The Charlotte Observer from Charlotte, North Carolina • 74

40 THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER Sunday September 1 1991 COLLEGE Ha' 1 i 7 ke 1 FOOTBALL Gardner-Webb wears down Smith to take victory in season opener By STAN OLSON Staff Writer MNIPMF7SFs '104111 '4Tefft 1 trTX--W- It''''NSOirr W4 lit 4-4 4'04 1 lita 2 1-: 1 i -i- 0 41 1 41 took) l' 44' "We had to get our second wind" he said stripping off his soaked jersey as he walked across the field "But there wasn't no way we'd let 'em come on our field and get us today" Johnson Smith 0 0 0 Gardner-Webb 3 2 13 13-31 Kwasnick 40 Ward tackled in end zone 2 run (Kwasnick kick) 11 pass from Craven (conversion failed) 62 pass from Barnes (Kwasnich kick) 4 run (conversion failed) Att-4000 (at Gardner-Webb) 46 seconds left in the third quarter By then it was over the Gardner-Webb defense refused to permit any other result posting its first shutout since 1982 For the game the Bulldogs allowed 48 total yards And Smith completed one of 11 passes for 4 yards All that had Gardner-Webb coach Woody Fish whose team was 2-8 last season smiling afterward "The defense was a big plus last year and now we've got offensive players capable of scoring at any time to go with them" he said Outside the Smith locker room Wright was upbeat as well "We're inexperienced they're experienced" he said "But we didn't give up I saw some positive things If I had to give us a letter grade I'd say C-plus" In that case give the Bulldogs an A But coaches are polite so let Gardner-Webb receiver Rodney Robinson who turned a post pattern into a 62-yard fourth-quarter touchdown have the final word JCS G-W MIS 5 17 s-yards 48-44 39-80 4 265 IYards 137 74 Alt-It 1-11-0 14-28-2 10-33 4-32 es-Lost 3-1 0-0 les-Yards 7-68 10-120 downs 46- Yards 1: 1-1' 10- a 7- BOILING SPRINGS As Gard- ner-Webb's sweat-drenched foot ball team swapped hugs and con00-01 gratulations at midfield in steamy Spangler Stadium Saturday after noon one of the Bulldogs massive linemen reared up and shouted "You gotta pay to play in the Doghouse!" And Johnson Smith paid dearly By the time it was over the young Golden Bulls were 31-0 losers to Gardner-Webb in Smith coach John Wright's first game in charge And it was apparent that the promised rebuilding of the program by Wright is still in the foundation stages The Bulls kept it close through the first half despite the fact the Smith offense seemed stuck in reverse Smith quarterback Wesley Tate was sacked four times and Bulls ball carriers lost yardage 11 times And the Smith offense managed just three first downs in the first 30 First Rushes-yards Passing Return Comp-Alt-Int Punts Fumbles-Lost Penalties-Yards I 1 i I 1 'el Ll INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS Smith Swain 15-44 Tate 11- minus 54 Whitaker 5-17 Brown 5-10 Corlew 4-4 James 3-5 Meadows 1-0 Ward 1-16 Clifton 1-2 Gardner-Webb: Odom 15-57 Holloway 4-14 Barnes 8-minus 36 Wilson 2-8 Brown 3-21 Gardner 2-5 Atter 1-2 Craven 1-6 Howard 1-2 Collins 1-minus 2 Schultz 1-1 Smith: Tate 1-11-0 4 yards Gardner-Webb: Barnes 10-22-2 201 Craven 4-6-0 64 Smith: Meadows 1-4 Gardner-Webb: Robinson 6-144 Welch 4-44 Odom 1-28 Holloway 1-3 Faehr 1-11 Melton 1-35 Big hit: Before Marshall quarterback Michael Payton'can release the football Appalachian State linebacker Tony Leonard makes a jarring tackle during Saturday's Southern Conference opener in Boone Appalachian State won 9-3 clv 44 THE ala6 1415'1' A I 04111' JOIN US FOR MONDAY NITE FOOTBALL re: IPIL'winertfigittlit i RESTAL 411k WIDE SCREEN TV ALL ABC PERMITS 1 6aCh 1111Ce RESTAURANT WIDE SCREEN TV ALL ABC PERMITS Appalachian avenges loss stops Marshall FULL MENU L6676 CARMEL ROAD CARMEL COMMONS 542-856( 00161MAWIAAndhdbab 6676 CARMEL ROAD CARMEL COMMONS 542-8566 BRIRIUSIYOURIUSEDISPORTS ATHLETI EQUIPMENT I RESELL 10 uo 14-91r SPORTS CONSIGNMENT Georgia rolls over Western Bulldogs show new offense new star By JOE POSNANSKI Special Correspondent ATHENS Ga In the end Georgia fans had a new star to cheer and Western Carolina had a nice payday and that's about the best thing you can say Georgia beat Western Carolina 48-0 in a college football game at Georgia's Sanford Stadium Saturday afternoon This is getting to be a habit for the Catamounts (-1 -v- (0-1) Western -1 Carolina lost its opener to NC 11 45 1 State 67-0 last 1 7 i season Still the Cata- 1' ounts ''''P' received "0" $200000 for the trouble '4'" Also they got a Hodgin chance to play in front of 78512 the largest in school history "I know the score doesn't indicate a lot of positives for our football team" Western Carolina coach Steve Hodgin said "But I feel confident that this is going to be a better football team than we had last season" For Georgia (1-0) this game was a chance to try out a new offense and a chance to unveil freshman Eric Zeier Zeier was perhaps the most touted high school quarterback in the country last year He didn't start but he played about a half and completed 15 of 22 passes for 172 yards and two touchdowns The crowd cheered his every move "I never felt any pressure" Zeier said "This football team really takes the pressure off individuals For me it was just a lot of fun out there" Zeler who is fighting with senior Greg Talley for the starting job is the big hope for a Georgia team that was 4-7 last season the Bulldogs' worst record since 1961 During the offseason Georgia coach Ray Goff brought in former Florida State offensive coordinator Wayne McDuffie to help turn things around McDuffie has put in a short-pass offense dramatically different from the running offense Vince Dooley had for years and it seems perfectly suited for Zeier "A lot of things worked" Zeier said "It was fun to play out there today But we still made too many mistakes" No one at Georgia was jumping to any conclusions Western Carolina was outscored 116-18 last year against Division I schools "We don't want to go around patting ourselves on the back too dad-gum much" Goff said "We've only won one game" And though Georgia threw for 283 yards the team's most since 1972 Western Carolina held Georgia to 137 yards rushing Western Carolina had 142 "We were forced to throw" McDuffie said "Their defensive front is stubborn and even after we loosened them up we still couldn't get any yards running" Western Carolina plays one more Division I team Sept 14 at Wake Forest The Catamounts begin their Southern Conference schedule against East Tennessee State on Sept 21 Hodgin thinks the Catamounts 3-8 last season can compete better against other Division I-AA teams This meanwhile was a tough lesson "We played hard" Hodgin said "The effort was there We're just too young to play well against a team as strong and talented as Georgia It was a humbling experience" Georgia meanwhile begins its Southeastern Conference season at home against Louisiana State next Saturday in Athens at 1 pm "Obviously we have a lot of work to do" Zeier said "We made a lot of mistakes and we know that we can't do that against LSU" Notes: It was Georgia's first shutout since beating Florida 11-0 in Nov 1982 Eleven receivers caught passes for the Bulldogs WCarolins 0 0 0 0 Georgia 10 17 7 14-48 Peterson 48 65 pass from Talley (Peterson kick) 71 punt return (Peterson kick) 17 pass from Zeier (Peterson kick) Peterson 27 1 run (Peterson kick) 8 pass from Zeier (Peterson kick) 4 pass from Jones (Peterson kick) Att-78512 (at Georgia) minutes two of those by the grace of Gardner-Webb penalties The visitors trailed 5-0 at the half But then the temperature edged into the low 90s and the Bulls without the Bulldogs' depth gradually wilted in the heat Early in the third quarter Gardner-Webb took charge Quarterback Charles Barnes who struggled early took advantage of the good field position his defense kept handing him and drove the Bulldogs to a third and 1 at the Smith 2 Then Barnes faked a handoff and bootlegged around left end for the touchdown On the Bulldogs' next series Barnes was shaken up and freshman quarterback John Craven completed the drive hitting Jon Faehr on an 11-yard down-and-out for an 18-0 lead with one minute ALL19911MAZDA B-2200ITRUCKS CASH 50u BA" ESAU ISS IASI' r'iNDIPINDINCI 441116 meow 1 2It v11711 FirtUIL Boll ennis fishing Bicycles New Shoes See 3 Us Before inilia ij I 10a3 You Buy ell Save Yo one Will i I I We'll Save' Yo i- oney! ell Save' oney! i A 0 0 0 A A i ier' 11? ooi ILAs i' nti Center 3826 Independence Blvd 4 A 537365 ri 1Close To Burger King) 3 537439 '10 Am nti Center 3826 EIndependence Blvd '(Cies To Burger lang)- 537365 5373391 0 0 0 At4 OK1 41 ssociate ress the field-position battle behind the booming punts of junior Harold Alexander Alexander punted eight times for a 555 average burying the Thundering Herd inside its 20 five times After one of Alexander's long punts Appalachian State's defense got the Mountaineers op the scoreboard Marshall had taken over at the 7 On the first play the pass rush of Patterson David and Tony Leonard trapped Payton in the end zone and rushed him into a throw to no one on the Thundering Herd sideline When a flag for intentional grounding flew Appalachian State had a safety The defenses continued to dominate until Mountaineers' receiver Kemal Atkins set up the game's only touchdown with a 32-yard punt return to the Marshall 37 From there Campbell directed Appalachian State to consecutive first downs the last on his fourth-down quarterback sneak Two plays later JK Reaves went over from 2 yards out The Mountaineers spent the rest of the game dodging bullets Marshall's Payton fumbled twice inside the Appalachian State 10 in the fourth quarter The Mountaineers' defense also stiffened when Marshall had third and 1 on the Appalachian State 4 On fourth down Dewey Klein kicked a 22-yard field goal for the Thundering Herd's only points Payton's first fumble drew Marshall coach Jim Donnan off the sideline in protest "Appalachian State won the football game" Donnan said "But there were some very decisive decisions by the officials They get the mark on (Campbell's) fourth and 1 (quarterback sneak) Then we lose a fumble when we thought (Payton's) knee was already down "But that's the breaks They don't always go your way" Marshall 0 0 0 3 Appalachian St 0 2 7 9 Payton intentional grounding penalty in end zone 2 run Willson kick) Klein 22 Att-17671 (at Appalachian St) AS First downs 18 10 Rushes-Yards 34-102 41-93 Passing 233 118 Return yards 63 54 Comp-Att-Int 20-34-0 13-20-1 Punts 8-46 8-56 Fumbles-Lost 3-2 2-2 Penalties-Yards 5-53 5-53 Time of possession 2827 31:33 First downs Rushes-Yards 34- Passing Return yards Comp-Att-int 20-1 Punts Fumbles-Lost Penalties-Yards Time of possession 21 INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS Pedro 16-90 Hatchett 8-43 Clark 1-minus 4 Elby 11 Payton 8-minus 28 Appalachian SI: Ellis 1858 Reaves 12-31 Campbell 114 Payton 20-34-0 233 yards Appa lachian St: Campbell 13-20-1 118 Bartrum 6-48 Clark 572 Dow ler 4-88 Pedro 2-minus 3 Hatchett 1-8 TBrown 17 W13rown 113 Appalachian St: Ellis 6-37 Styron 2-47 Gama 2-13 Price 2-12 Reaves 19 PB Lees-McRae at Catawba 1:30 pm Elizabeth City St vs Alabama St in Rocky Mount 1:30 pm East Tennessee State at Virginla Military 2 pm East Stroudsburg at Lenoir-Rhyne 2 pm Duke at South Carolina 7 pm Presbyterian at The Citadel 7 pm Elan at Wofford 7 pm Tulane at Florida St1 pm New Hampshire at Marshall 7 pm Tennessee Tech at Tennessee-Chattanooga 7 pm Morehouse at Winston-Salem State 7 pm Wingate at Kentucky State 7:30 pm i- 3 l'''' P' A el Nt ryku: I i ito By RICHARD WALKER Staff Writer BOONE Inspired by the haunting memories of a blowout that kept them out of the playoffs a year ago Appalachian State's Mountaineers began the year like the championship contender they hoped they'll be Led by a hard-hitting defense the Mountaineers opened the new football season with a 9-3 victory over Marshall The outcome decided by a defensive stand on the game's last play turned the tables on a 50-0 Marshall rout in Huntington WVa late last season "You just can't describe it" said junior quarterback DJ Campbell "We've had so many team meetings and talks After getting beat 50-0 I was so discouraged But I went out and got in the weight room And everybody else got in the weight room Appalachian State did better but not without a final scare Marshall the preseason Southern Conference favorite in voting by league coaches had taken advantage of a Mountaineers fumble with the clock winding down And the Thundering Herd was marching It had to have a touchdown And it appeared well on its way to one After Marshall recovered Al Ellis' fumble at its 34 the drive started Two completions moved the ball near midfield with less than a minute left Then Thundering Herd quarterback Michael Payton got hot He hit Ricardo Clark once for 15 yards then again for 23 yards It gave Marshall possession at the Mountaineers' 15 with 15 seconds left And it had the opening-day crowd of 17671 on the edge of its seats "We talked about rising to the occasion" senior free safety Gary Dandridge said "We had to stop them one more time" Two incompletions later Dandridge and the Mountaineers had accomplished that goal The last throw to the middle of the end zone was broken up by Steve Patterson Kenny Bright and Brent David "It goes back to last year up there" Appalachian State coach Jerry Moore said "You're outside their stadium eating sandwiches after the game People are walking by you and you're embarrassed You know you're not a 50-0 team" It was apparent early that Marshall would face much tougher resistance this time After a scoreless first quarter the Mountaineers began winning 1-71 Jr- L3r 111 41P t-Z WolidassProtection tr ITI sniping Baseball In- in Skate lothing Weight 6 Exercise Equipment i 6 Ainjuvinv- Ar VIV-30 NOME participating retailers: DENVER Denver Auto Parts PINE VILLE Complete Auto Parts ALBEMARLE Cotton Auto Parts YORK Ted Mass Auto Parts MIDLAND A Tucker Supply PARTS STORES PARTS STORES ROCK HILL Al lett Auto Parts Dunlap Auto Parts LINCOLNTON Eddie's Auto Parts Lincoln Auto Parts HUNTERS VILLE Huntersville Auto Parts Lake Auto Parts CORNELIUS Ballard's Auto Parts a Celebrate Pennzoil's entry into NASCAR racing a Register to win two race tickets to the Mello Ye Ilo 500 (No purchase necessary) mum 13 Get a free Michael Waltrip Superstar vis 0 Card with 5 quarts Pennzoil Motor SAE VW MOTC Oi Oil Purchase 4Gt a Promotion ends September 159 1991 Kip VIS SAE MOTOR 041 10t Att For details see the Pennzoil racing display at these Next Saturday's Carolinas schedule CHARLOTTE Automotive Distributors Auto Charlotte Automotive Furr's Auto Parts Plaza Auto Parts GASTONIA City Auto Parts Gastonia Auto Parts MATTHEWS Bradley Auto Parts Matthews Auto Parts Virginia at Maryland 12:08 Virginia Tech at NC State 1 Appalachian State at Clemson 1 pm Furman at Connecticut 1 pm Savannah State at Georgia Southern 1 pm Charleston Southern at Methodist 1 pm Fayetteville State at Howard 1 pm Livingstone at Bowie State 1 pm Hampton at Johnson Smith 1:30 pm NC Central at NC 1:30 pm Davidson at Guilford 1:30 WC First downs 15 24 Rushes-yards 43-142 39-137 Passing 76 283 Return yards 23 132 Comp-Ad-Int 10-19-1 21-33-0 Punts 8-39 3-44 Fumbles-Lost 3-2 1-0 Penalties-Yards 7-55 4-30 Time of possession 30:24 29:36 INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS Carolina: Galloway 10-37 Thigpen o-32 Jimenez 17-26 Georgia: Harvey 8-42 Ware '0-39 Montgomery 3-20 Strong 4-20 Carolina: Harris 8-10-0 48 yards Galloway 4-9-1 30 Georgia Zeier 15-22-0 172 Talley 4-7-0 98 Jones 2-4-0 13 Carolina: Thigpen 5-46 Hayes t-11 Georgia Hastings 6-72 Etheridge 2-30 ALL PARTICIPATING RITCHIE AUTO ALL PARTICIPATING ALL PRO AUTO 1.