Daily Press from Newport News, Virginia • Page 25

Sunday. October 28. 1990 WF okies hold on in 4th quarter Emm i ujii i mj I 'MB i. It rii 1 at Temple. On this Saturday, however, the Hokies were able to sidestep that crushing blow.

USM's comeback ended on Brett Favre's incomplete pass on fourth down near the goal line. Tech quarterback Will Furrer, after recovering from a sprained ankle he suffered last week, completed a career-high 24 passes for 247 yards. Split end Nick Cullen caught 13 passes, tying the school record, for 170 yards. Tech led 20-0 after playing perhaps its best first half of the season. The Hokies had 18 first downs and 337 total yards in the first 30 minutes.

Moreover, the Hokies' defense was reminiscent of last year's nationally ranked unit. Favre had only 37 yards passing on four completions in the first half, and the Golden Eagles could manage just three first downs. "We changed our defense a bit to accomodate their quarterback," safety Damien Russell said. "We were letting me float, and that cut their short passing game. And we were calling plays at the line, and that helped us." But USM (6-3), which has victories over Alabama and Louisville this season, began hurting Tech with short passes and its running game.

Southern Miss cut the Hokies' lead to 20-14 with 11:06 remaining on a Favre-to-Eddie Ray Jackson 8-yard scoring pass. Starting to sound familiar? After a Chris Baucia punt, USM gained possesion at midfield with 2:34 remaining. Two Favre passes and a pair of Dwayne Nelson runs later, the Golden Eagles had moved to the Tech 22 and faced a third-and-3. Please see Tech, C6 Southern Mississippi comes up short 20-16 By DAVE JOHNSON Staff Writer BLACKSBURG Say this about Virginia Tech football: It keeps the fans entertained. "When I came here, they said we want exciting football," Coach Frank Beamer said after the Hokies beat Southern Mississippi 20-16 Saturday afternoon at Lane Stadium.

"Well, we do that." Too exciting for Beamer's liking. In what has become a familiar plot, the Hokies (44) again blew a big lead. In two of Tech's losses this season, it led by 11 points entering the fourth quarter. That includes last week's 31-28 loss Torain Saturday en route to William and f- is Roanoke Times World News Virginia Tech's Tony Kennedy scores in the first half. Tribe's Adrian Rich grabs Lehigh's Erick J.

rx. 1. ADRIN SNIDERStaff photographer Skip Miller Columnist Redsldiis leiarn how to stop LT: Block him early "hen last we checked in, New York Giants defensive end Lawrence Taylor was marvel? ing at the audacity of those Washington Redskins. That was two weeks ago. The Redskins had used pint-sized wide receivers Ricky Sanders and Gary Clark to nuisance-block Taylor, the man con- sidered the finest outside linebacker of all time.

"I kept thinking it was a trick," Taylor said after, the Giants' 24-20. vie- tory. "I still think it was a trick." In a way, Taylor was correct. The wide receivers', job was to slow up Taylor's famed and feared pass rush. Slow it just a step until tight end Don-nie Warren or tackle Jim Lachey could take over.

If Taylor made it through them, he found one of the running backs, Gerald Riggs or Earnest Byner, waiting. It was also a trick that worked. Taylor finished with four tackles and no quarterback sacks in his least effective game of the season. Television football analyst John Madden said the secret to stopping Taylor is "don't let him play against air. If you let him have that first step or two without popping him, he's gone.

"A lot of teams worry about where LT lines up and then try to go away from him. To me, the deal is to keep somebody on him every play and force him to fight through blocks." Fighting through National Football League blocks is something Lawrence Taylor has been doing for 10 years. His cat-quick pass rushes and vicious quarterback sacks brought change to offensive schemes. Taylor's resident position is right -outside linebacker. Any quarterback sack he gets from there is a blindside hit.

In almost every game, once he's established command of that post, he moves around. Maybe he'll line up on the left side. Maybe he'll take an inside rush and come at the quarterback head on. Regardless, it all flows from that blindside hit. What quicker way to unnerve a quarterback? Only the most foolish of the brave can stand tall in the pocket knowing LT is out there, beyond field of vision 243 pounds of halfback speed and bad intentions.

Offenses began countering with the H-back, a tight end who lines up in the old wingback position. The H-back is sent in motion to Taylor's side. At the snap, his job is to stop Taylor. "Yeah, they've tried about everything," Taylor said. "I just try to figure out where the block is coming from, make adjustments, then go get the quarterback to show them it didn't work.

Besides, if they concentrate on me too much, we've got a lot of other guys, like Pepper Johnson and Carl Banks, who can make the play." Throughout the preseason, nobody had to concentrate on Lawrence Taylor. He spent his training camp on a golf course while a new contract was negotiated. There were rumors fueled by his own statements that retirement was on his mind that Taylor would not return. He had been playing football since his high school days in Williamsburg. He was financially secure, happiest on a golf course, and had spiced his life with a role on HBO's "First And 10" series.

Nor had he ever been comfortable with the privacy-prying New York media. A few days before the Giants' season opener against Philadelphia, Taylor suddenly signed. He was in uniform that Sunday night and immediately made shambles of the Eagle offense. And hasn't slowed down since. His current worksheet includes 31 tackles, 4 1-2 sacks, one fumble recovery, two forced fumbles, and one interception returned for a touchdown.

Numbers that make the job the Redskins and their nuisance-blocking wide receivers did all the more interesting. "I've been playing against the Please see Miller, C9 IB Basketball: The Lakers are looking a lot like a doughnut these days an out-of-shape Vlade Divac has left them with a hole in the middle. C13 Football: Bill Parcells relishes his rivalry with the Redskins, and not just because of the recent results. Mary's 38-17 victory. Hampton's DeRocke Disappearing offense sinks Hampton Elizabeth City takes 14-7 victory By TERRY ARMOUR Staff Writer ELIZABETH CITY N.C.

When Hampton University coach Fred Freeman looks back at the 1990 football season, one word will no doubt come to his mind: inconsis time since 1981 that Elizabeth City (2-4 in the CIAA, 3-5 overall) has beaten Hampton (3-3, 4-5). Hampton's performance was truly lackluster, save for the first 10 minutes of the game. In the end, the Pirates gave the Vikings too many chances to beat them. Anthony Ford's interception of a pass attempt by tency. One week after setting a school record with 597 yards of total offense in a 45-28 victory against sixth-ranked Tuskegee, his Pirates struggled against lowly Elizabeth City State and fell 14-7 Saturday in a Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association game.

The victory marked the first with 8:45 left in the third period led to ECSU's first score, tying the contest at 7-7. A couple of penalties early in the fourth period gave the Vikings another chance, and they capitalized to take a 14-7 lead. Hampton turned the ball over twice in the final 9:57 to Please see HU, C5 oil wins William and Mary runs over Lehigh By CARL ROSENBLATT Staff Writer WILLIAMSBURG Lehigh football coach Hank Small looked a bit shell-shocked after his team lost 38-17 to 11th-ranked William and Mary Saturday afternoon at Cary Field. "I hope we don't see another offense like that in the next three games," said a perplexed Small. "I thought our defense did everything we could possibly do to hold them to 38.

Their offense is so dominating." In its third consecutive offensive outburst, (6-2) seemed almost methodical in ringing up its point total by the end of the third quarter. The Tribe rushed for 253 yards and passed for an identical 253, appearing only to stop them, selves in the drives that didn't result in a score. defense continued to play well at home, and allowed just three points in the second half. In four games at Cary Field this season, the Tribe has surrendered just 55 total points, 17 in the second half. "I thought it was another good solid effort," coach 1 Please see Tribe, C6 U.

Croom The Hampton Roads Admirals-Richmond Renegades feud-on-ice Friday night drew the largest crowd in ECHL history to Norfolk's Scope. Admirals notebook. C13 Pat LaFontaine scored a hat trick to lead the New York Islanders over the Philadelphia Flyers, but the worst part for the losers was yet another injury to goal-tender Ron Hextall. The Devils, Rangers and Bruins also won. NHL roundup.

C13 The last of the unmasked goaltenders leaves the NHL, the home team curse of Quebec, the Nassau Coliseum Ice-breaker, and the two-Zambonis-are-berter-than-one issue. NHL notebook. C1 3 Georgia Tech victory Yellow Jackets outslug Duke 48-31. C8 league with a 6.6-yard average. Fisher is third in the conference with 656 yards and a league-leading 8.9 yards per carry.

Both have rushed for seven touchdowns. Kirby and Fisher aren't so much 1 and 2 on the depth chart as 1 and 1A. "He's got a great rushing he makes long runs, he's a tough runner inside," Virginia head coach George Welsh said. "What more can you ask?" The only thing Fisher ever asked for was a chance. A conspiracy of luck, timing and injuries graced hinvthen teased him.

As a freshman Fisher, an all-state Please see Fisher, C8 nn Renegades skate past Admirals 7-2 careless third period, in which they were outscored 3-0 and outshot 214. "It's pretty obvious what happened," Admirals captain Pat Cavanaugh said from a morose postgame locker room. "We just didn't show up today. Everybody knows what happened. We got what we deserved." "We embarrassed ourselves, we embarrassed the team and we embarrassed the town we play for," Admirals forward Pat Cavanaugh said.

Renegades goaltender Pete Harris once again played well, making 24 saves, but he had plenty of help Satur- Please see Skate, C12 U.Va. tailback happy he stayed with Cavaliers Richmond completes 2-game weekend sweep By JAVIER SOLANO Staff Writer RICHMOND After sharing 192 minutes of penalties with the Hampton Roads Admirals Friday night, the expansion Richmond Renegades walked away from every fight Saturday and then walked away with an opening weekend sweep. Richmond's 7-2 victory in its home opener at Richmond Coliseum was clean. In fact, it was the Admirals who Tragedy hits hard, fast in Breeders' Pair of horses dies on the race track NEW YORK (AP) Brilliance matching sunshine was eclipsed by tragedy Saturday on racing's biggest day in the Breeders' Cup at Belmont Park. Meadow Star, the 2-year-old filly, glittered as her name suggests.

Lester Piggott, the great English jockey, rode again as masterfully as he has on many, many days in his career. Unbridled returned to his Kentucky Derby form to win the world's richest race and did it without any medical aid. Go for Wand died. So did Mr. Nickerson.

I-That's what the seventh Breeders' Please see Tragedy, C14 manifested their frustrations in a physical fashion after being decisively outplayed, to no avail. "We played our trump tonight, and the trump was our ability," Richmond coach Chris McSorley said. "The days of getting along in the league with fisticuffs are long gone. That's The Renegades thus celebrated a most successful debut in the East Coast Hockey League, beating the Admirals for the second time in as many nights. For their Admirals, they concluded a disappointing start to the season with a ADRIN SNIDERStaff photographer Tailback Nikki Fisher has overcome injuries to become productive.

I i Fisher had considered quitting, transferring By DAVE FAIRBANK Staff Writer Nikki Fisher thought about quitting, and he thought about transferring. He had never quit anything in his life, though, and a transfer, well, that had no guarantees, either. All Fisher could do was endure. His perseverance has paid off as he finds himself one of the main cogs in an offense that has carried Virginia's football team to the top of the polls. "I'm real happy with the situation so far," Fisher said.

"I'm not satisfied, but I'm happy." Fisher, a 5-foot-10 junior backing up Terry Kirby at tailback, has posted some terrific numbers. Kirby leads the Atlantic Coast Conference in rushing with 734 yards and is second in the.