Green Bay Press-Gazette from Green Bay, Wisconsin • Page 17

Green Bay Press-Gozette Monday, Sept. 24, 1 973 B-1 Situation Frightened Dei Gaizo iff field general, who had succeeded Scott Hunter with 1:53 remaining and the Packers in possession at their own 27-yard-line. The call had not been entirely unexpected, however, Del Gaizo informed. "With about 11 minutes to go, Coach Devine told me to warm up," he said. "I figured it would depend on what Detroit did.

There would be no sense in a new man with a four-point lead and taking a chance on a fumbled snap." Although he had hit two clutch passes en route to that tying field goal, Del Gaizo took the responsibility for failing to come out with a touchdown after reaching the Detroit 6-yard-line with 50 seconds to play. "We had two plays called in the huddle," he said," and the second one wasn't just ideal for the situation. That was a crucial situation and I maybe should have called a timeout there. "But I still had a chance to hit Jon Staggers with the pass on that second down. If I'd hit it," he said with a dry smile, "it would have been a great call, right? "I was concerned about the coverage I was a little bit worried about the defender picking it off.

We needed a field goal to tie. But Staggers had him beat. If I hadn't been cautious, I could have hit him." Coach Dan Devine blamed himself for some of the problems Del Gaizo encountered on that final drive. "I should have helped him more down there," he said. "It's not his fault.

He hasn't had much practice on goal line situations. Any way you look at it, I should have helped him more. "Del Gaizo did not have even a complete week of practice with the team after coming off his injury," Devine pointed out. "He had two short days in a short week, following our Monday night game against the Jets. "Scott (Hunter) worked with the first group both of those days, and took every By LEE REMMEL Press-Gaiette Soorts Writer Aside from a slight cut which adorned the bridge of his nose, a minor inconvenience for a man who had just shrugged off four cracked ribs, Jim Del Gaizo was none the worse for wear.

But his return to combat Sunday afternoon had not been without a trace of trauma, he candidly admitted. "When you're coming in cold, it gives you something to think about," confessed the moustachioed ex-Miami Dolphin, the center of dressing room attention from the press corps after maneuvering the Packers into position for a game-tying field goal by Chester Marcol in 13-13 standoff with Detroit at Lambeau Field. "The situation kind of frightened me, coming in with less than two minutes to go and three points behind," said the lefthanded other play. That meant that Jim and Jerry Tagge took turns every other play, which means that Jim only got to work every fourth play. "He had some work after practice, but that's all he had during practice.

For the amount of time he has had to work, he did very well." Del Gaizo, still hying to master the Packer offense since coming here from the Dolphins in mid-August, said he had found the terminology tricky in those final seconds. "At the end of the game, a couple of calls weren't coming out well at all," he grinned, "but I guess they came out well enough for' the guys to understand them." And the ribs? "They're still a little tender, but not bad at all," Del Gaizo replied. "If they didn't come apart this afternoon, they won't come apart in the future. I took a couple of good shots today." Jim Dei Go20 i i -U O) With ief Ti Lions Blame Don Shula neered the Packers to Chester Marcol's tying 30-yard field goal with 19 seconds to play. "He (Del Gaizo) came up with the big plays.

Like that fourth down and 21 or 23, 24 or whatever it was," McCafferty said. The play was a 23 yard pass to John Staggers on a fourth and 23 situation that kept the drive alive. Then came a 15-yard Del Gaizo to Barry Smith pass to the Lion 22 and on the play linebacker Mike Lucci was called for a personnal foul which put the ball on the Lion 11. "I don't think it was a penalty. He (Smith) was on the TURN TO PAGE 2 COL.

3 By JIM Z1MA PressGoiette Sportt Writer Detroit Coach Don McCafferty, although proud of his team's showing, was disappointed in the 13-13 tie with the Packers and laid some of the blame on his former boss at Baltimore and now head coach at Miami, Don Shula, "That (bleep) Shula," the personable first year boss of the Lions quipped, "I wish he would have kept that (bleep) Del Gaizo in Florida." McCafferty's reference was to Packer quarterback Jim Del Gaizo, acquired in the exhibition season from Miami, who came off the bench with two minutes to play and engi Point Parade 0 10-13 0 3-13 Detroit 0 3 GrcvnBay 0 10 Prosi Gazelle Pholo John Brockington Fumbles a Sign of Packer Frustration Packers 3, Lions 0 Chester Marcol kicked a 30-yard field goal with 41 seconds gone in the second quarter after the Packers had moved from their own 26 to the Lions 23 in eight rushing plays following a punt. Packers 3, Lions 3 Errol Mann kicked a 15-yard field goal on the fourth play after Mike Lucci recovered a John Brockington fumble at the Packer 17. The clock showed a 6:21 left in the half. Packets 10, Lions 3 MacArthur Lane scored around right end from five yards out with 57 seconds left in the half as the Packers moved 85 yards in 10 plays with the Lions' kickoff. Scolt Hunter was three-for-three for 52 yards in the drive.

Marcol converted. Packers 10, Lions 6 Mann kicked a 38-yard field goal with 2:01 elapsed in the fourth quarter, climaxing a march from the Detroit 32 to the Packer 30 in eight plays after a Green Bay punt. Lions 13, Packers 10 Altie Taylor jabbed two yards over the middle and Mann converted to put the Lions ahead with 4:22 left In the game. The drive was launched at the Detroit 21 following a Packer punt and featured a 35-yard Greg Landry to Taylor pass. Packers 13, Lions 13 Marcol toed a 24-yard field goal with 19 seconds remaining in the game as the Pack moved from its own 27 with 1:53 left to the Detroit 6-yard line, thanks largely to a 25-yard Jim Del Gaizo pass to Jon Staggers on fourth and 23 at the Packer 38.

On third down at the six, Del Gaizo was sacked on the 17. By LEE REMMEL Press-Gazette Sports Writer There may have been general joy in Packerland, under the special circumstances. Although hardly an occasion for dancing in the streets, the Packers HAD surged from behind in the final seconds to forge a 13-13 tie with the Detroit Lions in Lambeau Field Sunday afternoon. And a tie is better than a loss, right? Yet, valid as this premise may be, and as heartening as relief pitcher Jim Del Gaizo's heroics may have been in the hectic stretch, there was little elation in the Packer dressing room. Its residents were still morosely pondering the awful truth: That this one could and should have been theirs and, somehow, it had slithered from their grasp.

Still painfully vivid were memories of three Packer interceptions which failed to produce a point, not to mention two lost fumbles, one of which the Lions converted into a field goal that loomed large in the final accounting. There also was the disquieting knowledge they had slipped into second place in the NFC's Central Division, despite a 118-yard rushing day by John Brockington, thus placing a premium on winning next Sunday's match with the pacesetting Vikings in Minnesota. Little wonder, then, that Dan Devine somewhat somberly confided, "Everybody is always let down with a tie. "It's a little early in the season to know what effect it will have on winning your division championship," he conceded, "but that's the point of the game to win." And this had been his total approach, he said, until Del Gaizo was felled for a 10-yard loss trying to pass with only 26 seconds remaining and Detroit in front, 13-10. "After they sacked Jim," Devine said, "There was no doubt that we had to go for the tie." An earlier sack had left the Packers concerned even about a tie as they faced second-and-23 at their own 38 with only two timeouts left.

And it shortly was to become desperate, after a sideline pass to Rich McGeorge and a "fly" to Jon Staggers down the left sideline misfired. Del Gaizo, who had relieved starter Scott Hunter with 1:53 remaining, then collaborated with Staggers on a 25-yard, fourth down strike up the middle to save the day as the clock blinked down to 1:14, triggering an eventual 24-yard field goal by Chester Marcol with only 19 seconds remaining to assure the standoff. "Jon Staggers was running a trail on the play and he did a good job of getting open," Devine explained. "And I thought Jim did an excellent job of finding him. "The primary receiver was the wingback (Barry Smith).

It looked for a second like Jim was going to run, but he knew he needed 23 yards, so he decided to throw By stepping up into the pocket, he gave Staggers a chance to get open and Staggers ran an excellent pattern I was watching him out of the corner of my eye." Del Gaizo, making his first appearance since suffering cracked ribs in the Bishop's Charities game against Pittsburgh Sept. 1, paid tribute to both of his receivers on that 57-yard drive to the tying field goal. "Barry Smith caught one in the dirt," he said, "and Staggers made a great catch on that one for the first down. To me, they came up with the real great plays. "We should have won That's the only thing I feel bad about.

When you get down to the 6-yard-line like we did, you should get into the end zone." This was the thinking, De-vine indicated, which had prompted his decision to replace Hunter with Del Gaizo. "Most decisions by coaches are based on trying to win the ball game," he said in answer to the inevitable question. "Some are right, some are wrong. "I'm not a very good judge of myself and my decisions, but I'd say the decision to go with Jim at that point was a good one." "But I did a poor job of getting him ready. There were a couple of things I could have done a lit le better." Although he decided to stay with Hunter on the previous series, Devine admitted he had considered switching to the lefthanded Del Gaizo with 4:22 left, before Hunter's return to action was greeted with boos from a restive crowd of 55,495 fans.

He declined, however, to fault his starter, who had escorted the Packers 85 yards in 10 plays for their only touchdown in the closing minutes of the first half to erect a 10-3 intermission lead. "It's hard to evaluate without having seen the film," said Devine, who declined to commit himself on next week's quarterback selection, "but I thought Scott did a good job." Devine also had no quarrel with the pass protection, following four sacks of Packer quarterbacks for 42 yards. "The Lions blitzed on occasion three men," he pointed out. "If you don't have a pickup for three men, I can't fault anybody. "One sack in particular that hurt us was when we had first down at the 40.

We ran a roll to the left and Scott had no chance to get it off. Rich McGeorge was open, too. "If we'd have gotten a field goal shot there, and made it, it would have put us ahead 13- 3 if we'd been content to run three plays and settle for a first down, instead of getting hungry." This misfire, combined with earlier failures to capitalize on those interception opportunities, had an obvious and electrifying effect upon the Lions, who mounted a 10-point fourth quarter to surge ahead. "Their comeback was a combination of things," De-vine said. "It was partly our Inability to come up with the big play on offense at crucial times.

The long pass off play action to Altie Taylor was a big turnover in field position, but to say that it was the big play would not be entirely accurate." "Greg Landry did an excellent job on that drive. They just caught us in a bad defense it's tough to defense everything on that pass to Taylor." Middle linebacker Jim Carter, the new defensive captain, was mystified by the sudden turnabout. "We had done good up until then against them," he said, shaking his head. "I guess we played them a little soft on that drive. I really don't know what it was.

"They stuck a couple at us and they had us in a bad defense on that pass to Taylor, but you've got to give them credit they have a good offense. "But I guess we all played it a little soft, including me especially me." Landry, meanwhile, attributed the Lion revival to a half-time change in strategy. "We just decided to work a little harder and block better the second half," said Detroit's king-size "We started throwing the percentage pass. We had expected them to have a lot of single coverage but they really mixed up their coverage In the first half, so we had to iron it out. We decided to go with the shorter pass." His coach, however, was in slight disagreement.

"We didn't change that much," Don McCafferty said. "We just started hitting. We executed better in the second half. Not entirely happy with the stalemate, the former Colt coach assorted, "I was disappointed In the tie because they tied us we didn't tie them." He had nothing on Devine, who was equally disappointed. "We look at it as a game lost at this point," he said.

"It's not, but Mwfag Reason's Hew Lions Set Up Pack on Pass OUT OF BOUNDS? By Len Wagner Press-Gazette Sports Editor Single Barrel Shot Guns Deluxe Nylon Waders $1995 American Made Hip Boots M69S Oversize, De luxe Magnum Duck Decoys 25" Regular Size, De luxe Decoys SWl start of training camp in July. Though Devine declared earlier that It would take more than one bad half or even more than one bad game to dislodge Hunter, he did go to Del Gaizo in the clutch Sunday. And when asked if Del Gaizo was now his starting quarterback, he let the door open by replying "I wouldn't know that at this point." The LIom, especially Mike Luccl, were convinced that the personal foul call on him at the Packer 22 In the final minute was a bad one. Barry Smith had gone to the turf to catch a Del Gaizo pass and Luccl plopped on top of him. The officials confirmed later that the penalty to the 11 was for a late hit, though the Lions steadfastly insisted that Smith had not been touched and could have picked himself up and run.

The films Indicated, though, than Lem Barney touched Smith, though It may not have been more than a tickle. Smith said he didn't know If he had been hit before Lucd. "I just know I saw that linebacker coming down on me with a forearm," Barry said. "That's how I got this," he said of the cut on his nose. "Now I know what they mean by the black and blue division." Luccl, however, was burned over the Incident, feeling that it might have given the Packers the tie because of the good position It put them In.

"The guy hadn't been hit when I hit him one official said I was penalized for using the forearm," he said. "There are 50 or 60,000 people there who want to see hitting but the officials are swayed by them. When we recovered a fumble, four or five guys hit TURN TO PAEaKOL.4 12 and 20 Ga, De luxe Amer. Made Magnum Altie Taylor was as free as an old maid with bad breath. So he caught Greg Landry's short pass in the right flat and turned the play into a 35-yard advance from the Detroit 33 to the Packer 32 the key maneuver in the Lions' drive to their lead touchdown midway in the fourth quarter.

Until that time, the Packer defenders had once again proved to be stout hearted men. In fact, the Lions had failed to dent Packerland on their own initiative until halfway through the third quarter and then they began their first penetrating drive from the Detroit 40 after recovering a fumble. But to listen to Landry, the Lions had been setting up that vital play throughout the game. It was of play action design with fakes to both Taylor and Steve Owens. And Landry's fakes on this particular action were exceptionally deceiving.

"We had been running a trap to the weak side all afternoon," he explained. "So this time we faked it and I think we caught their linebacker filling. Steve and Altie came up with good fakes too and Altie wound up pretty well open." It was a mistake, one of the few mistakes the defense really made all afternoon. You don't make too many mistakes and still allow only one touchdown and just 13 points. But Packer Coach Dan Devine, understandably refusing to fault anyone, insisted, "They caught us in a defense well, it's tough to defend against everything.

We were In a bad defense for that play." The essense of the story is, however, that the Packers need more points though In this case the Lions did too and a tie is better than a loss. 95 79 Pump Shot Guns (with recoil pod) Coon The fans apparently came to the same conclusion, judging by the ringing boos that accompanied Scott Hunter to his quarterback position with about four minutes left, just after Detroit took a 13-10 lead. But I'm not sure if the boos were aimed at Hunter for his ability or Inability, as the case may be, or at Devine for his decision to stay with Hunter after having Jim Del Gaizo (obviously the fans' darling even after only one half of an exhibition game) warming up. DD said he didn't hear them. It's true Hunter did not lead the Packers to any overwhelming scoring, but how much do you blame the quarterback for this when the plays are called from the bench? Particularly when the quarterback, in this case Hunter, winds up with 50 per cent passing but throws only 12 passes.

In fact, Hunter looked like an all-pro in taking the Packers to their touchdown Just before the end of the half. He marshalled the troops 85 yards in 10 plays (really 88 yards in nine plays since the first one lost three yards) and fired three hefty strikes en route. The Parker quarterback situation now ap-. pears to be little different than it was at the "Red Head" Hunting Pants Wigwam Hunting Sox 95S. '3" SPORT SHOP 922-26 Main Street 0 mm PARK FREE REAR OF STORE.