Clarion-Ledger from Jackson, Mississippi • Page 25

SCOREBOARD HIGH SCHOOLS BASKETBALL TO SHARE TIPS, IDEAS: Contact: Mike Knobler, Sports Editor Jackson area: 96 1-7293 1 Toll free: 1-800-222-8015 Faz: 961-7224 1 Email: Mknoblerjackson.gannett.com THE CLARION-LEDGER JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 1997 mm? Wwm HIKE KNOBLER Sports Editor The Clarion-Ledger the next few weeks, Wayne decided he would honor his fallen friend in a special way. McGee's name and No. 21 were painted on the back of Wayne's helmet before the Central Florida season opener and have remained there all season. They'll be there Saturday, when Ole Miss' Wayne plays the final regular-season game of his career against Mississippi State, where McGee was a highly regarded running back. "Just as I'm honoring and respecting Chucky Mullins by wearing the No.

38 jersey, I wanted to honor and respect Keffer, too," Wayne said "He was a special person. He excelled a3 an athlete. He excelled as a person. He was the type of guy you like to be around" Wayne, who grew up in Macon, didn't cross paths with McGee until they were sophomores in high school. They met on the football field but that was a time for hitting, not talking.

When their respective schools met on the basketball court, there was time for McGee and Wayne to get to know each other through casual conversation. See WAYNE, 5C Wearer of Mulllins' jersey has ex-MSU star's name, number on helmet By Robert Falkoff Clariorv-tadgf Staff Wrltf Nate Wayne was about to leave his home to drive to Oxford for the start of Ole Miss' two-a-day practices. Before he could get out the door, the telephone rang and Wayne heard the startling news. In Starkville, Keffer McGee had died McGee and Wayne had grown up about 20 miles apart and devel- Who: Ote Miss vs. No.

23 Mississippi State When: Saturday, 2:30 p.m. Where: Scott Field, Starkville TV: Jefferson Pilot (WDBD-Channel 12 in USM coach Jeff Bower may get contract extension, 5C oped a mutual respect and friendship while competing against each other in high school football and basketball. Wayne hung up the phone in disbelief "I really didn't have any thoughts," Wayne said. "I was in a daze. I thought I was dreaming.

It really touched me in a deep way." As reality began to sink in over Leathernecks charge up hill behind Sleeker 0 7 am1 i Transfer from Wisconsin leads l-AA with 24 rushing IDs a. I By C.B. Bryant Clarton-Ladgar Staff Writer We'll keep prolific back under control, Tigers assert By C.B. Bryant Clarion-Ledger Staff Writer Jackson State's players say that no matter how good running back Aaron Stecker is, one man Opponent Rushing yards Eastern Illinois 50 Truman State 160 Alcorn State 244 Marshall 120 Southern Utah 58 Northern Iowa 228 Indiana State 186 Southwest Missouri 249 Southern Illinois 289 Illinois State ...237 Youngstown State 136 Total 1,957 can beat the Tigers. That belief gives JSU some optimism heading into Saturday's Division I-AA football playoff game 3 I Stecker Aaron Stecker had never been upstaged on the football field until he got to the University of Wisconsin.

The other running back's name was Ron "Great" Dayne. "Me and another guy started the first two games," Stecker said. "We weren't really doing anything, and the coaches wanted to get something going. Ron did a really good job, and the rest was history. I transferred to Western Illinois after the Copper Bowl in January." Stecker has been looking at defenders from his rear view mirror ever since.

He scored a touchdown on his first carry as a Leatherneck. He now has 24 rushing touchdowns, which leads Division I-AA. His 1,957 rushing yards rank him second Stecker is the player Jackson State must stop to win Saturday's playoff opener. No. 2 seed Western Illinois is 10-1; No.

15 seed JSU is 9-2. Kickoff is 1 p.m. at Macomb, 111. Stecker, a 5-foot-10, 195-pound junior, played his high school ball in Green Bay. "His high school coach was a good friend of one of our coaches, and he asked if we had any interest after he left Wisconsin," Western Illinois coach Randy Ball said.

"We had just graduated our tailback, Brian Knuckles, and we were sort of dreading life after Knuckles. Aaron makes things happen on the field" Knuckles set a school record of 211 yards in a game last year. Stecker has run for 214 in one I 0mS i Here's what to get for the sportsmen this holiday season As you head to the mall today to begin your Christmas shopping, don't forget this list of gifts to get your favorite sports figures: For Jackson State football coach James Carson A playoff victory. For New Orleans Saints coach Mike Dltka A retirement watch. Or a contract extension.

Or a retirement watch. Better check with him tomorrow. Or the next day. For Ole Miss football coach Tommy Tir bervllle and Mississippi State coach Jackie Sherrill A bowl game. Any bowl game.

For Tuberville A dry field for Saturday's Egg Bowl. For Sherrill A conveniently leaking water jpipe under Scott Field. I For Ole Miss 3-polnt specialist Keith Career More opponents playing zone defenses 'like Temple's. For Ole Miss coach Rob Evans More players who can shoot like Carter. For Southern Mississippi athletic director Bill McLellan A Southeastern Conference opponent willing to play his football team Hattiesburg.

Or even in Jackson, For JSU athletic director Paul Covington A Conference USA opponent willing to play his football team in Jackson. Or even in Hat-it iesburg. For Alcorn State football coach Cardell Jones Another Steve McNair. And soon. For Tennessee Oilers quarterback Steve McNair A full stadium for a home game.

For the Jackson Generals A full stadi-um for several home games. 1 For USM defensive back Pat Surtaln The Conerly Trophy he deserves as the state's best college football player this season. For Ole Miss running back John Avery Lots of NFL end zones to dive into penalty-free in 1998. For San Francisco 40ers receiver Jerry. Rice A complete recovery in time for the playoffs.

For Green Bay Packers quarterback Brett Favre A chance to play the 49ers for the NFC championship. For Madison Central and South Panola A clean, sportsmanlike football rematch tonight, with no cheap shots (in South Panola's opinion), no false allegations of cheap shots (in Madison Central's opinion) and every player healthy at game's end For Mississippi State baseball stadium expander Ron Polk An NCAA rule against sky boxes. Just kidding, coach. For Florida Marlins closer-to-be Jay Powell and St. Louis Cardinals closer-to-be Jeff Brantley A season full of save opportunities.

For Chicago Bulls star Scottie Pippen The attention he craves or the serenity he lacks. For Pippen's teammate Dennis Rodman The attention he craves or the serenity he lacks. For Rodman's teammate Michael Jordan Whatever it takes to keep him playing beyond this season. For Los Angeles Lakers center Shaqullle O'Neal An NBA rule change moving the free-throw line 14 feet closer to the basket. For Mississippi's college football fans Another fall like this one in which State, USM and Ole Miss have winning seasons and spend time in the Top 25, USM and Mississippi College win conference championships, and Jackson State makes the playoffs.

For Alabama football fans A shoulder to cry on. For State football fans Videotapes of the Aubum game. For Auburn football fans Videotapes of the Georgia game. For Georgia football fans Videotapes of the State game. For Saints fans An offensive line that ican block and a quarterback who can throw.

For Saints fans in Jackson A pledge from WDBD to televise every Saints game, no matter who's playing quarterback or how many times he gets sacked. Happy holidays. To contact Mike Knobler, call 961-7293 or e-mail mknoblerjack8on.gannett.com. Tomorrow: Rick Cleveland against West-em Illinois. "We don't think it will be a one-man show," safety Andre Taylor said "One man can't win a football game.

If our defensive line diffuses their offensive line, it will be our linebackers against him." "I feel pretty good about this game simply because it's a running team," JSU coach James Carson said "We're going to key on him and take away their main threat." Stopping Stecker is easier said than done. Only two teams, Eastern Illinois and Southern Utah, have held him under 100 yards this year. The Leathernecks still won, 45-6 against Southern Utah and shut out Eastern Illinois 41-0 in the season opener. Stecker had less than 60 yards in both games and scored only two touchdowns. JSU's performance against running teams has been suspect See DEFENSE, 5C half.

It was the second half of his 289-yard game against Southern Illinois Nov. 1. Look up the top rushing games in Leatherneck history and you'll see Stecker's name in the first five spots. Those performances led the Leathernecks to their first Gateway Conference title and made Stecker the conference's offensive player of the year. Western Illinois' only loss was to Division I-A member Marshall.

But Stecker said he doesn't expect an easy game Saturday. "I've been watching film on Jackson State, and they have a tremendous team," he said "I can't figure out why they are seeded so low. They have a great defense. It's the best I've seen this year." In one season, Stecker has set 13 school records and seven conference records. In high school, See STECKER, 5C Special To The Clarion-Ledger Western Illinois running back Aaron Stecker plans on showing off his talents to the Jackson State defense.

Til v-L 1 I Turnovers doom Dallas in 27-14 loss Lteei C2J Aikman hustled over to knock him out ofbounds at the Dallas 11. Injuries also hounded the Cow-yJ boys. Cornerback Deion Sanders suffered a fractured right rib when he was tackled on a punt return in- the second period Running back! Emmitt Smith suffered a bruised, shoulder in the third period and didn't return. He gained only 22 yards on 10 carries. Oilers quarterback Steve' McNair hit 9 of 17 passes for 81: yards and a touchdown, while Ed-; die George rushed 34 times for 110 yards.

"We had a lot of long drives and made a lot of third-down plays and that took time off the said McNair, an Alcorn State" alumnus. "We knew it was going to be a physical battle. And we got a big jump from our defense." Aikman completed 27 of 42, passes for 356 yards and two touchdowns. Both were to Michael Irvin. Tennessee burns Aikman, damages Cowboys' playoff hopes By Denne H.

Freeman The Associated Preaa IRVING, Texas The Ten-nessee Oilers delivered what could be the fatal blow to the Dallas Cowboys' flawed season. The Oilers, 7-6, intercepted be-low-par Troy Aikman three times and returned a fumble for a touchdown Thursday to beat the five-time defending NFC East champions 27-14. The loss dropped the Cowboys to 6-7 and put them in danger of missing the playoffs for the first time in seven seasons. Darryll Lewis intercepted two passes and jarred the ball loose from Eric Bjomson so Marcus Robertson could return a fumble 42 yards for a -touchdown. Robertson also intercepted a pass as Houston produced five turnovers against the mistake- prone Cowboys.

1 An unhappy and under-fire Dallas coach Barry Switzer called the game "an embarrassment." "You can't beat anybody if you have five turnovers," he said "I don't know if we can get into the playoffs now. I don't want to figure that out right now. Does 9-6 get in there? I don't know. We have 10 days (Carolina on Dec. 8) and well see if we can get our wounded well." Aikman, who took a strong muscle relaxant to calm back spasms incurred during warm-ups, was unusually wild and made poor decisions as Tennessee intercepted two passes and cashed them into touchdowns in the first period.

Robertson picked off Aikman's wayward pass into double coverage intended for Stepfret Williams and returned the ball 48 yards before me tt in aaaiti Ron Hef lin The Associated Preaa Tennessee Oilers quarterback Steve McNair, No. 9, jumps over a heap of Dallas Cowboys defenders to score a first-quarter touchdown. DY THE fiUaVTBERS TIP OF THE HAT TSCZY SAID IT TV TODAY QTTTTII1 NBA Rebounding Leaders Williams, New Jersey 13.4 Barkley, Houston 13.0 Mutombo, Atlanta 12.7 Rodman, Chicago 12.6 Robinson, San Antonio 12.0 Sabonis, Portland 11.6 O'Neal, Los Angeles 1 1.6 NFL Lions 55 Bears 20 Oilers 27 Cowboys 14 No. 1 7 LSU will try to nail down an Independence Bowl berth against visiting Arkansas at 1:30 p.m. on CBS (Ch.

12 in Jackson). The Tigers, 7-3, will try to make amends for a 24-6 loss to Notre Dame on Nov. made the comparison that he was in a Lamborghini and I was in a Chevy S-10. You can't ask just one guy to tackle Barry Sanders." Tuskegee wins 500th Andrew Price returned a blocked field goal 7 1 yards for a touchdown Thursday to lead Tuskegee to a 2 1-16 win over Alabama State in Montgomery and give the Golden Tigers their 500th aH-time football victory. Tuskegee, 7-4, became the first historically black school to win its 500th game.

The Division I Tigers recorded their second consecutive win over I-AA Alabama State. Alex Bartlett's 25-yard field-goal attempt was blocked and Price picked up the football and ran for the score to give Tuskegee a 2 1-7 lead with 3:29 left in the third quarter. Alabama State fell to 3-8. 3 JLaU la. The Hoas.

4-6. are Minter i liia coming off a 1 7-7 upset over Mississippi State Top 25 Men 4. N. Carolina 109 7. UCLA 68 Top 25 Women 9.

N. Carolina 89 Miami, Ohio 67 SEC Georgia Tech Alabama 60 OUSA MS 19. Louisville 75 Hofstra 66 NBA Pacers 106 Grizzlies 85 it NHL Senators 3 Capitals 1 Kings 2 Blues 2 Blackhawks 2 Flames 2 Stars 4 Coyotes 1 Chicago linebacker Barry Minter said after Barry Sanders destroyed the Bears on Thanksgiving Day. Story, 3C The Detroit Pistons play host to the New York Knicks in an NBA game at 7 p.m. on TNT.

Listings, 2C 1-.