The Ottawa Journal from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada • Page 16

1 16 Monday November 27, 1972 FEZ The Ottawa Journal WESTWICK SAYS: Cats' early effort counted heavily in result HAMILTON It was that time for looking back, recalling what might have happened and did, and of what had happened and didn't: Just shortly after the game with Hamilton in the Grey Cup and the Riders packing it up for the trip home and another year. There was the inevitable reference to the seven of 19 points they gave up late In the opening game, which would have looked so big today. One jubilant Hamilton supporter in the aisles 'shouted at Ottawa supporters: "Hoist by your own petard" an allusion to Hamilton's five field goals after a season of Ottawa successes in this In the gloomy confines of Ivor Wynne Stadium It was a day for Hamilton cheering, and Rough Rider gloom. But it had its consoling moments. In the first quarter and even before half-time it looked a day of greater Ottawa chagrin.

It looked a day set apart for a bad beating for the Riders after a fine season. In the end it was Riders' failure in the first quarter and half that cost them a spot in the Grey Cup. But regardless of this they fought back like good football teams are expected to do. They made mistakes, but battered all the harder later against the almost crushing prospeot of a tie on the round and a gale-like wind favoring the home forces. The' odds were all against them by then, but the sorry part of it from an Ottawa aspect was that the -Tiger-Cats weren't aU that impressive in beating a team whose effort in many respects was much below the all-round football product they'd furnished the.

weekend before in Ottawa. THAT EARLY 'CAT EFFORT What Hamilton had done, as Gotta sorrowfully conceded, was "come to play football." His emphasis then was on the opening quarter when Ottawa chose the wind and then couldn't get the ball away from Hamilton TAKE COLLEGE BOWL TITLE to do much about it The Tiger-Cats had sustained part of that control In one drive with help of a couple of offside penalties. And Instead of the wind helping them, Riders came out of It with Hamilton owning the only point scored. By half-time the 'Cats were five points up with the gale at their backs. Riders' defence did stiffen after their disappointing first half, and they managed to tie it, with the spectre of a -closing 15 minutes against the aroused Tiger-Cats and the still menacing wind advantage for the 'Cats.

A The lack of a major scoring offence that had bugged them most of the season still didn't come to their rescue on Sunday. Jerry Organ tried and did help with his specialty, one of them good from 52 yards. Hamilton's lone major was furnished by their own defensive unit on a fumble return. Ottawa followers felt Riders made a mistake when Rick Cassata tried an unsuccessful pass near the end of the first quarter rather than try for a first down. Jack Gotta confessed afterwards: "I would have expected something running off let ft go that that ALWAYS ROOM TO PONDER There were any number of "ifs" and "buts," including five early penalties to Ottawa that might have been the result of over-anxious moments- but were still harmful to their cause.

However, there was no denying that Hamilton opened up the sharper unit, seizing some of the early initiative that Riders had showed in the first game. earing the end of the third quarter after a nine-yard screen to Thompson, Riders elected another field goal try from 44 yards out on third dowa Some had hoped they'd have tried on the ground for one more first down before giving up the wind while still tied on the round. There were the usual things to ponder In the light of later events, or rather the lack of them except for Uli.iu Hi. mil iLij' jmm i i 40 BRANDON BAGS BUCHANAN Ottawa Rough Riders' Chuck Brandon brings down Dave Buchanan of Hamilton Tiger-Cats during the Eastern Football Conference final game in Hamilton Sunday. Buchanan gained 109 yards on 27 carries in the game, giving the home team the edge in ball control.

Hamilton won 23-8 and took the two-game, total-points final 30-27. (CP-Journol Wire photo) Golden Bears stop Waterloo TORONTO (CP) Roger Comartin and Andy MacLeod each grabbed a leg of the Waterloo Lutheran wishbone Saturday and celebrated a lata thanksgiving on the desert sands of' Varsity Stadium. Comartin, a defensive halfback, and MacLeod, a linebacker, were named jointly as the most valuable players in the College Bowl as they led University of Alberta Golden Bears to a 20-7 victory over Waterloo Lutheran Golden Hawks. was Alberta's defensive unit and the treacherous footing in the loose sand that took away Lutheran's omst effective formation, forcing the Waterloo club to pass off an lineup late in the game. It was Alberta's third appearance in the Canadian college championship game.

They defeated McMaster University 10-9 in 1967 and lost 15-14 to the University of Western Ontario last year. For Waterloo Lutheran, it was a third College Bowl appearance all losses. In their last appearance, 1968, vr til AFTER TIIEIR MAN they bowed 42-14 to Queen's University. Both Alberta touchdowns came on passes. Quarterback Larry Tibbie tossed a 10-yard strike to Terry Cairns in the opening quarter, while flanker Gary Welsbrot picked off an 18-ayrd toss from Dale Schulha on a fake field goal attempt in the third quarter.

Jack Schwartzberg. kicked a field goal and two converts. Gerald Kunyk kicked a single and the Golden Bears picked up two points on a safety touch. ir Jim Cooper of Waterloo Lutheran Golden Hawks takes -off down field with Bill Evans (42), Henry Schubach (70), and Doug Senulk (24) of University of Alberta Golden Bears in pursuit during Canadian Intercollegiate Football championship, action in Toronto Saturday. Golden Bears defeated Waterloo Lutheran University 20-7.

(CP-Journal Pltbto) Running back Jerry Blacker scored the Golden Hawks' touchdown on a four-yard run midway through the final quarter. Wally Parker converted. Alberta went ahead 12-0 by the end of the first quarter. Neither team scored in the second. Going intoi the final quarter, Alberta was leading 19-0 and made it 20-0 before Lutheran came through with its only scoring play.

"We went through an emotional wringer getting ready for this game," said coach Jim Donlevy. "We propped for Waterloo with a full complement of 38 men. I had an arrangement with Tuffy Knight, Waterloo coach, that we would each carry 38. the CIAU, Canadian I 1 legiate Athletic Union put us in a terrible position by insisting that we go by the rule book which says you can dress only 32 men." Both the Bears and the Hawks had to lop six men from their lists. "I had to tell our boys Just a few hours before the game that we couldn't all play," Donlevy said.

The first man up was Dave Kates. He's our captain and he wanted very badly to play. But he took himself out because he felt that he might not be in 100 per cent top shape." Coach Donlevy said was "quite a sacrifice" for Kates "this was to have been his final college game." Sitting out with their captain were halfbacks Kim Duncan and Don Zabloski; guard Walt Kuzyk and tackle Brian Moen, and end Bruce Buchynskl. Fullback Mark Baldasaro also did not play, but he was sitting out an injury. Hamilton's lone and winning last quarter field goal.

In the end that lone late Hamilton TD in Ottawa the week before came back to haunt an Ottawa team that might well have won by much more than the 19 point lead they had achieved for a time. It remains all in the realm of hindsight, but not a few of their loyal supporters had groaned for days after that game an Lansdowne. The failure to reach the Grey Cup cost Rough Riders heavily. But the Ottawa owner, in the dressing room, was the first to praise his club: "After all, this team came back in the second half to play hard and well. They made a good effort.

They rallied to play well." Jack Gotta, the players themselves and everyone else among the Ottawa supporters who came down for the game, knew well that the first half reverses in the end had made the difference. General manager Frank Clair agreed: "We couldn't get the ball away from them in that first quarter while we had the wind. That first half proved the difference and ruined. a good comeback. That first quarter was toughest" THEY RESPONDED EARLY Hamilton coach Jerry Williams had asked his club for "blocking and tackling" after being badly mauled by the under-dog Rough Riders in the opening game in Ottawa.

Cast in the role of under-dogs and needing to make up 12 points, the 'Cats came to seize the early initiative yesterday against the wind at a time when Riders might have improved on their first-game lead. There was no discounting the value of this first quarter Hamilton effort until they could manage to get the wind themselves. When Cassata hit some of his receivers, there were' letdowns by the latter. At least it seemed that way on several occasions. "The ball played some tricks in the wind." the Rider quarterback commented sadly afterwards.

"It would go end over end and then take off." BOULEVARD BANTER Riders had to be disappointed But if one team hadvJo lose, they came back fighting hard when it seemed to this corner at least that Jhey might have taken a shellacking'. Ottawa's lejfly tackling wasrtt of the same character as in the opening stages when the 'Cats took something away at that time Hamilton had staged a big rally on Friday night You had to agree the 'Cats came out fired up, but they didn't sustain it in the same fashion Riders had done the previous weeeknd Yet it proved enough Naturally Ottawa players and followers had to rue the fact they didn't score as many points in the opener as their edge on the play seemed to justify Frank Bliss, an Ottawa expatriate and former Hamilton club president, greeted old friends from the Capital Many of the Ottawa players were on the plane, and back in the airport Rudy Sims had flaked out and was cause of worry Many of his mates caught the next plane after he'd been sent to hospital for a checkup Gotta praised his team with the remark: "I still think they're the best team in the country." Jack won't make the Grey Cup He's leaving on a scouting trip At the same time he dropped the word he intended to be back in Ottawa Wayne Smith's bad ankle forced him out in the second half and Al Marcelln's hamstring hampered his effort Riders picked up around $1,250 each extra since finishing in a tie Grey Cup winners get $2,000 each with the losers taking $1,500 Now the general managers have to decide if both conferences emulate the West, this year and stage a single game sectional final Ottawa Rough Rider Hugh Oldham is tipped upside down by John Williams of Hamilton. Tiger-Cats during EFC final game in Hamilton Sunday. Oldham was hit from behind as he went in the air to catch UP AND OVER an intended pass. At left are Mark Kosmos (45) and Tom Pullen (77).

Hamilton won the two-game, total-point series 30-27. (CP-Journol Wlrephoto) Redskins clinch berth Raiders avenge defeat By JOE CARNICELU UPI Sports Writer Washington at its wish, Oakland got its revenge and Pittsburgh got just a little closer Sunday. That was the result of the" three biggest games of the day in National Football League action as the Washington Redskins clinched a play-yoff slot with a 21-16 victory over the Atlanta Falcons, the Oakland Raiders avenged an earlier loss to Kansas City with a 26-3 rout of the Chiefs and the Pittsburgh Steelers set up a showdown for their first title in 40 years by upending the Minnesota Vikings 23-10. Bill Kilmer threw two touchdown passes and Washington's defense harrassed young Green Bay quarterbacks into' errors to beat the packers. The victory gave the redskins a two-game lead in the NFC East and assured them of a playoff slot while the Packers fell into a tie for the NFC Central lead with Detroit, which beat the New York Jets Thanksgiving day.

Kilmer completed 14 of 21 passes for 149 yards and threw TD passes of 25 yards to Jerry Sm th and five to Charley Taylor. Larry Brown, playing with a sinus condition and a bruised heel, ran two yards for the other Redskin score. Oakland humiliated by a 27-14 loss to the Chiefs at Kansas City earlier this season, beat" their bitter rivals physically Sunday. Daryle Lamonica threw two TD passes, Charlie Smith ran for one score and George Blanda kicked two field goals for the Raiders. Kansas City, meanwhile, lost four of its key player.

Defensive tackle Buck Buchanan and middle linebacker Willie Lanier were put out with knee injuries, quarterback Len Dawson was decked by a blow to the chin and running back Ed Podoolak went out with a hip pointer. Also, Otis Taylor, the Chiefs leading receiver, was available for only one play. The Raiders took a 23-3 lead at the half and then stymied the Kansas City attack throughout the second-quarter. Kansas City coach Hank Stram, in danger of his first losing season in 13 years as a head coach, refused to alibi for his team. sensation Franco Harris scored-one touchdown and set tip another with a 67-yard run to lead the Steelers' upset of Minnesota which just about killed the Vikings' NFC Central playoff chances.

Harries ran 12 yards for Pittsburgh's first TD and with the score tied at 10-10, he dashed 67 yards tot he Viking one, where Terry Bradshaw plunged over.Bradshaw added an insurance TD with a 17-yard screen pass to Frank Lewis. "I was apprehensive right down to the final gun," sa'd Steeler coach Chuck Noll. "It was a defensive victory and the offence came Up with the big plays." Harris, a cinch for rookie of the year honors, gained only 27 yards in the first half but ended with 12S, the fifth straight game he has gone over 100 yards. Elsewhere, Cleveland ripped Buffalo 27-10, the New York Giants humiliated Philadelphia 62-10, New Orleans stunned Los Angeles 19-16, Atlanta topped Denver 23-20, Cincinnati defeated Chicago ston 34-29 and Baltimore trounced -New England 31-0. St.

Louis is at Miami tonight. Mike Phlpps rallied Cleveland from a 10-0 deficit to defeat the Bills. Phlpps threw a 13-yard TD passs to Leroy Kelly for one score and set up Ken Brown's onepyard run for the go-ahead score with a 30-yard pass to Bo Scott. O. J.

Simpson had 93 yards for Buffalo to go over the mark. Norm Snead threw three TD passes and reserve quarterback Randy Johnson threw for two scores and ran for another as the Giants set a' club scoring mark with their victory over the Eagles..