Santa Cruz Sentinel from Santa Cruz, California • Page 62

7 rrr i 1 62-Santa Cruz Sentinel Sunday, November 11, 1979 Forces Special SCCAL Playoff Harbor pound Sequel Beeend I remaining in the game, when Charlie Smith, Harbor's star halfback, fumbled the ball "mJtWX. "h'm" If It v. By ALAN ARAKELIAN Sentinel Sports Writer Someone threw a "monkey wrench" in the Soquel Knights' plans of competing in the postseason football playoffs. And the "someone" turned out to be the Harbor Pirates. Harbor tied the game on a 1-yard sneak by quarterback Bruce Summers with five seconds remaining (and no timeouts left) and Greg Jones added the extra-point kick to lift the Pirates to a 14-13 upset over Soquel in a Santa Cruz County Athletic League finale at Cabrillo College on Friday night.

A win would have assured Soquel, now 4-1, of an SCCAL title and a spot in the first round of the Region IV playoffs in two weeks. But, Soquel's defeat, coupled with a 45-6 win by the second-place Aptos Mariners over the Marello Prep Panthers on Saturday, resulted in a two-way tie for the crown between Soquel and Aptos. Thus, a special playoff game tentatively set for Friday night at 7:30 at Cabrillo College will be played to determine the SCCAL's representative for the Region IV playoffs. For Harbor, whose two SCCAL defeats this season were by one point apiece, the victory over Soquel was a complete turn-around in fortune. This time, the Pirates were the ones winning a one-point decision.

But, while it was a hard-fought win for Harbor, one thing it wasn't for the Pirates was easy or artistic. Soquel was in front, 13-7, seconds left and Jones added 5:57 remaining in the first quar-the PAT moments later for the ter on a 5-yard run and Vaught game-winning point. kicked the extra point. The "I'll tell you, Jones really score was set up by a 66-yard concentrated on that kick," run by running back Ted said Nicolaisen. "It looked to Talboy.

me like he had his eyes glued to Soquel scored again on its the ground in order to keep his next possession when Thome head down." connected with tight end Lloyd What were Nicolaisen's Thomas on a 30-yard pass with thoughts as the game began to 30 seconds left in the opening wind down? quarter, giving the Knights a "What I was trying to think 13-0 lead. However, Vaught of was how we were going to missed the PAT try. run against them (the Knights), The Pirates got back in the because they were tough," said game midway through the sec- Nicolaisen, referring to ond quarter when Smith broke Harbor's six efforts from several tackles on the way to a within the 5-yard line toward 26-yard scoring run. Jones the end of the game. "And, I kicked the extra point, wasn't sure whether I wanted Throughout the game, to put the ball up in the air and Soquel's defense, led by take a chance of losing it." linemen John Voris, Rich Soquel Coach Dewey Furlanic and Steve Eisely and Tompkins was surprisingly linebacker Scott Cheney, composed after the game.

Said proved to be strong. Tompkins, "We held Harbor The Knight defensive crew several times within the 10- limited Smith, the league's yard line, but we were hurt by leading rusher, to just 58 yards what I thought were a couple of on 19 carries and Harbor's of- questionable calls down by the fense to 128 yards overall, goal line." score by quarters. Almost overshadowed by all the last-minute excitement was soq'-'tiw i' riin ivaught kick), the second-half performance of ThomM 30 from Thorrw (klck Harbor's defense, led by HAR Summerj I run (Jones kick). linemen Greg Jones, Aaron team statistics Cartwright and Rod Brownfield, linebackers Ronnie wow Passing yardage 56 57 Smith and Mark Cohen and psss 4-in s-m-o backs Todd Hager, John Lewis Ji and Stu Dempewolf. After allowing Soquel 210 individual statistics yards on offense in the first two TiCStV .2 v.ught Quarters.

Harbor's defense nougardy Thome 7-21, lanmcieiio 1 1 J-15; Harbor C. Smith l.5f. Summers 7-17, buckled down and surrendered cohen smitti i-i, Rinaim i-i, rusmii j- just 24 net yards the rest of the 'p eame Soou Thome a-iw-ss, aaiiii m-i-O; 6 Harbor Summers VI 157. Soquel showed its dominance Receiving early in the game, as quarter- back Eric Thorne scored with Smim and Knight linebacker Scott Cheney recovered at the Soquel 18-yard line. "I thought we were dead, believe me," said Harbor Coach Bob Nicolaisen, in reference to the turnover.

The Pirates, however, got the ball right back on the following play, as running back Mike Vaught fumbled and Harbor's Rick Rinaldi fell on it at the Soquel 22 with just over two minutes left. Moments later, Summers connected with Adam Goldberg on a crucial, 18-yard pass reception, giving Harbor a first-and-goal situation at the Soquel 3. Goldberg and a Knight defender came down with the ball at the same time but, as the rules implies, a "tie" goes to the receiver. Three runs by Smith failed to get the ball closer (in fact, Harbor lost two yards). Harbor got the break of the game on a fourth-down play, as Soquel defensive back Dean East was called for pass interference on Goldberg, who was trying for a Summers pass, with 34 seconds remaining.

The call stopped the clock (which was important, since the Pirates had just one more time out left) and gave Harbor a first-and-goal at the Soquel 2. Two downs later, with 16 seconds left, Smith was dropped for a 1-yard loss by Soquel's swarming defense, but a late hit again stopped the clock (Harbor was now without any timeouts). On the next play, Summers went in for a score with five v. C5e' vJMH Doug Perry (78) rejoices jCEnr6e Summers (8) scored the iSentinei Phgtos by Bin Loveioyj last-second ID to hand Soquel its first league loss. Pirate quarterback Bruce So What's 1 7v 71 Va ((( SLV Wraps Up Year In Style In A Number? Ed Vyeda- quarterback Tom Flower lofted a high pass to his big tight end Griffiths, who made a leaping fingertip catch and came crashing to the turf in the end zone with 37 seconds left to give SLV a 13-7 lead.

Santa Cruz took over at the Valley 37 and drove to the 10 yard line as time ran out. SCORE BY Santa Cru! 7 0 0 0 -7 San Lorenzo 0 7 0 6 13 SC Ronnlng 3 run (Sanaers -Ick) SLV McAdams 10 run (Olsen kick) SLV Griffiths 77 pass from Flower (kick failed) TEAM STATISTICS Santa Crui ILV First downs 13 10 Rushing yardage 293 209 Passing yardage IB 2B Passes 2-5-1 21 Fumbles, lost 1-0 Penalties, yards 5-55 10-1 10 Punts, yards 5-172 6-186 INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS Rushing Santa Crut Sanders 1741, Scott 2049, Hodges 5-91, Ronnlng Ml, Jessen 1-1 SLV -McAdams 15-51, Baughman 4-12, Flower 9-51 Cardoza 14-95, Russel l-mlnus 1. Passing Santa Cruz Ronnlng 2-5-Ht; SLV -Flower 2-8-1-28, Cardoza O-l-M. Receiving Santa Cruz Scott 2-18, SLV Griffiths 2-28 ifv after Summers' touchdown run. MOVeS IfltO SefTHS with less than three minutes Harbor offensive tackle Sign-ups Begin the 5th and 6th grade Youth program at all city elementary schools and at the recreation department.

Forms for the Junior High program will be available at Mission Hill and Branciforte Junior High schools. Boys and girls eligible to play in the Youth league program can do so providing they are in the 5th and 6th grade. Participation is limited to two years of playing and players must reside in Santa Cruz County. First year participants must also attend a clinic placement session to assist the department in providing balanced teams for league play. All returning players will be placed on the team they played on last year.

The clinic session will be held Saturday, Nov. 17 at Santa Cruz High. Practice will begin the last week of November with games scheduled for Saturday mornings starting Jan. 5. In the new Junior High program, the first five weeks will be devoted primarily to instruction, after which teams will be chosen the remaining 10 weeks of league play.

Each player that registers will be placed on a team and is guaranteed to play in each game. The Junior High program will take place on Saturday mornings from 9 until noon beginning Nov. 17 at Branciforte Junior High for girls and Mission Hill Junior High for boys. Fees for both programs will be $10 for city residents and $15 fnr nnn.rpcirlnntc Poo inrlnHpe T-shirt in the Junior High pro- pnTT By STEVE SOLBERG Sentinel Correspondent When the final seconds of the 1979 season ticked away at San Lorenzo Valley Field Saturday afternoon, a tidal wave of emotion swelled from the Cougar bench and surged across the gridiron. New head coach Lee Over-beck rode triumphantly on the shoulders of his exuberant team and Curt Griffiths was still receiving bear hugs for his brilliant last minute touchdown catch that had beaten Santa Cruz 13-7.

It was more than a victory for the Valley it was a vindication. Overbeck said after the game what SLV coaches have been saying all year, "We are a good team, we can hold our own with anybody." All the frustration of a sub-par 3-6 season which reached a low-point four weeks ago with the shocking dismissal of Coach Bruce Rosenberg, could finally be vented by a screaming mass of SLV players and fans swarming across the field. The victory, like the season, did not come easy. The Valley had to come back from an early 7-0 deficit, overcome 110 yards in penalties and then finally hold off the Cardinals furious last-second drive that ended ten yards from paydirt. Santa Cruz scored its only points with just under three minutes left in the first quarter.

Quarterback Mitch Ron-ning capped a 53 yard drive when he rolled three yards around left end untouched into the end zone. The Cougars tied the score on the next series of downs as they methodically marched 65 yards on 13 plays. Halfback Steve McAdams went the final 10 yards driving straight ahead on an off tackle play. Santa Cruz almost took a one touchdown lead on the last play of the first half. Mark Hodges caught SLV completely off guard when he carried the ball 65 yards on a reverse.

Only a desperation tackle on the 7 yard line by Mark Mueting as time ran out saved the day for the Cougars. Defense ruled the game for most of the second half. Neither team could muster any sort of aerial attack, so the defenses simply keyed on the hot backs and which eventually ground the offensive drives to a halt. It wasn't until there were only two minutes left in the game and the ball was on their own 36 that SLV began its winning drive. Perry Cardoza, who led the Cougars with 95 yards, kept the drive going when he blasted for 13 yards to the Card 27 on a crucial fourth-and-three situation.

On the next play his best matches ever on a fast surface. Normally the strongest on fast courts, Gottfried ran out of gas in the first tiebreaker after double faulting on the first point. Solomon took it 7-1. The second tiebreaker could have gone either way in the second tiebreaker. Gottfried, getting off to a better start this time, won it 7-5.

McEnroe was challenged only once by Saviano, the only unseeded player to reach the quarters. That was in the eighth game of the second set when the 23-year-old Saviano passed McEnroe at the net with two sizzling crosscourt shots to make it 15-40. But the U.S. Open champ, calling on his tough, angled first serve, ran off four straight points and zipped to a 5-3 final-set lead. McEnroe only dropped nine points in his service games and won four of them to love during the 55-minute match.

STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AP) Defending champion John McEnroe made short work of unseeded Nick Saviano 6-1, 6-4 Saturday and moved into the semifinals against Wojtek Fibak of Poland in the $210,000 Stockholm Open. The top-seeded McEnroe turned in a superb display of serve-and-volley tennis at the Royal Tennis Hall. Fibak downed McEnroe's doubles partner, Peter Fleming, 6-2, 7-5 in their quarterfinal. Fibak was the only non-American to reach the round of eight. Brian Gottfried faces Gene Mayer in Sunday other semifinal.

Mayer, seeded fourth, defeated Tim Gullikson 6-4, 6-4 in the last quarter-final. Gottfried battled down to the wire against Harold Solomon, winning a tight three-setter on a decisive tiebreaker 7-5, 6-7, 7-6. Gottfried prevailed as Solomon played one of Numbers are just a way of life in sports, be it from the standpoint of player, coach or fan. To a basketball player, averaging 25 a game is the major point of interest. For football coaches, anyone who runs the 40 in 4.3 gives them a rush.

In baseball, a 50-home run season figures to precede a $150,000 contract. But no matter if you're talking batting averages, rebounds or about drawing over three million fans to the ballpark, the one thing everyone gets around to, sooner or later, is the single thing everyone wants to be No. 1. There's simply no substitute for being No. 1, except maybe if you're waiting on death row.

The popular saying is that No. 2 tries harder and No. 3 doesn't have to try at all. But still, they are all trying to become No. 1.

During the 1970s, Cabrillo College's football Seahawks had come close to being ranked No. 1 in the state Division II (small. schools) poll, but until last week could not get any higher than No. 2. And who remembers No.

Quick, who was the No. 2 team in college football last year? Or who is No. 2 right now? Mmmm, not so easy, right? Cabrillo's becoming No. 1 has a number of different sides to it. It's satisfying, naturally, to be given the honor.

But while Cabrillo Coach Joe Marvin recognizes that the Hawks have worked hard to get where they are, his first reaction to the ranking is a hearty laugh. Marvin's predecessor at Cabrillo, and long-time friend and teammate, Hal Mitchell, wouldn't laugh at the ratings he'd actually snarl at them. Mitchell, who left the college after the 1973 season to work for Rawlings Sporting Goods, took the Hawks to the state playoffs in 1972, but refused to pay state ratings any mind. "Silly," he'd say of them. "They're just silly." Marvin, who has guided Cabrillo to Coast Conference titles in 1974, 1975 and 1976, realizes that the Hawks now are in a position where other teams will use Cabrillo's ranking as a tool of motivation.

Earlier this season, when the Hawks played then-No. 1 Merced, the Blue Devils' ranking and the fact that they were No. 1 last year did a great deal to pump up Cabrillo. Last weekend against then-No. 1 Monterey Peninsula, Cabrillo again was peaked, emotionally, for the Lobos.

But the Hawks' task at hand is to keep everybody else from successfully out-motivating them. The players themselves can't help from feeling proud of being No. 1 and Marvin says they'll hope to avoid turning pride into conceit. Granted, the Hawks have proven they are good, but they have a ways to go before they are good enough to be cocky, too. In all probability, Cabrillo was no better a team when it walked off the field following the win over MPC than it was when it walked on.

But the ratings show it differently. The No. 1 team, after all, should be able to beat every other team below it. Isn't that what ratings are all about? Ratings be they for football, basketball or miles-per-gallon usually don't mean a lot. Cabrillo, for example, is No.

3 overall in the state, but Marvin says, "Thank God we don't have to play any of those other people below us. They'd kill us." More realistically, the ratings are just a toy for the media. "The battle for No. 1" makes good copy, but can't help a team win a championship other than the ficticious "Poll Bowl." And being No. 1 in the ninth week of a 10-week season carries no more weight than a Q-Tip.

The ratings have lost some meaning over the years, it seems. In the past, the only time one could claim being No. 1 was after something like the World Series or the finals of the NCAA basketball championships. But these days anybody who sits on the bench of a 1-8 team can wave his index finger in the air at the slightest hint of a moment's success. So, what's in a number, anyway? Youth Basketball Registration for the City Parks and Recreation Department's Youth and Junior High Basketball programs for boys and girls begins Monday at the department headquarters, 346 Church Street.

Forms will be available for Area Standings COAST CONFERENCE Team W-L-T Cobrillo 4O0 Hertnelt 3-1-0 Monterey 3-1-0 Gavllan 2-2-0 Memo 04O Ohlone 040 Saturday's Games Cabrillo 35, Hartneii 21 Monterey 20, Menk) 7 Friday's Game Gavilan 16, Ohlone 14 SANTA CRUZ COUNTY ATHLETIC LEAGUE Team W-L-T GB Aptos 4-1-0 Soquel 4-1-0 Harbor 3-2-0 1 Santa Cruz 2-W 2 San Lorenzo Valley 2-30 2 Marello Prep 0-5-04 Saturday's Games Aptos 45, Marello Prep 6 San Lorenzo Valley 13, Santa Cruz 7 Friday's Game Harbor 14, Soquel 13 MONTEREY BAY LEAGUE Team W-L-T GB Salinas 40-1 North Salinas 40-1 Seaside 3-2-0 I'i Monterey 2-30 7'fi Ahsal 1-40 3 Watsonvllle 0-54 A'i Friday's Games North Salinas 28, Monterey 20 Salinas 37, Seaside 0 Thursday's Game Allsal 24, Watsonville 22 MISSION TRAIL ATHLETIC LEAGUE Team W-L-T GB No. Monterey County Palma Hollister Pacific Grove Gonzales King City Carmel 604 5-1-0 4-1-1 3-34 2-3-1 2-44 1-54 006 Stevenson Saturday's Games No. Monterey County 40, Carmel I King City 19, Stevenson 6 Friday's Games Hollister 14, Gonzales 14 (tie) Palma 20, Pacific Grove I Little League Meeting Nov. 13 Rec Basketball MEN'S A LEAGUE Omega (64) Blan 14, Rowe 5, Wollzco 4 Green II, Macalalr I Orlcker 1 1, Baker 8, Curry Body Sole (51) Slulter 3, Watson 6, Pasquinl IB, Hoaad 10, Bailey 2, Green 6, Bumgarner 8. Keith Jackson (102) Williams 16 Walker 28, Singleton 6, Jackson 24, Straton 17, Stak-kestad Monterey Bay Ice (48) Fruh Ourman 18, Titus I Ranee 1 Couchman I Saveilch 15.

Beach Liquors (60) Boomer 9, Britten 5, Swift 20, Foster 6 Nelson I Marshall 15; Catalyst (59) Marks 12, Henry 16 Swaml 10, Sully 8, Tighe 3, Schandlng 6 Mezall 4. MEN'S C-l LEAGUE Mkjuos Construction 47, Lauer 41 TLC 37, Harris Bros. 35 Pepperldge Farm S3, Fran Carrel 50 child early at the meeting. No children will be allowed at the meeting. GOLF HAZARDS SALISBURY, Zimbabwe Rhodesia (AP) This call for police assistance was definitely not par for the course.

The Santa Cruz Little League will hold a parent meeting at Harvey West Clubhouse Tuesday, Nov. 13 at 7:30 p.m. All interested Little League parents are urged to attend and volunteer their services toward the various league activities. Parents may also register their kTPTjffilrtl3 ItjlVi PIZZA PIZAZZ MONDAY FOOTBALL 6 Pfil GIANT SCREEN TV Mth 4'rVtgia. 476.03J grair,.