movie about mm, the one where Glen Ford played Hogan. 71 couldn't believe I was that close to him." Hogan started out hitting wedge shots.

tHe just waved his caddy back to where he wanted him and then signaled for him to stop," Wbbsays. fHe was very methodical in his set-up, which was unusual back then," Webb says. "He stood behind the ball to get his line, the way you see almost all the golfers do it now. Then he started hitting those wedges. "His caddy didn't even have to move.

He just caught them all in his shag bag. I'm telling you, you could have put a bath towel over where every one of those shots would have landed." But Hogan was just getting warmed up. "He went from his wedge through his driver, waving the caddy back a few yards every time he changed clubs," Webb says. "And every club he hit even his driver, that caddy didn't hardly have to move. It was unbelievable.

"His shots didn't hook or fade, they just kind of fell down to the right a little bit. I never saw anything like it, before or since." He made golf a science Hogan, who died Friday at age 84, was the man Jack Nicklaus called "the best shotmaker the game has ever seen." "He didn't say much while he hit. He didn't have to," Webb says. That was Hogan, according to his legend. He didn't say much.

He didn't have to. And besides, he preferred to practice. Hogan won nine major tournaments and so many others, but his legacy might be that he changed the way the game's best players prepare themselves to play. You go to a PGA tournament these days like the Deposit Guaranty Golf Classic here recently and you are amazed at how much time the pros spend practicing. They hit scads of shots before they play and then scads more afterward.

Hogan started that. He out-worked everybody else. These days you also see pro golfers and their caddies with yardage books that tell them precisely the distance necessary on every shot. They chart the courses tc know the angles at which to approach each area of each green. Hogan started that, too.

He made golf a science and in so doing raised the level of play everywhere. i that's why he's Hogan' Colonial Country Club's Ken Lindsay, president of the PGA of America, was a golfer at then-Memphis State University in 1963 when Hogan came to play in the old Memphis Open. That was near the end of Hogan's playing career when his putting touch was long gone. "I cut nine classes in my entire four years at Memphis State," Lindsay says. "I cut four in one day to go watch Hogan play." The first hole was a short par-4, and Hogan used a 9-iron for his approach shot.

"I couldn't believe it," Lindsay says. "He missed the green and hit it in a sand trap to the right." Hogan hit his next shot into the hole for a birdie-3. "I remember thinking," says Lindsay, "I guess that's why he's Hogan." Hogan hit the next 17 greens and still shot 74 that day. "He couldn't putt a lick, but, gosh, how he could hit it. He knew precisely where he wanted to hit it, and then he hit it there." That was Hogan.

To contact Rick Cleveland, call 961-7210 or e-mail RCIevelandJack8on.gannett.com. South boys make up halftime deficit; North girls take 17-16 series lead I Game stories, 7D I All-Star notes, 7D The Clarion-Ledger Girls: Portia Jones of Nettleton scored eight points to top a balanced attack as the North claimed a 54-43 victory in the 33rd annual game before an estimated 1,300. Clarissa Clark of Starkville named Best Offensive Player and Angela Williams of Grenada added seven points each for the North, which broke away from a 24-24 halftime tie in taking a 17-16 series lead. Regina Rhodes of Hill had 11 points for the Soutn, while teammate LaShondra Farmer of Florence was named Best Defensive Player. CLINTON Led by 13 points from Adrian Hatchett of Lanier, the South whipped the North 72-54 Saturday in the 43rd annual Mississippi High School All-Star boys basketball game.

The South, which has won eight of the last nine meetings, extended its series lead to 29-14 before an estimated 1,700 at Mississippi College's A.E. Wood Coliseum. Trailing 32-28 at halftime, the South built a 21-point lead in the second half. Ken Russell of Newton County, who added 11 points for the South, was named Best Offensive Player. The South's Rod Beechem of Hill was named Best Defensive Player.

Maudeo Duck of Starkville paced the North with 13 points. Steelers put stamp on shrine ceremony Mike Webster, introduced by ex-teammate Terry Bradshaw, is one of four Hall of Fame inductees By Rusty Miller The Associated Pre fife: Vikings, Pack open with wins From Wire Service Reportt Randall Cunningham made a successful return to football with Minnesota. And Brett Favre, one day after signing the largest contract in the NFL, led the Green Bay Packers to victory. Moe Williams caught a decisive 65-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter as the Vikings beat the Seattle Seahawks 28-26 Saturday in the annual Hall of Fame exhibition game. The Packers' 20-0 victory over Miami was was dampened by a season-ending injury to Edgar Bennett, their leading rusher.

Also, Denver beat Buffalo J.l-10. Stories 6D emotional induction speech were among the highlights of the ceremonies as Webster, Don Shula, Mike Haynes and New York Giants owner Wellington Mara joined the hall's 189-member fraternity. Much had been made in the weeks leading up to the ceremonies about Webster's physical, financial and marital problems. Separated from his wife and four children, there were reports he was heavily in debt living in his car and was suffering from depression and memory loss. "You only fail if you don't finish the game," Webster said, perhaps speaking of his recent troubles.

"If you finish, you win. Sometimes you can be down and struggling but as long as you keep working at it, you win." He said it wasn't true that he had sold many of his most prized possessions. "I still have my championship rings and See HALL, 3D CANTON, Ohio For old time's sake, Terry Bradshaw couldn't help but take one last snap from Mike Webster. After introducing Webster Saturday for induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Bradshaw produced a football and insisted that his old teammate hike the ball to him a final time. "I loved him from the first moment I put my hands under his butt," Bradshaw said to cheers from a roaring crowd of Pittsburgh Steelers fans.

Bradshaw's introduction and Webster's The Associated Press Seattle quarterback Warren Moon is sacked by Minnesota's Tony Williams. TV TODAY TIP OF THE HAT BY THE NUMBERS THEY SAID IT I Blue Jays 6 Royals 5 Red Sox 7 Angels 6 Brewers 3 Tigers 1 Orioles 2 Twins 1 New quarterbacks will be unveiled in Dublin, Ire "Finish with the score." land, when the Chicago Bears and Pittsburgh Steelers meet in the American Bowl at noon on Fox Tribe honors Malone Utah Jazz forward Karl Malone has long been know as "The Mailman" for his ability to deliver. Triat ability won him the NBA's Most Valuable Player award this year. Malone now has another name, at least among members of the Avikan Witanuche Ute Indian Tribe in White Mesa, Utah. It's Kwiagat Muikway the bear who leads with dignity.

Malone was blessed by a tribal holy man and made an honorary member of the tribe. "Very few men are worthy of carrying the name said "Lightning Hawk" Ket-chum, who presented the name to Malone. (Ch. 40 in Jackson). The Bears, a mediocre 7-9 last ummu in in Texas League Jackson 8-3 Wichita 4-4 National League Reds 7 Braves 6 Cardinals 3 Marlins 1 Pirates 10 Giants 3 Astros 9 Expos 8 Rockies 6 Cubs 3 Dodgers 4 Phillies 1 Padres 5 Mets3 American League Rangers 4 White Sox 1 Indians 6 Athletics 3 Mariners 9 'Yankees 7 -JLJ year, are pinning their Ben Hogan's advice to Nick Faldo in 1992 when Faldo asked Hogan's secret to winning the U.S..

Hogan hopes on ex-Seattle Seahawk Rick Mirer. The Steelers have promoted Kordell Stewart. NFL Preseason Vikings 28 Seahawks 26 Packers 20 Dolphins 0 WNBA Charlotte 64 New York 6 1 Cleveland 77 Utah 6 LTTTTTl Open, a feat Hogan accomplished four times during his career. Hogan, who died at the age of 84 Friday, also won two PGA championships, two Masters and one British Open. Related story, CBS will show the final round of the Hartford I Open golf tournament at 3 p.m.

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