The Leaf-Chronicle from Clarksville, Tennessee • 15

The Leaf-Chronicle KJ Sunday, Novmbr 27, 1088 Section f7 fr murk Off By C1IIPCIRILL0 Of The LeafOrMde Staff 1 his overall game couldn't have happened at a more appropriate time. Also, he held onto the ball. I really feel great for him." With Vanderbilt leading 7-6 early in the third quarter, Tennessee marched 67 yards for what proved to be the game-winning TD a 5-yard run by Davis, who carried the ball on nine of the drive's 11 plays. Talk about a workhorse, "I've never been happier for a guy in my life," Vol quarterback Jeff Francis said. "After all the things he's gone through, that was really something:" Davis1 TD made it 12-7 Tennessee.

The visitors from Knoxville missed the two-pont conversion but the Commodores gave them two points later in the quarter when VU center John Short's snap sailed over punter Jeff Owen's head out of the end zone for a safety. A 35-mph wind and second-half rain made things rough on the players. Tenneesse's defense, which stopped Vanderbilt three times during the first half on crucial fourth-and-short yardage situations, didn't allow the pass-happy Commodores to penetrate the 50-yard line during the entire second half. "I cant say enough about the big, big plays our defense made on short-yardage situations," Majors said. On each of Vanderbilt's first two possessions of the game, the hosts drove inside the UT 3, but each time VU quarterback Eric Jones' passes fell incomplete in the end zone.

"That (the fourth-down stands) always pumps the defense up," said Tennessee outside linebacker Bryan Kimbro, a 6-foot-2, 231-pound senior from Dickson County who bowed out with five tackles. "Vanderbilt plays us harder than any-body. People might think we overlook them, but we never have since I've been here. They've got a great team." So does Kimbro's alma mater, Dickson County High School which takes a perfect 14-0 record into next week's Class AAA state championshp football game. "I wish them all the luck in the world," Kimbro said.

"Now that our season is over, 111 get to see them play. Every Friday night I called home to see how they did. They have a chance to do something no Dickson team has ever done before." Beating Tennessee is something very few Vanderbilt teams have been able to do. The Vols now own a 51-26-5 series advantage having won 12 of the last 14 meetings Including six straight StllL Saturday's victory was anything but easy. Please turn to page 6B NASHVILLE r- What an exit (or Keith Davis.

senior tailback, who was a star at Overton during his high school days, rushed for a career-, high 162 yards including the game-winning touchdown to lead Tennessee to a 14-7 victory over archrival Vanderbilt before a capacity crowd of 41,404 at Vanderbilt Stadium Saturday afternoon. "It was my dream to play well here, in my hometown and in my last game," said Davis, who underwent painful knee surgery during his sophomore year. 4 Some say he never regained the quickness he once had, but on Saturday he looked like his old self doing the job time after time. "I was called on today and I wanted to do what they asked me to do," Davis said. "But my yardage didn't come on my own.

I had great blocking up front I couldn't think of a better way to end my career." Davis only had 13 yards entering Saturday's showdown, but he exited with 1,704 for his career putting him ninth on the Volunteers' all-time list "Keith Davis play couldn't have been more timely," Tennessee football coach Johnny Majors said. "He was really there when we needed it and i IPC Staff Photo Bv Robert Smith Short Gainer Vanderbilt's Sean Guerin stumbles through the line for a few yards Saturday against Tennessee. i Ml S3 i ft fl rn V' jk vf i is Staff Photos By Chip Clrlllo All-County Offense All-County Defense left, bottom rowjMUte Harris, Chuck Gray, PonaldWilkersdniJlon Weatherly; middle row: 'jassan Bumpus, Reggie Keesee, -Jerry Coach, John Tarter, Greg top Shea Smith, From left, bottom rowi Jett Hebel, Jon Harris, Armando Charles, Randy Woodruff middle row: Will Johnson, Jerry Abalos; Ed Calburo, Steve Lowe, Rlcafdo Warfield; top row: Danny Magrans, Wayne Lankf ord, Michael Blackwell, Danny Harrison, Marcus Williams, Marshall Patterson. Bobby Nicholson, David Lyle, Derrick Merrlweather, Ralph Tipton. IF(olkn)S By CHIP CIRILLO -v Of The Leaf Chronicle Staff All-County MVPi 1 1988.....

Donald Wllkwson, FC, HB Fort Campbell and Montgomery. Central, the two winnihgest football wtZZHw 'Mec hb teams in the area last fall, domi-- Mounceoidhom, ne, lb nated the fifth annual All-Montgom- coii schoianhipi rvrmmtv Ara Tpnm Donald Wllkerson, It ery COUniy Area leam. Fronkle Wood, '87 Wfrn Kentucky Both squads had eight players SO-' Ilm Tennessee Stote 7, HenryAllen, '85 Tennessee-Martin lected each while Northeast had Maurice oidhomM Austin Peoy five, Northwest four, Clarksville mmmmmmmmmmmm High one and ClarksvUle Academy Averaged 11.6 yards per carry, a school record. Hits the line of scrimmage extremely quick. A breakaway threat each time he carries the ball.

Excellent speed. Runs a 4.6 40-yard dash. Also played defensive back. FULLBACK Derrick Merrlweather, Montgomery Central, Junior, 5-11, 180. The area's third-leading rusher, Merrlweather rambled for 875 yards with an average of 9.2 yards per carry.

He also scored 10 touchdowns and averaged 17.7 yards per return on kickof fs as well as 10.5 yards per return on Also had four pass receptions with an average of 15.5 yards per catch. Merrlweather was MCHS' main man on defense from his linebacker post with a team-high 75 solo tackles. Blocked one kick, recovered three fumbles and made two interceptions. A hard hitter if there ever Weatherly found It easy to sneak behind coverage. Averaged 36.2 yards per catch.

TIGHT END Shea Smith, Northwest, senior, 6-2, 195. Made 15 receptions for 256 yards, an average 17.1 per catch. Scored two TDs. One of Vikings' tri-captains. Smith 'was also one of Vikings' leading tacklers from his defensive end post Led Vikings with seven quarterback sacks and knocked down two passes.

Caused several fumbles. CENTER Jerry Conch, Fort Campbell, 5-11, 180. Fumbles on the exchange between center and quarterback were few and far between with Couch on the hot seat. He came through with key blocks on just about every play. Very dependable.

Was in a starting role for most of his high school career. Good Please turn to page 6B five passes for 90 yards. Also played quarterback and tailback where he rushed for 485 yards with an average of 7.8 yards per carry. Probably the quickest and most versatile player on the All-County team, Runs a 4.4 40-yard dash. Scored seven TDs.

Set school record with 89-yard punt return. The area's best all-purpose runner. Has great football instincts. Makes moves you can't teach. The more Keesee has the ball, the better chance Northeast has of winning.

Also played defensive back. TIGHT END Ron Weatherly, Fort Campbell, Junior, 6-2, 150. If ever there was a big-play receiver, it would have to be Weatherly. Seven of his eight receptions went for touchdowns. The Falcons lulled their opponents Into thinking they'd never pass.

With the secondary coming up for the run every play, was one. 'QUARTERBACK Chuck Gray, Clarksville High, sophomore, 5-10, 185. Gray completed 35 of 79 passes for 383 yards and two touchdowns. Did all that in second half of season when he was moved from running back to quarterback. Also rushed for 154 yards.

Averaged five tackles per game at linebacker. QUARTERBACK David Lyle, Montgomery Central, senior, (-2, 1C5. Lyle was Central's third-leading rusher with 345 yards. Averaged 5.1 yards per carry. Completed 24 of 81 passes for 307 yards and two TDs.

Scored four TDs, five two-point conversions and kicked three point-afters. Made 33 solo tackles on defense while also han-dling'kickoff duties for MCHS. Gifted athlete. SPLIT END Reggie Keesee, Northeast, Junior, 6-2, 170. Caught one.

OFFENSE HALFBACK Donald Wilker-son, Fort Campbell, sophomore, S-f oot-7, 145 pounds. Wilkerson is the All-County Most Valuable Player having rushed for 1,305 yards ranking him among the top 20 rush-, ers in Kentucky. The All-State candidate averaged 5.9 yards per carry and 108.7 yards per game. Rushed for a season-high 197 yards in sea-. son opener at Hopklnsville.

Scored eight touchdowns. Outstanding durability. Still able to get his yards even though everyone was keying on him. Also registered 91 tackles and two interceptions from his defensive back post HALFBACK Mike Harris, Northeast, junior, 6-0, 180. Rushed for 685 yards, but a knee injury coupled with grade problems ended his season at the start of game seven.

Urabeeafera Irish I Vol, 'Do re Kickers Plagued By Wind SC 2710 Bu roup 0 the momentum to Tennessee in the opening half and led to the. first Volunteer scoring opportunity. After being pinned deep in its territory, Tennessee on it's second possession used a quick kick on third dowa Elmore responded with' a long line-drive kick that received several healthy bounces and traveled 81 yards, resulting in a new school, modern-day record. In 1902, A. Douglas had a 100-yard punt against Clemson, but the kick was on a 110-yard playing field.

"On the quick kick, I didn't want a spiral" Elmore said. "All I wanted to do was kick it If you kick a spiral it will bite and maybe go into the AP Laserphoto Role Reversal tn achieving its first-ever 11-0 regular season, Notre Dame took advantage of two interceptions of Rodney Peete passes and two fumble recoveries. All came in the first half and one of the fumbles set up Green's 2-yard touchdown run three minutes after Rice's score, giving the Irish a 14-0 lead. Green scored again on a 1-yard run with 11:55 left in the game. Brooks and Watters were 40 minutes late for dinner Friday night at the team's Newport Beach hotel A Notre Dame press, release said they were suspended "as a result of repeated irresponsible tardiness for team meetings and functions." Notre Dame was outgained 216 yards to 162 in the first half and the Irish managed only three first downs.

But 130 yards came on two plays a 55-yard pass from Rice to Raghib Ismail on Notre Dame's first scrimmage play from its 2-yard line and Rice's long touchdown run at 10:08 of the opening period. On third-and-3, Rice ran an option keeper to the left, cut sharply inside free safety Mark Carrier, who had come up to guard against a pitchout, and outraced the Trojan defenders. The 65-yard gallop was the longest of Rice's two-year career, the longest against USC since 1979 and came against a defense that was yielding only 68.1 yards a game on the By BOBBY O'BRIEN Of The Leaf-Chronicle Staff NASHVILLE Johnny Majors has seen plenty of bad weather for his games this season, but the conditions for Saturday's Vanderbilt-Tennessee matchup might have been the worst Tennessee not only earned a hard-fought 14-7 victory, but also survived strong gusting winds up to 35 miles per hour that wreaked havoc throughout much of the game. "The weather conditions this year are the most unusual I've ever' seen," Majors said. "Today was really awful because of the wind.

The weather was a big factor in the ballgame and for the kicking game it was a tremendous factor." Perhaps, paying the biggest price for the harsh wind were the teams' punters and placekickers as punts and extra points became trying situations. Vanderbilt punter Jeff Owen said he had to change his style of kicking. "It was such a strong wind," Owen, who played high school football at Montgomery Bell Academy, said. "I've never seen anything like it "When I was going against the wind, I went with the line drive I would have to hold the ball lower, too." Tennessee punter Kent Elmore got off the biggest boomer of the day as his first punt eventually swung 1. Southern Cal flanker Gary Wellman (83) breaks up a possible interception by Notre Dame free safety Pat Terrell during the final seconds of Saturday's game In Los Angeles.

LOS ANGELES (AP) Top-ranked Notre Dame, overcoming the last-minute suspensions of its leading runner and top receiver, moved within one step of its eighth national championship Saturday with a 27-10 victory over error-plagued No. 2 Southern California. Tailback Mark Green, forced to play the entire game after Tony Brooks was suspended, scored twice on short runs for the Irish. Quarterback Tony Rice ran 65 yards for a touchdown and Stan Smagala returned an interception 64 yards for the other Notre Dame scores. Brooks and Ricky Watters, the team's top receiver, were suspended by Coach Lou Holtz before the game for repeatedly being late for team meetings and functions.

Brooks led the team in rushing even though he was Green's backup. The Irish will meet No. 4 West Virginia in the Fiesta Bowl on Jan. 2 In a battle of the nation's only unbeaten teams both are 11-0. Southern Cal takes a 10-1 record against No.

11 Michigan in the Rose BowL It was the 24th time the No. 1 and No. 2 teams had met since The Associated Press poll began in 1936, and the top-ranked team has won 15 while losing seven and tying two. Notre Dame's victory snapped a string of four consecutive losses by the No. 1 team.

i a end zone. I got a great toss from Jeff. "The only different factor between now and the last four weeks in the rain is that the wind hasn't been blowing this bad. I don't know if we surprised them on the quick kick. The fans behind us knew it but I wasnt sure their players did." The kick got Tennessee out of the hole and forced much of the second quarter to be fought in Commodore territory.

Tennessee opened up the second quarter with a drive that resulted in a 22-yard field goal attempt by Chip McCallum. The easy chip shot went wide left The day didnt get any easier for McCallum as Tennessee eventually Please turn to page 2B i 7' i- ground, leading the nation in that category. Southern Cal's only touchdown came on tailback Scott Lockwood's 1-yard run with 2:24 left in the half. The Trojans appeared to have things going their way when Jim Sexton shanked a 21-yard punt to his 49. Peete dropped back to pass but flanker John Jackson slipped and Smagala, a cornerback, cut in front of him for his first interception of the season.

He raced down the sideline untouched and scored With 41 seconds left That was the crusher. Although Southern Cal kept piling up yardage and held Notre Dame without a first down on six consecutive possessions in the second and third quarters, the Trojans never really threatened to get back in the game. Quin Rodriguez kicked a 26-yard field goal late in the third period to bring the Trojans within 20-10 they had had a first down at the 4 but were set back by a precedure penalty but Notre Dame replied with its only sustained drive of the Please turn to page 2B.