The Selma Times-Journal from Selma, Alabama • 10

Notre Dame knocks off Seminoles, 31-24 By RICK WARNER AP Football Writer threw, the second-ranked Fighting Irish added another chapter to their football lore by beating a team many considered unbeatable. Powered by a rugged rushing attack, Notre Dame ran out to a 17-point lead and hung on to beat top-ranked Florida State 31-24 Saturday, becoming a favorite to win a ninth national championship when Charlie Ward's desperation pass was knocked dow on the goal line as time expired. Lee Bee ton rushed for 122 yards and a touchdown and Jeff Burris ran for two more scores as the Irish won college football's Game of the Year and the 28th meeting between the top two teams in The Associated Press poll. Both teams entered the game with 9-0 records and 16-gamc winning streaks, lied for longest in the nation. The Seminoles were favored by a touchdown because they had been more dominant.

outscoring their opponents by an average of 44-6. But after falling behind 7-0, the Irish scored 24 straight points, harassed Hcisman Trophy favorite Ward and dominated the smaller Seminoles before a frenzied crowd of 59,075 at Notre Dame Stadium. Once again, Bobby Bowden came up short in a bid for a national championship at least for now. In the past, it had been Miami that gave Florida State its critical loss. This year it was the Irish.

But Bowden could still get another shot at the title in a bowl rematch against Notre Dame. After the Irish took a 24-7 lead on Kevin Pcndcrgasts career-best 47-yard field goal in the third quarter, Florida State pulled to 24-17 on Wards 6-yard touchdown pass to Warrick Dunn and a 24-yard field goal by Scott Bentley, who turned down" a scholarship offer from Irish coach Lou Holtz. But Notre Dame built a cushion when Bums, a defensive back who is used as a runner in goal-line situations, scored on an 1 1 -yard run with 6:53 remaining. Florida State made it 31-24 on a lipped, 20-yard touchdown catch by Kcz McCorvcy with 2:26 left. Notre Dame recovered the Seminoles onsidc kick, but Florida State got the ball back with 51 seconds remaining.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) Florida Slate didnt believe in the magic and mystique of Notre Dame. Didnt believe that the specter of the past could get in the wav of its perfect season. It does now. On the same field where Rockne cached.

Homung ran and Montana Senators pummel Trojans to reach finals By JOHN G. FOX Sports Editor Photo by RAY TINSLEY Porter (10) sees a hole as Vardaman (15) looks for a block play. Scott Weaver's extra point made it 7-0 with 9:41 remaining in the First. The Senators failed to score the rest of the first quarter, but the Trojans also had trouble moving the ball as they had the ball three times in the first and went three and out each time. Mcadowview didn't get a first down until 48 seconds left before halftime and finished with only three on the night.

The Senators exploded for 28 points in the second quarter, beginning with Steve Porter's 11-yard run with 10:54 before the half. Jason Tabors 39-yard punt return set up the score. Weaver's kick made it 14-0. Dickinson threw his first TD pass (19th of the year) five minutes later when he was forced out of the pocket and threw across his body 1 1 yards to Tabor in the end zone. Weaver's kick made it 21-0 with 6:09 remaining before halftime.

After another threc-and-out scries for Mcadowview, the Senators were on the move again with a 61 -yard, four-play drive, capped by a Dickinson-to-Wrcn Burns TD pass of 30 yards. Weaver's kick made it 28-0 with 1:55 left in the second quarter. On the first play of Mcadowview ensuing drive, eighth-grade quarterback Matt Johnson's first pass of the night was intercepted by David Powell and returned 27 yards for another Morgan touchdown. Weaver kicked the extra point despite a Morgan penalty, giving the Senators a 35-0 halftime lead. After a scoreless third quarter, Weaver booted a 38-yard field goal to put Morgan up 38-0 with 11:56 remaining in the game.

The Senators wrapped up the scoring when Burns blocked a Brian Hammond punt and See SENATORS, page Ail Looking for revenge after dropping the first meeting 35-0, the Meadow view Christian Trojans back to Morgan two weeks later only to lose by a greater margin. 45-0. The win put the Senators in position to capture their third straight Class AAA, AISA championship as they host Lowndes Academy this Friday night for the title. Morgan set the tone early when the Senators quickly marched 65 arils five plays for their first score. The drive was highlighted by a 6-yard pass from Michael Dickinson (6-for-8 for 120 yards and two TDs) to Paul Vardaman down to the Trojan 3-yard line.

Lineman Rusty Henry lined up in the backfield to score on the next Hornet comeback falls short Catherine falls to Coosa Valley in semifinals From staff reports GREENSBOfc After' storybook ending of the regular season to get into the playoffs, the Dallas County Hornets fell short of another upset, 36-24, to Greensboro Friday night in the first round of the 4 A state playoffs. Dallas County (5-6) jumped to an early 6-0 lead when quarterback Wade Ousley ran fCfrt from 1 1 yards out. The point after was no good, and the Hornets led by six with 9:15 remaining in the first quarter. The Raiders came back in the second quarter with a long drive capped by a 4-yard TD run. The extra point was blocked by Dale Posey, and the score was tied at 6-6 with 7:05 remaining before the half.

Greensboro took the lead on 326-yard pass play. The two-point conversion failed, and the Raiders led 12-6 with 2:50 before the break. On Dallas County's first play on its ensuing drive, James Ford hit Maurice Walter on a 72-yard halfback pass for a touchdown. The two-point conversion failed, and the game was again tied at 12-12 with 2:28 before halftime. But the first-half scoring wasn't over yet.

The Raiders moved the ball down to the Hornet 6-yard line aided by two controversial pass interference calls. The Raiders took it in from there to take a 2 OM 2 halftime lead after the successful two-point conversion. In the second half, the Raiders appeared to be running away with it after they scored again and added another two-point conversion to make it 28-12 with 8:21 left in the third. But Dallas County got right back in the game when Greensboro attempted a fake punt, and Ford intercepted the pass and returned it to the Raider 20. Anthony Jones (110 yards on 18 carries) scored from 9 yards out to pull the Hornets within striking distance.

The two-point conversion attempt again failed, and the score was 28-18 with 2:34 left in the third. In the fourth quarter, Caleb Ford intercepted a Raider pass that led to an Ousley 1-yard TD run. Again, the two-point attempt was no good, and the Hornets only trailed by four, 28-24, with 9:59 to play. But with 5:16 remaining, Greensboro added another touchdown and two-point conversion that iced the game and ended the Hornets' season. game.

Catherine's defense was led by Doug Campbell with 10 tackles, Bradford with seven and Baxter Collins, six. Bradford and Campbell each recovered a fumble. The game was frighteningly close when the statistics are examined. Both teams had 1 1 first downs. Catherine and Coosa Valley each ran the ball 30 times for 139 and 137 yards, respectively.

Even the penalties were close with six each. But where it counts, the Colts fell short. "It was a good season," Colt head coach Robby James said. "Weve won 36 of 38 games, and we have nothing to gripe about. We lost to a great team." Coosa Valley-Catherinc, Stats Coosa Valley 0 0 7 714 Catherine 6 0 0 612 First Quarter Cat Pope 63 pass from James (kick failed), 9.26 Third Quarter Coo 5 run (kick), 8:32 Fourth Quarter Coo 11 run (kick), 8:32 Cal Pope 4 run (run failed), 2:18 Coo Cat 11 11 First downs From staff reports CATHERINE The Catherine Academy Colts, after winning 10 in a row following an opening week loss, dropped a heart-breaker 14-12 to Coosa Valley in the semifinals of the Class AISA playoffs.

The Colts scored first when quarterback David James hit Marcus Pope on a 63-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter. The extra point failed, and Catherine led 6-0 with 9:26 remaining in the opening quarter. The score remained 6-0 until 8:32 in the third when Coosa Valley scored on a 5-yard run. The successful extra point gave Coosa Valley the lead, 7-6. Later in the third, Theron Bradford missed a 45-yard field goal.

The visitors extended their lead in the fourth quarter on an 1 1 -yard TD by the quarterback. The extra point made it 14-7 with 8:32 left in the season. But Catherine wasn't done yet. Pope, who hurt his ankle in the first quarter, scored on a 4-yard run, but the two-point conversion was not good. Catherine trailed 14-12 with 2:18 left.

The Colts would not get the ball back, and their season ended one game short of the championship 30-137 30-139 Rushes-yards Passing yards Comp-att-int Fumnles-lost Punts-avg Penal ties-yards Photo by JOHN BROWN Jones (30) surges for extra yardage Auburn holds off Georgia for 10th win interception return when he picked off Zeiers pass, which was tipped by Brian Robinson. Auburn-Georgia, Stats Auburn 7 14 14 7 42 Georgia 7 07 14 28 Aub Richardson 28 mn (F.thcnJge kick) Ga T. Davis 1 run (Parkman kick) Aub Bostic 41 mn (Etheridge kick) Aub Bostic 4 mn (Fthcndgc kick) I Aub Shelling 74 interception return (F.ihcndgc kick) Ga Graham 76 pass from ZeierT (Parkman kick) Aub 10 pass from White (Etheridge kick) Ga Hunter 4 pass from Zcier (Parkman kick) Ga Bohannon pass from Zcier (Parkman kick) Aub Bostic 26 run (Etheridge kick) A 85,444. Tide controls MSU in 36t25 victory TUSCALOOSA (AP) Lemanski Hall returned a blocked kick 60 yards for a touchdown ais No. 12 Alabama began a new winning streak one week after its 31-game unbeaten string came to an end, defeating Mississippi Slate 36-25 Saturday.

The Crimson Tide (8-1-1 overall, 5-1-1 Southeastern Conference) was an 18-point favorite but struggled to beat the Bulldogs (2-6-2, 1-5-), who led through much of the first half and were sfill in the game when Hall made the first of three big defensive plays. Ij With the Bulldogs set up for a game-tying field goal, Darrell Blackburn blocked Tom Burkes kick. Hall picked it up and outran two State playdrs down the left sideline to put Alabama ahead 26-17 with 34 stconds left in the third quarter. On Slates next possession. Hall intercepted a tipped pass at the Bulldog 26 to set up Michael Proctors third field goal, a 30-yardcr wiih 11 05 remaining.

Hall sealed the victory when he intercepted another pass late in the game. ATHENS, Ga. (AP) James Bostic ran for 183 yards and three touchdowns as No. 7 Auburn went to 10-0 for only the second time in school history with a 42-28 victory over Georgia Saturday. Bostic scored on runs of 41, 3 and 26 yards and Chris Shelling returned a tipped interception 73 yards for another score in the Tigers bid to stay in the national championship race despite being on NCAA probation.

The only other Auburn team to go 10-0 was in 1957. It won the school's only national crown and it, too, was on probation. Auburn went to 7-0 in the Southeastern Conference with one game remaining against archrival Alabama in Auburn next Saturday. The loss knocked Georgia (4-6, 2-6) out of any chance at a bowl because the Bulldogs cant win the six games required for bowl eligibility. Leading 35-14 after three quarters, the Tigers had to survive a Georgia comeback featuring Eric Zcier scoring passes of 4 yards to Brice Hunter and 8 yards to Brian Bohannon, the last with 3:48 remaining.

Shelling recovered Georgias onsidc kick at midfield and the Tigers pul the game away in nine plays, with Bostic scoring his third touchdown on a 26-yard run with 2:43 to play. Zcier passed for 426 yards, completing 34 of 53. He was intercepted twice and sacked five times, four of those late in the game. The Tigers battered Georgia throughout the day with a ground game, setting the tone on their first possession when Tony Richardson raced 28 yards for a touchdown less tltSh three minutes into the game. Auburns other score came on Stan Whiles 10-yard pass to Frank Sanders, building a 35-14 lead late in the third quarter.

Georgia gained a 7-7 tic late in the first on a 1-yard run by Terrell Davis, who had 63 yards on six carries in the 96-yard drive that started after national punting leader Terry Daniels 57-yard punt rolled dead. Georgias other touchdown came on a 76-yard pass from Zcier to Hason Graham, who made the catch on the Auburn 45 and turned on the speed to get by a defender who had a good angle on him. It came one play after Shellings See TIDE, page All.