The Daily News Leader from Staunton, Virginia • 24

"V- BIO Staunton, Sunday News Leader, November 3, 1985 James Madison Dukes upend McNeil lets play speak Georgia Southern, 21-6 outstanding day with three inter Stadium turf. But he stood up, walked back to the huddle and "kept on working" until he'd gained 151 yards on 22 carries in a 17-14 win over the Sea-hawks. "Pain becomes a companion and you won't be without it game-in and game-out," he explains. "It's not welcome but it's there. "Your body is never without trauma (as a football player).

The body is a unique organism. Anything we do, the body somehow compensates. "Think about how it is for a basketball player. He's jumping all the time and his legs have to compensate for all that jumping by being stronger. In football, you gain mass and the body compensates for hits and physical pressure.

As long as you treat it right, you can continue to play as long as your body lets you." The pain is most prohibitive when McNeil attempts one of his many darting moves. "You have to talk of the ranges of pain," he says, "how deep and severe. It takes more time to do things. "I think an injury makes you more aware and makes you more competitive. You use it as a catalyst.

If you take it negatively, it could mean your career (is over). I don't worry about a career-ending injury. I'll never be negative about don the run, or injured (broken rib, sore back in a 20-13 defeat to New England). In all four of their home wins, he has rushed for more than 100 yards, including a career-high 192 against Buffalo. "It's crucial that we keep Freeman healthy for the long haul," says Walton.

"We held him out (against the Patriots) because we didn't want to chance not having him for a long stretch." McNeil realizes how tentative such success can be. He's playing with that cracked rib, wearing as protection a flak jacket he dislikes. And his history has been sprinkled by injuries ever since McNeil was selected on the first round of the 1981 draft (third overall) after an All-America career at UCLA. Only in 1982, the strike season in which each team played but nine games, has McNeil gone the distance. That year, his 786 yards led the NFL in rushing.

But last season, which began so brightly for the Jets as they also went 6-2, ended miserably for both the team and the star halfback. McNeil missed four games with broken ribs as the Jets slumped to 7-9. For now, McNeil admits he has to "grin and bear it" when he plays in pain. Against Seattle last Sunday, several times he was hit hard and appeared too hurt to get off the Giants and-10 on the Georgia Southern 35-yard line. From there, Lancaster hit a wide open Neal Wilkinson in the end zone for the touchdown.

Henry added the extra point and JMU led 14-3 with 14:53 left in the first half. And the wet but happy homecoming crowd began to sense upset. Late in the first half Jacobs intercepted a Thompson pass and returned it to the Eagle 44-yard line. Six running plays brought the ball to the Georgia Southern 14 where, on third-and-three, Lancaster hit split end Dan Robertson over the middle for the score. Henry's kick was again true and the Dukes led 21-3 at the half.

After an errorless first half the old fumble jinx came back to slow the Dukes offense in the second half. The Dukes lost three fumbles after intermission but their defense was up to the test. Early in the final stanza, Southern drove to the Dukes one-yard-line. But a procedure penalty and a fired up JMU defense combined to hold the Eagles to a 19-yard field goal with 13:58 left in the contest. Georgia Southern never threatened after that as the Dukes picked up the important win.

"This win was important for us," concluded Purzycki. "It's our second in a row and if we continue to play with this kind of intensity we can win our final two games of the season. We proved today we can play against quality BY AL SAMUELS Sports Writer HARRISONBURG JMU football "arrived" here Saturday afternoon with a resounding 21-6 Homecoming win over the Georgia Southern Eagles, the seventh ranked Division 1-AA team in the country. "We arrived today," exclaimed Duke coach Joe Purzycki after the game. "All year I've tried to get this team to play agressive, intense football for four quarters and today we did it.

Our players were extremely ready to play today and they deserve a lot of credit for not giving up on themselves." JMU freshman quarterback Greg Lancaster tied a JMU school record with three touchdown passes and once again he looked like the quarterback of the future for the Dukes. He completed 12 of 21 passes for 132 yards and no interceptions. Junior running back Warren Marshall went over the mark for the second year in a row. He had 143 yards rushing in 25 attempts and increased his total to 1,048 for the year, eclipsing his own JMU season rushing record of 1,010 yards. And a fired-up Duke defense, spearheaded by Ail-American candidate Charles Haley, held the high-scoring Eagles to two field goals.

Haley blocked a punt to set up the first JMU score and also caused a fumble that stopped an early Eagle drive. Sophomore safety Chris Jacobs also had an ceptions as the Dukes showed more emotion than they have all year. "Our defensive coaches deserve a lot of credit," added Purzycki. "Our defense did a good job of containing their option and they also gave us the ball in good field postion. The big thing came when we did not kill ourselves with turnovers today and our defense caused some big turnovers that gave us the ball in scoring territory.

And our punter John Druiett, did a super job of keeping them bottled up inside their own 20 with some terrific punts." The Dukes first big break of the day came when Haley blocked an Eagle punt out of bounds on the Eagle's seven-yard line. On the first play, Lancaster hit split end Rick Rice in the corner of the end-zone for the score. Joe Henry's kick put the Dukes up 7-0 with 7:03 left in the first quarter. The second break came for the Dukes with four minutes left in the first period when Southern's quarterback Tracy Ham went out of the game with an injury. His replacement, freshman Ernest Thompson, came in and guided the Eagles down to the Duke 33-yard line where they had to settle for a 50-yard field goal by Tim Foley.

JMU led 7-3 after one quarter of play. James Madison got on the scoreboard again on a 69-yard drive that started late in the first period. Marshall and halfback Tony Graddy combined for 34 yards on the ground to put the ball first- Brown in the fourth quarter. He hit on 11 of 17 passes for 195 yards as Notre Dame made it 22 straight victories over the Middies, dating Dombrowski CHARLOTTESVILLE (AP) -Virginia offensive tackle Jim Dombrowski is one of 12 players nominated for the 1985 Lombardi College Lineman of the Year Award, his school announced Saturday. Dombrowski, a 6-5, 295-pound senior from Williamsville, N.Y., is one of just two offensive linemen among the nominees, who include five defenseive linemen and five linebackers.

The nominees were selected by a 211-member national selection committee of college coaches, sports writers and sportscasters. Dombrowski was named to Notre Dame rambles HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. (AP) -Mention the great running backs in the National Football League and names start with Walter Payton and Eric Dicker-son. Then come Tony Dorsett, John Riggins and James Wilder. Freeman McNeil's name rarely crops up in such company.

It should. "It doesn't bother me because as long as I know I'm doing the job for my team and my teammates and coaches respect that, I'm happy," says McNeil, who entered the weekend as the NFL's leading rusher with 796 yards and a 5.1 average. McNeil is one of the major reasons the surprising New York Jets were 6-2 and atop the AFC East halfway through the season. "Freeman leads by his actions," says Jets Coach Joe Walton. "He's a guy who does it all the time and he doesn't back off from anything.

The guys on this team look up to him. If the best player on your team works and practices hard, the others see it and they say they should be doing the same. "His numbers show you just how important he is to us." How important is he? In New York's two losses to date, McNeil either was neutralized the Los Angeles Raiders blanked the Jets 31-0 in the opener as his team fell hopelessly behind and had to aban N.C. State surprises Gamecocks COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) Split end Haywood Jeffries scored two fourth-quarter touchdowns, one on a 75-yard pass play for the winning points, as North Carolina State surprised South Carolina 21-17 in college football Saturday.

The Wolfpack held off a late Gamecock rally to end a five-game losing streak. Jeffries, a 195-pound junior reserve, twice juggled quarterback Erik Kramer's game-winning pass before he hauled it in and sprinted down the middle of the field past the remaining South Carolina defenders. The touchdowns were the 11th and 12th of the season for Kramer, who broke the Wolfpack record of 10 set year by Tim Esposito despitt ung hampered by a hernia. Un he fourth quarter, the game a defensive struggle that allowed North Carolina State a mere 6-3 advantage at the end of three quarters. Then, with 10:31 remaining, the scoring spree began.

Like last year, when then-No. 5 South Carolina rebounded with 25 fourth-quarter points to take the lead and win, North Carolina State was ahead most of the way. FIRESTONE mm GEORGIA SOUTHERN 3 0 0 1 (. JAMES MADISON UNIVERSITY 7 14 0 0-21. by Navy back to 1963.

The victory was the third straight for Notre Dame, hiking the Irish record to 4-3. nominated several pre-season All-America teams this year, and last year received the Jacobs Blocking Trophy as the best blocker in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Dombrowski received his undergraduate degree with a major in biology last year, and is taking graduate courses at the university this year. The winner of the Lombardi Award receives a 40-pound granite trophy, a memorial to late Green Bay Packer coach Vince Lombardi. Four finalists will be announced on Nov.

23, and the winner will be announced in Houston Dec. 5. tell? SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) -Allen Pinkett scored three touchdowns and set up another with a 43-yard run Saturday to lead Notre Dame to a 41-17 college football victory over Navy. Pinkett carried 27 times for 161 yards.

It was his 20th regular season 100-yard game and his fourth in four years against the Middies. The Irish went with sophomore quarterback Terry Andrysiak, who came into the game late in the first quarter in place of Steve Beuerlein and directed the Irish on three successive touchdown drives. Andrysiak completed his first five passes, giving him 10 straight completions in a span of three games to tie an Irish record set by Angelo Bertelli in 1942 and equalled by Joe Montana in 1978. Andrysiak also completed a 48-yard touchdown pass to Tim i SCORES Notre Dame's Allen Pinkett (20) dives over the defensive line of Navy for the second of two first-half touchdowns he scored Saturday in South Bend, Ind. (AP Laserphoto) A MUD TERRAIfl ATX B.F.G.

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