Indiana Gazette from Indiana, Pennsylvania • 17

Sports BV ends opening-game drought a. C-3 College football under way C-4 Woods struggles in Milwaukee C-5 The Indiana. PA Gazette September 1', 1996 Miller looking for support in first NFL start By DOUG FERGUSON AP Sports Writer 7T Rick I I Weaver JACKSONVILLE. Fla. Jim right tackle Leon Searcy to the Jaguars, but signed former Pro Bowl lineman Will Wiirord.

-v The biggest change is at quarter- back, where Neil 0 DonneU followed free agency to the New York Jets. That's where Miller comes in. He won: the. starting ob over Kordell Stewart, the tans' choice. and.

Mike Tomczak. the 11-year of what coach Bill Cowher called a gut He has all of three-quarters of NKL experience, which would seem to give the Jaguars ample reason to feel they are catching the Steelers at the perfect time. ve got a new quarterback. but it's a'system where the quarter- back complements the said John Jurkovic. one of four new starters on defense for the "The whole otfense doesn't rely totally on the quarterback: What1 they ask the quarterback to do is hit the open passes, hand the ball off to the running back and don't make too the World League 'lm excited about Miller said of his first start: ('I just want to go out and make good decisions: Tm such a ycung quarterback in this League and we have a lot of veterans 1 on this want to prove myself Uo these and -'gain'jtheir spect Coughlin has seen enough of him on tape to think Cowher has made -the right But along with Miller making his debut, defensive end Ray Seals, who had 8 sacks last year, is out for the year with a torn rotator cuff.

Defen--: sive end Brentson Bucker is ques tionable with a knee injury. ":Cpugnllnjbristle.s.at the notion the Jaguars have got Pittsburgh' right where they want them. "I don buy any of that." he said. VThey re champions of their confer-': ence. Their defensive football team is powerful and forceful, and their" offense has shown the ability to do things.

Everybody has got their is nicked to a many mistakes Unless, of course, the quarterback -happens to be Stewart. Cowher talked about roles when hex named as the starter i Tomczak will be the backup and Stewart ''will do his which could be just about v- 'j It was in a 24-7 win over the. Jaguars last year when Kordell became Slash Stewart and the Steelers began their run to the Super Bowl what he was meant to do, to cause problems for the Jaguars coach Tom Coughlin said. "You do have to prepare for It. whatever role he shows -Cowher isn't providing much1 of a clue: You II see him often every- where," he said.

Even so. most of. the attention figures to be on Miller, a third-year pro out of Michigan State who broke his right thumb during his rookie training camp and broke his right wrist while playing for Frankfurt of certain extent The -Jaguars' nick is left tackle Tony Bosellrs which he sprained against the 49ers two i weeks ago. He was in full pads hy midweek and should play Sunday. Natrorie Means.

had i'repair a lorn liganient-in his. right' thumb on Monday and could be out weeks. That puts the onus on running, back' JameS Stewarti.who'hasn't carried the more than 20 times a game since he was at Tennessee quarterback Mark get his share of attention, fcven he has 'Andre Rison and Kccnan McGardeli to throw to this year;" he still has been the' most effective runner 'Tliere are some things wctc still trying to become efficient at. but it J. time for us to play.

Coughlin "Offensively. I would like to-be some phases ol our game-a, little-betler. lhan we were in. Ihe preseason. Thai going to Miller has.

come up with a conservative game plan for his first NFL start: Stay out of the way. not a guy who has to carry this team. said the Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback. got a good running game, good receivers and a good oflensive line. I've just gat to believe I don't have to do-any thing." Making your debut for the AFC champion has its advantages.

When they open the season Sunday at the Jacksonville Jaguars, the Steelers won be the same team that tested Dallas in the Super Bowl seven months ago. They won be chopped liver, either. Running back Bam Morns, let go alter his drug arrest, has been replaced by another bruiser in Je- rome Bettis. The Steelers lost guard Tom Newberry to retirement and stomps fWijrw "zr i Steelers clearly favored The AFC Centra) Division the" Pittsburgh Steelers to win or -lose. They have won three ofthe last -four Central titles and are the.

virtually universal choice to three-peat in 1996. coach Bill Cowher has openly praised his division only an idiot would do otherwisc-i-there are enough signs to point toward the Steelers representing the division once again in the conference playoffs. Even though injuries have -taken their toll on the offensive -and defensive lines, not to mention the wide receivers, and even though quarterback Jim Miller is probably one mediocre game away from stepping aside In favor or MikeTomcaak or Kordell Stewart, it is very hard to pick against the The Steelers are still solid at linebacker and in the secondary. The consensus is Jerome Bettis Has found a place where he can thrive. And if the orfensive line 'becomes healthy; Bettis has a good chance to enjoy another of the seasons he had under'Chuck Knox with the i ''T: XOi the Ie'ague's'six defending division champions, the Steelers have the third-weakest schedule, 'its opponents' winnings.

percentage .496. Only Buffalo C4921 and Dallas have schedules: Green Bay. .5701 has the toughest of all. with nine games scheduled against that finished or better. "Kansas Cityf the AFC West --r champion of a' year ago, ranks sixth (.551) The main question facing the 1 Steelers will center around who stands to give them the toughest battle and contend for a possible wild-card berth.

Cincinnati, By ALAN ROBINSON AF Sports Writer PITTSBURGH Hvest Virgmia needed iust foiir biays to find yet another to 'beat; Pittsburgh y- Amos ereoue scored on a 69-yafd run oh carry and Chad Johnston 'threw -three down: passes' 1 tb lead tlhe Mountain -j-- The Mountaineers shut out Pitt fo'r S' the eiiuea last seasuii wiiu a viuioi y. m.Morgantown Panthers matched a- school recprd: with their 10th consecutive loss; 'i It first' Opening' two '-f'fe known as.lhe-Backyard Brawl were played, and 1BS8 has sKut out Pitt plays by 1 running through three would-be tacklerson the fourth -V play from" scrimmage: He 'finished with 135 oh 12 carries; a school; vrecord for. a. freshman.in"-his.first--:.-oV told some people last waek ij probably nobody eoue then, but that evervbodv Marwri' Center's Matt Jewart (63) iaUei oH on an interception Penni Manor's Todd Shobe ft. Trailing the play is Marion Center's Matt Allenbaugh.

(Gazette photo by Jason A. 'Johnson) T' past PM Keviyed ptinger power Penhs Manor players reacted to the 13-0 deficit as if it were They came out in the second half and really responded as a The Stingers scored on offense: on on special teams in that pivotal third quarter. And the Comets? They went jnto the tank. their: second-half numbers were': Three more touchdowns fol-i-' succession: a 45--, yard interception return by Steve birocnman, a 63-yard punt return: by Brian Weaver and a deftly i. as unsightly as Dennis Rodman in executed 18-vard oass from Shank 15 yards (an average of 0.88- to Weaven per play), one first down La virtue qfa penalty-, and only Dlavs" Said Smith.

"Brian Maribn Center 34, Penns Manor 0, Key- itatsri," Marion "Center picked. off five Manor' passes which produced one touch-. down and set up two others; Turning- point: nThe; Stingers, who were clinging to a JrO lead dt drove 62 yards for a toochaown to open the second triggering a 27-point ava- lanche in the third quarter. Team records: Marion Center 1-0, Penns Maqor 0-: Marion Center plays at i Homer-Center Friday, and Penhs Manor hosts Saltsburg Weaver had a big game. He By BOB FULTON Gazette Sports Correspondent V- MARION CENTER -i time, Marion Center coach Brad Smith was; staring into blank, sweat-streaked faces' tha't surely- spelled disaster His players drained of energy, drained of emotion.

Trouv-l ble. he feared, loomed Smith was right; to a One team did meet- a disastrous fate on a sweltering: Saturday afternoon atop The HilL It just wasn't his. The Stingers, who were clinging to a 7-0 lead at halftime, exploded for 27 third-quarter points and rolled to a season-opening1 34-0 victory over Penns Manor. The stunning turnaround to -take even Smith by surprise; "The kids were so up emolional-ly there at the beginning of the game, but at halftime they were' just "I told them, Hey we've only played one half we have another half to three completed All to the team 4lThe second half we came out, "played one series and gave absolutely folded," said Penns Manor coach Mike McDermott, visibly disturbed by-the turn of events. "That's a shame.

We've been beaten before, but this is the first time a' group of kids I coached just gave up." The Comets appeared to hoist a figurative white Hag after Marion7 Center opened; the second half with a 62-yard scoring drive, cul--' minating in a 6-yard pass from Garrett to Josh Miller. The 'caught a touchdown pass, ran back a punt for a touchdown and had two interceptions, one of them in the end zone." Weaver, who gained 120 yards on five punt returns, had plenty of company in the spotlight. back Josh Orr dragged defenders for extra yardage on more than a occasions and finished with yards rushing, an average of per pop: Shank ran four times 75 yards, tossed two touch-. passes and slaved off a Continued on Page C-3 Quotable: Stingers coach Bracl on his players' monce: 7riey came out. in the anticipating a full season from Ki-Jana Carter, looKed good until rookie running back Deland McCullough was put on injured reserve.

The Bengals need a strong running ganie in order to complement Jeff Blakcs. Jeff Fischer has biiilt a strong defense since succeeding Jack "Pardee in Houston. Although there is a strong push for bteve -McNair to take over as the starting quarterback, look for Chris Chandler to run the show, if at the outset, while McNair to learn; the Steelers. season-opening opponent today, got help in the form oi such acquisitions as Leon John Jurkovic and Robert Massey. The Jaguars will miss Natrone Means, oh whom they had heavily counted to provide a blocking back for promising James Stewart.

Their day is coming, only not this year. As strange as it might sound, the probable darkhorse in this Held is the team that will officially debut today as.lhe Baltimore Ravens. Art Modell left behind more than just the- colors of the Cleveland Browns when he took Baltimore extremely generous offer. He left behind such baggage as Andre Rison, aging linebacker Pepper Johnson and Ihe hopelesslyunpopularBiil Belechick. He spirited away from Franklin native Ted Marchibroda, who happened to -have coached the Colts when (hey, too, were based in -Baltimore.

No less an authority than Tunchllkin.whoworkedthe- Stecters' exhibition broadcasts thissummer(hassaid quarterback Vinny Testa verde stands to benefit most from the coaching change. Marchibroda is considered, in Ilkin'svtew, a 1 more fatherly type than Belechick, thekindofguyunder whom Testaverde has a greater chance of succeeding. Nowif YourCousin Vinny can find some receivers and a i half-decent running back, the Ravens might be the team that 'gives the Steelers the hardest run for their Still, the smart money is on the Steelers to win the division. And will remain the team to beat until someone can prove otherwise. yirguiia DoniNehlen said.

"He just has it 1 don't know what it is, but he has it. You can't coach it, yoii can only recruit it." v- Zereoue. by'most pf-'-: the natibnal powers as a NewiYork'l high school senior, but didn't qualify academically until, the! following- summer; He -wanted to attend Ne- hraska, but coach Tom Osborne was out -of scholarships by then -and Zereoue ended up at West Virginia. just one game, -but' I-hope proved something," Zereoue said. "I i proved something to myself: that I- play college Zereoue outnisbed Billy West', the 1994 Big East offensive player ofthe 135-59.

West returned after missing all but two games last season with injuries. "But Billy West was playing against a great-defense," Zereoue- said of a West Virginia defense that; returns eight starters. "He it done against our ILwas performance since he was held to 48 yards in Pitt's 4 47-41 loss to West Virginia in West Virginia five in a row over Pitt (01) for the first time in the was only the seventh time the" rivalry has been staged as a season West Virginia didn't need long to put away Pitt, which is only B-26- "since Johnny Majors -returned -to lV coach the team he led tbthe national championship 20 years "'I'm more disappointed than an- gry," Majors said. "I'm not a guy to rant and rave around, but I'm very. disappointed for a lot of our kids: right now." A Johnston, 'a persistent Pitt tor- mentor, followed Zereoue's scoring run with TD passes of 33 yards to.

Rahsaan Vanterpool, 4. to Foreman and 1 yard to Ken Fisher 1 against a rebuilding Pitt allowed 409 a game in 1995. Johnston, who broke the 4.000- yard career passing yardage mark on his first attempt, hit 10 tive throws at one point while going lb-of-22 for 184 yards and no inter. second half and really responded a team. Gomebackk We can score three runs in the ninth With Houston trailing 3-2 following Jermaine Allensworth's go-ahead homer in the eighth, Jeff Bagwell and Derek Bell quickly tied it with consecutive doubles off John Erlcks 4.

-r' fastball, fastball, fastball. Now I'm more of a pitcher," he said. The last-place Pirates lost their fourth in a row since trading Denny Neagle and their 19th in 26 games; despite Cordova's strong debut as a i Cordova. Pittsburgh's closer most James Mouton's opposite-field sin- of the season, allowed one hit, struck gte to right and Derrick May's walk out eight and walked none over five preceded Eusebio's ground single up the fifth and sixth. Al Martin doubled, stole third and scored on Carlos Garcia's groundout in the third.

Dave Clark stole second and scored on Allensworth's single in the sixth off reliever Doug Brocail. Marc Wilkins replaced Cordova but couldn't keep the shutout going. He walked two to load the bases in the seventh before pinch-hitler Sean Berry's two-run single made It 2-2. Berry, scratched from the lineup Saturdayrwith an aching shoulder, drove in a career high-tying six in -Houston's 10-0 victory Friday and is 4-for-6 with eight RBIs in the series. Hampton allowed an unearned run on four hits while stranding six runners over four innings, but was' lifted due to a sore shoulder and will miss his next start.

NOTES: Cordova tied a 1951 Pi-: rates club record by becoming their starting pitcher. They will 1 break the record Sunday when new-. ly acquired rookie Jason Schmidt By ALAN ROBINSON AP Sports Wriler- PITTSBURGH The Houston Astros' already one of baseball's best come-from-beliind teams, have two more comebacks to Pinch-hitter Tony Eusebio's two-run single capped Houston's three--run ninth and the Astros ruined Francisco Cordova's first major league start by beating' the Pittsburgh Pirates 5-4 Saturday. John Hudek, a former All-Star' closer who missed more than a year with two broken ribs and circulation problems in his right shoulder, with-! -stood Jason Kendall's solo homer in -the ninth for his first save since June 13, 19S5. y-'h It was the 32nd come-from-behind victory this season for the NL Cen-.

tral-leading Astros, who have rallied for 1 1 of their last 23 wins. "People are starting to see what the Astros are all about," Houston starter Mike Hampton said. "We never give up. As long as the pitchers give the team a chance to win, we can do something like this. shutout innings.

He was lifted after five because he had never pitched longer than three innings in his relief appearances. "Let's face it, we're looking for starters and we thought we'd experiment with him," Pirates manager Jim Leyland said. "But we didn't-give him much help. We did a very poo'r job of executing at the plate, and we should have scored 4-5 more The Pirates, who had scored only one run in their previous two games, stranded 13 runners and were lfor-15 with runners in scoring position. They failed to score in two-on, no-out situations in three of the first four, innings and left the bases loaded in uie nucuie.

Xavier Hernandez (4-4) allowed Allensworth's homer but still got the who began the sea- son on the 60-day disabled list and i. was recalled from the minors Aug: .23, mixed in a slider with his usual fastball to retire three straight hit- ters following Kendall's: second ho- mer this "Deep, deep I broke a rib for the second time, I asked myself, "When is this going to end?" -5 Huk said. It's made me a betiev pitcher. I had to leam how to throw something other than just my fastball. 'Before, I'd go out there and throw ceptions.

He is for 815 yards and nine TDs in three career starts against Pitt. v'-s Johnston has thrown seven of those TD passes in two games at Pitt Stadium, where, the Mountaineers have won their last Ave games by a combined 113 points. His 60-yaraer to Zach Abraham with 15 seconds left rallied the Mountaineers to their RKk Weaver is a sports writer for the Indiana Gazette. His column appears regularly, 47-41 win in 1994..