The News and Observer from Raleigh, North Carolina • 21

Business Economic index falls for fifth straight month I Page 6 1 4 MINMIIIIIMO The News and Observer Saturday December 29 1990 Raleigh NC Son 2ho rieqo Wolifpacko darns All Anterican wit 2:06 to play at its own 47 -4'1 I7-1 't-of' 't) -'it 4 4 i 1 l'''''''' ''-'''''''ti '4: 't Ji 1 4: (t-1 4 -4kfs- 12 4' i i 4' I V07'''1'-- i'7'''''')- 1-- i i I'- --r oN cf iif it 1(: '-f-: i V1'i --7- -E: -07''' 4" 'It: 4-: '-'11 'i: 'Hi ts' -1 :1 1 's''''7''' 1 I f'J 55 1 I i '-'1 'N Favre's passing pushed the Ea--- gles to a first down at the State 20 But Mark Thomas crashed'd through the pocket to force Favre to throw an incompletion with eight seconds left Then on the last play and witho fans for both teams standing Favre dropped back to pass for a final time The 6-foot-2 0 back who twice had thrown lastr: second touchdowns to win games at USM couldn't find a receiver open downfield when Thomas' crashed in again This time Thomas got Favre in his grasp :4 and Favre's only chance was to flip the ball forward a fumble'a la Kenny Stabler and hope the? ball somehow wound up in the end zone But no The fumble wound up under a pile of bodies far from the end zone and NCSU had its second bowl victory in four tries under Sheridan "We all went in the huddle and said this was it" said an elated" Thomas "Thank goodness we held on I don't know what hapl pened on the last play I don't know if he fumbled or what I just looked up and saw we won and I was happy" Thomas said the win was particularly sweet for a Pack team that had seen its share of disappointments in 1990 "We knew we were 10-1 going into the fourth quarter" Thomas said "We wanted to prove to everybody that we belonged here We showed we're better than 6-5" The game was a wild Wide-open" affair from the beginning Favre threw for 46 yards to receiver Michael Jackson on the first play of the game But chunky straight- See WOISPACK page AC Greg Manior Golden Eagle defenders all the way and getting mobbed in the end zone by his teammates That run with 6:21 left put State ahead 31-21 But the Wolfpack which had led in the fourth quarter in three of its five losses and been tied in the fourth quarter in another had to hang on at the end Favre drove the Golden Eagles right downfield and Michael Welch got the touchdown on a 5-yard run with 3:09 to play USM went for two points and State was called for pass interference on the first try But on the second attempt Favre faked into the line and looked into the end zone for receiver Marcus Pope But cornerback Sebastian Savage had Pope well-covered and Favre was soon sacked by Corey Edmond State punted and Southern Miss took over for the final time with By DANE HUFFMAN Staff writer BIRMINGHAM Ala NC State's football team felt it was better than its 6-5 record indicated Friday night at Legion Field the Wolfpack proved it State toppled Southern Mississippi 31-27 in a wild All American Bowl that was much different than the defensive struggle that was expected Offense was the name of the game as 44000 watched on a warm Alabama night Southern Miss which earned its 8-3 record coming in by being conservative opened up its attack behind the deadly passing of quarterback Brett Favre Favre completed 28 of 35 throws for 341 yards and two touchdowns But State's offense an erratic unit all season responded with its best efforts of the year Quarterback Terry Jordan threw for 166 yards and a touchdown fullback Greg Manior rushed for 71 and tailback Gary Downs had 53 "Offensively this was our best game of the year" NCSU head coach Dick Sheridan said "No one had scored 31 points against that defense" Sheridan said it was the most consistent the offense had been and pointed out that there were only two major mistakes an interception and a blocked punt that set up a USM touchdown State turned the game around with two key plays midway through the fourth quarter Reserve linebacker David Merritt a big-play man all season picked off a Favre pass with 6:33 to go On first down Manior dashed 41 yards for a score brushing off Today's games Garner vs Northeastern I pm San Pasqua! vs Stone County 230 pm Danbury vs Pittsburgh Perry 6:30 pm Southwest Macon vs Springfield 8 pm was vital Danbury coach Kenneth Smith said he thought the turning point came in the final minute of the third quarter The Hatters 4-1 led 55-51 at that point "We wanted to hold for a last shot" Smith said "and let Anthony Harris take a three-pointer with five seconds left But we turned it over and they scored" "We held our own and extended while Best was out" said Springfield coach Howard Burns "When he came back we were able to See SPRINGFIELD page 2C for Michael Jackson on a 46-yard The Associated Press pass playto open the game Springfield topples Danbury Garner and Northeastern lose Southern Miss' Brett Favre looks Robinson revving up for ETSU From staff and wire reports A year ago Les Robinson brought his East Tennessee State Buccaneers into Reynolds Coliseum and me 11 44 away with a victory over NC 1 w44' 01)- State Tonight 'I ts he'll try to reverse the sce nano ts Robin-Robinson son now coaching the Wolfpack basketball team makes the return trip to Johnson City Tenn when NC State takes on the 20th-ranked Bucs at 7:30 pm It's one of four games involving Atlantic Coast Conference teams as several clubs return from holiday breaks In other games North Carolina faces DePaul at 4 pm in the first round of the Red Lobster Classic at Orlando Fla Duke plays host to Lehigh at 7:30 Maryland meets South Carolina at 9 pm for the championship of the ECAC Holiday Festival in New York and Virginia plays at Minnesota at 8 pm Robinson a former Wolf-pack player fashioned an 81-70 record during five seasons at East Tennessee lk See ROBINSON page 2C Inside NBA 2C Hawks whip Celts NFL 3C Chiefs aim for playoff berth Rams' Robinson is promised new pact a NHL 5C Penguins blank Red Wings Scoreboard 5C Local Score line: 829-4848 Dial Sports: (900) 258-6565 46 ft441''''' '''-it i --RmrkVcr'l tj 4 It '4 i i i'''V 1 1 -'04V08fk 1: t1 3i '''4: z': l' t': '7'1 '1 A t' '1 4 4 I '-f-4 I Z-: 4: olje -f' 4 7: '4: 411''711 Siit ip- A :1: '1 -''ftk A 0- 4 I 4 ''s- i i 'f Ic 1 0-11'! A :4 I 4:: 1 "'') i'' 1 Stott photo by Jim Bounds Perry's Abu Whitaker takes rebound from Reginald Manuel 1 Lee leads Seminoles to Blockbuster win By AL MYATT Correspondent Springfield Mass was the birthplace of basketball when Dr Naismith nailed up the peach baskets in 1891 Today the city is home to the sport's Hall of Fame and the only undefeated team in The News and Observer Holiday Festival high school basketball tournament Springfield Central used a fourth-quarter run engineered by Georgia Tech-bound point guard Travis Best to subdue previously unbeaten Danbury (Conn) 80-65 in the second semifinal game Friday night at Broughton's Holliday Gym Springfield improved to 6-0 Tech coach Bobby Cremmins should rest much easier knowing he has Best in the fold if Kenny Anderson books for the pros Pre-tourney favorite Southwest Macon will seek to spoil the Golden Eagles' unbeaten status in Ford says Tech needs lot of luck By CAULTON TUDOR Staff writer Georgia Tech will have to play its best game of the season and need a lot of luck in order to become the Atlantic Coast Conference's first football national champion since 1981 That is the opinion of the coach who led Clemson to that championship Ironically enough former Tiger coach Danny Ford's '81 team had to defeat Nebraska Tech's New Year's Day Citrus Bowl opponent to claim supremacy in the Associated Press and United Press International voting polls "Talent-wise Nebraska should be at the advantage" said Ford who resigned at Clemson after the 1989 season "But the good thing is the most talented team doesn't always win We all saw that in the Liberty Bowl Air Force shouldn't be as good as Ohio State nowhere near it But they won the game" Ford said Tech undefeated and ranked second nationally but a two-point underdog to Nebraska would need to pass accurately in Holiday Festival Friday's results San Pasqua' 64 Northeastern 58 Stone County 87 Garner 69 Southwest Macon 68 Pittsburgh Perry 56 Springfield Central 80 Danbury 65 the championship tonight at 8 o'clock Southwest 7-1 turned back Pittsburgh Perry Traditional 68-56 in Friday's first semifinal A significantly smaller crowd watched the semifinals after Thursday's sellout crowd of 3500 In afternoon action Stone County (Miss) came back to down Garner 87-69 and Escondido (Cal) San Pasqual topped Elizabeth City Northeastern 64-58 Best picked up his fourth foul midway through the third quarter and left the game Both coaches said Springfield's ability to stay in the game without the floor leader Danny Ford the game "If Nebraska gears up to stop the run which I suspect they will Georgia Tech should be able to find something in the passing game play-action rollouts screens "A lot of the pressure is going to be on Tech quarterback 1 Shawn Jones But he's a good man to have the pressure on if you're looking at it from Tech's perspective" Pressed to pick a winner Ford still gave a slight edge to Nebraska See TECH page 4C 5fk-''o '21 li '4-0 'r' -N ri 1 4 f'''' Radio-TV Noon Basketball Houston vs Georgetown at St Petersburg Fla (ES PM) 12 30 Football: Peach Bowl Auburn vs Indiana at Atlanta (WIND-Ch 11 WCTI-Ch 12) 12 30 Football: Kansas City at Chicago (WI1N-Ch 7 WPIF-Ch 281 I 00 Basketball Kentucky at Louisville (WRAL-Ch 5 WNCI-Ch 9) 3 00 Basketball Wildcat Christmas Tournament State women vs Villanova at Philadelphia (WPIF-680) 4 00 Basketball: Red Lobster Classic North Carolina vs De Paul at Orlando Fla (WCFIL-1360 WZZ11-F M-93 9 WIVD-Ch 11 WCII-Ch 12) 400 Football Philadelphia at Phoenix (WRAL-Ch 5 WNCI-Ch 9) 7 30 7 30 7 30 Basketball State at East lennessee State (WPIT-680) Basketball: Lehigh at Duke (WDNC-620 WCAS-FM-1043) Football Holiday Bowl lexas AIM vs Brigham Young at San Diego (ESPN) 135 BastwtbalL Last Carolina at Old Dominion Mal-FM-983 WDLXFM-93 31 800 Football: Freedom Bowl Oregon vs Colorado State at Anaheim Calif (WOT-Ch 40) 8 05 Basketball Gniden State at Atlanta (IBS) 100 Basketball LCAC Holiday Festival South Carolina vs Maryland New York (HIS rd Cavs' Moore gets the word today page 4C improved his bowl record to 10-3-1 and his percentage of 750 is the best among coaches with 10 or more postseason games The Seminoles jumped to a MO lead in the opening 6 minutes 40 seconds and then answered Penn State's first two scores to build a 24-10 advantage The 24 points was the most given up this season by Penn State Lee a 190-pound sophomore who scored 18 touchdowns this season scored on first-half runs of one and seven yards Ile finished with 86 yards on 21 carries and caught five receptions for 32 yards Weldon scored his first touchdown of the year on a 5-yard run that gave Florida State a 24-10 lead late in the third quarter Penn State pulled to within 17-10 with 7:32 left in the third period on Craig Fayak's 32-yard field goal The score followed an 11-play 67-yard drive set up by Leonard Humphries' interception at the Penn State 18 The Associated Press MIAMI Amp Lee scored two touchdowns and Casey Weldon scored one Friday night as sixth-ranked Florida State ended seventh-ranked Penn State's nine-game winning streak with a 24-17 victory in the inaugural Blockbuster Bowl Florida State 10-2 held off a fourth-quarter charge sparked by backup quarterback Tom Bill to snap Penn State's winning streak the longest among major colleges Penn State 9-3 pulled within 24-17 with 6:27 left when Bill hit Terry Smith with a 37-yard touchdown pass The Nittany Lions had two more chances but couldn't get into the end zone Penn State got his final opportunity at the Florida State 31 with 3:17 left but John Davis' interception at the 1 snuffed out the Lions' last hope Florida State hasn't been beaten in a bowl game in nine years winning six straight since a 17-17 tie with Georgia in 1984 It also marked the first victory for Florida State coach Bobby Bowden over Penn State's Joe Paterno in seven tries Bowden who was 0-6 against Penn State when coach at West Virginia.