The Tampa Tribune from Tampa, Florida • 32

4-U THE TAMPA TRIBUNE, Tuesday, October 20, 1981 HEARTLAND Pill Bines' Downfa! Teains pecia. tPv 2 after reserving punter Tom Blanchard and I I time out to set up for Chris Bahr's 19-yard field goal on the final play of the first half when no time out had been called after quarterback Marc Wilson was stopped at the two, inbounds. The clock stopped With two seconds showing. He fretted that the defense, allowed Oakland to rush for 194 yards. "We didn't play that good on defense at Green Bay last week.

I said it then but nobody listened. They're (players) all being interviewed now." And he was critical of the lack of blocking through the first 2Vi quarters when the offense was stymied and quarterback Doug Williams completed 2-of-10 passes for 10 yards. But in the final iy2 quarters, Williams had a phenomenal streak in completing 14-of-his-last-17 passes for 325 yards and two touchdowns. 'They play man coverage but we were not blocking," McKay said. "When we blocked and gave Doug time to throw, we played better.

We planned to throw at the start, but field position never gave us a chance. They came hard and we didn't block. Once we got some time, we moved the ball. "I think we might have had the best quarter and a half on offense we have had." In that stretch, wide receiver Kevin House caught four passes for 178 yards and a touchdown and tight end Jimmie Giles caught four for 76 yards and a TD. "On man coverage, I don't think there is any way, if we protect, that Lester Hayes (Oakland corner) can cover Kevin House," McKay said.

"He may do it once." For McKay, the loss was the hardest he has taken in six years as Bucs coach. "I just don't see any cause for us to play like we did at the end and lose." he said. "We had a chance and we blew it. On the way we played, it ranks right up there with the toughest defeats I have had. Maybe I am being a little over-sensitive because of what has happened in our kicking game.

I just don't understand it all all." "By JIM SELMAN Assistant Sports Editor Special teams errors. Special teams errors. Special teams It's like a needle stuck in the groove of a faulty record. It's hard on the ears. And it is killing the Bucs.

Special team mistakes led to their 18-16 loss "at Oakland Sunday despite a horrible offensive start stretching to 2y2 quarters before the Bucs recorded their initial first down. Within 8:44 of play, the special teams got a game-opening kickoff with little hang time from Bill Capece and a subsequent 43-yard runback by Chester Willis; kick returner James Owens' ran out of the end zone, getting only to the 11; A 10-man rush poured in on punter Larry wider, leading to a blocked kick by Todd Christensen and a safety, then a free kick which gave Oakland possession 51 yards away from its lone touchdown of the game. Oakland jumped out to a 12-0 lead and the Bucs had gained only four yards. Later, Oakland's 6-7 linebacker Ted Hendricks, aided by a low snap on the Bucs' second PAT try, blocked that kick. But the straw that broke the Bucs' back was Hendricks block of Capece's 31 -yard field goal with only eight seconds left to play.

A film study didn't change Coach John McKay's opinion on the botchup. He continued to exonerate Capece, blaming instead the center snap (Steve Wilson's snap was a little high) and blocking in the middle of the line. 'They all (Oakland rushers) penetrated, four or five of them," McKay said. Asked to comment on Hendricks remark that films showed Wilson raises up slowly after snapping the ball, McKay said "everytime somebody blocks one of ours, somebody has an answer. He didn't come up slowly.

We just didn't block." McKay said neither Capece nor Swider was to blame for the blocked punt or the field goal. signed the two free agent kickers Sept. releasing kicker Garo Yepremian. don't see why in the world we can't play special teams," McKay said. "It's not just physical, it's also mental.

If you make the slightest error, you are in a direct linv for the ball and something is going to happen. 'The only thing Capece did poorly was his first kickolf. But he hadone well. "Swider'got off a couple of nice punts after the one was blocked. He is doing fine.

"It's not that complicated. It's why we put them (blockers) in a 2-point stance and they are allowed to yell (instructions to each other). "It happened in Kansas City (a blocked punt) and cost us the game. I really feel i cost us in the Bears game. We missed a field goal (blocked) and let them return a punt on us.

i "We can't spend more time on special teams than we are spending because if we did there would be no time for offense and defense." Owens is averaging 16.9 yards: on 13 kickoff returns compared with Gary Davis' 21.6 average on 44 runbacks last year. v. And Theo Bell's 4.8 average on 21 punt run-backs is under Danny Reece's 5.5 mark of 1980. Reece, now out of football, popped up at the Bucs' hotel in Berkeley, Calif. i "You guys were on me for my punt returns but I see you've got a guy now who runs sideways," he said.

McKay defended Bell Monday, saying "We may use John Holt to return punts but not because of anything Bell hasn't done. He has caught the ball but I haven't seen anyplace for him to run." Another absurd situation developed Sunday when a time out on field goal defense was called because only 10 men were on the field. The 11th was sitting on the Matters other than special team boners also were on McKay's mind Monday. For example, he's going to ask the NFL's director of officials why the Raiders were given a Tom Blanchard Bucs Waive Blanchard Tom Blanchard, Bucs' punter in 1979, '80 and for the first three games this season, has been waived. Blanchard, placed on injured reserve with a pulled hamstring, Sept.

21, cleared his physical last week and was released, Coach John McKay said Monday. As a veteran, Blanchard receives half a season's salary. vr. Blanchard punted 22 times for a 40.9-yard average in his three games this year. He had 93 punts for a 39.6 average in 1979 and 88 punts for a 42.3 average last year.

s-. His Larry Swider, has kicked 23 times for a 44.2 average, with one touchback, five inside the 20 and one blocked punt. The block cost the Bucs a safety at Oakland Sunday, but Coach John McKay said Swider was not at fault. I i NFL Races r'tmi" laking On New Look By BRUCE LOW1TT I AP Sports Writer One game shy of the halfway point in the National Football League season, division races aren't so much shaping us as they are bent out of shape. 'i In a season full of opening day, teams which were wrjjt-ten off as "rebuilding" have taken command while other teams rated as prime Super Bowl prospects haye sputtered along their way, sometimes with losing records.

In the American Conference, the Cleveland Browns (last year's Division champions), Pittsburgh Steelers and Houston Oilers were considered by many to be close to equal. They'd be 1-2-3 in anyjb, a half-dozen combinations, the experts said. The Cincinnati Bengals were pretty much left out of the picture. Today, the Bengals lead the division with a 5-2 record, a game ahead of the Steelers and Oilers, while the Browns are struggling at 3-4. Cincinnati strengthened its claim as a contender by routing Pittsburgh 34-7 Sunday, its third consecutive victory over the four-time Super Bowl cham-pions.

"I'm not surprised we are Where we are," quarterback Ken Anderson said. "I thought we had the capability to play good football this year and so far we have." i I In the AFC East, the Miami Dolphins were expected to be close Jo but not on a par with the Buffalo Bills and the New England Patriots. Today, the Dolphins are first at 5-1-1 with the Bills; games back and the Patriots way back with a 2-5 Miami widened its lead by edging Washington 13-10, while the Bills were being routed 33-13 by the York Jets, who trail Buffalo by just one-half game. In the AFC West, the Kansas City Chiefs are right up theff with the San Diego Chargers and Denver Broncos, 'sharing the divisiprr lead with a 5-2 record after beating the Broncos 28-14 Sunday. Meanwhile, the Oakland Raiders, the defending Super Bowl champions, own a 3-4 record.

In the National Confe'f ence, things are a bit more stable. Philadelphia and Dallas, 1-2 in the East Division last year, are 1-2 today, the Eagles 6-1 and the Cowboys 5-2. And the New York Giants are emerging as a contender at 4-3. On Stihday, the Eagles lost 35-23 to Minnesota while Dallas beat back Los Angeles 29-17. The NFC's Central Division once again belongs to Minnesota.

The Vikings, who won the division title last year (they'd won it six consecutive seasons before Tampa Bay took it in 1979), are in command with'Ta 52 record and a one-game lead oyfr the Bucs. And in the NFC West, the Atlanta Falcons and Los Angeles Rams, picked by most experts to battle it out for first place, are battling it out for second with 4-3 records while the San Francisco 49ers, following a 13-3 victory over Green Bay, sit atop the division at 5-2. PA Announcement Put Punch Back In Dolphs By TOM FORD Tribune Sports Writer And with so much on the line, why should the Dolphins quit? Even though the football unfaithful of the south Florida area don't seem to realize it (only 47,367 showed up Sunday), Miami's 5-1-1 record is second-best in the NFL to the 6-1 Philadelphia Eagles. And with the halfway mark of the 16-game season arriving next Sunday, the Dolphins find themselves in an enviable position in the AFC East. Second-place Buffalo is 4-3, fpllowed by the Jets, 3-3-1, New England, 2-5, and Baltimore, 1-6.

But from here on, the schedule goes from tough to tougher. Miami travels to Dallas Sunday, then re Orange Bowl encounters with Philadelphia and New England, a final trip to Kansas City and the home and season finale against the Bills. Needless to say, the Miami defense will be counted on to perform as well or better than it did Sunday, when the 1-6 Redskins could manage only a 2-yard TD run by John Riggins and a 20-yard Mark Moseley field goal. That effort was the key to victory, not the Dolphins' 296 passing yards or 149 yards rushing that led to a pair of Uwe von Schamann field goals (27 and 37 yards) and Andra Franklin's 1-yard scoring run, 'The bottom line was that we played defense a lot better than we had been playing," said Shula. "We've been afraid of making errors rather than just getting after it." Sunday, a little pre-game eavesdropping by Dolphins added to their motivation.

get that. Buffalo had rudely issued Miami its first loss of the season, destroying Shula's defense in a 31-21 nationally televised rout. Sunday, though, the Dolphins had the chance to regain part of the respect lost by giving up 28, 28 and 31 points in a three-game span. They did, too, taking advantage of the Redskins' injury-weakened offensive line while receiving a solid effort from their secondary in a 13-10 victory. The game was a struggle for both teams early on, as the 3-3 halftime score attested.

But as they did in the last 30 minutes at Buffalo, when they outscored the Bills 14-0, the Dolphins got down to business when fatigue might have drained them. "We didn't give up in the second half there (in Buffalo) and we didn't give up today," said Shula, pointing out the character of his young, but growing team. MIAMI Six days of self-doubt and public scrutinizing could be erased by playing 60 minutes of assertive football. Coach Don Shula and the Miami Dolphins jwere well aware of that as the Washington Redskins prepared to kick off Sunday. 0.

"Final score. York Jets 33, Buffalo i Bills 14," blared the welcomed news from the jOrange Bowl public address system. ijj, On the sideline before their kickoff, Dolphins defensive back Mike Kozlowski raised i both arms in jubilation. Several players slapped each other on the back. Some just smiled, but they were broad smiles.

"When we found out Buffalo had lost," said Shula, "we knew we had the opportunity to get back where we were before Monday night." Monday night. The Dolphins wanted to for turns home to meet the Colts a week later. Another road game, at New England, where the Dolphins always have problems, follows, then it's Oakland at home, the Jets in New York the UFARTi AND the motion Puts Cowboys Back In Title ace The NFL tally better job offensively and defensively." Changes For Redskins Washington Coach Joe Gibbs said Monday he is planning some lineup changes in the wake of the Redskins' sixth loss in seven National Football League games. "We are just not getting the big play from our outside receivers. We move the ball but it is obvious we are not making the big plays," Gibbs said.

"It is time to give some other guys a shot." Gibbs said the initial change will come at wide receiver, specifically the spot currently occupied by six-year veteran Ricky Thompson. "We'll try Terry (Metcalf) and Virgil (Seay) there this week. One or the other will start next week," Gibbs said. to be the star, to make the big plays for the football team," he said. "Then, when somebody starts picking up the slack a little bit and making some big plays, it starts to steam roll a little bit." Starr Avoids Comment Facing building pressure after his Green Bay Packers' fifth defeat in seven games, Bart Starr Monday continued to dodge questions about his future as coach.

"We have felt all along that we could have a winning season," Starr said. "Obviously, each time you let one get away it makes it increasingly difficult to do that. The law of averages begins to work against you. "But a couple of weeks ago I felt we were capable of winning all our remaining games," he said. "Maybe that's overly optimistic, but I don't think so.

I think you have to feel that way." Starr, who had said three months ago that he felt the Packers had to have a winning season for him to keep his job, now has a 33-62-2 record in 6'2 seasons as Packer coach. The 2-5 Packers currently trail first place Minnesota by three games in the National Football Conference's Central Division. Asked if he thought he might be fired, he replied, 'I'm concerned with developing our football team, trying to get it untracked and doing a to blurred vision and a club spokesman said the veteran pass catcher had been placed on the doubtful list for Sunday's meeting with the Miami Dolphins. Pearson was involved in a violent collision late in the third quarter and at the time doctors said the receiver caught a finger in his eye. But after further examination Monday it was reported he had developed "inner ocular pressure," and he was placed in a hospital for observation.

Among those listed as probable was quarterback Danny White, who suffered a sprain at the point where the left collarbone and breastbone connect. Steelers: Starting Over Coach Chuck Noll said Monday the Pittsburgh Steelers are going back to "square one" following their 34-7 loss in Cincinnati. "I wish I knew what caused it. If I did, obviously, we'd do something about it," Noll said, sifting through the rubble of the drubbing that smashed a four-game winning streak. "We made mistakes.

We didn't play as well as we're capable of playing." Later, Noll answered his own question on where to go for answers: "Square one." From Tribune Wires Emotion, an ingredient sometimes missing in Tom Landry-coached teams, carried the Dallas Cowboys back into the National Conference Eastern Divison race Sunday night. The Cowboys, stung by two con-secutive losses, swarmed the Los Rams from the beginning in a 29-17 nationally televised victory. "Coach Landry didn't say much to fire us up," said linebacker D.D. Lewis. "The statement I remembered was he said we needed more 'cheerleaders and not the kind in skirts.

"He sajd we needed to cheer for feach other. It's always good to have r- everybody fired up even when they are not in the game." Dallas, which had lost 45-14 to 'San Francisco the previous week, boosted its record to 5-2, a game behind the Philadelphia Eagles. Los Angeles dropped to 4-3 and into a tie with Atlanta in the National Conference West, a game behind San Francisco. Tony Dorsett rushed for 159 'yards on 27 carries although he 'missed two practices earlier in the week with the flu. al Dallas is now 23-1 in games Dor-1sett ran for 100 yards or more.

Bad news to come out of the game is wide receiver Drew Pearson 'wfis hospitalized Monday with Warm-Up For CoIIinsworth Rookie wide receiver Cris CoIIinsworth is understandably grateful to Cincinnati Bengal quarterback Ken Anderson for making him the team's leading pass catcher. But since he admires passing precision wherever he sees it, Collins-worth also holds Pittsburgh quarterback Terry Bradshaw and his receivers in high regard. Before Sunday's game, the 23-year-old ex-Florida Gator sat on the sidelines, watching his Steeler heroes. "I didn't warm up, I didn't do anything. I just sat and watched Terry Bradshaw, Lynn Swann and John Stallworth." CoIIinsworth said.

"I wanted to get all that out of my system before the game started. Then, by the time the game started, I was fine." CoIIinsworth, who tied a club record with 10 receptions the week before, caught two passes for 53 yards as Cincinnati beat the Steelers. Now seven games into his first National Football League season, CoIIinsworth said he's over his rookie jitters. "When you get rid of the fear of making mistakes, you start wanting The NHL Dusty Faces The Assassin Dusty Rhodes and the Assassin meet in a fight to the finish, no time limit main event at the Armory tonight. In other matches, Bugsy McGraw and Charlie Cook will meet the team of The Spoiler and Ox BaketJac'k Brisco goes against Maniac Johna-thon of the Kiwis; Crazy the Kiwis will wrestle Mike Graham; Jerry Brisco takes on Buzz Sawyer; Eddie Mansfield defends his Florida TV title against David SierraT Rick Oliver takes on Ron Richy; Bobby Jaggers will tackle Eric Embryj and Steve Sybert wrestles Darvon Roache.

Nordiques 6, Canucks 3 QUEBEC (AP) Peter Stastny and Real Cloutier scored two goals apiece to power the Quebec Nordiques to a 6-3 victory over the Vancouver Canucks in the only National Hockey League game Monday night. Preps there for a big crowd. We have- two rivalries, but the records of' the teams aren't as good. "I hope they make me a liar; but I don't see a bigger crowd." '1Z PREP NOTES: As noted above, Nick the Italian not only missed the Hillsborough-King game, but also misfired on the Plant City-Brandon outcome. Add East Bay's of St.

Petersburg High on Thursday night and I had a 7-3 week. The season record now stands at 42 of 54 for 78 percent. An early line on Thursday's two contests has Hillsborough returning to form and beating up on Jefferson, 28-14, while King should cream winless Tampa Bay Tech35-0. You'll have to wait until Friday for the rest. hadcbeen ranked 5th in the latest Dunkel' poll, but the Terriers surely will drop after Friday's loss to King, which was 11th.

Though the Hernando Leopards are 6-0, they still can't crack the Dunkel 3A Top 10. Among the 2A's, Wildwood was third- last week, and Frostproof was sixth in the 1A index. Bartow head ifbach Paul Quinn was one of thC'poirs Coaches of the Week. "They loved it," he said. "I even let them play on the field for a bit after the game.

A bunch of them made a giant 'B' at the 50-yard line out of their helmets. "But as much as we enjoyed playing in Tampa Stadium, it'll be nice to be back home again against Robin- son." Meanwhile, the Raiders, who travel to Plant this week, can rub some salve in their wounds with the knowledge that they might be the best 14 team in the state. Boring Opener Unfortunately, the opener of the double-header between Hillsborough and King wasn't in the class of the nightcap. For example, each team fumbled twice in the opening minutes, causing some to wonder if they were watching the ghosts of Tampa Bay Buc teams circa 1976. Granted, the players were nervous, but these were two of the best teams in the district, teams loaded with gifted athletes and well-coached.

Which brings us to another downer about the Terrier-Lion fray. Where Were The Fans? Even with less than 12,000 fans, there, county Athletic Director Wayne Williamson said he wasn't too disappointed. "I really didn't expect to go higher," said Williamson from his office Monday morning. "It was two regular-season games and 1 think we drew better at Tampa Stadium than we would have at two different high school stadiums. "I read where some people were predicting between 15 and 20,000 fans would be there, but I never said that.

I thought 10 to 12,000 would be about right." The next Tampa Stadium game could be King and Brandon Oct. 29 if Williamson gets approval from the school board tonight. Definitely on the schedule thoughts another double-header involving two major rivlarieS Robinson vs, Plant and Hillsborough vs. Chamberlain. Williamson expects a smaller crowd that night than at the first double-header.

1 1 "We'll probably be under 10,000 and get between 8 to 10,000," he said. "The circumstances aren't From Page 1C Jones and Remi Watson, the most dangerous pass-catch combo in the area. The left-handed Jones was 18 of 38 for 206 yards although he also had four interceptions while Watson caught 9 of those passes for 1 10 yards and a TD of 10 yards. When it was over, Brandon Head Coach Larry Bass thought the victory might up his team's stock in the eyps of some doubters who see District 7-4A as a two-horse race between undefeated King and Plant. "All year long we've been playing them one game at a time and this jpne was no different," said Bass.

it was nice beating somebody in Tampa Stadium. Maybe, we'll finally geta little more recognition. VWe're proud to be able to compete with the Plant's, the King's and the Robinson's." 'i tWhere did Robinson come from? yes, that's who Brandon plays Friday night and the Knights are -suddenly 4-2 and playing good ball. Bass said he hoped his players i had a lot of fun playing in the big stadium. onto the field, one of the officials threw a yellow handkerchief, thinking there were 12 players out there.

As the Terriers were awarded a first down on the Lion 28 for the unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, Durnin protested to no avail. Hillsborough ended up scoring on the second of Joe Vigil's field goals for a 6-0 lead. Of course, Hillsborough had reason to complain about the zebras too. An interception returned 64 yards for a touchdown by linebacker Darrell Bell, which could have tied the game up for the Terriers, was called back because of pass interference. Then, there was the Tommy Simms' fumble that Derrick Crum seemed to fall on, but the ball was awarded to King.

In the long run, the seventh-ranked Lions (now 6-0) were the better team last Friday night and they deserved to win and stay in first place in the district and conference races. I say that as I eat my words for having picked the Terriers (3-2) to pull off the upset. The Terriers never got their exciting run-and-shoot offense untracked and with the exception of two big plays the 29-yard TD pass from Derrick Gaines to Robert Sanders and the 53-yard option TD pass from Mike Sanders to Juan Washington the Lions didn't do much offensively Now, don't get me wrong. I enjoy a great defensive battle as much as George Allen, but this wasn't a great defensive battle in spite of a superb defensive effort on the part of the Lions, most notably linebackers Paul Schaller and Felix Spann (two fumble recoveries), and defensive back Homer Sanders. Eight fumbles five of them lost to the opposition an interception and plenty of penalties took care of that.

Speaking of penalties, one play summed up the officials' plight. Early in the second quarter, a Hillsborough drive appeared to be stopped at the King 43 with a fourth-and-10. Darrell Pilcher came in and set up to punt, but Lion head coach Jerry Durnin noticed he had only 10 players on the field and ordered another player in. As that player ran i mm HEARTLAND.