Tallahassee Democrat from Tallahassee, Florida • Page 29

Tallahassee Sept. 2, 1984 TORTS Baseball, 5 Scoreboard, 15 College scoreboard, 12 Seminoles overwhelm Pirates with tough defense and offense By Bill McGrotha Democrat sports editor v.rtr ft Striking swiftly and incredibly well, Florida State ripped out a stunning 48-17 success over East Carolina in its opening football game here Saturday night. As 54,211 fans fifth-largest turnout in Campbell Stadium history looked on, the Seminoles moved smoothly with new quarterback Eric Thomas at the helm. Thomas completed 12 of 19 passes for 177 yards and two touchdowns. Greg Allen ran 17 times for 113.

In Bobby Bowden's 45th game in this stadium, his-Seminoles presented him with victory No. 36 at home. It was also the eighth straight opening-game victory for Florida State in Bowden's time. Tenacious in-the-clutch defense blunted East Carolina's attack, and also presented FSU's offense with golden opportunities. Among other things, Brian Mc-Crary and Eric Riley came up with key early interceptions.

Later, Joe Wessel blocked a Pirate punt. On an opening drive from its 20, Florida State jumped in front 3-0 on freshman Derek Schmidt's 26-yard field goal. Allen sped wide for 9 yards on his first run of the season. Soon Thomas uncorked a 14-yard pass to Pete Panton. Pounding up the middle, Cletis Jones got 18 a couple of plays later, to the Pirate 28.

Allen's running led to a first down at the 17. But Allen lost 3 trying to go wide. A pass missed. Thomas got 10 on a third-down keeper. Then Schmidt came in for his first college kick ever, making good.

On East Carolina's second play from scrimmage, 225-pound fullback Reggie Branch hit the middle, then rambled toward the sidelines 28 yards to FSU's 38. The defense stiffened smartly, linebacker Fred Jones grabbing the quarterback for a yard loss on third down, leaving the Pirates at the 35 following three runs. Whereupon, Jeff Heath put through a 52-yard field goal, tying it 3-3. From their 17 after the kickoff, the Seminoles got quickly to the 42 on runs of 8 and 14 yards by Allen. But no more.

Louis Berry punted 45 yards and an illegal-block penalty backed the visitors to their 7. At the 13 on third down, Darryl Gray sliced in to nab Phil Sears Democrat 1 the quarterback tor a loss ot 5. See FSU, 12C East Carolina's Henry Williams fumbles out of bounds when attacked by a tribe of Seminoles CO 4 TCr- Kbsar passes Ga. Southern downs FASV1U oom" Gators By David Whitley Democrat staff writer By George Maselli Democrat staff writer 3 1 SAVANNAH, Ga. Georgia Southern put itself on the Division I-AA football map Saturday at Florida surprise and expense.

The Eagles came into Savannah's War Memorial Stadium 18-point underdogs against FAMU. They left with a 14-0 win. FAMU left bearing little resemblance to a team ranked 10th in the black-college poll. The win, Southern's first ever over a Division I-AA opponent, left the Eagles 1- 0. FAMU dropped to 0-1.

"They did a heck of a job out there today," said FAMU coach Rudy Hubbard. "We just didn't have enough fight." If not for a couple of turnovers and some dropped passes, it could have been a lot worse for FAMU than 14-0. Not that anyone was complaining too loudly in Savannah. "Never in my wildest dreams did I think we'd beat Florida said Southern coach Erk Russell. "I'm still in shock." Also in shock, no doubt, was FAMU quarterback Calvin Giles.

The sophomore, starting his first spent a good part of his afternoon scrambling for his life under a wicked Southern pass rush. Before the day was over he had been sacked 10 times for minus-35 yards. See FAMU, 10C man quarterback Kerwin Bell to Frankie Neal, setting off a celebration on the Gator bench. But 41 seconds and three timeouts was too much to leave Kosar. On first and 10 from the Miami 28, he hit his favorite receiver of the night, Willie Smith, on a deep sideline pattern for 36 yards to the Florida 36.

The very next play, Kosar found Brown on the right sideline for 17 more yards. It seemed as if the Hurricanes would run off the clock on two runs by Darryl Oliver, but with seven seconds left, Kosar found Brown in the left corner of the end zone with a perfect strike. The first half was expected to be a confrontation of the quarterbacks: Kosar, the man everyone now knows and Bell, the man nobody knows. Instead it developed into a showcase for runners. With the score tied at 3 early in the second quarter, Florida's Lor-See FLORIDA, 13 TAMPA The Heisman Trophy is beginning to seem a mundane goal for Bernie Kosar.

The Miami quarterback should be more in line for All-Pro. Kosar directed a five-play, 72-yard that took all of 29 seconds, throwing a touchdown pass with seven seconds remaining to lead the Miami Hurricanes to a startling 32-20 victory over the Florida Gators at Tampa Stadium. Miami defensive back Holbert Bain intercepted a pass and returned it 59 yards for another touchdown on the game's final play. The predominantly Gator crowd of 72,813 and the Florida defense were stunned by the way Kosar directed the drive that won the game. The Gators had taken a 20-19 lead with 41 seconds remaining on a 5-yard touchdown pass from fresh 1 Special to the Democrat FAMU's Calvin Giles on the run from Eagle defenders Prestige of the heavyweight title at its lowest level ever defeated Greg Page to win the United States By Peter Alfano New York Time9 6 I consider Larry Holmes the real champion, but I want to go back to the Joe Louis era when there was one champ.

When you ask now, 'Who's the no one knows. I want to be part of the reunification. Pinklon Thomas LAS VEGAS As he left the ring, Pinklon Thomas passed Larry Holmes and Gerrie Coetzee, two fellow heavyweight champions who were using this opportunity to trade insults and boasts during a television interview patterned after those in professional wrestling. It was as if Thomas wer Thomas en't even there. In the ring, the 6-foot-3-inch, 216-pound Thomas is not yet polished, although Angelo Dundee the trainer who worked in Thomas' corner for the first time said that his left jab was the best among the heavyweights since Sonny Liston.

"He doesn't just flick it," Dundee said. "He was rocking Witherspoon with it. That jab hurts." It was the jab that enabled Thomas to build up a big early lead through seven rounds, frustrating Witherspoon, who occasionally turned southpaw to try to penetrate it and was penalized a point by the referee Richard Steele for hitting with the back of his glove. "That was an illusion," Witherspoon said. He only wishes that were the case for Thomas' jab.

Thomas had just enough steam in the punch to hold off Witherspoon's late comeback that narrowed the scoring but hardly seemed to justify Hal Miller judging the fight a draw. The other judges, Dalby Shirley and Duane Ford, scored it 115-112 and 116-112 for Thomas. This is an instance, perhaps, when a boxer will grow into the title. The 26-year-old Thomas must work on using his right hand more often, which certainly would not detract from the jab but complement it. Although he is now 25-0-1 as a professional, he has not fought many top 10 fighters.

King envisions Thomas making his first defense against David Bey, a newcomer who Boxing Association championship in another feature match Friday night. The winner of a Thomas-Bey match would then face the Holmes-Coetzee winner to reunify the championship, King Bey, now 14-0, is a hard-punching crowd-pleaser from Philadelphia. He stole the fight from Page in the 11th and 12th rounds when he doggedly pursued Page, who was content to dance away, thinking he had the fight won. Bey is 27 years old and a former Army sergeant who joined the service to avoid getting into trouble. Thomas, however, was not as fortunate.

Thomas grew up in Pontiac, where he began experimenting with heroin when he was 12 years old. Thomas and his childhood sweetheart, Kathy Jones, were married when they were 17, but the responsibilities of marriage did not dissuade him for continuing to use drugs, he said. Mrs. Thomas joined the Army to escape the ghetto and Thomas enlisted shortly afterward. He credits her with helping him eventually break the drug habit.

"We paid a lot of dues," said Thomas. In his lockerroom on Friday night, his wife and son, Little Pinklon, had an opportunity to share the rewards. In a private ceremony involving father and son, Thomas handed Little Pinklon the championship belt. "I promised you this, didn't the father said. Anri when he entered the interview room against Witherspoon Friday night at the Riviera Hotel, Thomas has the opportunity to show that he is more than just another young heavyweight passing through the swinging doors of the WBC.

"I consider Larry Holmes the real champion," Thomas said, "but I want to go back to the Joe Louis era when there was one champ. When you ask now, 'Who's the no one knows. I want to be part of the reunification." Thomas' prospects appeared to delight the promoter Don King, although promoters have a way of finding virtues in all champions. Thomas, though, could be different. His successful effort to overcome childhood drug addiction and his dedication to boxing make him an appealing story.

So, too, does the speak softly, Gary Cooper-like way that he handled Witherspoon's accusations on Friday night, a departure from the Ali-like, finger-pointing routines imitated by so many boxers. Chris Evert Lloyd Inside today Brigham Young knocks off Pitt 3. Navratilova, Evert Lloyd on a U.S. Open collision course 14. NFL opens the season today 7 8.

for a postfight news conference, his opponent, Tim Witherspoon sat down beside him a sore loser who claimed that he had been thumbed in the eye repeatedly and said that he had won the fight anyway. In the vaudeville world of" professional boxing, rarely has the prestige of the heavyweight championship been as low. It is a division with three champions, and maybe none. Holmes, the designated champion of the International Boxing Federation who will be 35 years old in November, is in the final stage of an impressive career while Coetzee, who holds the World Boxing Association title, is considered an interim champion. Now, after winning the World Boxing Council championship by a majority decision.