The Morning Call from Allentown, Pennsylvania • 43

Sports (rMA SPORTS UPDATE Cat tnfo-tal 610-8218300 Category 8693. SPORTS SCOPES 61M21-8300 Categories PageC-2 Texas upsets No. 2 Nebraska PAGE C3 SUNDAY. OCTOBER 11. 1998 Wb UrD kiidks (ur off Fcmrasnr 1L FINAL SCORE 27 PENN STATE 17 MINNESOTA Offense has "trouble getting into end zone but kicker Forney comes through with 4 FGs, including a 50-yarder.

Francis Spano and Rich Stankewicz) The offense took its first four drives inside the Minnesota 35-yard line, two inside the 15. It left with just two field goals and a 6-0 lead. Later, it began a third-quarter drive at its 20 and finished with its first touchdown of the game. Thorn son threw perhaps his best pass of -the season, finding Jones in stride -over the middle past two defensive backs. Please See PENN STATE Page C12 ken plays with near-masterpieces, silly penalties with touchdowns.

It went as haphazardly as this. Quarterback Kevin Thompson completed 16 of 32 passes for 246 yards, all career highs. He threw a 65-yard touchdown pass to Corey Jones, another career best. The touchdown pass came two plays after a 14-yard holding penalty. Thompson also overthrew at least five passes and was part of three different fumbled snaps with three different centers (Eric Cole, pointed to their still-brewing offensive difficulties.

For Forney, though, it meant opportunity. A junior from Lock Haven, Forney used to kick alone in his backyard, substituting a swing set for goalposts. That carried him to Perm State, where he has made nine of 12 field goals this season. Against the Gophers. Forney kicked three in the first half, giving Perm State a 9-0 lead.

The third, from 50 yards, helped make up for the 51-yarder he missed right on the Lions' opening drive. By MARK WOGENRICH Of The Morning Call MINNEAPOLIS The kid who began by kicking balls over his swing set saved the Perm State offense Saturday. Travis Forney made four field goals, including a career-long from 50 yards, to boost the Lions past Minnesota 27-17 in a Big Ten Conference game at the Metrodome. That the Lions (4-1 overall, 1-1 Big Ten) gave Fomey so much work "I was thankful to get another chance," he said. Problem was, Forney had too many chances.

His points were settled for instead of scored. That's a measure of the offense. Still in search of its way, the Penn State offense stuttered and shined against Minnesota. It followed bro Dft's aDii(D)llhier tdhnriinneir kmm He puts Atlanta on brink of elimination by Taafe's FG completes Lehigh's comeback He hits a career-high 47-yarder with 70 ticks left to top Columbia; and the defense makes "it stand up. By GARY R.

BLOCKUS Of The Morning Call NEW YORK Victory, thy name is Lehigh. Showing no hesitation with 1 minute, 10 seconds left in the game, Jaron Taafe quickly lined up and successfully executed the longest field goal of his college career as Lehigh University stunned a partisan crowd at Wein Stadium in Manhattan with a 20-19 come-from-be-hind football win over Columbia on Saturday. Taafe's 47-yarder on fourth-and-10 was Lehigh's lone offense in the second half. And, as has been the case all year and the exact op posite of Lehigh Braves Manager Bobby Cox said he "absolutely" thinks the Braves could come back. "It would be interesting if we win two here and go back to our place and win two," said Cox, who; has led the Braves to four World 1-Series this decade, winning one.

San Diego won the first twu games at Atlanta's Turner Field, -1 getting a strong effort from Andy -( A 4 1 i 1 FINAL SCORE PADRES BRAVES FINAL SCORE teams from the past the Lehigh defense stepped onto the field 20 LEHIGH and did the rest. 19 COLUMBIA Defensive end Nick Martucci (Pius allowing 1 run and starting a key rally with a basehit By BERNIE WILSON Of The Associated Press SAN DIEGO The San Diego Padres are on the verge of throwing a shocking shutout. By once again outpitching the team that was built on pitching, the Padres are a win away from their first World Series in 14 years. A gritty effort by left-hander Sterling Hitchcock and clutch two-out RBI hits by Steve Finley and Ken Caminiti off Greg Maddux -gave the Padres a 4-1 victory Saturday over the Atlanta Braves and a 3-0 lead in the National League Championship Series. "We're here in this situation because of our pitching staff," Padres Manager Bruce Bochy said.

"Atlanta's done a great job but our guys have just gone out and battled." No team has ever come back from a 3-0 deficit in the history of postseason play. Three teams have taken a 3-0 lead since the league championship series went to best-of-7 in 1985, and all three swept. They were Oakland in 1988 and '90, and Atlanta in 1995. The Padres, backed by a raucous crowd of 62,779 under a cloudless sky, will also be host to Game 4 this afternoon and if necessary, Game 5 on Monday night. "Whether or not you thought you'd be in this situation isn't important.

We are," said Tony Gwynn, the only player left from San Diego's lone World Series team in 1984. "Of course you want to try to finish it off at home. But that's a quality club over there and it's not going to be easy." 'X), a senior and quad-captain, sacked Columbia quarterback Ted Schroeder and linebacker James "Bubba" Young recovered the ensuing fumble to allow Lehigh's offense to run out the clock. "Speaking for myself, personally, and the entire defense, we love to be out there," Martucci said, "especially with that minute -left. The game is in our hands.

It's up to us to stop them." Ashby in Game 1 and a brilliant three-hit shutout by ace Kevin Brown in the second. San Diego's team ERA against the Braves is 0.96, and in seven playoff games is 1.42. The left-handed Hitchcock start ed the first NLCS game to be played in San Diego since 1984anl beat Maddux on the same field jv where he beat Randy Johnson six. days earlier to clinch the divisiorv. series against Houston.

"Obviously it wasn't as good as' my last game, but I had just 5-enough," said Hitchcock, whot; struck out 11 Astros on Sunday "The team made some big plays behind me to help and gave me "The Braves are a tough team. who aren't hitting, but you still to make quality pitches to 1 them." Hitchcock allowed one run and three hits in five-plus struck out six and walked five. -Maddux allowed two runs and five Please See PADRES Page C10 I Please See LEHIGH Page C12 A I KEVORK DJANSEZIAN Associated Press Braves pitcher Greg Maddux wipes his brow after giving up an RBI single to San Diego's Ken Caminiti in the fifth inning. Maddux lost his third straight NLCS start. Playoffs come down to Hernandez family By JOE KAY Of The Associated Press preparing to start a game that would either draw the Yankees even with the Cleveland Indians in the American League championship series or leave baseball's best team facing elimination.

He was relaxed when he met the media' to talk about it. As he headed for the interview room, he saw the dance team that performs atop the dugouts during games and copied the choreography. During the interview conducted through an interpreter he joked, smiled aiirt teased. Pressure? Not after years of pitching in a Please See HERNANDEZ Page C10 to handle the pressure of pitching the New York Yankees' biggest game of the season Saturday night at Jacobs Field, Hernandez would grin and put it in his perspective. The biggest game of his life? "The biggest game that I've pitched to this date is jumping on the boat and leaving Cuba," he said.

How's that for a reference point? Hernandez, known simply as "El Duque," got in a boat with seven others last December and left his homeland. They were picked up by the U.S. Coast Guard three days after landing on a Caribbean Island. Ten months later, he was at Jacobs Field Yankees' Orlando tries to duplicate half-brother Livan's feat of last year with the Marlins. -f y- inti mi ii iim nl hi inn i in JEFF GEISSLER Associated Press CLEVELAND Orlando Hernandez has a different outlook on playoff pressure.

His half-brother, Livan, started a family legacy of coolness under fire by leading the Florida Marlins to the World Series title last fall winning MVP honors along the way. Orlando was still in Cuba at the time, catching bits and pieces of the playoffs through the media. A couple of months later, he risked his life to join his brother in the United States and the major leagues. So, when everyone asked how he expected Lehigh tight end Bruce Peltzer (82) and wide receiver Joe Falzone celebrate an Engineers touchdown in the second quarter at Columbia. lagjBes and RedsMiros Dim irimtminiDinig foir dmbfioiuis -tittle; and lights up the scoreboard, it won't have the league's lowest payroll.

So if By TERRY LARIMER Of The Morning Call Whoever loses today's game at Veterans Stadium will be the worst team in the NFL. their imitators, but there's no one way to build a winning football team. This afternoon at Veterans Stadium the Philadelphia Eagles and Washington Redskins will show there are also various ways to build lousy football teams, in fact the title of worst football team in the National Football League will be at stake at the 1:01 p.m. kickoff. The teams have combined for 10 losses in 10 starts, so the logic goes that someone will leave the field happy, barring a tie, which is just what an expected sellout crowd needs 15 more minutes of watching these gridiron lowlifes do their worst.

But the Redskins have paid top dollar for their wandering warriors, about $100 million in off-season contracts including $57 million alone for two defensive tackles, Dan Wilkinson, who they lured from the Cincinnati Bengals and Dana Stubblefield, who the 49ers could no longer afford. On the other hand, the Eagles, according to a National Football League Players Association report, be certain whether it the change ol quarterbacks that woke up the Ea-gles or simply the guys on the other side of the line of scrimmage. The 'Skins have an old battered running back in Terry Allen and the Eagles have a new one in Duce Stal-ey, although it's been hinted all week that Charlie Garner is ready to resume his role as starting running back for the Birds. Perhaps the Eagles noticed that Please See EAGLES Page C12 the Birds can't fly, at least they re not stealing their paychecks. What all this money has bought the Redskins is pretty much nothing.

They still can't stop anyone's ground game, but of course they haven't played the Eagles yet. What is truly interesting about the matchup, though, is that it pits a team that is the worst scoring offense against a team that is the worst scoring defense. If Rodney Peete comes in today PHILADELPHIA The San Francisco 49ers won their last Super Bowl with one of the lightest offensive lines in football, but the Dallas Cowboys did it with one of the biggest. The 49ers, Green Bay Packers and Denver Broncos won it with variations of the complicated, sophisticated West Coast offense. The Cowboys did it with about six favorite plays.

Those teams have or will have.