The Charlotte Observer from Charlotte, North Carolina • 44

4C IIIECHARIOTTE OBSFRVIR Sun Nov 11 1979 4 te 4 YA? f4' 41 4 ruiv pe 4 01 ezry w' 1 7 iir 0 rk4t 41'4' ad i'szt rtrz y4 tv 01 :741 (44 kt "i AP )11 wtmaymnwsnamwitaimaymerlif Observer Photos By MARK SLUDER Wolford's Running Back Jeff San is Scores The Terriers' 2nd Touchdou I the Terriers' took a 48-28 decision over Davidson on a rain-soaked field Wofford Defeats Davidson Ends Wildcats 'Dream' Season 4 '44 k' 1111P Score A Touchdown line and Davidson recovered the junior who hit 15 of 25 passes for 175 yards and a touchdown "But there was nothing I could do but release what was inside me (he spun around and hollered) and get back to playing football" On SC State's first play after stopping the Tigers at the goal line halfback Chris Ragland was stacked up and dropped in the end zone for a tiebreaking safety by Grambling linebacker Guy Prather and end Arthur King "We went to the bench and talked about keeping our poise when we went back out there" said Wilhams That cool was parlayed Into a 51-yard scoring drive with their next possession Fullback Robert Parham broke a tackle at the line and gained 45 yards to the Bulldog 6 on the first play Parham later scored from the 2 and Grambling had a 15-6 lead and 6 minutes left in the third quarter but let SC State back in the game By LES BOWEN Observer Staff Writer SPARTANBURG Jim Livaditis peeled off a muddy football uniform for perhaps the last time Saturday Then he started thinking about hamburgers The Wofford Terriers defeated Davidson 48-28 Saturday in a college football game at Wofford's Snyder Field and Livaditis a senior starting linebacker for Davidson played his final collegiate game He'll finish trimester exams next week then go to work for his father's Atlanta fast food restaurant 1' 114 I miag: 4s 'p linmInNelp gr elli pacity crowd an exciting afternoon only slightly diminished by 224 yards of penalties 140 against Grambling "I'm real glad to play In this area" said Robinson boosting his career record to 281-87-12 "But I'm sorry all the penalties and their fine defense kept us from showing how exciting a game we can play" The vocal home crowd hardly minded that Nor did it mind bead-linesman Curtis Todd's failure to give Tigers 6 points when quarterback Mike Williams apparently scored on a third-down sneak midway through the third quarter with the score tied 6-6 "My waist was lying on the goal line" said Williams later "and I was clutching the ball to my chest And on fourth down I broke the plane (above the goal) they pushed me back and then 1 went over again" How did he react to the calls? was nothint but furious" said ti ttf to 1 Turnovers Terrier Running Back Jim Brady Attempts To he fumbled the ball on the goal eats Bulldogs 22-15 Glecumbling Unleashes Rally By GLENN ROLLINS Observer Staff Writer ORANGEBURG SC For 38 seasons the last 8 minutes of countless football games have belonged to the Grambling Tigers coached by Eddie Robinson No need then his current ball-club figured Saturday to start tampering with tradition So the Tigers (8-2) took the ball with the sun sinking and SC State fans' hopes rising and drove 74 yards in 7 plays breaking a tie and putting the lock on a 22-15 victory before 13097 at Bulldog Stadium SC State finished its first season under former Johnson Smith player and assistant coach Bill Davis at 7-3 This game wasn't as close as the score indicates The Tigers more than doubled the Bulldogs' yardage (372-185) had a touchdown denied by an official and gave SC State prime scoring opportunities The fact the losers made good on those chances gave the near-ca A failed suddenly and inexplicably Livaditis reflected on this as he cut soggy adhesive tape off his wrists "Sometimes you get too fired up too tensed up and you stop havin' fun" Livaditis explained "And guess we didn't have the confidence (today) that we had at the beginning I gave it everything I had and I tried to have fun I don't have any regrets" Livaditis's lack of regrets was literal The Wildcats listed regrets in a team meeting on the Davidson football field Friday then tossed the paper into a fire in a trash can But Wofford's 463 rushing yards left many Wildcats with a feeling of incompleteness of potential unfulfilled "I'd call it a fair season" said sophomore linebacker James McLain "We wanted better than a winning season We wanted 8-2 we wanted the playoffs" If the Wildcats could have beat- en Wofford they'd have become the third Davidson football team to win 7 games in a season The other 2 were the 1926 and 1969 squads But Wofford which went into Saturday's game fourth in the NAIA in rushing stayed on the ground through its first 31 plays and rushed for 123 yards in the first quarter Two Terrier fumbles deep in Davidson territory kept Wofford from taking more than a 7-0 lead into the second quarter Wof ford quarterback Charlie Bradshaw a freshman rushed for 155 yards on 24 carries despite a 21yard loss on a sack He repeatedly confounded Davidson in the second half with an option keeper Wofford led only 28-21 with 8:22 left in the game when Bradshaw sprinted to his left from the Davidson 20 and scored On Wofford's next possession Bradshaw did it again turning the right corner from Davidson's 15 and bouncing off various Wildcat secondary personnel on his way to the end zone That touchdown gave Wofford a 41-21 lead Davidson's offense was inconsistent behind senior quarterback Al Rhyne then sophomore Brian Whitmire Rhyne was 8 of 22 with 4 interceptions Whitmire was 3 of 10 with 1 interception Wofford had picked off only 5 passes all year before playing Davidson Terrier cornerback Trey Safrit a former Myers Park High quarterback picked off a Rhyne screen and later attributed the rash of interceptions to changes in coverage Rhyne thought the wet ball might have been a factor but added: "Maybe we Just got beat by a better team" Davidson coach Ed Farrell blamed defensive injuries and good offensive opposition "We probably ended up finishing on schedule but I sure had hoped to finish ahead of schedule Six and 4 is a good solid season We put a lot of points on the board we were exciting We have built a football program that is a solid program" Wofford is 4-5 and ends its season Saturday against Gardner-Webb Davidson 0 14 7 7 28 Wofford 714 7 28 48 9 run (Andrews kick) 9 run (Paymer kick) 1 run (Andrews kick) 1 run (Andrews kick) 5 run (Paymer kick) 3 run (Paymer kick) 4 run (Andrews kick) 19 run (kick tailed) 15 run (Andrews kick) 23 pass from Whitmire (PaYmer kick) 3 run (Andrews kick) A-4250 Davidson Woffora First downs 20 29 Rushes-yards 30-197 82-463 Passing yards 186 22 Return yards 0 86 Passes 11-32-5 2-8-0 Punts 443 2-35 Fumbles-lost 0-0 6-3 Penaittes-yards 6-62 6-51 DAVIDSON Rushing: Sinclair 20-101 Pyles 5-41 Atkinson 10-29 Riiyn 2-16 Whitmire 1-13 PaSSing Rhyne 8-22-3 120 yards Whitmire 3 10-166 Receiving: Piero 5-92 Atkinson 221 Pyles 3-46 Traney I-21 WOFFORD Pushing: Bradshaw 24-1S5 Best 14-108 Brady 20 9 Sands 14-48 McMillan 2-20 Todd 2-14 Gams 7-9 Lang 14 Brittle 14 12 Passing: Bradshaw 1-5-0 10 yards Lana 1-3-11a Rsco lying Sotvis 1-12 Marion HO Hamper Catamounts chain "I guess now I'll look for another sport to play" Livaditis said It was not the greatest of finales for Davidson's 19 seniors especially Livaditis and the defenders who gave up II 1 points in Davidson's final 2 games The Wildcats lost 63-55 to Furman last week and compiled a 6-4 record It was Davidson's first winning season since 1969 but last summer the Wildcats dreamed of 7 or 8 victories and perhaps an NCAA Division I-AA playoff berth Davidson's defense more consistent than the offense most of the season drive and scored from the 2 The halftime score was 6-6 after both placekickers shanked extra point kicks SC State was set up for a 6-0 lead on its second possession of the game when Grambling was called for pass interference in the end zone Still it took 4 cracks from the 1 yard line before quarterback Prince Phillips barely penetrated the goal line Graft lino 0 6 9 7-92 SC State 6 0 9 0-15 1 run (kick thiled) le Pass from Williams (kick failed) Ragland tackled in end zone 5 run (Wright kick) Brown 29 pass from Rivers (Montgomery kick) ball snapped out of end zone 2 run (Wright kick) A-1350 GRAMBLING Rushing: Parham 14-126 Smith 6-39 Sampson 9-37 Passing: Williams 15-25-2 175 yards Receiving: Sampson 4-39 Smith 3-45 Gordon 313 SC STATE Rushing: Rivers 13-50 Ragland 16-39 Passing: Rivers 5-120-79 yards Receiving: Pringle Brown 129 Browa 1- 18 17-14 Yet Paladins' quarterback Tim Sorrel's offset that by firing a 30-yard touchdown pass to Billy Risher during the fourth quarter's early stages So the count was 23-14 Furman (4-6 overall 3-3 in the Southern Conference including a 63-55 triumph over Davidson) was on the way to its fourth victory in 5 games and Western Carolina (5-5 1-4) was down to a final desperate chance That possibility a chance for a miraculous rally was ended when Gheesling intercepted Pusey's pass Into the end zone with 1:07 remaining "We were in a prevent" said Gheesling "and my responsibility was the first receiver who went inside 1 took the tight end and when I turned around the ball was there" A wet field and intermittent rain stifled the Catamounts' rushing they had a meager 53 yards and tailback Leonard Williams their top runner had only 19 "The weather helped us cut them off" said Gheesling "That may have been the key" That and his interceptions Western Carolina 1 0 7 0 14 Furman 10 0 6 23 29 pass from Sorrels (Potter kick) 95 kickoff return (Dunn kick) 17 run (Potter kick) Potter 22 11 pass from Pusey (Dunn kick) 30 pass from Sorrells (kick failed) A-8854 Carolina Furman First downs 19 20 Rushes-yards 23- 79 61454 Passing yards 379 156 Return yards 116 240 Passes 20-42-4 7-10-0 Punts 3-37 4-32 umbles-lost 2-1 5-4 Penalties-yards 3-15 2-46 WESTERN CAROLINA Rushing: Williams 9-19 James 4-4 Norman 14- 41 Kama 2-6 Womack 1-4 Brown 1-(-1) PuStY 4-6 Briggs 1-t-St Passing: Piney 18-40-4 314 yards Briggs 2-2-0 15 Receiving: Harp 1-132 Norman 4-57 McGill 1 18 Dean 5-119 2-3 FURMAN Pushindl Cote 20-111 Glenn 11-54 81hop 11-80 Davis 6-16 Sorrelis 13(2) Passing! 2-10-0 IS6 yards pecalvinig Grainger 1-29 Lee 1-35 Risher 3-64 HA IAA IA Furman Defense Stymies Western Carolina 23-14 First Bulldog Edward Lee recovered a fumbled punt at the Tiger 40 and SC State scored on a 28- yard pass from quarterback Nate Rivers to wide receiver Charles Brown A minute later with Grambling stalled on its 20 King a special teams' center snapped the ball over punter Thomas Ezell's head and out of the end zone for a safety that tied the game 15-15 with 1:02 left in the third quarter A Bulldog pass interception by Ervin Parker ended a Grambling threat after Tiger freshman Tremaine Johnson returned a punt 58 yards to the SC State 26 Later the Bulldogs lost a fumble at the Grambling 26 That brought the game to the last 8 minutes and Robinson's team characteristically took over It stormed for 4 first downs in 5 plays including an 18-yard run by wingback Mike Smith and a 27- yard Williams-to-Smith pass Parham bad a 12-yard carry in the v3wt44 I tp114 Despite the hard rush from the Paladin? line he faced all afternoon Pusey tossed an 11-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Dwayne Norman in the third qua cutting Furmaz's load to ywt 0 Itv -4 14 11 -0 4 4 i I By FRANK BARROWS Observer Staff Writer GREENVILLE SC This you're not going to believe Furman's Paladins the team that yielded 55 points to Davidson a week ago the team that had allowed more points than any other Southern Conference squad won a college football game Saturday with their defense The score was 23-14 the opponent was Western Carolina and the big plays were made by Furman linebacker Bruce Gheesling His first interception set up a touchdown his second ended the Catamounts' last-gasp rally and his blanket coverage was one of the reasons Western Carolina quarterback Mike Pusey a nationally-ranked passer gave a flawed per formance Ordinarily Pusey is somewhat sharper than he was against the Paladins His 314 yards passing stretched his Southern Confer- ence career-re1 cord in that rate- Rory 5733 1 I but he completed just 18 of 40 at t' tempts throwing 4 A the 2 intercepI 4 li tions Gheesling i to i I 4 grabbed and 2 more that were similarly damag- Pusey ing Nor could Pusey keep the Catamounts' off ense from malfunctioning at inopportune moments Although Western Carolina stood llth among NCAA squads in passing yardage Pusey was able to' direct the Catamounts to only a single touchdown their other acore came on Anthony James's VS-yard kickoff return And Pa- sey's touchdown pass wasn't until late In the third quarter after the 1 Igenuts pat-Loral were 0 stablished lit 3kv61(3444ii4t: Vk24hMt 4SDON04fik2OP UPI Photo Western Carolina's Dwayne Norman Wasn't Easy To Slop On This Run but determined Sieve O'Neill of Furman eventually made the stop and Furman was controlling ters With Sirrine Stadium's scoreboard clock showing a minute left in the second quarter tailback Brothei Cola dashed around lett end for a I7-yard touchdown that lifted the Paladins to a 14-7 advantage Gheesling a 200-pound sophomore from Covington Ga put Furman into position for that rua with a 4Avard interception return.