Standard-Speaker from Hazleton, Pennsylvania • Page 25

B15 ollege Football Standard-Speaker, Sunday, December 14, 1S97 Davie gets serious about Notre Dame recruiting By NANCY ARMOUR AP Sports Writer in recent years. Partial qualifiers are no longer accepted, and Notre Dame doesn't take junior college students or, except in very rare cases, transfers. Behavior and character are factors, too. Holtz wanted Moss desperately three years ago, but the university turned him down after he was convicted of charges involving a fight that left a fellow high school student hospitalized. That means there are some prospects Davie has to write off automatically.

It's frustrating at times and other schools use At 11 Xv CSS) STffi SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) Randy Moss, a Heisman Trophy candidate out of Marshall. Jeff Kramer, Iowa's starting defensive end. Travis Minor, the freshman phenom running back at Florida State. They all either seriously considered, committed to or enrolled at Notre Dame.

And they all ended up playing a big role somewhere else. With an NCAA-limit of 85 scholarships, schools can't afford to gamble when it comes to recruiting. Have a kid transfer or lose one to academic or discipline problems, and a program can feel the effects for years. Throw in the competition between powerhouses for the same small pool of top players, and recruiting is a risky business. That's why one of the first things coach Bob Davie did when he was hired last year to replace Lou Holtz was shake up the Irish recruiting effort.

"You cannot afford to" lose players, Davie said. "We're paranoid about it. We want to find a guy that three or four years from now will still be here and will be making progress." So far, his moves seem to be paying off. Notre Dame already has verbal commitments from five players, including David Terrell and Javin Hunter, two of the country's top receiver prospects. If things continue the way they're going now, the Irish could end up with one of the nation's top classes and their best in three years.

"They're on the right track now," said Tom Lemming, a recruiting analyst with Prep Football Report. "They should have a great year." While its history and tradition not to mention that little perk called the NBC, contract still give Notre Dame an edge, schools like Florida State, Nebraska and Penn State have some history of their own to offer. Those schools hit recruiting hard all year long, and the Irish found themselves playing catchup in recent years. That's not the case this year, Lemming said. it against the Irish but he said it can also work to Notre Dame's advantage.

"We have something to sell. We have something different than what other people have," he said. "It's not for everyone. It takes a special young man to first of all get admitted, and second of all to stay and be successful. "To take a kid that just barely is admissible or try to make something fit that's not a good fit, you end up losing in the long run," he added.

Once the Irish staff decided who they wanted, Davie altered the way they went about getting them. In the past, the Irish assistants divvied up the country, concentrating on the areas they knew best. Davie, for example, grew up near Pittsburgh and spent most of his coaching career at Texas so he'd probably take Texas and Pennsylvania. Sounds logical except for one problem: Notre Dame assistants are a nomadic bunch. When they'd leave, they'd take their territory with them and the whole process would be set back.

Not anymore. Now all of the coaches go everywhere. "All the evaluations are done as a staff. All the decisions on who we take and who we don't take are done as a staff," Davie said. "We try to get everybody equally involved in the process." He also made Notre Dame's summer camp a priority; Lemming called them "a joke" in past years.

While schools like Michigan, Texas and Ohio State were attracting the See SERIOUS, B18 JOE RAYMONDAssociated Press Notre Dame coach Bob Davie will pay special attention to the Fighting Irish recruiting effort. "Notre Dame got in there with all the top players as soon as the other big-name schools," he said. "The coordination was fantastic this year." As soon as Davie put his staff together, they sat down and decided who they wanted. And athletic talent was only part of what they considered. Notre Dame isn't like other Division I-A schools.

Its academic standards are higher than anyone's except maybe Stanford and Northwestern, and they've gotten tougher 'Jr (toman- Ettlitt wm Vi -ifiinffiiiiililiiiiilff "olf nmayrmrttrli 'fflailriOTl HANS DERYKAssociated Press Bethlehem Catholic grad Dan Kendra is hoisted on the shoulders of jubiliant fans after Kendra helped Florida State defeat Florida last year. Kendra along with Randy Moss, Jeff Kramer and Travis Minor all considered, committed or enrolled at Notre Dame before going on to play major roles at other schools. Mount Union rips Lycoming, 61-12 McNeese slips past Delaware into final By DAVID REED Associated Press Writer t- A rpY fi Mh i yzjf L- 1 SALEM, Va. (AP) From the opening touchdown drive, Mount Union wide receiver Reiko Gollate had a gut feeling that the Purple Raiders were on the way to their second straight NCAA Division III championship. "I thought we had control," said Gollate, who caught two of Bill Borchert's six touchdown passes in Mount Union's 61-12 Stagg Bowl victory over Lycoming on Saturday.

The title game was typical of Mount Union's season. The Purple Raiders finished 14-0 for the second year in a row, outscoring its opponents by an average score of 54-8. The small college from Alliance, Ohio, has the longest collegiate winning streak, winning 28 consecutive games since losing in the 1995 semifinals. "They gave us a good spanking today, no question about that," Lycoming coach Frank Girardi said. Lycoming (12-1) scored its first touchdown early in the second quarter when Joe Spang caught a deflected pass from Jason Mar-raccini in the end zone, making the score 14-6.

Borchert responded with a 36-yard TD pass and set up a touchdown on the next possession with a 55-yard completion to the 3. The Purple Raiders tied a Division III championship game record by scoring 28 points in the first half and came within a few inches of breaking it when Bill Andrea's 35-yard field goal attempt faded right as time ran out. Marraccini, who was sacked six times, said he thought the Warriors still had a chance to win because they had come from behind in the second half several times this season. But on the first possession of the second half, Mount Union stop- STEVE HELBER Associated Press Lycoming College linebacker Brett Zalonis (25), left, draws a pass interference penalty as Mount Union's Marc Lantos (21) tries to hang onto a pass during Saturday's Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl, which was won by Mount Union, 61-12. See LYCOMING, B18 Northern Colorado blasts New Haven for D-2 title By EDDIE PELLS AP Sports Writer NEWARK, Del.

(AP) Shonz LaFrenz kicked a 31-yard field goal with five seconds left Saturday to give McNeese State a 23-21 victory over Delaware and a berth in its first NCAA Division I-AA championship. McNeese (13-1), making its sixth playoff appearance, lost in the semifinal in 1995 Marshall, and was a quarterfinal loser in 1992, 1993 and 1994. Delaware (12-2) has been in the playoffs 11 times in 18 years. The Blue Hens lost in the championship game in 1982 and the semifinal in 1992. The Cowboys trailed 21-20 when the final drive began on their own 29 with 3:22 remaining following a punt.

Blake Pre-jean completed 6 of 8 passes for 44 yards on the drive. He ran for 7 more yards to run down the clock, setting up the winning kick. McNeese had gotten within a point on a 31-yard field goal by LaFrenz at 6:14. The Cowboys had been stopped on fourth-and-1 at the 11 but got another chance when they were penalized for illegal procedure before 'the snap; Delaware wasn't al lowed to decl ine the penalty. In the first half; another undeclinable penalty negated a McNeese incompletion on third-and-9 in its own territory.

Given another chance, Prejean found Damien Morris with a 36-yard pass, giving the Cowboys first down at the Delaware 27. The Cowboys went on to score on a 13-yard TD run by William Davis. Prejean and Morris hooked up for a 70-yard touchdown pass in the closing minute of the first half to put the Cowboys ahead 14-7. A field goal by LaFrenz made it 17-7 in the third quarter. Delaware's Craig Cummings, who had a 7-yard touchdown run to open the scoring, caught a 33-yard TD pass from Matt Nagy with 3:54 left in the third quarter to bring the Blue Hens within three points.

Delaware went ahead with 9:40 left in the game, when Nagy found Greg McGrew open in the end zone for a 20-yard score. Nagy completed 12 of 18 passes, while Prejean was 16-for-27. Davis gained 129 yards rushing for McNeese, 11 yards less than Delaware's total. Holmes rushed for 108 yards and two scores in the first Early in the fourth quarter, he broke the title-game record previously held by Mike Turk, who rushed for 190 yards in Troy State's 31-17 win over Portland State in 1987. Holmes piled up his 195 yards on 30 carries and added to a 136-yard performance in last year's 23-14 title-game victory over Carson-Newman.

Sophomore quarterback Corte McGuffey finished 8-for-13 for 158 yards and two touchdowns as UNC ended the season on a 10-game winning streak that began when coach Joe Glenn made McGuffey the permanent starter. Northern Colorado defensive lineman Aaron Smith had 2'2 sacks to finish the season with 21 xh sacks on a defense that recorded 46, including seven against New Haven's Cazzie Kosciolek. Kosciolek, who this year from Division I-AA Boston University, finished 20-for-39 for 182 yards and three interceptions. New Haven matched its worst loss since a 51-0 setback to Maine Maritime in 1977, the first year of football at the school. It also marked the biggest title-game margin since North Dakota State beat Indiana of Pennsylvania 51-11 in 1990, 16 years after Central Michigan beat Delaware 54-14.

The Bears opened the game with a six-play touchdown drive highlighted by punter Dirk Johnson's 39-yard run on a fourth-and-2 fake. It was Johnson's third fake in two title-game appearances but it appeared to catch New Haven completely off guard. The Chargers never regained balance and the most humbling moment came with one second left in the first half, when the Bears faked a field goal despite a 27-0 lead. Holder Dean Grable had his choice of two wide-open receivers and found Brian Lusk for a 7-yard touchdown. A 2-point conversion made it 35-0, giving Northern Colorado the biggest halftime lead in the history of the title game.

lege beat Jacksonville State 3-0 in 1989. Before the game, North Alabama's 1995 team was honored as the best to play in Division II during the last quarter century. Had the voting taken place after the game, Northern Colorado might have won. The Bears had to win three straight road playoff games to make their return trip to Florence. When they got there, they thoroughly dominated.

They held the nation's top-scoring offense, averaging 43 points, to just 203 yards, 210 below its average. Northern Colorado also churned out 337 yards in the first half against a team that came in allowing 312 per game. FLORENCE, Ala. (AP) Billy Holmes rushed for a title-game record 195 yards and scored three touchdowns Saturday to lead Northern Colorado to its second straight NCCA Division II championship, 51-0 over New Haven. It was the biggest blowout in the 25-year history of the title game and it put the Bears (13-2) one title away from matching North Alabama's record of three straight championships from 1993-95.

New Haven (12-2) was shut out for the first time since 1983; it was the first title-game shutout since Mississippi Col Youngstown State shuts down Eastern Washington 73 yards for a touchdown to give Youngstown a 14-0 lead. After EWU punted, Mark Griffith's 41 -yard field goal lifted the Penguins to a 17-0 lead midway through the third. But the Eagles came back on a drive that included a 35-yard completion from Leons to Jeff Ogden. Leons connected with Joe Mitchell on a 10-yard scoring threat in the half ended when EWU receiver Joe Mitchell fumbled at his own 1-yard line and Dwyte Smiley recovered. The Eagles were held nearly 200 yards and 21 points below their season averages.

EMU was driving on their first possession of the second half when quarterback Harry Leons was sacked and fumbled. Linebacker Mike Stanec picked up the ball on a bounce and ran playoff games. After a scoreless first quarter, Brown's 70-yard run gave the Penquins first down on the EWU 4. Brown, a sophomore, punched over from the 1-yard line for a 7-0 lead early in the second quarter. Eastern's offense, tops in the nation with an average of 505 yards per game, was held scoreless in the first half for the first time all season.

Its only Chattanooga, for the national championship. McNeese St. defeated Delaware 23-21 in the other semifinal. Eastern (12-2) committed four turnovers and saw its comeback hopes dashed on an interception at the goal line late in the fourth quarter. Youngstown St.

won national titles in 1991, 1993 and 1994, and lost in the title game in 1992. They have won 11 straight By NICHOLAS K. GERANIOS Associated Press Writer SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) -Adrian Brown rushed for 187 yards and two touchdowns and Youngstown State shut down the nation's top offense in a 25-14 win over Eastern Washington Saturday in the Division I-AA semifinals. Youngstown (12-2) will play McNeese State next Saturday in.