The Charlotte Observer from Charlotte, North Carolina • 58

12C THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER Sunday October 13 1991 COLLEGE FOOTBALL Kicker kicking himself Louisiana Tech rallies to tie South Carolina 04 r' cft4 st )0394i :1: '10011'it 'i: 71- woo tigi4 rei "'6077 0 Associated Press By the time he did it was far too Loyd went 100 yards with the interception giving the two points his team instead And instead of being 14-7 it was 12-9 And costly South Carolina kicked off and Louisiana Tech (4-I-I) started from its own 26 plays and a holding penalty it was fourth and 22 from that The Gamecocks sat back in their zone prevent defense and waited for the long pass that was to come And yet somehow quarterback Hughes threaded a 31-yarder between two Gamecocks to wide receiver Brian Francis It was his only catch of the game "We had 'em fourth and about 25" said frustrated South Carolina coach Sparky Woods "We should allow them to convert that He lofts the ball down the field I would hope somebody would get there for us" With that reprieve Louisiana Tech marched to the Gamecocks where kicker Chris Boniol attempted a 38-yard field goal with seconds left He drilled it through and South Carolina had been tied again The Gamecocks must have left the field with visions of Duke which wiped out a 24-10 South Carolina lead to tie in the final two minutes dancing in their heads Afterward it was apparent that this tie felt more like a loss "We allowed them to set the tempo" said Woods "We played the game as if we had all day to beat 'ern 1 wish we'd have been more aggressive early in the game "1 don't feel very good about this ball game" Nor did his players who must face a season-ending stretch of Georgia Tech NC State Florida State North Carolina and Clemson "The whole day was disappointing" Fuller said "We were just playing to their level there was no reason for it The defense played good enough that we should've won this game" football game Saturday in Columbia fought to a 12-12 tie Grabbed: South Carolina's Norman Greene tackles Louisiana Tech's Jason Cooper during the ri South Carolina 12 Louisiana Tech 12 Brown interception and return that started the drive at the SC 45 LT Safety (Loyd 100-yard return of conversion attempt) LT FG 38 Beno IL Key play: The aforementioned fourth-and-22 conversion Att-52400 (at Carolina) LAT SC First downs 19 16 Rushes-yards 42-166 28-49 Passing 214 260 Return Yards 17 31 Comp-Att-Int 19-30-2 17-28-1 Punts 5-44 5-39 Fumbles-Lost 0-0 1-1 Penalties-Yards 7-83 1-16 Time of Possession 36:01 23:59 INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS Tech: Davis 18-105 Cooper 9-33 Lawrence 6-21 Carolina: Bennett 13-39 DeBoec 12-33 Tech: Hughes 11-16-1-130 Johnson 8-14484 Carolina: Fuller 17-28-1-260 Tech: Kennedy 5-59 Bland 4-57 Parham 3-27 Carolina: Brooks 5-93 Bennett 3-40 Miller 2-40 Lenoir-Rhyne overcomes injury grabs first in South Atlantic goal lifts Marshall over Furman Feels responsible for Gamecocks' tie By STAN OLSON Staff Writer COLUMBIA Marty Simpson came out of Columbia's Spring Valley High as one of the best a high school All-America place kicker and a fitting heir to Gamecocks record-setter Collin Mackie After watching and working with Mackie as a redshirt last season Simpson claimed the job this fall But before Saturday's 12-12 tie with Louisiana Tech in Williams-Brice Stadium Simpson had struggled He had missed two of 19 extra-point attempts one was blocked and made just two of seven field-goal attempts If earlier games were difficult Saturday's was a nightmare With the Gamecocks down 7-6 at the end of the third quarter Simpson missed the extra point wide right On the next possession he missed a 44-yard field-goal attempt wide right and way short Th'e plays were critical perhaps decisive in changing a South Carolina win to a tie "It's all in my head there's nothing wrong with my leg" he said "I'm trying but I don't know what I can do "I kick 'em in practice all week and I don't miss Over the summer I kicked about 2000 extra points and missed one or two Now I kick 20 and miss two" South Carolina coach Sparky Woods insisted that "nobody lost the game everybody had a part in it" but that didn't make Simpson feel much better "The snaps and the holds they were perfect" Simpson said "Obviously I let the team down" Simpson refused to blame his problems on this year's narrower goalposts or the lack of a kicking tee which he used in high school "If a tee had been down there today I'd have probably missed it anyway" he said "I didn't execute my part of the game I didn't kick the ball through the uprights" defense can control the game like that it increases the level of your entire team" Four defenders stood out Cornerback Marty McEachern intercepted four passes to set a school record Tackle Mike Cohee disrupted Gardner-Webb's pass protection and had three pass deflections at the line of scrimmage Linebacker Chris Blackmon led the team in tackles and recovered two fumbles And safety Jeff Carpenter returned an interception 20 yards for a touchdown to give the Bears the lead All this after Gardner-Webb had knocked Davis out temporarily knocked starting fullback Russ Baldner out and taken a 6-0 lead "You put their two running backs out and you start thinking it's going to be positive" Gardner-Webb coach Woody Fish said "But Joel Roope's a great quarterback And Lenoir-Rhyne just kept going at us and going at us" Lenoir-Rhyne 0 10 7 7--24 Gardner-Webb 6 0 0 0-- 6 8 pass from Craven (kick blocked) Monday 47 20 interception return (Monday kick) 47 pass from Roope (Monday kick) I run (Monday kick) Att-3500 (at Gardner-Webb) CIAA 34 pass from Johnson (Gonzo kick) 54 pass from Wright (Timmons kick) 10 pass from Johnson (Gonzo kick) 8 pass Wright (Timmons kick) Gonzo 22 8 pass from Wright (Timmons kick) center snap Out of end zone Att-7000 (at Virginia Union) NC Central 14 Fayetteville State 0 Reserve Fulton Meachem threw two second-half touchdown passes to Anthony Cooley as NC Central (2-4 1-2) took a CIAA victory over visiting Fayetteville State The Broncos lost three fumbles in the first half two of them inside the NC Central 10 Winston-Salem State 28 Kentucky State 7 Quarterback Mitchell Nicholson completed six passes for 137 yards rushed for 74 more and scored a touchdown as Winston-Salem State (6-0) won a nonconterence game at Kentucky State (1-6) 28-7 By STAN OLSON Staff Writer COLUMBIA Another victory got away from South Carolina football team Saturday afternoon And what an improbable escape it was And the result? Another tie this one 12-12 with Louisiana Tech It leaves the Gamecocks with an unusual 2-2-2 record as they i march toward zt the toughest A chunk of their 4 schedule South Caro- Una which 7 I struggled with A this tough ti bunch of Bull- dogs all after-Fuller noon seemed to have finally won it when quarterback Bobby Fuller hung a beautiful spiral over Eddie Miller's left shoulder as Miller sprinted down the right sideline Miller gathered it in was hit inside the 5-yard line and stumbled into the end zone completing a 28-yard play and giving the Gamecocks a 12-7 lead with three minutes 10 seconds left to play Then South Carolina which had seen kicker Marty Simpson miss his first-extra point try went for a two-point conversion Fuller rolled right but saw that his primary receivers were covered "There were a lot of people out there on the strong side they flooded it" Fuller said "I saw the receiver on the weak side but I guess it was a little underthrown" The pass was intended for tight end Mike Whitman but never got there Waiting under Fuller's pop-up on the goal line was Bulldogs safety Demise Loyd a standout running back in high school 'They ran motion across (the field) and I stayed home" Loyd said "I don't think the quarterback ever saw me" Late field By VANCE CAR1AGA Special Correspondent GREENVILLE SC After 59 minutes of offensive fireworks it was almost unfair that Saturday's Marshall-Furman college football game came down to a simple 39-yard field-goal attempt But it did And when Marshall kicker Dewey Klein sailed his kick through the uprights with 57 seconds left the Thundering Herd had escaped Paladin Stadium with a 38-35 Southern Conference victory The loss was Furman's first of the year and ended a five-game winning streak that had given the Paladins (5-1 2-1) their best start since 1926 It also halted a seven-game conference winning streak Klein's field goal broke a 35-35 tie and brought the Thundering Herd's record to 4-1 overall and 1-1 in the conference Furman had tied the game at 35 with two minutes one second to play on OJ Davis' 26-yard touchdown run But Marshall behind the passing of junior quarterback Michael Payton drove to the Furman 23 on the next series From there Klein had no trouble hitting the winning field goal Payton hurt the Paladins all game completing 18 of 25 Presbyterian Observer Staff and News Services SALISBURY Lee Williamson passed for 138 yards and one touchdown as Presbyterian defeated Catawba 21-13 Saturday in the South Atlantic Conference to give John Perry his first victory as coach of the Blue Hose Rader Sellers received one of Williamson's passes and recovered a blocked punt in the end zone for another score It was the first victory of the season for Presbyterian which improved to 1-4 overall and 1-1 in the conference Catawba fell to 2-3 and 1-2 Presbyterian led 14-0 at the half after Williamson's 6-yard touchdown pass to Sellers in the first quarter and Sellers' blocked punt recovery in the second Quincy Eigner scored again for Presbyterian with a 2-yard run in the third quarter Catawba rallied with Ken Avent passing 30 yards to Jeff Park for a touchdown late in the third quarter Harold Anderson ran 2 yards for the last score with late to Five later 26 sure Sam not in 21 14 10' them were very late If the penalties balanced out fine if they didn't that bothers me" Worth mentioning: The crowd of 52400 was the lowest since Williams-Brice Stadium was expanded to 72400 in 1982 But they had a little fun when Atlanta Braves' scores were announced with virtually the entire crowd doing the tomahawk chop each time What's next: South Carolina is home against Georgia Tech Saturday and Louisiana Tech has a week oft Stan Olson Louisiana Tech 0 0 7 5-12 IL Carolina 0 0 8 8-12 IT Kennedy 10 pass from Hughes (Bonoil kick) Drive: 9 plays 65 yards Key play: On the drives 1st play Davis swept left for 19 yards Sc Foster 17 pass from Fuller (kick failed) Drive: 7 plays 56 yards Key play: The touchdown SC Miller 28 pass from Fuller (pass inter cepted) Drive: 3 plays 55 yards Key play: The Eric the mistake-prone Cadets who lost four fumbles and had a pass intercepted Georgia Southern 44 Western Carolina 6 Freshman quarterback Charles Bostick ran for three touchdowns and passed for another to lead the Eagles over the visiting Catamounts Bostick had career highs of 104 yards rushing and 135 passing Western Carolina quarterback Lonnie Galloway completed five of 10 passes for 66 yards before dislocating a shoulder in the second period William Mary 40 Virginia Military 26 Palmer Scarritt killed a Keydets drive with an interception at the William Mary 5 with 5:41 to play and the Tribe went on to win at NI (3-3) The Keydets trailed 33-26 when they got possession at their 20 with 708 to play Aided by a William Mary (3-3) personal foul they needed four plays to move to the Tribe 48 before quarterback Tony Scales threw deep for tight end Dan Lyle only to have Scarritt intercept a Summariespage 9C first victory 9 pass from Bell (pass failed) 2 run (kick failed) 1 run (Ford kick) Att-1509 (at Elon) Wingate 17 Glenville State (WVa) 15 Rob Rodriguez kicked a 36-yard field goal with 15 seconds left to lift 14thranked Wingate to a nonconfer ence victory at Glenville State The kick overshadowed a 388- yard passing day by Jed Drenning of Glenville State (1-4-1) Vernon Buck hit on 20 of 41 passes for 212 yards and two touchdowns for Wingate (4-1) Drenping hit Chris George with scoring passes of 59 and 4 yards in the second quarter to give Glenville State a 15-14 lead at halftime Drenning was 23 of 59 but threw three interceptions George caught eight passes for 178 yards Wingate Glenville State 7 7 0 3-17 3 12 0 0-15 Weems 35 88 pass from Buck (Rodriguez kick) 18 pass from Buck (Rodriguez kick) 59 pass from Drenning (run failed) 4 pass from Drenning (pass failed) 36 Rodriguez AIL-7222 (al Glenville Stale) first half their The teams SOUTHERN passes for 189 yards and four touchdowns Three of his touchdowns came during the first half but it was his fourth a 7-yarder to Brian Dow ler with 7:09 left in the game that proved to be the biggest Dowler's touchdown broke a 28-28 tie and took away the momentum that had seen Furman come back from a 28-14 halftime deficit "Furman has a very talented defense but our receivers did a great job getting open and making the catches" Payton said "They're just tough to cover for a whole game" Furman playing without star running back Carl Tremble who was injured last week against VM1 opened the second half with a seven-play 33-yard touchdown drive that culminated in quarterback Hugh Swilling's 4-yard run Furman drove 66 yards on its next possession and faced a third-and-inches from the the Marshall 24 But Swilling dropped back to pass and Donahue Stevenson sacked him at the 33 forcing the Paladins to punt By RICHARD WALKER Staff Writer BOILING SPRINGS 'Usually when a team loses its top offensive threat on the first play of the game it struggles to compensate and rarely wins But Saturday afternoon Lenoir-Rhyne showed it has more weapons than just leading rusher Leonard Davis in a 24-6 whipping of rival Gardner-Webb With the victory the Bears (4-2 3-0) took sole possession of first place in the South Atlantic Conference ruined the Bulldogs' (4-2 1-1) homecoming and claimed their first win at Spangler Stadium since 1981 Davis suffered a possible broken ankle on the first play from scrimmage The Asheboro freshman came into the game with a league-leading 622 yards rushing But Bears' quarterback Joel Roope punctured the Bulldogs' nationally top-ranked defense for 234 yards passing and one touchdown And a previously unheralded Bears defense shut down Gardner-Webb's offense and forced seven turnovers "We've got more to our offense that just a running game" first-year Lenoir-Rhyne coach Charles Forbes said "And when your The stars: Louisiana Tech AB Jason Davis sat out the first half for disciplinary reasons then rushed for 105 yards on 18 carries in the second South Carolina CB Bobby Fuller completed 12 of 16 second-half passes for 184 yards and 2 TDs The turning point: That fourthand-22 play from the LT 26 in the final minutes CB Sam Hughes hit Brian Francis for 31 yards to keep the game-tying drive alive The key stet: South Carolina's running game again fizzled The Gamecocks netted just 49 yards on 28 carries with a long play of 10 yards Brandon Bennett who set the school rushing mark of 278 yards last week had 39 this time Quote: Louisiana Tech coach Joe Raymond Peace upset that the Bulldogs had seven penalties for 83 yards while South Carolina had one for 16: "Every time we had a big play there was a holding call Some of Swilling-did hit junior tight end Paul Siffri with a I3-yard touchdown pass on Furman's next possession to tie it at 28 with 12:32 left Appalachian State 21 East Tennessee State 14 Anthony Smith connected on a 7-yard pass from DJ Campbell as Appalachian State (5-2 4-0) clinched a Southern Conference victory at East Tennessee State (1-5 0-3) to remain atop the standings Smith's play capped an 82- yard scoring drive that began on the Mountaineers' 18 Al Ellis converted a pass from DJ Campbell for the final margin The Mountaineers had trailed 14-13 after East Tennessee's Derrick Hollins scored on a 20-yard run to put the Buccaneers up with 7:28 to play The Citadel 20 Army 14 Jack Douglas scored a touchdown and set up one with a 47-yard pass to Damond Boatright as The Citadel stunned host Army 20-14 for the Bulldogs' first victory over Cadets (2-3) The Division I-AA Bulldogs (3-2) have beaten four of the past five Division I-A teams they've played They beat Army for the first time in seven tries at Michie Stadium by taking a 20-0 lead in the first half and then holding off raced the length of the field with five minutes left before halftime The interception was a school record eclipsing the mark of 97 yards by Tim Wood le against Presbyterian in 1989 Eton took its 24-point halftime lead when Marcus Stewart found Darryl Everette on a 44-yard scoring pass as time expired Elliott Armstrong who rushed for 90 yards added two second-half scoring runs for Elon Mars Hill fell to (1-4 0-3) Elon quarterback Heath Hewett completed seven of 13 passes on the day for 103 yards to become the fifth all-time leading passer in school history He had needed 29 yards to surpass the Craig Taylor's total of 2579 which was achieved during the 1986 and '87 seasons Mars Hill 0 7 6 6-19 Elon 17 14 10 13-54 98 kickoff return (Ford kick) Ford 27 Johnson 12 run (Ford kick) 13 run (Rohrbach kick) 100 interception return (Ford kick) 44 pass from Stewart (Ford kick) 11 pass from Bailey (kick failed) Armstrong 3 run (Ford kick) Johnson Elizabeth City hand No 4 Virginia Union defeat beats Catawba for Perry's Observer News Services RICHMOND Tim Johnson threw for two touchdowns Saturday as Elizabeth City State beat fourth-ranked Virginia Union 24-23 in a C1AA game The Panthers (5-1 3 1 C1AA) turned the ball over five times and were hit with 11 penalties for 145 yards Virginia Union's Carl Wright threw his third scoring pass of the game in the final quarter an 8-yarder to Quinton Hurd and drove his team inside the Elizabeth City 25 where Robert Timmons missed a 32-yard field goal that would have tied the game with two minutes 30 seconds remaining Virginia Union's defense held for three plays On fourth down Elizabeth City (4-1 3-1) center Demetruis Hardison fearing a blocked punt snapped the ball through the end zone for a safety Virginia Union got the ball on the ensuing kickoff but was unable to score before time ran out Elizabeth City St Virginia Union 7 14 3 0-24 0 14 0 9-23 SOUTH ATLANTIC seven minutes 40 seconds remaining in the game Presbyterian punter John Plasky averaged 45 yards on six punts including one of 67 yards Presbyterian Catawba 7 7 1 0-21 0 0 7 8-13 6 pass from Williamson (Horton kick) recovers blocked punt in end zone (Horton kick) 2 run (Horton kick) 30 pass from Avent (Norton kick) 2 run (kick failed) Att-2900 at Catawba) Elon 54 Mars 11111 19 Joe Randolph returned the opening kickoff 98 yards and Roosevelt Brooks added a 100-yard interception return as Elon's big plays helped down visiting Mars Hill in a SAC contest The Fightin' Christians (3-3 1-2) grabbed a 17-0 first-quarter lead and led 31-7 at the half Elon led 17-7 when Brooks picked off a Jeff Bailey pass and I run (Gonzo kick).