The Montgomery Advertiser from Montgomery, Alabama • 21

po.irtts Troy State tops Valdosta State 9B NFL preview 12B Mike Handley's outdoors 18B SundMaTtomeryAdvcrtisa' SUNDAY. OCTOBER 6, 1991 MP SID GU I Jim Johnston Advertiser Sports l-HiV 'J iv -4 r-f I By MICKEY WELSHStaH conversion attempt The Golden Eagles claim their second one- 5 point victory over the Tigers in as many years By RAGAN INGRAM AUBURN There was no hesitation. There was no doubt. Fred Baxter's touchdown had barely been posted on the scoreboard here at Jordan-Hare Stadium before Pat Dye extended two fingers. There would be no "Tie As it turned out, there wouldl be no victory for the Auburn Tigers.

Southern Mississippi safety Brian Wood batted down Stan White's pass on a two-point con-! version attempt and the Golden Eagles escaped with a 10-9 upset of 16th-ranked Auburn here Sat? urday afternoon. It was the Golden Eagles' second straight upset victory here. Last year's Southern Mississippi team scored in the final minute to beat Auburn 13-12. And it was Auburn's second straight defeat of the 1991 season. The Tigers fell to 3-2 with the loss.

Southern Mississippi improved to 3-2 with the The fact that Auburn had ah opportunity to win the game was quite remarkable. Sure, Auburn statistically dominated the game, but turnovers, penalties and mistakes bogged down almost every Tiger drive. Auburn rolled up 395 yards to the Eagles' 204. But the Eagles! Plea sea AUBURN, 16B More stories, statistics, 4-5B By MARK MILLERStaft NL West Race x-Atlanta 94 67 L.A. 92 69 x-clinched title Pet.

.584 .571 Remaining Games ATLANTA (1) Home (1): Oct 6, Houston. i. LOS ANGELES (1 Away (1 Oct. 6. San Francisco.

the crowd screamed wildly. -t The Braves stayed on the field to watch the end of the Dodgers Giants game on the scoreboard. Pleaaa sea BRAVES, 16S Related stories, UB i Editor 'Practice' productive Tide BIRMINGHAM The second episode of the South's Weakest College Football Teams was shown Saturday at Legion Field, and the executive producers of the program the Alabama team are already giving the three-week series rave reviews. The audience 76,543 fans, many of whom were disguised as empty seats also enjoyed what they saw as the Crimson Tide pounded NCAA Division I-AA Tennessee-Chattanooga 53-7. They weren't always incredibly attentive, though.

The biggest cheer of the day went up after Auburn's 10-9 loss to Southern Mississippi was announced, and the second loudest occurred when news of the Atlanta Braves' lead over the Houston Astros was relayed over the public address system. When those moments of jubilation passed, the crowd amused themselves with "The Wave." Exercise in boredom The game itself basically was an exercise in football boredom, as was last week's 48-17 victory over Vanderbilt and as Alabama's win over outmanned Tu-lane will be next weekend. But there was plenty for Alabama to be encouraged about as the Crimson Tide' begins thinking about its Southeastern Conference battle with Tennessee at this same location on Oct. 19. To start with, Alabama didn't spend much time toying with the Moccasins, which is Rule No.

1 when a major college football team plays a much weaker opponent. If Alabama had stumbled around and allowed UTC to stay in the game, the Moccasins might have begun to believe they could play with the Tide. When that happens, upsets occur. No mistake was made in that area on Saturday, as Alabama raced to a 23-7 halftime lead en route to the blowout. Yet, the game might not have completely disintegrated into such a lopsided loss for the Moccasins if not for one key play.

With Alabama leading 16-7 in the second period, quarterback Kenyon Earl led the Moccasins to the Alabama 12-yard-line before the redshirt freshman made a bad decision. Earl attempted to hit wide receiver Shoun Habersham on an out pattern at the 2, but he telegraphed his intentions to cornerback Mark McMillian. Once the ball was in the air, McMillian made his break, grabbed the football and disappeared down the sideline untouched. His 98-yard interception return was the longest in Alabama history, and it gave the Tide a 23-7 advantage. The play marked a possible two-touchdown swing and the end of the game.

No serious injuries Not only did Alabama win the game decisively and put it out of. reach early, the Tide also escaped without a serious injury to any of its front-line players. Senior fullback Kevin Turner did have his hand mashed between two helmets, but X-rays proved negative. He probably won't even miss a day of practice. So, if Alabama can get through the Tu-lane game next weekend without an injury, the Crimson Tide should be 100 percent healthy for Tennessee.

Now, Alabama's biggest challenge should be keeping its attention off Tennessee and on Tulane. Head coach Gene Stal-lings is intent on making sure his team avoids that trap. "It's not going to be difficult at all," said Stallings, speaking of the trouble of keeping his players focused on the present "We all know we're going to have to play at the top of our game no matter who we play. "I can't imagine only playing 10 or 11 games in a season and us not getting ready for every one." Alabama was well-prepared for the Moccasins, even though it really wasn't necessary. On the third Saturday in October, however, it will be and that's what this three-week stretch is all about for Alabama getting ready for the Vols.

With that in mind, Saturday's game could be Called a productive practice session. i Hi' Golden Eagles' Brian Wood (30) Siran Stacy leads the way, rushing for 109 yards on 17 carries and catching three passes for 59 yards By KATHY LUMPKIN BIRMINGHAM Alabama wanted to run. It did. The Crimson Tide wanted to throw. It did that, too.

The defense wanted to shut Tennessee-Chattanooga out. It came close. In fact, the Alabama Crimson Tide did exactly what it set out to do in destroying the Division 1-AA Moccasins 53-7 Saturday afternoon at Legion Field before a crowd of 76,543. "Obviously it was a good game for us," said Alabama head coach Gene Stallings. "Anytime you can win one, it is.

Overall I thought it was a pretty good game for us." Hornets, Texas S. tie 14-14 The Tigers drive 92 yards for the tying touchdown late in the third quarter Associated Press Report HOUSTON Ronnie Toliver's 7-yard touchdown pass to Will Moore capped a 92-yard drive that helped Texas Southern grind out a 14-14 tie against Alabama State in a SWAC game on Saturday. Alabama State (4-0-1, 3-0-1) jumped to an early lead when Ricky Jones scored on a 1-yard run with 12:27 left in the first period. The Tigers (3-2-1. 1-1-1) tied the game in the second quarter when Kerry Henderson dove in from the 2.

The Hornets managed to take a 14-7 halftime edge by putting together a 14-play, 67-yard drive that ended with running back Paul Ashby's 13-yard run. But Toliver brought TSU back, hooking up with Moore with 1:21 left in the third quarter. v-X 4.. Tigers' Tony Russell (84) on Alabama's Robert Stewart (34) I knocks down pass intended for And there was a long list of reasons the victory was good for the Tide, starting with Danny Woodson, moving on to Siran Stacy and going all the way to true freshmen Andre Royal and Will Brown. Eight different players scored for the Tide, 4-1 overall and 2-1 in the Southeastern Conference, including Royal and Mark McMillian on the defensive side of the ball.

Stacy led the offensive sideshow with his two-touchdown performance, scoring on runs of 1 and 30 yards in the first half. He finished the day with 109 yards rushing on 17 carries while also catching three passes for 59 yards. "We just wanted to establish a good running game," said Stacy. "I felt pretty good about my per-formance." Pleas see TIDE, 16B More stories, statistics, 6-7B Braves catcher Greg Olson, pitcher John Smoltz celebrate division-clinching victory 4 1 1 1 i sacks UT-Chattanooga quarterback Kenyon Earl Smoltz hurls Atlanta to 5-2 win over Astros and Ron Gant's hitting, the Braves won their season-high eighth consecutive game. And when second-place Los Angeles lost in San Francisco 4-0 just 3 minutes later, the last pennant race was over.

When Houston's Andujar Ce-deno flied to David Justice in right field for the final out, catcher Greg Olson rushed into Smoltz's arms as the team gathered on the mound, hugging each other and raising their fists as By TOM SALADINO Associated Press Writer ATLANTA The Atlanta Braves are best in the West. Worst to First. Amazing! The Braves refused to lose, let alone fold, completing one of the most unlikely turnarounds in baseball history Saturday, clinching the NL West title with a 5-2 victory over the Houston Astros on the next-to-last day of the season. Behind John Smoltz's pitching Dodgers fall to San Francisco, 4-0 By TIM LIOTTA Associated Press Writer Giants. The amazibg Atlanta Braves clinched the division with a 5-2 victory over visiting Houston, "We ran a heck of, a race.

We just lost the race, Dodgers general manager Fred Claire said. "We knew it would be difficult here." The Dodgers and Braves entered the final three days of the season tied for the division lead. While the Braves beat the last-place Astros twice, Dodgers were losing two in a fcow to the Giants. Pleas see DODGERS, 161 SAN FRANCISCO With their once-promising dreams of an NL West title dead at the the feet of the San Francisco Giants, the Los Angeles Dodgers tried to congratulate themselves on a race well-run. The Dodgers lost to their long-time rival for the second time in less than 20 hours and was etimi-nated from the NL West race with a 4-0 loss to the.