The Montgomery Advertiser from Montgomery, Alabama • 45

Section THE MONTGOMERY ADVERTISER AND ALABAMA JOURNAL. SATURDAY. NOVEMBER 26, 1988 "TV A t.v-r I jl I i X-! 'C4 i-t' 1 It bull phuto by Jay bailors Auburn's Rodney Garner raises his helmet in victory after game Auburn's Greg Staples (45), Dominko Anderson (13) celebrate victory over Alabama on Friday Tadl play Tigoirg stop IS US 'rtfX 1 PHILLIP MARSHALL I "I f'l V. 4 1 1 AU's Tillman makes key play again Related stories, 4D-7D By PHILLIP MARSHALL Advertiser Sports Editor BIRMINGHAM Defenses were dominant beneath the blue November skies here Friday, but it was Auburn split end Lawyer Tillman who once again drove the stake through Alabama's proud heart. Auburn clung to an 8-3 lead late in the third quarter of the 53rd meeting between the Tigers and the Tide.

A holding penalty had wiped out a first down and made it third-and-19 at the Auburn 14. 1 At) jr Mi: -XJ MWk "(X "f-c ffX t.l I I i m. .4 A. AUBURN ALABAMA AU-FGLyleiS UA-FG Doyle 20 AU Safety, Smith tackle in end zone by Stattworth AU -FGLyleB AU Harris I run (Lytekick) UA- PayneUpass from Smith (Ooylekick) A 7S.9J4. Xftl I Auburn 19 47-130 220 12 13- 26-0 6-45 3-1 14- 112 34:13 Alabama 16 27-12 255 27 20-35-2 5-43 2-0 7-41 25:47 First Downs Rushes-Yards Passing Yards Return Yards Passes Punts Fumbles-Lost Penalties-Yards Possession Time vi Hi rH 1i If'i 'Xi 'X if 4 I f-y jr.

i i i'S r. Staff pholo by Mickey Welsh TTA tight end Howard Cross is tackled by AU's Quentin Riggins (41) as Alvin Mitchell (48) looks on A has turned back the Tide BIRMINGHAM The matter is no longer in question. Auburn commands the state of Alabama in college football. The Tigers left that message in the Legion Field scoreboard lights here Friday. Auburn's 15-10 victory over Alabama wasn't always pretty.

It wasn't a runaway. It didn't have to be. Pat Dye's men have won the past three meetings between the two teams. They have won five of the past seven. That is dominance that was no more than a dream when Alabama was hammering Auburn for nine consecutive seasons.

It is Auburn now who walks into the arena with an air that is more confident than emotional. It is Auburn who makes the big plays at crucial times. It is Auburn who wins championships. Alabama players came into this biggest of games full of hope and dedication. They walked away with nothing but tears and heartbreak to show for an afternoon of gut-wrenching effort.

Tigers in control Auburn was in control most of the sunny afternoon here Friday. It took never-ending Alabama effort, along with Auburn's puzzling propensity to get penalties, to keep the Tide in the game. Dye took over a troubled Auburn program in 1981. In eight seasons, he has made it the dominant program, not only in Alabama, but in the Southeastern Conference. Auburn became Friday the first team to successfully defend an SEC title since Georgia and Herschel Walker won in 1980 through 1982.

Since Herschel went to the USFL and took Georgia's championships with him, the Tigers have been SEC king three times. They have won 10 games in two seasons and 11 in one and have a 64-16-2 record. In the same time period, Alabama has won no championships. Its record is 54-27-1. The Tide will limp to Texas next Thursday with a 7-3 record, winding down a season that seemed its most promising since the glory days of Paul Bryant.

Tide head coach Bill Curry must bear responsibility for only the last two Alabama teams. And there are plenty of valid reasons for this season's fall, not the least of which are the loss of Heisman Trophy candidate tailback Bobby Humphrey and defensive back Gene Jelks. Quarterback David Smith missed three games, including a 22-12 loss to Ole Miss. But that hasn't quelled the wailing. And it is sure to grow louder in the days ahead.

Dye defends Curry Dye stepped to Curry's defense Friday. "Players have success, not coaches," Dye said. "I don't think he was the reason they lost tonight, Their kids played as well as they could play. "They moved the ball better than probably anybody else would have with the same personnel on the field." Curry has now lost nine consecutive times to Please see MARSHALL, 3D Quarterback Reggie Slack launched the ball down the right sideline, where Tillman was dogged by two defenders. Tillman and rover Lee Ozmint went up together.

Tillman came down with the ball 53 yards away at the Alabama 33. Three plays later, Vincent Harris vaulted into the end zone from the 1. Game. Set. Match.

As darkness fell on Legion Field, Auburn raced away to celebrate a 15-10 victory over the Crimson Tide, its third consecutive victory in the series and fifth in the past seven years. The Tigers, 10-1, won their sixth consecutive game and earned a share of the Southeastern Conference championship for the second consecutive season. They accepted a bid to play Florida State in the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 2. A capacity crowd of 75,962 watched.

For the first time since the series was renewed in 1948, the crowd was not evenly split. Auburn, as the visitor, received 10,900 tickets. Next season's game will be played at Auburn's Jordan-Hare Stadium. Alabama, which plays at Texas on Thursday, dropped to 7-3. The Tide will play Army in the Sun Bowl on Dec.

24. Alabama made it interesting in the end, riding David Smith's arm to an 89-yard scoring drive that culminated with a 12-yard touchdown pass to Greg Payne with 3:23 left in the game. But James Joseph squeezed Philip Doyle's onsides kick and Auburn ran out the clock. Tillman, a senior who has been plagued by injuries, has been pivotal in all three of Auburn's consecutive victories. He scored the winning touchdown on a 7-yard run on a reverse in 1986 and caught a long pass to set up Auburn's only touchdown last season.

"The coaches said it would take a big play to break the game open and they were right," Tillman said. "All I had to do was pull it in and it gave us an advantage." Alabama head coach Bill Curry said the play might have been the biggest in the game. "We had it covered about as well as it could be covered," Curry said. "And he caught it. He did it to us last year and he's done it to a lot of other people." Tillman finished the day with three catches for 104 yards.

Slack completed 13-of-26 for 220 yards. It was the Slack-to-Tillman bomb that got Auburn over the hump, but it was defense that got the Tigers there. Defensive tackle Ron Stallworth sacked Smith four times and was in on seven tackles. Please see AUBURN, 3D Vigor Hiamds Lee 14-0 loss nalties. Lee rushed 27 times for 84 yards, but 56 of those came on three plays leaving only 28 yards for the other 24 rushed.

Through the air, two Lee quarterbacks completed four of nine passes for 23 yards. "They just lined up and stopped us," said Lee starting quarterback Dean Peevy. Lee snapped the ball in Vigor territory only twice in the second half. One of those was on a punt. Lee's only serious scoring threat came on the first play of the second quarter, when placekicker Jimmy Tuley missed wide right with a 44-yard field-goal attempt.

Lee drove only 18 yards in eight snaps to set up that attempt. "We just fired it up on defense," Vigor linebacker Barron Owes said. "We blitzed a lot, but the key to our defense was getting good play from our front four. "The green wave stopped Lee for a loss." Vigor's defense has now yielded only 41 points in 12 games, while posting eight shutouts. In the Wolves' four playoff wins, the defense has not allowed a point.

"I keep hearing people tell me how good our defense is," Vigor coach Harold Clark said. "We have one Please see LEE, 8D Vigor, 12-0, plays Berry, a 21-17 winner over Minor in the other semifinal game, next Saturday at Birmingham's Legion Field in the 6A title game. Lee finished the season 11-3. "They've got a great defensive football team," Lee coach Spence McCracken said. "We tried to run inside on them, we tried to run outside, we tried to run misdirection and they stopped it all.

"If you can't run the football, you can't win. We just got stopped offensively." The numbers prove McCracken right. Lee earned six first downs, but only four that were not aided by Vigor pe Related stories, 8D By JOHN REIMER Advertiser Sports Writer MOBILE Lee High School's offense ran into a brick wall, was run over by a Mack truck and squashed like a bug. The perpetrator was a "green wave" of Vigor defenders. Vigor's defense handed the Generals a whipping that not even cliches can begin to describe.

The Wolves posted their fourth straight playoff shutout, 14-0 over Lee Friday at Ladd Stadium in an Alabama High School Athletic Association 6A semifinal game..