Times-Advocate from Escondido, California • 33

I TIMES-ADVOCATE MONDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 1980 D-1 DusincssFlnance Chargers run all over Chiefs to stay in the last week, the Chargers gave Thomas the ball. He gamed five. He gained four the next two times. The second one represented six points. Thats all the Chargers got because Benirschke's extra point attempt hit the right upright and caromed away.

It stayed 7-6 until the Chargers first possession of the second half. The San Diegans started that drive on their 20, used 11 plays to cover 80 yards, 65 of which came through the air, before giving Thomas the honors from seven yards out. Thomas was never touched on the play, as he first went inside, saw no room, then veered to the outside where he made an angle to the end zone. On his way to giving the Chargers the lead he lofted his right arm and extended his index finger, letting the fans know that he, and his teammates, were No. 1.

I forgot I did that, said a smiling Thomas around his crowded cubicle. I was just happy. I havent crossed that line too often. It was my wifes birthday and I promised her one. Thomas kept his promise and the Chargers kept coming at the Missourians.

On their next possession they pushed the ball to the Kansas City 26. Benirschke missed his third field goal, all three being wide right. On its next possession San Diego advanced to the Chiefs 32. They stalled, and Benirschkes 50-yard field goal was blocked by Gary Green, who also limited John Jefferson to three catches for 33 yards. On their next advancement the Chargers did not put any pressure on their popular but troubled placekick-er.

This time the Chargers raced 59 yards, 35 on the ground, to Williams clinching eight-yard touchdown. The first man to greet Williams after his over-the-shoulder spike was Thomas, the real star of the day. It was mentioned to Mike that when he gained his 195 yards against Coryell in '76 it helped knock the Cardinals out of the playoff chase. Maybe I can knock him in this time," he said. Coryell would like that.

And so would Thomas teammates. the 50. The Chiefs accumulated just 10 first downs, the Chargers 30. In total yards it was San Diego 383, Kansas City 183. In time of possession San Diego had the ball 14:22 more than the Chiefs, or almost one entire quarter.

We got after em pretty good," said middle linebacker Bob Horn. That they did. But despite the defenses good game, the talk of the day was San Diegos running game. The Chargers ran the ball for 171 yards, or just 41 yards less than they passed. What made that running mark even more impressive is they did it without Chuck Muncie, who left the game late in the first period and never returned.

Muncies malady was a very sore knee, caused by an accidental kick from one of the Kansas City defenders. Chucks absence made a presence of Mike Thomas. Thomas wasnt even on the Charger roster the first six weeks of the season. Instead, he was on the unable to perform list because of an off-season racquetball knee injury which required surgery. There was no doubt that Thomas performed yesterday.

Twenty-seven times the Chargers handed the ball to their smallest back, and the 5-foot-10, 190-pound runner responded with 127 yards and two touchdowns. The last time Thomas surpassed the 100-yard mark was on Nov. 21, 1976 as a Washington Redskin. His opponent that day was the Don Coryell -coached St. Louis Cardinals.

Thomas gained 195 yards that afternoon. Mike Thomas came off the bench and did a heck of a job, commended Coryell. The diminutive back first got San Diego on the scoreboard at 7 15 of the second period. The Charger defense set the offense up when Woodrow Lowe forced a Steve Fuller fumble, which Gary Johnson used his big hands to pounce on at the Kansas City 21. Two plays later, the Chargers were facing a third and two from the 13.

Instead of throwing into the end zone like they might have against Denver Staff Photo by Jim Baird CHARCERS' MIKE THOMAS SCORES THE FIRST HIS HIS TWO TOUCHDOWNS AGAINST CHIEFS Rolf survives his nightmare By DON NORCROSS T-A Sports Writer SAN DIEGO Like a darting, against the gram Mike Thomas run, the San Diego Chargers changed their direction yesterday. The exciting, score-from-anywhere-on-the-field, often times mistake-prone Chargers, turned into the ball control, keep-it-close-to-the-vest Chargers. More importantly, they won. That too was a change. Their 20-7 success yesterday against the Kansas City Chiefs before 50,248 fans at San Diego Stadium ended a spell that saw the San Diegans lose on four of their last six tries.

It also enabled Don Coryells club to improve to 7-4 and creep within one-half game of the Oakland Raiders. The Raiders play this evening against the Seattle Seahawks. Coryell would prefer to see Seattle win. What he doesnt have a preference towards is how his football team scores. Yesterday, they did so mainly on the ground.

We were successful running, said Coryell. If we can do that, well do it. If were successful passing the ball, well do that. Well do whatever we think is necessary to score. Our objective is to score points.

The Chargers did not score many points yesterday, mainly because Rolf Benirschke had a very un-Rolf Benirschk e-like afternoon. Had Benirschke made three of his four field goal attempts, plus the extra point he missed, the Chargers would have breezed to victory. Instead, this one was in doubt until 6:21 remained in the game when Clarence Williams scooted into the end zone from eight yards out. Benirschke wasnt a goat because his defensive friends played in such a manner that made the Kansas City offense seem nonexistent. Consider these facts After the Chiefs scored their lone touchdown on a four-yard Steve Fuller run at 13:19 of the first period, Kansas City ran just one play the rest of the game in San Diego territory.

In the second half the Chiefs did not run any plays from the Chargers side of SMU will be better in Holiday SAN DIEGO (AP) Southern Methodist University didnt exactly come in on a high note, but the Mustangs will face the winner of the Western Athletic Conference in next months Holiday Bowl football game at San Diego Stadium. It will be the first bowl appearance since 1968 for SMU, which is 7-3 afer being stunned by Texas Tech, 14-0, last Saturday. The Mustangs, members of the Southwest Conference, officially accepted the bowl bid following the game. SMU, ranked 18th nationally before the Texas Tech game, will probably face 13th-rated Brigham Young University, which is bidding for a third straight Holiday Bowl berth. The Cougars moved a step closer to its fifth straight WAC championship last Saturday with a 45-14 victory over Colorado State.

The Cougars, 9-1, can clinch the berth next week with a victory over Utah. The nationally televised Holiday Bowl will begin at 6 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 19. Ill guarantee you well play better in San Diego than we did today, SMU coach Ron Meyer told representatives of the Holiday Bowl after last Saturdays game.

We just couldnt get untracked. SMU halfback Craig James pretty well summed up the SWC season when he said, The worlds crazy. SMU, 4-3 in SWC play, entertains Arkansas, 5-4, in its regular-season finale this Saturday. Arkansas, which beat Texas last Saturday, will meet Tulane, 6-3, in the Hall of Fame Classic at Birmingham, on Dec. 27.

John Reid, executive director of the third-year bowl, said he was delight-i ed with SMUs acceptance. Our goal was to get the highest ranked team possible, said Reid. We felt it was the best team available to us. It represents a new section of the country to become acquainted to the Holiday Bowl. SMUs biggest victory of the year, a 20-6 shocker over unbeaten and then-second ranked Texas, propelled the Mustangs to their first winning season since 1974.

A victory over Arkansas next week would give SMU its best won-loss I record (8-3) since 1968, when the Mus-I tangs went on to beat Oklahoma, 28- 27, in the Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl. By JOHN MAFFEI T-A Sports Editor SAN DIEGO Victory turned what might have been a nightmare into a simple character builder for Rolf Benirschke. Until midway through the fourth quarter when the San Diego Chargers scored their third touchdown to take control of their game with the Kansas City Chiefs, it appeared that the once-reliabie Benirschke could very easily culminate an afternoon of frustration by causing his team to lose a crucial AFC West contest. On the Chargers second possession of the afternoon, Benirschke pushed a 43-yard field attempt wide to the right. Just 34 minutes into the second quarter, Benirschke had a 35-yard field attempt.

But again, the ball sailed wide right. Moments later, Benirschkes frustration heightened as his PAT attempt hit the top of the upright and bounded away to the right. There was more to come, however. The Chargers second drive of the third quarter stalled at the Kansas City 26 and Benirschke was called upon to try a 43-yard field goal. Again, the kick was wide to the right.

Benirschkes final attempt of the day came at the start of the fourth quarter after the Charger offense bogged down at the KC 32. Rolf lined up for a 50-yard attempt only to see it blocked by the Chiefs Gary Green. Ive never gone through anything like this, Benirschke said after the Chargers had ground out a 20-7 victory over the Chiefs. I tried to keep a positive attitude. I kept thinking everything would work out.

It didnt for me, but luckily the team saved me from having nightmares about this game. I think this is what you might term a character builder. Three of the field goals I just missed. The one that was blocked was a great effort by Green. We got the ball off in 1.29 seconds the fastest of the day.

I just had a bad day. Charger coach Don Coryell agreed. Rolf is a man like you and me, Coryell told the writers after the game. Hes won games for us and he will win more in the future. It was just one of those days.

WTe all have them. We all have our bad days and he had a bad one today. But there is more to Benirschkes kicking than a bad day against Kansas City. After making his first three attempts of the season to run his consecutive streak to 16, Rolf missed a 52-yarder against Oakland. Despite the miss, he had still hit on 41 of his last 46 field goal tries.

That figures out to an 89 percent success ratio. Rolf rebounded from the miss to Please see Roll D-3 Mi 1 3 "far- 1 Staff Photo by Jim Baird SAN DIEGOS ROLF BENIRSCHKE (6) MISSED ALL FOUR OF HIS FIELD GOAL ATTEMPTS YESTERDAY Near-oerfec jsrsSF't'''' whose three-year contract runs out at the end the season, apparently doesnt have to worry. Patera doesnt have a new pact yet but the signing of a new one is just a matter of time, says Seattle general manager John Thompson. Thompson says there have been contract discussions this season. Theres no pressure on him (Patera) whatsoever, Thompson said last week.

Thompson added, He is desirous of staying with us and were very desirous of having him come back. While Pateras status has drawn much of the media attention in Seat Monday telecasts in 1970 while the Seahawks are 2-0 on Mondays. With Plunkett at the controls in place of injured Dan Pastorini, the Raiders, 7-3, have shot to the top of the American Football Conferences Western Division. The Seahawks, 4-6, have dropped three in a row, including a 31-30 last-minute decision to the Kansas City Chiefs last weekend in the Kingdome. Nobody wants to be embarrassed on Monday night, Plunkett said.

And everyone is aware of Oakland's record on Monday nights. Despite Seattles problems this season, Seahawks coach Jack Patera, SEATTLE (AP) The Oakland Raiders and the Seattle Seahawks, two National Football League teams which have been nearly perfect on Monday nights, meet tonight with the Raiders favored by two points to score their sixth straight victory behind reborn quarterback Jim Plunkett. The game will start at 6 p.m. PST at the Kingdome, where Seattle is 0-5 this season. Channel 10 will carry the telecast The Seahawks and the Raiders have only lost once between them in 18 tries on Monday night national television.

Oakland is 14-1-1 since ABC-TV began pleted 75 of 111 passes for 1,026 yards and nine touchdowns. In the five wins, Oakland is averaging 32 points a game. The Raiders buried the Seahawks, 33-14, in Oakland three weeks ago. We cant afford to lose another one, said Patera when asked about the Seahawks playoff chances. Were playing at a high level, Raiders coach Tom Flores said.

Its just a matter now of maintaining that. Against the Seahawks, Plunkett was at his best. The 10-year NFL veteran completed 16 of 25 for 214 yards and three touchdowns. tle, the story in Oakland is the 32-year-old Plunkett. Since Pastorini suffered a broken leg, the 1970 Heisman Trophy winner from Stanford has directed the Raiders to consecutive victories over San Diego, Pittsburgh, Seattle, Miami and Cincinnati.

Id rather keep a low profile and just concentrate on playing well, Plunkett said. Im trying to take it all in stride. I dont want to get too excited about it (the Raiders five wins in a row). It was pretty quiet for a couple of years. In five games, Plunkett has com urn umP.

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