The Item from Sumter, South Carolina • 15

Tigers crush WCU By KEVIN McLENDON ITEM Sports Writer CLEMSON In a mismatch of classic proportions powerful Tigers leveled Western Carolina 43-0 in Death Valley Saturday afternoon and the Tigers even have to work very hard at it Clemson chalked up 30 first-half points against the out-manned NCAA Division I-AA Catamounts but only once in their six first-half scoring drives did the Tigers have to travel farther than 20 yards thought our football team played very well head coach Danny Ford said afterwards came mentally ready to play and I think physically ready to After stopping WCU on the opening series of the game Clemson took over at its own 31 and put together a 10-play drive culminated by tailback Terry nine-yard touchdown run up the middle Quarterback Rodney Williams started the drive with a 20-yard pass to Gary Cooper moving the ball to the 49-yard line On third-and-six from the 45 Williams hit Jerome Williams with a 13-yard pass and on third-and-three from the 25 Williams connected with Cooper for a 16-yard completion setting up run From there it was all down hill for the Tigers The next five Clemson scoring drives covered nine 19 16 13 and -4 yards respectively The one thing Ford did find to worry about was that the Tigers were forced to settle for field goals on three of those five short drives could have done a little better on our the coach said were depending on the big play too much We just had Western Carolina outmanned today and we got some breaks Special teams played a big role in the first-half outburst WCU was forced to punt again on its next Staff photo by Sam Holland Along for the ride Clemson tailback Terry Allen drags a crowd of Western Carolina defenders into the end zone Saturday afternoon home team in scoring position again on next possession when JC Harper recovered a Jon Reed fumble at the 30 Four running plays gave Clemson a third-and-seven at the 15 and Williams found Cooper for four yards to the 11 David Treadwell then entered and was good on a 28-yard field goal again put the Tigers in the shadow of the Catamount goal line this time at the 17 Clemson moved the ball down to the nine before calling on Treadwell for a 26-yard field goal with 7:14 to play in the half On the ensuing kickoff Earl Bates fumbled the ball and Clay Gilstrap recovered at the WCU 12 The Tigers lost 4 yards on 4 plays before Trreadwell came on to kick a 32-yard field goal with 5:27 left before halftime "1 thought our kicking game went very Ford said created some turnovers and then got a possession and James Lott returned the kick 49 yards to the 14 Allen fumbled the ball away at the 10-yard line but next punt attempt for a 17-0 Tiger lead Special teams came into play again on next possession when Catamount punter Anthony kick was blocked by Jesse Hatcher and rolled out of bounds at the WCU 16 Allen carried four times for 14 yards including a four-yard jaunt around right end for the touchdown and a 24-0 advantage was returned 45 yards by Donnell Woolford to the nine Wesley McFadden went over left tackle for five yards and then went over right tackle for the other four yards making it 144) Clemson with 2:06 to play in the first quarter The Tiger defense which limited WCU to 60 total yards in the first half and 109 for the game put the with 9: 11 left in the half A 37-yard punt return by Lott once couple of good punt returns and blocked one happy for the defense in getting themselves a the coach continued been a pretty good while (10 games) since had one of them We have to struggle too much and I think the difference today was that they came in with a true freshman quarterback and fullback against a seasoned The first first-string offense stayed in the game long enough into the second half to put together a three-play 65-yard scoring drive A 19-yard run by McFadden and a 41-yard pass from Williams to Cooper set up 5-yard run around right end for the score with 10:14 to play in the third quarter The final score came on an 8-yard run by No3 tailback Joe Henderson with 7:51 to play in the game A high snap spoiled the point after attempt (See CLEMSON on page 2B) Score by periods: WCU 0 0 0 0 0 Clem 14 16 7 6 43 Scoring: Clem Allen 9 run (Treadwell kick) Clem McFadden 4 run (Treadwell kick) Clem Treadwell 28 FQ Clem Allen 4 run (Treadwell kick) Clem Treadwell 26 FG Clem Treadwell 32 FG Clem McFadden 5 run (Treadwell kick) Clem Henderson 6 run (pass failed) Individuals Rushing: Clem Allen 19-75 McFadden 10-63 Henderson 15-80 WCU Terry 10-33 Cottrell 5-(-25) Passing Clem Williams 12-9-154 WCU Cottrell 32-14-92 Cooper 5-122 WCU Reed 5-27 Nowell 4-29 AP Spot Writer DARLINGTON Rookie Davey Allison is hoping his walk among the clouds continues Sun- Tm wall come down Allison end annual So 1 had to after his Tiiififfirarfh Dr alway jast about how touj it was to come aid Mto it wry mi ray worst eras! i Darlington's he Said If Men niwe one ABfaoB'sfin four years ago started eight has won two twice more times on dood nine It and 1 haven't said time aloft ih the 38th 500 NASCAR at Darlington ceway The to begin at 1 is the pole at toe out Bill lQursuA was not hurt to either experiences to respect the was once a lat a bumper jp enough to have first do at Dari whole race tor me Winston been loaded I'm trying his Dither and would the tables every time he Pd like own a chance as any driver to win but be figures to fit a stiff challenge from several drivers including Elliott and Dele Earnhardt Elliott won the Southern 500 in giving him three of four victories in the races that earned him a 31 million bonus This year no one has a shot at the $1 million bonus but Allison and EJUott along with Kyle Petty who Is storting 28th can win a for winning the Southern S90 The bonus which goes to any driver who wins two of the races is in addition to the 360600 the winner will earn at Darlington realty thought about it a whole Allison said of toe bonus something like to have hut got to finish those 509 miles Petty agreed saying Daiington is not one of his favorite tracks When asked what be enjoy about toe track Petty said: through the gate is the part I don like know why we run good here But this has not been best be said meanwhile hopes his recent string of bad luck at the track continue last couple of races here I've CO me so close to winning Lari year 1 ended up in toe wall with about seven laps to go and ended up running third which too good a day (See DARLINGTON an page 6B) Gamecocks solid in win over Appalachian State Score by periods: ASU 3 0 0 0 3 USC 0 10 7 7 24 Scoring: ASU Nlttmo 25 field goal USC Green 2 run (Mackle kick) USC Mackle 35 field goal USC Green 1 run (Mackie kick) USC Green 1 run (Mackle kick) Individuals Rushing: USC Green 22-78 Bing 7-29 Ellis 12-6 Sharpe 2-22 ASU Sanders 1564 Parker 2-2 Wesley 1-(-)12 Beaty 2-8 Melchor 7-36 Payton 5-(-)3 Passing: USC Ellis 44-30-2 329 ASU -Payton 23-10-2 96 Receiving: USC Sharpe nlne-87 Smith 3-52 White 7-59 Brown 1-13 Green 4-35 Bethea 4-65 Platt 2-18 ASU Dawson 1-3 Jefferson 5-49 Wilkes 1-11 Sanders 2-13 Parker 1-20 recovered by the Kenny Blacknell at the USC 30 A 16-yard completion by quarterback Todd Payton to Wardell Jefferson gave Appalachian a first down at the 14 ASU would get no closer than the seven before Bjorn Nittmo kicked a 25-yard field goal to give it a 3-0 lead with 1:31 left in the first quarter USC responded by going 83 yards in 12 plays only two of which were running plays Ellis who was 16-for-24 for 169 yards in the first half completed passes to four different receivers during the drive A 15-yard completion on a diving catch by Ryan Bethea gave the Gamecocks a first down at their 48 A 22-yarder to Danny Smith and an 18-yarder to Bethea helped get Carolina a first down at the ASU 11 The Gamecocks struggled a bit after that needing a seven-yard completion to Green to force a fourth-and-one situation at the two-yard line Carolina decided to go for it and not only got a first down but a touchdown from Green as well Mackie booted the PAT to make it 7-3 with 12:27 left in the first half Appalachian let a golden opportunity get away later in the half The Mountaineers took over at the USC 48 following an 11-yard punt by freshman Daren Parker Running back Tim Sanders went 24 yards on the first play Payton threw nine yards to Jefferson and Ritchie Melchor ran five yards for a first down at the 11 ASU got down to the USC two-yard line where it was faced with fourth down and inches to go for a first down The Mountaineers originally were going to go for a field goal but after an offside penalty on USC they decided to go for it That was a mistake as the defense held and the Gamecocks took over at the By DENNIS BRUNSON ITEM Sports Writer COLUMBIA There was nothing flashy definitely nothing spectacular But the University of South Carolina did have a solid effort on both offense and defense to defeat Appalachian State 24-3 at Williams-Brice Stadium Saturday The Gamecocks had their run-and-shoot running well picking up 464 yards of total offense Quarterback Todd Ellis threw for 329 yards while completing 30 passes in 44 attempts That was expected If there was anything that stood out in the contest it was defense It held the Mountaineers to 191 yards of total offense 95 through the air and 96 on the ground The defense also turned ASU away inside the Carolina five-yard line on two occasions Carolina head coach Joe Morrison was pleased with the performance of his defense thought the defense did a good job particularly on the goal-line said Morrison who began his fifth season at USC thought the secondary played extremely well Brad Edwards had one interception (actually two) and broke up a couple of passes I just thought the whole defensive unit played While Ellis went over 300 yards for the fourth time in his career he did not throw a touchdown pass while having two passes intercepted Running back Harold Green rushed for 78 yards and three touchdowns "We wanted to run the ball a little more against Appalachian Morrison said got a young man like Harold Green back there you want to get the ball in his hands as often as It appeared as though USC would have an easy time with the Mountaineers if the first two series of the game were any indication Appalachian received the opening kickoff but had to punt after three plays with the Gamecocks taking over at their own three AP photo Over the top Todd Ellis passes over Appalachian Anthony Downs Carolina immediately started moving the football behind the passing of Ellis A 20-yard completion to Sterling Sharpe gave USC a first down at the Mountaineer nine That would be as close the Gamecocks would get as Ellis was dropped for losses of three and eight yards on the next two plays He then threw an incomplete pass before freshman Collin Mackie missed a 37-yard field goal play of the second half and runs of eight yards by Green Sharpe and Keith Bing kept the Gamecocks moving Green went over from two yards out to make it 17-3 with 8:25 left in the third quarter South Carolina scored its final touchdown when free safety Brad Edwards intercepted his second pass of the game and returned it 20 yards to the USC 35 The Gamecocks moved the ball 65 yards with Green going over from one yard out to make it 24-3 with 12:40 remaining in the game one USC drove the ball downfield before stalling at the Mountaineer 18 Mackie came in to kick a 35-yard field goal with 4:45 left to give the Gamecocks a 10-3 halftime lead After throwing the football on 24 of its 40 plays in the first half USC took the second-half kickoff and drove 86 yards for a touchdown depending largely on the run The drive took almost seven minutes off of the clock Green went 11 yards on the first ASU got on the scoreboard first thanks in large part to a fumble by wingback Hardin Brown that Was.