Ukiah Daily Journal from Ukiah, California • Page 5

THE UKIAH DAILY JOURNAL To report sports news tetophom Giwrtht, 4W-3S21 Sports MONDAY, JAN. 18, 1993 DIGEST Cowboys are favored by 7 in Super Bowl RENO, Dallas Cowboys were listed as 7 point favorites over the Buffalo Bills moments after the Cowboys beat the San Francisco 49ers 30-20 Sunday in the NFC championship at Candlestick Park. The Bills beat the Miami Dolphins 29-10 in the AFC championship at Joe Rpb- bie Stadium earlier Sunday. John Levy, a spokesman for Harrah's Hotel in Reno, said trie point spread was set by Las Vegas oddsmaker Michael "Roxy" Roxborough. Roxborough also set an over-under line of 44 points for the 27th Super Bowl, to be played Jan.

31 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. The Bills will be playing in their third straight Super Bowl and will try to become the first AFC team to win the game since the Los Angeles Raiders beat the Washington Redskins 38-9 on Jan. 22,1984 at Tampa Stadium. Buffalo lost to the New York Giants 20-19 two years ago at Tampa Stadium and to the Washington Redskins 37-24 last year at the Metrodome. The Cowboys will be playing in their first Super Bowl since losing to Pittsburgh 35-31 on Jan.

21, 1979 at the Orange Bowl. A year earlier, the Cowboys beat Denver 27-10 at the Louisiana Superdome. TRIVIA What two NFC teams do the San Francisco 49ers have a losing record against over their 43-year history? (see answer at bottom of-schedule) Is this the end of the 49er era? SCORES Junior College Men's Basketball Merritt 88 Mendocino 67 WCA Football Marin All-Stars 17 Mendocino Loggers 7 SCHEDULE MONDAY 'C' BASKETBALL House of Pizza vs. Rainbow Construction at MC (6:15 p.m.) Coors vs. Preston Lumber at MC (7:30 p.m.) Coyote Valley vs.

Ukiah Machine and Welding at MC (8:45 p.m.) Pardini Appliance vs. Burger King at Pomolita (7 p.m.) vs. Redwood Heating at Pomolita (8:15 p.m.) TUESDAY BOYS' BASKETBALL Geyserville High at Potter Valley High junior varsity (4 Pomolita Middle School at Kelseyville junior high (4, 5 p.m.) GIRLS' BASKETBALL Merritt College at Mendocino College (7 p.m.) 'C' BASKETBALL Dalerio's Lumber vs. House of Pizza at Pomolita (7 p.m.) Mill Creek Nursery vs. Redwood Valley Hoopsters (8:15 p.m.) THURSDAY BASKETBALL filibusters vs.

Wellington's at Pomolita (6:45 p.m.) Rossi's Hardware vs. U.P.O.A at Pomolita (8 p.m.) Les 21 vs. Sports Attic at MC (6:15 p.m.) Advanced Manufacturing vs. California Leisure at MC (7:30 p.m.) (Answer: The Los Angeles Rams and the New York Giants.) Loss to the Cowboys leaves some questions SAN FRANCISCO (AP) Maybe it's just not their decade. After stamping themselves as the Team of the '80s by winning four Super Bowls, the San Francisco 49ers have lost two of the past three NFC title games.

The Dallas Cowboys beat the 49ers 30-20 in Sunday's NFC championship game, advancing to the Super Bowl for a meeting with the Buffalo Bills in two weeks. In the 1990 NFC tide game, the New York Giants defeated the 49ers 15-13 to deny San Francisco's bid for a Super Bowl "three- peat." San Francisco failed to make the playoffs in 1991, but rebounded this season to go a league-best 14-2 before eliminating last season's Super Bowl winner, the Washington Redskins, 20-13 in last week's divisional playoff. In the Cowboys (15-3), the49ers (15-3) faced the youngest team in the league. But it was the 49ers whose defense gave way, and it was the 49ers who were mistake- prone. "We made the cake all year, but we didn't put the icing on it," said Marc Logan, the 49ers special teams captain.

"We're still a great team. We know that. We have to keep working hard and win it next year. (Sunday), we didn't capitalize like we normally do. They made the plays and we didn't, and it's as easy as that." The game turned in the second half, when Troy Aikman led Dallas on two long drives: an eight-play, 78-yard march ending in Daryl Johnston's 3-yard scoring run with 10:45 left in the third, and a 14-play, 79-yard drive capped by Emmitt Smith's 16-yard scoring reception with 12:25 left.

"We knew that in order to win the game, we would have to put drives together," Dallas wide receiver Michael Irvin said. "We concentrated all week on converting all kinds of third downs: third- Jfc MM MM Stave Daily Journal and-l's, third-and-5's and third- and-13's." It worked. Dallas held the ball for 13 minutes, 15 seconds during the two critical drives. And after converting only one of five third downs in the first half, Dallas converted six of eight in the second half. "You could feel it slipping away in the third quarter," said San Francisco linebacker DeLong.

San Francisco comerback Don Griffin said Aikman and Emmitt Smith began to assert themselves after the game was tied 10-10. "They kind of broke us down little bit by little bit," Griffin said. Smith ran for 114 yards and gained 59 more on seven pass receptions. Aikman threw for 322 yards. "They're a ball control team.

They don't make a lot of mistakes," said DeLong, who missed the second half because of a hamstring strain. "Aikman just hung in there and made some great throws. With Emmitt, it seemed like a lot of times we had him and he just ran through.tackles. He's really strong and he's slippery. He breaks a lot of tackles.

The key was we couldn't get them off the field on third down." The 49ers were hurt by four turnovers, including two first-half fumbles that led to 10 Dallas points. Young also had two interceptions during the 49ers' futile attempt to catch up. "We had too many turnovers, and that was crucial. The momentum seemed to slowly build up for them," 49ers guard Roy Foster said. An early penalty also proved devastating to the 49ers.

Guard Guy Mclntyre was flagged for holding Dallas defensive lineman Russell Maryland, negating a 63-yard TD pass to Jerry Rice on San Francisco's third play from scrimmage. "It takes a lot out of a team when you lose a big play like that," Rice said. "In the en had things come back a ham Added Young: "I felt in the A half we hurt ourselves. We traded three points for seven too many times. Any time you trade three for seven, sooner or later you'll find yourself behind, and I think that's what happened." The game was the first postseason meeting between the teams since San Francisco defeated the Cowboys 28-27 in 1982 oriDwight Clark's last-minute scoring catch, which paved the way for the first of San Francisco's four Super Bowl victories.

rumble Into Super Bowl MIAMI (AP) They were a group of cocky stars who took a relatively easy route to the Super Bowl. Then they failed. Those Buffalo Bills disappeared sometime in the last few weeks. The team that heads to the NFL title game for the third straight year has grown up. "We've been in this situation before," Thurman Thomas said after the Bills beat Miami 29-10 Sunday to equal the Dolphins' achievement of two decades ago with a third successive trip to the Super Bowl.

"But I think coming like we have coming back against Houston and going on the road at Pittsburgh and here in Miami I think this team has matured a lot to where we realize that it's going to take a full effort to go out and win a Super "That's what we plan on doing." The Bills have exorcised all kinds of demons in the playoffs. They set an NFL record by overcoming a 32-point deficit to beat Houston 41-38 in the first round. They went on the road, where they hadn't won in the postseason since 1981, and took the Steelers and Dolphins. They won with backup quarterback Frank Reich and with starter Jim Kelly. They've bonded, become a family, stopped the bickering and begun clicking.

"There wasn't a lot of people who thought we could do this," said Kelly, who was 17-for-24 for 177 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions after missing 2Vi games with a knee injury. They did it with superb work from Thomas, the NFL's total offense leader the last four seasons. Thomas rushed for 96 yards and caught five passes for 70 more. He scored on a 17-yard screen pass. They did it with excellent sup- port for Thomas from Ken Davis, who has emerged as a premium back in the playoffs.

He had 61 yards rushing and 52 yards on four catches, mostly spelling Thomas in the second half. They did it with five field goals by Steve Christie, tying an NFL postseason record. And they especially did it with a suddenly overpowering defense. Since falling behind Houston 35-3, Buffalo has allowed 16 points in nearly 2Vi games. Buffalo forced five turnovers and had four sacks Sunday.

"I think that we showed class today," Kelly said. "I think we showed what maturity means. A few years ago, we might have been the ones doing the talking." They did their talking on the field, where they outgained Miami 182-33 on the ground and had the ball for 36:19. Cowboys Continued from Page 1 on a punt set up a 20-yard field goal by Lin Elliott and another fumble by Ricky Walters led to a 39-yard drive capped by a 4-yard touchdown run by Emmitt Smith. Other mistakes also hurt on a field that was wet but playable despite a week-long downpour and intermittent rain during the game.

A 63-yard TD pass from Young to Jerry Rice on the game's first series was called back by holding on guard Guy Mclntyre. And the TD by Smith, who finished with 114 yards on 24 carries, came a play after a defensive holding call on Pierce Holt on third down kept the Cowboys from having to try another field goal. "We couldn't take command in the first half, when we played our best football," said San Francisco coach George Seifert. "In the second half, they took control of the game." And how. Dallas took the opening kickoff and went 78 yards in eight plays, 38 yards coming when the 6-foot-3 Harper leaped over 5-11 Eric Davis to pull in a pass from Aikman.

Fullback Daryl Johnston bulled in from the three on a play that typified San Francisco's Niners were offside on the play, stopped and barely made any effort to stop Johnston. The Niners came right back, but stalled at the 24 and Seifert elected not to go for it on fourth-and-2. Mike Cofer, who had a 28-yard field goal at the end of the first half, made a 42-yarder and it was 17-13. Then came the most effective drive, consuming nine minutes of the third and fourth quarters. It covered 79 yards on 14 plays and the score came on a third-and-6, a 16-yard pass to Emmitt Smith for the fifth straight third-down conversion.

Young brought the Niners right back, hitting Rice for a 5-yard TD. But then came the play to Harper, whose three catches totalled 117 yards. That broke San Francisco's back. UHS matmen medal in Santa Rosa tourney SCOREBOARD NHL Los Angeles at Edmonton, 6:40 p.m. Buffalo at Calgary, 6:40 p.m.

Pittsburgh at Vancouver, 7:40 p.m. By GLENN ERICKSON Journal Sports Editor Emeritus A total of 14 Ukiah High School varsity or junior varsity wrestlers came home with first through sixth-place individual medals Saturday night after finishing second in the Santa Rosa Invitational varsity tourney and fourth in junior varsity competition. Ukiah varsity champions in the Santa Rosa matfest included Justin Capri (135) and Justin Bowers (145), while Ukiah's lone JV gold medal winner was John Quinliven (140), a junior first-year wrestler. Varsity medalists also included Ukiah's Manny Lopez (112) and Dan Brown (140), both runners-up. Brent Brown (130) was third, with Chris Lund (189) fourth after shedding some 40 pounds.

Brock Brown (119) took fifth and Ben Aragon (125) finished sixth. Helping Ukiah JV matmen finish fourth in their 16-team tourney (only 11 points out of first) were medalists champion John Quinliven (140), third-placers Mike Dar- by (135), Antonio Barrales (112) and John Simmons (160), Steve Hustead, fourth at 145, and Will Van Camp, fifth at heavyweight. Ukiah will host its own 8-tearn Ukiah Masonite Invitational this coming Saturday starting at 10 a.m. The varsity finished second to Finer, surprise winner of the Santa Rosa Invitational. Finer had 157 points, Ukiah and Santa Rosa 136, with the three North Bay League rivals dominating the tourney.

Hogan Cardinal Newman (105), Napa (10214 Vintage (99) and Rancho Cotate gave the top three the most competition. Twelve other teams trailed the above. Ukiah will return to the competitive mats Friday, rather than the usual Wednesday, when the Mat Cats host their first NBL dual match of the season at approximately 6 p.m., against Newman. The matches are being wrestled on Friday because of Sonoma County Finals this week. By The Associated All PST WALES CONFERENCE Pittsburgh Washington New Jersey NY Rangers NY Islanders Boston Buffalo Hartford Ottawa Chbaaa wnfeoyu Detroit Minnesota Toronto St.

Louis Tampa Bay Vancouver Calgary Patrick Division GF GA 30 12 4 64 202 157 24 18 4 52 184 162 23 18 3 49 154 146 21 19 6 48 186 182 20 22 4 44 184 172 28 15 5 61 200 158 25 16 6 56 194 167 24 18 2 50 176 169 21 18 6 48 197 162 12 29 4 28 140 207 4 41 3 11 104 227 CAMPBELL CONFERENCE Harris Division GF GA 27 16 6 60 165 130 26 19 3 65 202 167 22 17 6 60 156 152 20 19 7 47 161 154 19 21 6 44 161 164 16 30 2 32 151 183 8my "Eft 6 61 208 133 26 16 6 55 178 150 22 18 6 49 183 185 NBA New York New Jersey Boston Orlando Philadelphia By The Associated All PST EASTERN CONFERENCE Atlantic Division Pet. 21 14 .600 21 16 20 18 16 15 13 20 11 24 10 24 .683 .526 .516 .394 GB 2V. 3 7 Detroit Indiana Atlanta Milwaukee Utah sTAntonk, Denver" Denver Central Dlvl.lon 17 LA Clippers at Minnesota, 5 p.m. Utah at Seattle. 7 p.m.

Tuesday's Gamut Atlanta at Charlotte. 4:30 p.m. Washington at Indiana, 4:30 p.m. Portland at Milwaukee, 530 p.m. Detroit at Dallas, 5:30 p.m.

Denver at San Antonio, 5:30 p.m. Houston at Sacramento, 730 p.m. College Top 25 By The The Top Twenty Five teams In The Associated Press' colleas basketball poll, with first-place votes In parentheses records through Jan. 17, total points based on 25 point's lor a first-place vote through one point lor a 26th- place vote rankin 15 3H 2 Edmonton San Jose 6 38 Detroit 7, Phlladefchla 4 Washington 5, Tampa Bay 3 Edmonton 3, Buffalo 2, OT New York Islanders 7, Ottawa 2 Chicago 5, Toronto 3 Monday's San Jose at Boston, 10:40 a.rn Hartford vs. Winnipeg, at Saskatoon.

6:40 p.m. Tuesday's Gamee Boston at New York Islanders, p.m. Quebec at Ottawa. 4:40 p.m. Minnesota at Tampa Bay, 4:40 p.m.

New York at Detroit, p.m. Toronto at St. Louis, pm Chicago at Winnipeg, 6140 p.m. 16 18 14 21 WESTERN CONFERENCE Midwest Division 24 10 21 13 18 16 10 24 7 24 2 30 Pacific Division 10 11 15 18 18 20 .466 .471 .400 7V4 10V4 .706 .618 14 CIA 2," 23 19 8 8 A LA Golden State LA Clippers Sacramento Portland 109. Seattle 97 Phoenix at New York, 10 a.m.

Orlando at Philadelphia, 11 a.m. Boston at Chicago, 12:30 p.m. Houston at LA Lakers, 130 p.m. Sacramento at Golden State, 2 p.m. Indiana at New Jersey, 430 p.m.

.676 569 .600 .600 .394 3Vi 9V4 9V4 13 1. Kansas (45) 2. Indiana (7) 3. North Carolina (B) 4. Kentucky 5.

Michigan (2) 6. Duke 7. Virginia (3) B. Arkansas g. Cincinnati 10.

Seton Hall 11. Arizona 12. Oklahoma 13. Purdue 14. Iowa 16.

UNLV 16. Georgia Tech 17. Connecticut 18. Georgetown 19. Vanderblll 20.

Pittsburgh 21. Michigan St. 22. Utah 23. UCLA 24.

Ohio St. 26. Long Beach St 14-1 16-2 14-1 11-1 13-2 12-2 11-0 12-1 11-1 14-2 9-2 12-3 11-2 12-3 9-1 9-3 8-3 10-2 13-3 11-2 10-3 12-2 11-4 9-3 12-1 1,595 1,610 1,483 1,362 1,368 1,339 1,232 14 1,164 9 1,084 11 1,026 7 924 888 737 694 647 662 513 495 394 386 327 320 252 141 111 12 10 17 13 18 15 20 23 25 16 21 3. Long DtMvii ill Other receiving votes: Florida St. 97, TulaneQO, Syra- ina Minnesota 62.

New Oriaann UmmiAn ma inois 3, Nebraska 3. St. John's 3, Temple 3. WsXe Forest 3 Xavler. OhloS, Coll.

of Charleston 2, Oregon St. 2 Clemson Massachusetts 1, Rhode Island 1..