The Courier News from Blytheville, Arkansas • Page 13

EAST, WEST STARS SPLIT (Richard OkHum Photon) East Cagers Upset West DECEIVING APPEARANCES The bottom one went In the record books COURIER NEWS SPORTS Sam Krebs SPORTS EDITOR Monday Augusts, 1976 --Page Thirteen KEY MAN Hampton was GOOD BOARD PLAY Isbell stopped West break Big Play Sparks West fo FB Victory By SAM KREBS Courier News Sports Editor LITTLE ROCK--Most of the estimated crowd of 15,000 persons here Saturday night at War Memorial Stadium expected to see a Little Rock athlete'aecide the 1976 high school all-star football game. One did, but it's not. Likely the spectators expected that Little Rock athlete to make the play. Little Rock Central's much-Heralded superstars Houston Nutt and Robert Farrell had woven their aerial magic early to throw the East ahead, but the plan backfired in the fourth quarter. Nutt went to the air one too many times, and the smallest man on the field--Little Rock Joe T.

Robinson's Marcus Robinson, just 5-8 and 169 pounds and attempting to cover rangy 6-5 receivers like Farrell and Jonesboro's Jeff Devazier--made THE PLAY. It was one of those sideline passes that Nutt usually does so well. Devazier was out there all right, but a strong West rush led by Springdale's game outstanding lineman Kerry Burk and Hot Springs' 6-8, 240-pound Wallace Watkins forced the Central star to rush his throw. Just over 10 minutes remained in the game. Robinson expertly stepped in front of Devazier, and the race was on.

He grabbed the ball 39 yards from the goal line, made a super move to elude a flabbergasted Nutt at around the 15, then carried it to glory to boost the West toward a 24-17 upset of the favored East squad. WEST MOMENTUM THE PLAY turned a 17-14 deficit into a 21-17 West edge, and afforded the Westerners some momentum that carried them through the rest of the way. Burk, Watkins and company forced a Nutt fumble oh the East four in the closing minutes, and a 28-yard field goal by Farmington's Floyd Shelley iced it. Despite his heroics, Robinson lost out to Nutt for outstanding back honors as a panel of Arkansas High School Coaches Association members prematurely chose the Little Rock signal-caller on his early merits. Those weren't anything to sneeze at, though, as the rifle-armed Central star had hit on 10 of 14 losses at one point in the contest, and three of those had been dropped, two by Farrell.

Nutt finished with 12 of 23 for 153, yards and one TD, a nine yard strike to Des Arc's Jerry Saxton midway through the opening period. But even more heartbreaking was the tremendous job the East defense did on the West offense. East offensive mistakes set up every West score. The East defense held the West to just 170 yards total offense, and a determined pass rush aided by Blytheville's Marty Orr all but shut down the West air attack. BIO PLAYS HURT "We were just trying to contain them," said Orr after the contest.

"We were afraid they'd do a lot of sprinting out, but they couldn't do that against us. It was my job to see that they didn't run wide on us, and I don't think they did a good job of it all night. We thought we played some good defense, but the big plays hurt us." Another member of that tough East defense was Rivercrest's Peter Fair, who played an unfamilar nose guard position, and like Orr, played well. "Just too many mistakes hurt us," said Fair. "It looked like our defense had played well enough to win the game, but that one big play did it for them." Nevertheless, East coaches were more than happy with their team's defensive performance.

The East offense, with Nutt at the helm, was in control in the early going. He came out bombing, and marched the favorites to their first TD just less than three minutes into the contest. FARREbL DROPS ONE Following a 27-yard kickoff return by Hot Springs Lakeside's Travis Morehart, Null threw for a 20-yard gain to Saxton to the East 49, then reared back and lofted the bomb, but Farrell dropped the perfect pass at around the West 15. An option pitch to Sylvan Hills' Ricky Russell who led all ball-carriers with 75 yards on lOcarries, gave IheEasta first down at the West 36, and Nutt went back to the air. He hit Farrell for nine to the 27.

Luck played a very important part in the drive, as on the next play, Nutt fumbled, but alert Bobby Keen of McCrory recovered for nine yards and a first down at 18. Another nine-yard toss to Saxton put the ball just inside the 10, and Forrest City Sonny Lee blasted up the middle to get to the end zone, but the ball squirted out, Deva'zier was'fri'the'fight place at the right time.iand fell on the ball for the TD. Farrell added the extra point, and it was 7-0 with 9:32 left in the quarter. The West attempted to establish a running game, and got nowhere. On the third play from scrimmage, Fair and his middle mates hit Russellville's Terry Crabb, causing a fumble, which Paragould's Todd Dudley recovered at the West 41.

SAXTON TD Nutt connected with Farrell on a 32-yard toss to the nine, and after a pitch to Russell gained nothing, Nutt returned to his bread- and-butter. He faked a throw toward a decoying Farrell, and hit a wide open Saxton at the goal line. Farrell's kick made it 14-0, although 6:30 still remained in the period. An interception by Paragould's Mike Bevill put the Eastin good field position at the West 28, and they appeared on the way to a third first-quarter score, but Russell fumbled after taking ashort toss from Nutt, and North Little Rock Ole Main's Rodger Hunter recovered. The first break ended 14-0, but the West had picked up a little momentum from the ball- carrying of Prescott's Hesterly Purifoy, and seven plays into the second stanza, Harrison quarterback Bill Gregg carried it in from the two.

Shelley booted the PAT for a 14-7 count with 9:42 to go in the half, and that the way it stayed for the remainder of the period. Stuttgart's Donnie Davis was the East's second-unit quarterback, but he suffered a knee injury his first series, and Nutt ran the East attacli for the duration. With only 33 seconds gone in the third quarter, Bevili fell on a West fumble at their 23, and the East semmed set up for a big go(Richard Oldham Phnbwl ahead TD, but the West defense stiffened, forcing a 30-yard field goal by Farrell. That upped it to 17-7, the same way the period ended. BIO FUMBLE Two plays into the final stanza, Nutt lost connections, thanks to a fierce hit from Watkins, and the ball was knocked all the way back to the East four, a 30-yard loss.

Graveete's Lester Saunders made the big It toqk the West one play to score as Crabb went over. Shelly cut the gap to 17-14 with 11:15 left in the game. Russell returned the ensuing kickoff 18 yards to start the East from its own 23, then carried for nine more to the 32. Then came THE PLAY. Nutt, on a surprise second-and-one throw, looked deep for Farrell, then shot it toward Devazier.

it was short, and Robinson was right there. West touchdown plus the conversion, and it was suddenly in their hands, 21-17. The East fought back, driving lo the West 38 before having to give the ball up on a Farrell punt. The West fumbled it back a lew plays later as Little Rock Parkview's Charles Stanley recovered a loose ball at the West 32 with 5:39 to go. INTERCEPTION NO.

2 But a little over a minute later, Nult got a stiff rush, and his arm was hit as he prepared to throw. The pop-up went into the hands of Van Buren's Darrell Ray, who returned it 29 yards to the East 28. That set up Shelley's clinching field goal with 1:26 on the clock. Nutt and company had one last chance at it. Everyone in the stadium knew where Nutt was going on fourth down.

So did the West defense. They put two men on Farrell and Nutt badly overthrew the tall man. The pass went too long, and out of bounds on the right side. The West needed only to run 24 seconds off the clock for the victory, avenging a 34-7 defeat to the East last summer. Huntsvillc's Tommy Tice was the winning head coach, while Forrest City's Al Miller took the loss.

I ON THE CHASE OrrlnWeatbackfleld SIDELINE STRATEGY MVP Nutt meets with Al Miller MIDDLE MAN Fair played well at none guard By SAM KREBS Courier News Sports Editor CONWAY To anyone within earshot, East all-star assistant coach Charles Ripley of Little Rock Parkview pointed out what he figured to be a major reason for what some folks called "an upset." The mighty East Stars had just annihilated the heavily- favored West 101-79 here Saturday in the annual high school all-star basketball game, and most of the attention was focused on the superstars like Dumas' Elton White, who tossed in 22 points and brought down 13 rebounds to earn MVP honors in the contest; Holly Grove's Wally Love, who chipped in 12 and was still one of the few unsigned players in the camp; and Blytheville's Dennis Isbell, who had scored only eight points but was tough on the boards and played some great team basketball. Ripley wasn't about to deny the others their glory, but he had a different hero in mind. He was Blytheville's Elston Hampton, who ran the East offense in a key third period that saw the East put things out of reach for the West, featuring such heralded superstars as Conway's Lawson Pilgrim and Charleston's John Stewart, both University of Arkansas signees. "This young man did a job," marveled Ripley, "A J-O-B. He broke the ballgame open just like we knew he could.

Elston took it right to mem in the third period, and look what a differenct it made." ACTUALLY ON 2ND TEAM Ripley explained that in all honesty, Hampton had earned the right to be a second-learner, but that posed somewhat a problem as the East coaches prepared their best attack. "Without him, we didn't have a soul on that third unit who could run our offense," said the coach. "We explained that to Elston, and he unselfishly moved down to the third unit. Then he went out there, and did just what we told him." What Hampton did so well in that crucial third period as the East built up a 51-39 halftime edge was take the ball to the basket. Penetration that forced the West into numerous mistakes.

Hampton scored six points himself, and set up several others. "I thought he played a very good basketball game," said Mississippi County Community College coach Jim Wheatcroft, who signed the former BUS standout to play with MCCC this winter, and just happened to be on hand to watch his star recruit. "Elston hasn't played guard that long, but he already handles it like a veteran. We're looking forward to having him with us. We know he'll be an asset to our program, and playing well today should boost his confidence." ROBINSON PLEASED Another college coach of local recognition took the time to catch the act of his superstar.

Memphis State's John Robinson, who coached Hampton and Isbell during BHS' greatest season ever last winter, kept a close eye on Isbell, and liked what he saw. "I was pleased with the way Dennis handled himself," said Robinson, "He didn't score a lot, but contributed in so other ways. He helped the East just beat the West badly On the boards, and what we liked was the way he passed to that open man. Wayne (Yates) likes for our forwards to be able to make that pass, and I'd say that Dennis has an excellent chance of playing a lot of basketball for Memphis State in his freshman season." Both Hampton and Isbell were proud of the "team" victory. "We'd worked real hard in practice, and all we'd hear was how bad the West was gonna beat us," said Hampton.

"They said they were gonna blow us out. Looks like it was the other way around. It kinda backfired on them." TOUGH ON BOARDS Isbell said stopping the West fast break was a big key. "We didn't let them get on the boards," he grinned. "I'll bet we outrebounded them 3-1.

They said we were supposed to get beat by about 20 points, but we got ahead early and there wasn't any way For them to catch us." The East was in control all the way, opening up a 12-8 first period advantage. The West, on the play of Gurdon's George Golden, threatened to catch up in the second stanza, as they narrowed the gap to 23-22 on two free throws by Fort SmithSouthside's Chuck Putnam with 87 seconds left in the period. But a layup by Little Rock Hall's Theodis Bealer, then a rebound jumper off a missed free throw by the same man sent the Easterners back ahead 27-22. The West cut it to 27-24 just before the buzzer. Then came the big third period, and hampton did his job.

He took it right to the bucket, and scored four of his six points in the first two minutes of the period to push the East farther ahead 35 7 25. From there, the closest the West could get was four points. White did much of the damage late, as the Dumas superstar fired in six points in the last minute. The count was 51-39 at halftime. FREE SUBSTITUTION The coaches could go to free substitution for the second half, and Love, Isbell, White and company began to run away with the contest.

They ran off 24 more points in those 10 minutes for a 75-57 lead going into the final stanza. That last period provided little excitement, as Whit became a one-man show, and the only question that remained was whether the East could break the century ark. They accomplished that with just six seconds to play as Valley View's Ken Yarbrough sank two free throws for the 101-79 final. Pilgrim and Golden led the West with 13 points each, but the Conway superstar didn't score until more than six minutes deep into the second half. Stewart, the tallest player on the court at 6-9, didn't get a rebound until four minutes remained in the game.

Wilmot's Levin Johnson was the winning coach. player AVANT AVERY LOVE TAYLOR JOHNSON BEALER ISBELL WHITE YARBROUGH MILLER HAMPTON HAMPTON WILSON CONRAD ROGERS TOTALS STEWART PILGRIM PICKETT I. GREER SULLIVAN GOLDEN HARRIS BRAKEBILL PUTNAM WEAVER J.GREER LARK LARK COPELAND MURRAY FUDGE TOTALS EAST (101) fg-fga H-fta 4-5 00 EAST 11 2.6 4-e 2.7 2-4 4 1 3 3 7 11. is 0 0 0 0 2 4 1-1 1-1 0-2 4118 EST17!) fg-fga 2-8 4-1! 3.10 4 0 It 512 2-7 1-4 2 5 1-4 2-5 3-5 3-5 0-3 0-1 1.3 ll-W 17-25 15-24-24-W-- 101 5-6 6 4-5 7 00 1 00 1 01 3 2-2 7 0.4 15 1.2 0 1-2 0 2-2 1 1-2 4 0.0 4 a 2 5 rb 1-2 1 56 6 2-2 7 00 2 2-2 1 3-4 8 1 4 0-1 1 DO 1 00 3 02 3 3-4 5 3-4 5 0.0 1 0-1 2 00 41 3 0 0 3 0 4 3 1 1 2 0 Pf 1 2 3 4 1 4 I 1 2 1 0 2 2 1 1 24 1 2 7 2 10? tp 5 1 1 71 WESTM6-15-IH2--.