The Los Angeles Times from Los Angeles, California • 30

8 Part I II Monday, August 24, 1987 RAMS VINCE CAMPAGNONE Los Angeles Times Ram tight end Damone Johnson beats Charger safety John Sullivan and catches a 10-yard touchdown pass from Jim Everett at San Diego. GAME AT A GLANCE Rams 23 mm Chargers 21 4-74 Fumbles-lost 1-0 Penalties-yards 9-55 Timeofpossession 34:04 6-81 2-1 8-50 25:56 INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS Rushing Rama TCB NYG Harris 31 91 13 Everett 1 Millen 1 Williams 2 Avg. TD 2 94 1 13 00 0 5.00 0 2 50 0 1.00 0 3.19 1 5 5 1 Guman 1 Totals 36 115 TCB NYG San Diego Avg. TD 10 00 0 Todd Spencer 2 20 Adams 7 19 TimSpencer 6 10 Midleton 3 9 Scott 3 4 Neuheisel 1 1 Totals 22 63 271 1 67 300 1 33 1 00 2.86 DAVID McNEW Los Angeles Times Deo's Wayne Davis (20) leaps in front of the Rams' Loren Richey to intercept a pass Sunday night. Free Agent Gerald Harris Steps In and Fills Some Pretty Large Shoes Yd TD 125 1 22 0 91 0 238 1 Yd TD 103 1 34 1 65 1 192 3 Rams 3 10 0 1023 San Diego 0 14 0 721 FIRST QUARTER Rams 3, Chargers 0 Lansford, 3 1-yard field goal at 1 1 :43.

72-yard drive, 14 plays to SD 14 after Sutton intercepted Herrmann's pass. Key gains House, 18, Hill, Young. 10. 22, passes from Everett. SECOND QUARTER Rams 8, Chargers 0 Lansford, 52-yard field goal at 4:38.

26-yard drive, 6 plays to SO 34. Key gains Harris, 13, run; House, 7, pass from Everett. Chargers 7, Rams 8 Tim Spencer, 32-yard pass from Herrmann at 9:40. 79-yard drive, 1 2 plays. Key gains Tim Spencer, 6, run; Scott, 1 Holland.

18; Ware. 6. passes from Herrmann. Key play Middleton ran for 2 yards on 4th and 1 at Rams 40. PAT Benirschke (kick).

Chargers 14, Rams 6 Bernstine, 8-yard pass from Neuheisel at 13:08. 15-yard drive, 3 plays after Williams intercepted Everett's pass and returned it 10 yards. Key gain Bernstine, 8, pass from Neuheisel. PAT Benirschke (kick). Chargers 1 4.

Rams 1 3 D. Johnson, 10-yard pass from Everett at 14:53. 34-yard drive, 7 plays after Tyrell recovered Rome's fumbled punt. Key gains Everett. 1 1, run; Young.

D. Johnson, 20. passes from Everett. PAT Lansford (kick). FOURTH QUARTER Rams 20, Chargers 14 Harris, 5-yard run at 9:48.

41-yard drive, 7 plays. Key gains Williams, Embree, 17, passes from Millen. PAT Lashar (kick). Chargara 21 Rama 20 Holland, 48-yard pass from Vlasic at 12: 13. 75-yard drive, 6 plays.

Key gain Todd Spencer, 17. run. PAT Benirschke (kick). Rams 23, Chargers 21 Lansford, 30-yard field goal at 14:56. 67-yard drive, 14 plays to SD 13.

Key gains Embree, 1 Tyrrell, Guman, Richey, 20, passes from Millen. Key play Millen passed 2 1 yards to Richey on 4th and 5 at SD40. Attendance 45,433 (6,802 no-shows) TEAM STATISTICS LA SD First downs 21 14 Rushes-yards 36-115 22-63 Net. yd passing 231 172 Sacks-ydlost 1-7 2-20 Passes 24-40-3 18-32-2 Int. -yd ret Plays-netyd 77-346 56-235 Punts-average 5-42 6-36 Puntsret-yd 5-41 3-10 Continued from Page 1 It all added up to one giant and sometimes exciting scrimmage.

It was a game in which million -dollar quarterback Jim Everett at one time would gaze down at his offensive line and see, from left to right, Robert Cox, Tom Newberry, Shields, Toub and Jackie Slater. Slater and Newberry he knew. So what gives with those other guys? When starter Mike Schad, who was playing for starter Harrah, got knocked silly in the first half, the Rams had to do something. So they threw in Toub, who most recently could boast of being the strength coordinator at the University of Texas El Paso. "He was a strength coach and now he's playing the whole game," said Millen, amused by the statement.

Shields, by way of Portland State, was also forced into the first half when center Doug Smith was kicked in the back and knocked out of the game. Everett, by the fact that he was standing and talking at game's end, was living testament that even weight trainers can block. "It was different," Everett said. "I told Jackie right tackle Slater that he had more experience than the other four guys combined." Harrah, who watched from the sideline with a bruised calf, admired the effort. "You had a guy like Toub in there, and sometimes it didn't look pretty," Harrah said.

"But he kept scrapping and kicking and was doing the job." The Rams trailed by a point at halftime, 14-13, despite 58 yards rushing by the Georgia Southern free agent, Gerald Harris, who is about 400 fathoms deep on the team's depth chart. It was Harris' five-yard touchdown with 5:12 left that gave the Rams a 20-14 lead, at a time when the Rams had replaced their starting reserves with backup reserves. It seemed that Harris' touchdown might hold up, but the Chargers took the lead back with 2:47 left on a 48-yard scoring pass play from Mark Vlasic (sounds like the pickle) to receiver Jamie Holland. The Rams' last chance rested on the arm of the young quarterback, Millen, and his cast of football stagehands. So, guess who came back? It seemed only fitting that on a key fourth-down-and-five play at the San Diego 40, Millen would look and find an open receiver named Loren Richey for a 21 -yard gain and a first down at the Charger 19.

Harris then used a couple of carries to set the ball in the middle of the field for Lansford, who kicked through his third field goal of the game with relative ease. "I liked the fact that no matter who was in there, they seemed to be trying," Robinson said. "They came back and found a way tt win." Afterward, reporters waited for words from Harris and Richey, a free agent out of Utah who finished with two catches for 41 yards. Somehow it gave Richey, listed a distant fourth on the Ram depth chart, new hope. "I feel good after this," Richey said.

"I don't want to get too high. I don't know about my chances. I don't know what the coaches are thinking." He did know, though, that several members of his family were videotaping the game just in case things don't work out. The Rams began the game with five starters missing on offense. Yet, it didn't stop them from taking a 6-0 lead on field goals of 31 and 52 yards by Lansford.

Mark Herrmann, who started at quarterback for the injured Fouts, got the lead back for the Chargers with 5:20 left in the first half when he passed 31 yards to an unguarded Tim Spencer for a touchdown. A bit later, Everett erred when he thought he could float a screen pass over the head of San Diego Yd. TD 52 0 38 34 6 41 Passing Rams PA PC PI Everett 23 13 2 Oils 6 3 1 Millen 11 8 0 Totals 40 24 3 San Diego PA PC PI Herrmann 15 8 2 Neuheisel 12 7 0 Vlasic 5 3 0 Totals 32 18 2 Receiving Rams No. Young 4 House 4 Tyrrell 3 Harris 3 Richey 2 Embree 2 D.Johnson 2 Guman 2 Hill 1 Williams 1 Totals 24 San Diego No. TimSpencer 5 Bernstine 3 Holland 2 Middleton 2 Winstow 1 Scott 1 Ware 1 Moore 1 Mullins 1 Todd Spencer 1 Totals 18 Field goals missed Abbott (SD) 1 (43) 'I was looking at the first quarter, maybe the second quarter.

I didn't think I'd play as much as I did. I don't feel like I'm competing with this guy Dickerson. He's in a class by himself. I'm a rookie trying to establish what he's 28 16 13 6 0 4 0 238 1 Yd. TD 55 1 20 1 1 already 9 15 11 6 4 3 3 192 GERALD HARRIS By GENE WOJCIECHOWSKI, Times Staff Writer SAN DIEGO-After the Rams' 23-21 exhibition victory over the San Diego Chargers Sunday night, curiosity seekers crowded around Exhibit A none other than free-agent running back Gerald Harris, so valued by the Rams that they list him as their fifth tailback and omit him entirely from the team's season guide.

Harris isn't offended. He is a Ram because no other NFL team would have him, though the Tampa Bay Buccaneers provided three days of room and board earlier this spring. They did not, however, provide a job, which is why Harris, undersized (5 feet 9 inches) and unknown (Georgia Southern), wasn't choosy. "My agent called me and said, Harris said. "Tampa wasn't talking about anything, so I said, And here he is, your newest starting Ram tailback, courtesy of a series of injuries and calamities that have temporarily stripped the backfield of starter Eric Dickerson and understudy Charles White.

Dickerson is hampered by a set of sore hamstring muscles and spent the evening on the sideline and in street clothes. White's ailment is more serious. He was arrested Friday and charged with being under the influence of a controlled substance. Which leaves Harris, whose aspirations were humble enough entering the game against the Chargers. "If I can just get my foot in the door, then maybe I can get the rest of my body in," he said.

Harris not only got in the door, he made it into the end zone. His fourth-period touchdown run enabled the Rams to briefly overtake the Chargers. It also kept the Rams nothing more than a field goal away when the Chargers scored mone Johnson with seven seconds left to pull the Rams within 14-13. But in the end, this was a night for the likes of Richey and Toub and Harris. "How many yards did he have?" Robinson asked afterward about Harris.

The answer was 91 yards in 31 carries. "I know his uniform was dirty and that he did a solid job." Robinson, of course, couldn't say that Harris would even make the team. "That's a decision to be made down the road," he said. "But we've been thinking seriously about him from the start." defensive end Lee Williams, who stands 6 feet 5 inches. Williams intercepted the pass and returned it 10 yards to the Ram 15.

Then Rick Neuheisel, who had taken over at quarterback, threw for eight yards to first-round choice Rod Bernstine, who bounced off Ram cornerback Jerry Gray at the goal line and did his version of teammate Anderson's famous dive into the end zone. It put the Chargers up, 14-6, with L52 left in the first half. But with only a minute left, Tag Rome fumbled a punt back to the Rams, setting up an eight-yard scoring pass from Everett to Da Harris isn't naive. He knows he would have spent considerable time as a spectator Sunday night had Dickerson been healthy or had White not been arrested. But there he was, willing and thankful.

"I was looking at the first quarter, maybe the second quarter," he said. "I didn't think I'd play as much as I did." Despite the happy ending, Harris made no claims to a starting position. Dickerson's job is safe. "I don't feel like I'm competing with this guy," he said. "He's in a class by himself.

I'm a rookie trying to establish what he's already got." White's precarious standing with the Rams is more of concern to Harris. He considers White a friend rather than simply competition. "Me and Charlie talked a lot," he said. "Charlie's a great guy. I've always looked up to him since he won the Heisman Trophy.

This arrest was really a shock to me. When I heard about it, me and couple of the guys got down on a knee and said a little prayer for him and his family. "Charlie's out, that's how I got my opportunity," he said. "But that's not what I was looking for. I was just looking for Coach Robinson to give me an opportunity." later in the quarter.

By evening's end, Harris had rushed 31 times for 91 yards. His first carry of the game, a simple off -tackle play, lasted 20 yards. With that done, Harris was forced to gain the remaining 71 yards, 2 or 3 yards at a time. "I felt like I was back in college during my senior year," he said. "That's when I carried the ball that many times." Harris was the lone back in Georgia Southern's run-and-shoot offense.

Said Ram Coach John Robinson: "I don't know how many yards he made, but he got the ball a lot and his uniform was dirty." He had his moments Sunday night, like the time late in the second quarter when he turned a sure loss into a needed first down. Harris slipped, regained his balance, eluded a tackle and then fell forward for a first down at the Charger 10. One play later, the Rams scored. And then there was his touchdown run, a five-yard dash that ended with three Charger defenders attached to his back and legs. His thoughts as he crossed the goal line? "Once I got in?" he said.

"It was-. Eagles Defeat Patriots in Overtime, 19-13 FOXBORO, Mass. (iB Junior Tautalatasi scored on a four-yard run 3:11 into overtime to cap a Philadelphia comeback and give the Eagles a 19-13 exhibition victory over the New England Patriots Sunday night. Philadelphia's Paul McFadden had sent the game into overtime with his second field goal of the game, a 22-yard kick, on the final play of the fourth quarter. The Eagles won the coin toss and started from their own 21 -yard line after the overtime kickoff.

Tautalatasi began the seven-play drive with a 16-yard run The Patriots had gone ahead, 13-7, after Eagle punter Dale Walters fumbled a good snap and fell on the ball at his own 29. Four plays later, Tom Ramsey threw a seven-yard scoring pass to Stephen Starring You get our iA.RR.or Powertram Warranty and 6-Year ire rmi Quality Corrosion Protection i mn mi i ii Care for i in ii i ii ii on every new 1987 and 1988 car we sell. Deductible and restrictions apply. Ask to see this limited warranty Quality powimrmi mtuntNir I Cars. CASH BACK at your Lincoln-Mercury dealer.

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