Oakland Tribune from Oakland, California • 49

aJdmftiliJrribttW 49 I I r- mm I I Kaiders Fa 1 1 To Charger Comeback In Finale tEA a 't; Swa- r3 r2 Charger halfback Paul Lowe carried three times for 32 yards, set new AFL rushing record of 1,121 yards in Oakland-San Diego game. cv'y Coverage By GEORGE ROSS SAN, DIEGO Coach Sid Gillman says of his leaping flanker "There's nobody in football who can touch Lance "He tried to grab me and couldn't, but as I went by him he tried to trip me and as we collided he kicked me right above the heel, in the Achilles tendon." been driven 'way up Into my calf," Art said. The clam-handed recetor, with 12 TD passes to his credit this season and a big game Tribune Photos by Roy Williams FIELD GOAL FAKE Raider fullback Mercer on first quarter field goal fake. much of it on Daniels' running to the right side as Powell lined up in the slot. When it bogged down on the Charger 42, the Raiders came up with a sneaker, placekicker Mike Mercer throwing to blocker Roger Hagberg off a fake field goal to keep the drive alive.

Oakland's defense, meanwhile, was coping with the big San Diegans, and after Flores engineered a second TD drive, going 80 yards in 11 plays, a shoot-em-up in San Diego seemed entirely possible. One of football's many minor tragedies turned the day upside down and gave the Chargers an unsullied hold on the Western Division title with a 9-2-3 record to Oakland's 8-5-1. "I broke downfield on a pass route and Bud Whitehead tried to take me," Powell said later. Roger Hagberg made 14 yards on this Play kept alive 65-yard drive to first Alworth as a receiver. The play cost the Chargers "under way, was out of it So, a penalty for pass interfer- it developed, was Oakland.

Coach AI Davis says of his catch of pass thrown by kicker Mike Raider score' on Sap Diego. ence, but it cost Oakland a lot more. "My foot went numb. He got me right on a nerve, and my foot felt like my heel had The Chargers now modified their coverage, put added pressure on Daniels, took away the weak side maneuvering room, and sent big pursuers after Flores to wreck the passing game where it starts. There weren't enough other weapons In Oakland's still-evolving arsenal to cope with a ripened club like San Diego's.

Powell's replacement, rookie speedster Larry Todd, also limped to the sideline after a vicious twisting tackle by linebacker Chuck Allen in the third quarter. At least as disastrous te the Raider cause was the loss of John Robert Williamson, corner linebacker, who came eat of the game in the first half after a flying collision with Alworth. The ability to double on Alworth without weakening coverage on the pass or run was limited with Williamson out Alworth cashed in with five catches for a spectacular 180 yards and one Charger touchdown while spread end Don Norton was beating his defenders for two more. "Take nothing away. They're a fine football team with a lot of depth," Davis said of the Charger club he helped build as a three-year big, loping spread end, "Art Powell is the most complete receiver playing football today." Both were right here Sunday as far as they went and Alworth went for the entire game.

Powell didn't. The edge was more than enough as the San Diego Chargers won a 24-14 football game and kept Oakland from spoiling the taste of a Western Division title. Oakland made it a battle, at least in the first half. "We had the right pattern at the outset of the game and got 14 points on the board," the Oakland Raider coach pointed out "Then they got Powell out of there." Powell, who scored the game's first touchdown of the season finale on an "in" pattern which quarterback Tom Flores audibilized on the Charger four yard line, had been giving San Diego fits in the complex Oakland offense. The Chargers had double coverage on Powell, which permitted Flores to work Clem Daniels to the weak side on both runs and pass plays, and the Raiders were In business.

"Every time they doubled on me Tom was calling Clem," Powell pointed out. "I felt good best I've felt since I was hurt in the middle of the season and Clem was having a fine game. "The way we were driving, we would have run 'em out of the stadium," he said. "Instead I'm on the sideline. What a way to go out" lJ I Iff IN 1 i Gulman assistant "They had T4 come UP Wlm lne DI p'ays- going there for a while.

Our club just came on so weQ tn the last few games, it was too HUNGRY HOOKS San Diego end ate tug at the football by defensive Flores had moved the club kl 1 I 1 il 1 i4 i. I .1.1 If. Amn ll I a. 0 uon iNorron scores ciuicn it-it iuucn- udii uave otdybun, ai udmana luses yaras on tne tirst tu anve, mit roweii, racing ciear in ena rone, scores uaKiand ID on pass trom Mores, more." down in third quarter despite desper- 4-14 to Western champions. Raider-Charger Facts Chargers Lose Lincoln, Two Others Hedl 1 14 T4 Allison 13 4t 14 TO Af.

1 112 i ell's position, was intercepted by went 71 yards in just five plays to tie the game. Hadl, hit by Dan Birdwell as he threw, connected to Alworth for 44 yards and Allison and Fos Scar by quirtan: Raiders 7 7 0 0-14 Chr9rs 0 7 7 10-24 FIRST QUARTER 7 0 Art Powell, 4 yard past from Tom Flom. 1:53 Itft. 45 yard tfrlvo In 11 playi. Mik Marcar klckad extra point.

SECOND QUARTER 14 0 Clem Daniel, 1 yard run, 1-T2 left, 10 yard drive In 11 playt. Mercer kicked extra point. 14 7 Don Norton, 22 yard pi from John Hadl, 1:34 left, 71 yard drive In 4 pluvl. Herb Travenio kicked extra point. THIRD QUARTER 14 14 Norton, 10 yard pa from Hadl, 4 is left, 71 yard drive In 5 playt.

Travenio kicked extra point. FOURTH QUARTER 14 21 Lance Alworth, yard pal from Don Breaux, 10 21 left, 10 yard drive in plavv Trevenlo kicked extra point. 14 24 Trevenio, IS yard field goal, 1 02 left. TO If. 2 I 0 1 .44 TD Li.

1 II I 14 ter each gained eight on the Breaux 1 0 1 -1 Raiders) layer TC Y9 YU Net Daniels If 2 sS Millar 2 I I Hagberg 1 0 PASSINO Charter Player pa PC PI Yd. Hadl 14 1 11 Low 1 0 0 0 Sreeux 4 1 Raider Player PA PC PI Yes. Flores 3 20 3 207 Mercer .1 10 14 PASS REC6IVINO Chwjrj Player Ne. Yd. Alworth 5 10 32.0 Norton 2 32 Allison 4 TO 17 Kocourek I 2 20 Raiders Player Ne.

Yd. Powell 2 17 IS Miller .2 21 14.0 Deniel 7 41 14 Herock 7 17 15 Blletnlkoff 4.S Whitehead. A theft by Kent Mc-Cloughan at the goal line staved off the Chargers momentarily but Flores threw a third interception, the second by Whitehead, shortly thereafter. Whitehead made the steal at the Raider 25 and returned it 14 yards. Again the Oakland defensive line stiffened and Travenio got the final points with a 15 yard field goal.

Daniels, who caught seven passes, finished his hard day's work with 146 yards total offense but Alworth, who had five receptions, racked up 160 and TD Lf. I 44 22 0 44 -2 TD If. 1 (15 0 12 1 14 0 5 ll 13 First don ruining First downa pasting First downs penaltie 0 Total first downs 11 Yards gained rushing 15 Yards lost rushing 12 Number of rushing plays 3 Net yarda gained rushing 147 Average yarda per rush 4 1 scored his 13th touchdown of the campaign to break a 14-14 tie. Oakland had time to stage a rally of its own but fullback Alan Miller injured his left wrist and rookie Larry Todd, Powell's replacement, twisted his right knee. With his weapons raided, Tom Flores, who completed 20 of 38 passes for 207 yards in the face of a fierce and bruising blitz, threw three interceptions.

The game really was not indicative of the relative team strengths. San Diego did not suit up Lincoln and Paul Lowe was benched after carrying three times for 32 yards to break Daniels' league rushing record with a season total of 1,121 yards. And, with the score tied, John Hadl turned over the quarterhacking to understudy Don Breaux, who fired the -winning touchdown to Alworth. The Raiders finished up without Powell, Miller, Todd or linebacker John Robert Williamson, knocked woozy attempting to tackle Alworth in the second quarter. After Warren Powers inter ing down with one foot beyond the end zone line.

The Raiders proceded to go 80 yards, again in 11 plays, as Flores connected five straight times and Daniels ran six times for 28 yards. Clem, a workhorse who rushed 19 times for 85 yards to finish the season with 881, also caught three of Tom's throws for 10, 3 and 5 yards. The key play was a 15 yard check-off pass to Miller that carried to Charger 11. Daniels gained 10 on the next down and then went over standing up from the one for a 14-0 lead with 3:22 left in the half. San Diego stormed back in six plays to score on -a 22 yard pass from Hadl to Norton with 1:39 remaining after the league's leading passer hit rookie Jim Allison for 37 yards to the Oakland 22.

The Chargers were in command following be intermission. After Herb Travenio was short with a 51 yard field goal attempt and Mercer had a 38 yarder blocked by Bob Petrkh, the western division champs cepted a Hadl pass intended for Alworth in the Oakland end zone to kill a scoring threat, Oakland went ahead 7-4 on a four yard pass from Flores to Powell. The 65-yard drive, which consumed 11 plays, was kept alive by a fake field goal. Placekicker Mike Mercer, lined up for a 50 yard three-point try, passed instead for 14 yards to Roger Hagberg and a first down. Daniels swept to the right for seven and caught a three yard pass from Flores, who then hit Ken Herqck for 14 to the Charger four.

On the next down, Tom found Powell behind defender Bud Whitehead for the touchdown. San Diego, aided by an Alworth catch for 23 yards, drove to the Raider four in the second quarter but Raider defense held. Gene Foster gained three yards with two rushes and Hadl's play-fake pass to Jacques McKmnon was batted away by Powers. On fourth down, Hadl rolled to his right and had running room to carry the ball over but passed instead to McKinnon, the latter making the grab but com Continued from 1st Sports Page ished the season with an 8-5-1 record. The victory, achieved with dutch third-down-and-long-yard-age plays for big gains, gave San Diego a 9-2-3 mark and padded its AFL western division title margin.

Despite the defeat, after three wins, the Raiders will look back upon 1965 as the season the club received a healthy blood transfusion. A mixture of nine rookies and six newcomer veterans blended with Oakland's solid old pros to build while staying in the title race to the end. They stayed in the race for 13 exciting weeks before their California rivals iced it last week. Oakland had San Diego back tracking yesterday until Powell went to the pits. The injury allowed the Chargers to change their defensive concept, shifting from double coverage on Art to plugging weak-sMe territory that Clem Daniels had exploited for 79 yards rushing.

Nevertheless, the Raiders hung tough until II minutes remained, when the dynamic Alworth Hagberg 1 14 14.1 Todd 2 35 175 Cannon 2 71 105 Mingo 1 5 50 4 14 2 20 104 2 22 102 44 3 21 3 1 III INTERCEPTIONS Passei attempted 71 terer Ne. Yet. Awf. TO If. ground.

Then Hadl shot a slant-in throw to Norton near the goal post and the veteran split end made a remarkable TD catch locked In the tight coverage by Dave Grayson. Breaux replaced Hadl and on his first series dropped the ball while running a roll-out. It was recovered by Ben Davidson at the Charger 40 but two plays later Flores, trying to evade a rush by Earl Faison, had his pass picked off by Chuck Allen at the 20. It took Breaux just six calls to get the go-ahead touchdown, though. But the first five netted only 14 yards.

Breaux, faced with a third-and-15 at his own 34 shot a high pass to Alworth and Bambl made one of his near-impossible stabs at the Oakland 45 and ran it all the way for a score. Flores moved bis club 26 yards to the Oakland 46 but a pass to Billy Cannon, now playing Pow Hadl passed for 192 by connect 0 Passes completed 12 Passe had Intercepted 7 Attempted pes plv test yds. 0 Yards lost attempting to pes. 0 Net yards gained passing ...291 ff 4.5 .18 i 1 Raider ing on 8 of 14 while Breaux had four-far-six and 99 yards. Whiteftoad.

Player Power McCkwotm Although they had IS first downs to Oakland's 26, San Diego He. Yd. Avf. TQ-Lf. 1 Tt 71 1 14 U.0 I 14 PUNTINO Ckerfer Ne.

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SNL. If. 3 31.1 f.as PUNT RETURNS ran np 438 yards to the Raiders' 314 Player Allison Player Mercer Total net yard rushing and passing 4.M J'4 Total offensive pleve 5' 2 Average gain per pav 7 Number of puntt I 1 Punts had blocked Total yards punts JJ Averege length punts 3.i J1 0 Passe Intercepted by 3-13 S-37 Punts returned yrd Klckofts returned yards US 5M Penaltie yrd penalized 2. Fumbles-fumbles INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS PUSHING Charger Player TCE YQ YV Hal TD If. Lowe 1 Foster el Defensively, the Chargers didn't drop Flores for a loss but demons like Faison, Ernie Ladd, Petrich, George Gross, Allen, Frank Buncom and Dick Degen put Tom down almost every time Caarfr Pteyer Ne.

Yd. Ave. TO Lf. Marrl 1 1 1.f I KICXOFP RETURNS Player New Yds. Af.

Tt) If. Todd 4 41 111 -M Oreyso 1 J4 U.i he threw the ban..