The News Tribune from Tacoma, Washington • 17

-rr 1 rn TheNevvs Tribune Tacamai Sw Oct 1971 SPORTS Section Nerves of Steele foil Huskies 20-17 'T Alabama rush could not get a punt away and was tackled at his own 15-yard line The Crimson Tide rolled the 15 yards in four plays for the touchdown that gave Alabama its first lead 13-10 in the third quarter Husky Coach Don James called the punt flub the turning point Showing perhaps as much emotion as he ever By MIKE JORDAN TNT Sports Writer SEATTLE Tailback Joe Steele has the surest hands of all the University of Washington Huskies Split end Spider Gaines has glue on his fingers Punter Aaron Wilson nerves of steel But for a split second yesterday afternoon in Husky Stadium Steele Gaines and Wilson lost their most cherished attributes They slipped for just an instant And an instant was all the Alabama Crimson Tide needed formation drew Bret Gagliardi offside drove 53 yards in nine plays with halfback Major Ogilvie running left end 13 yards for the score that knotted it at 7-7 Mike Lansford's 37-yard field goal set up by Kyle Heinrich's recovery of an Alabama fumble on the Tide 45 made it 10-7 at intermission The Husky defense lived up to its reputation and national ranking holding Alabama's wishbone attack to 285 rushing yards On obvious running downs James used five linebackers and two up men Workhorse Michael Jackson had a typical afternoon nine tackles 13 assists and two tackles for minus yardage Heinrich who often played dose to the line was in on 14 tackles METHODICAL opportunistic Alabama rallied from a 10-7 halftime deficit and nipped the spirited Huskies 20-17 in a college football thriller before 60975 thoroughly entertained fans UW dost Pag B-2 has in post-game interviews a tight-lipped James said flatly that he thought Wilson could have punted felt there was a big rush and I felt he could have gotten it James said had an overload on one side One guy came in untouched We get that (during the season) though You just have to punt it away quick You cant run with the ball every time you get an overload" JAMES OF COURSE has been giving his near-pathetic kicking team extra work every week and there has been little improvement A blocked punt for a touchdown helped UCLA edge the Huskies 10-7 in the season opener Alabama in an apparent psych job by Coach Paul (Bear) Bryant didn't come onto the field until 1 :32 pm two minutes after the scheduled kickoff time But it didn't seem to affect the Huskies Washington mixing the plays well moved on the Alabama defense with surprising success on its first possession But after driving from the UW 10 to the Alabama 49 Steele fumbled away the first scoring opportunity at the 47 But on the next possession Porras dropped straight back on second-and-four at his 26 and lofted a bomb to the fleet Gaines on a fly pattern Defenders Jim Bob Harris and Bobby Smith collided trying to keep up with the world- class hurdler Gaines hauled it in at the 35 and sprinted to the end zone for a 7-0 UW lead HALFBACK TONY NATHAN a rugged runner with all the moves ran the ensuing kickoff back 47 yards Greg Grimes making a touchdown-saving tackle Alabama with the aid of a penalty on fourth down when a shift into punt THE PURPLE GANG defense achieved its goal it bent but didn't break After Alabama took a 13-10 lead Porras saw a blitzing safety charging up the middle as he dropped back for a third-down pass He quickly lofted the football toward the end zone from his own 46 figuring single coverage on Gaines Gaines was all alone four steps behind the nearest defender but he simply dropped the pass that would have been a touchdown decided to catch it over my shoulder" said Gaines had faked the defender and I could see the football all the way But I turned my head and the football hit my face mask then I couldn't get a handle on After Lansford missed a 43-yard field goal Alabama made it 20-10 midway through the fourth quarter when quarterback Jeff Rutledge hit tight end Rick Neal who was all alone at the two yard line for a 36-yard scoring play HIE HUSKIES answered with another Porras to Gaines bomb With 5:54 left Gaines outran all the defenders on a fly pattern for a 58-yard touchdown pass that closed it to 20-17 and set up the final hectic minutes The loss not only set the Huskies' mark at 2-3 but it cost one of their best players Tight end Scott Greenwood suffered a broken ankle and is out for the season It was a game that had more twists than Chubby Checker Enough lucky breaks and second chances to last a season Drama from the opening kickoff to the final gun It had it all The Huskies who had out-played Alabama most of the game were given new life when on a collision between UWi Nesby Glasgow and split end Bruce Bolton on a fourth-down pass attempt offensive interference was called on Bolton That set up Washington at its own 41-yard line with 3:37 left trailing 20-17 A fourth-down pass interference penalty again bailed the Huskies out giving them a first down at the Alabama 36 with 1:49 remaining The crowd roared The tension mounted But then on first down Steele slanted right four yards to the 32 and fumbled Safety Murray Legg recovered saving the Crimson Tide victory EARLIER GAINES who had given the Huskies a 7-0 lead and brought them back to within three at 20-17 with a pair of touchdown bombs from quarterback Tom Porras dropped a sure touchdown pass He was wide open and the ball was in his hands momentarily And Wilson the sophomore punter who threw the famous fourth-down pass from punt formation in the Rose Bowl last year froze up under a heavy Staff photo by Jerry Buck Nowhere to go Joe Alabama defender wrapped up Husky tailback Joe Steele See college football scoreboard linfield rallies to turn hack Knights 18-17 deficit the Wildcats defeated the Lutes 18-17 before a sun-splashed capacity crowd of 3000 Maxwell-Field spectators They watched the Cats block a 41-yard PLU field-goal try with 1:02 remaining which could have changed the outcome HIE RESULT however kept the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics Division 2 and Northwest small college football poll leaders atop the Northwest Conference standings in their quest for a ninth title in the last 10 years And since Ad Rutschman a Linfield football star who went on to play five seasons as a running back for the Detroit Lions took command in 1968 he's dominated the series His teams have won eight of the last nine meetings three times by one point and another by three This time the decider turned out to be a PLU touchdown which was nulli- By STAN FARBER TNT Sports Writer McMinnville Ore Wildcats the pussycats with nine lives needed every one of them yesterday to survive a scary confrontation with Pacific Lutheran University- Rallying from an 11-point halftime fied 26 seconds before halftime when officials ruled John Schultz the center was holding The Lutes had to settle for a 35-yard field goal by 6-foot-8 287-pound John Wallace to lead 17-6 at intermission Linfield ranked No 1 in the NAIA in total offense and scoring had trouble getting in gear the first half After fullback Ted Owens capped a 75-yard drive with a 4-yard scoring burst the Wildcats dent PLU territory for the next 18 minutes until midway through the third quarter yards 138 of them coming in the first half didn't have the ball during the first explained Linfield quarter back Alan Schmidlin who alternated with Pat Silva during the first two quarters then went the distance the final two periods we kept our told them to play good defense and we'd try to score two touchdowns to added Rutschman who said he went with Schmidlin because Silva wasn't getting feel of the Silva the Uttle All-Northwest quarterback a year ago and tops in total offense in the region in 1977 has been bothered by a sore shoulder Yankees Dodgers win pennants pass interference penalties against the Lutes and spiced late in the going by two controversial delay calls against Linfield In fact the officiating became so weird that both sides were in states of confusion have told my Rutschman said later the PLU game always is a hard-hitting but clean game In some years there haven't been any penalties called I told them there might not be a single one called HIE LUTES TURNED a fake punt into first-down yardage and saw a fake field-goal try tackfire They reached the Linfield 13 (first quarter) 40 25 and 34 (third quarter): and 30 and 23 (fourth quarter) And came away each time without points The block of Wallace's field-goal attempt with time running out didn't happen by accident Rutschman said his teams have worked on blocking field goals about two minutes a week but we work on But he couldn't ever recall any of his teams ever blocking a field-goal attempt before See college football scoreboard MEANWHILE the Lutes began to roll Attacking through the air and overland they forged into the lead when Mark Accimus blasted over left guard for a yard and Steve Doucette added the conversion kick with 9:52 left in the half Just over a minute later following a Linfield punt Brad Westering hit brother Scott Westering with screen pass for 33 yards and a score and Doucette's PAT boot made it 14-6 I did was Scott said Cory McCulloch (the other tight end) credit He wiped out two defenders on the same block to spring me" Brad praised the offensive for enabling him to complete 13 of 27 passes (no interceptions) for 155 SCHMIDLIN ENDED an almost all-rushing Unfield drive by passing to Marty Lyts who made a catch in the end zone to make it 17-12 The play before PLU's Scott Gervais appeared to intercept a Schmidlin aerial but the ball kicked in and out of his hands The winning TD came midway through the fourth period after an 80-yard drive It was aided by offside and For the second straight year it will be the Yankees vs the Dodgers in the World Series which gets under way Tuesday in Los Angeles The Yankees clinched the American League championship last night with a 2-1 victory over Kansas City while the Dodgers edged Philadelphia 4-3 in 10 innings yesterday afternoon to capture the National League flag Roy White ripped a tie-breaking home run in the sixth inning to spark the New York win while Bill Russell singled home Tacoman Ron Cey in the 10th to lead the Dodgers to their triumph Details Page B-2 Ron Cy The fill Didier fired without warning John Lawrence The Tacoma Tee-Pces? The Tunas? Termites? Sea Anemones? Tacoma's new Pacific Coast League baseball team has an identity crisis The club now is tied with the Cleveland Indians and since Spokane's PCL team already lays daim to that nickname Tacoma needs something different The rules: The contest is open to all per sons living in The News Tribune drculalion area except for TNT employees and their immediate families Baseball Tacoma Inc and the Tacoma baseball team Newspaper carriers (independent dealers) are permitted to enter if not disqualified for the above reasons (Editor's note: This Is the third In a series of commentaries by baseball writer John Lawrence detailing the rise and the fall of the Mariners from public favor Friday's article dealt with the Dick Vertlieb era Yesterday's detailed the tribulations of new Executive Director Kip Horsburgh Today's deals with the sacking of Farm Director Mel Dldier) The image-makers in the Mariners' front office were frantic Already they had been forced to try to balm an agitated baseball community because of an ill-advised rise in ticket prices for Seattle's second SCUOAt Now without warning Mel Didier an affable knowledgable and successful baseball man had been sent packing after an impeccable two years service as farm director the BALL CLUB was in the midst of a nine-game losing streak as it staggered toward a 104-loss season six more than the inaugural season And ironically Didier had Just assembled the baby M's his kids for the Arizona Winter Instructional League And if there was a bright spot in the 1978 season it was some of the things Didier's signees had done down on the farm because in the City the Mariners had been mugged regularly by invaders on the King-dome turf There seemed no explanation Didier is one of the truly repected men in baseball His reputation is impeccable His accomplishments will probably prove sterling authority reportedly given to him by his contract It would also create a plainly unworkable system Horsburgh then had succeeded in stripping Lou Gorman of most of his authority: Gorman had signed the form Didier understandably told him in essence to take a long walk on a short pier Horsburgh's ploy to seize that last vestige of authority that the baseball side of the operation maintained over the image-makers was a contract signed by Tito Nanni the No 1 choice in the June draft Horsburgh pointed out that the contract was not legal That is true He also pointed out that the baseball people apparently Gorman and Didier had exceeded the budget for Nanni in the agreement and that the contract had to be renegotiated great to the Mariners In truth there was little extra expense and the renegotiation was a snap retorted inside sources on the chib BUT THE WORST part was what Horsburgh didn't say He didn't say for example that if Commissioner Bowie Kuhn decided that every player who had signed a similar was kicked out of baseball probably 500 of the 650 major leaguers would be out of a job And what he didn't say was that his ploy to gain power is transparent to the point of absurdity The sin Didier committed was a trifle Further no farm director worth his salt will tolerate the Mariners And the chickens will come home to roost when the dub tries to get an adequate replacement for Didier there was some talk of budget Didier said was perfectly wllling to work within the budget But that slip of paper he wanted me to sign stripped me of all my authority authority that is guaranteed by my contract I have both an oral and a written contract that spells that authority out" Didier added: know I talked to A1 Campania Enter as often as you wish The first and second place winners will be determined by contest judges whose decision will be final In case of duplication the judges will draw All entries must be at The News Triune main office by 9 am Monday Oct 23 Yet pulling the noose around his neck was new Executive Director Kip Horsburgh who had made the most serious blunder in the history of the ball dub by selling former Executive Director Vertlieb and the ownership a notion that the Mariners flushed with just 98 losses in 1977 should raise some of their ticket prices and evict the faithful from the field level general admission seats in the outfield The cost of Horsburgh's brainstorm in dollars and cents can be reasonably pegged at about $187500 based on the loss of about 125000 in attendance But much worse the operation became known around town as a Though that is not really true the cost to the club could be incalculable HORSBURGH FIRST TRIED to explain that Didier had refused to conform to policy" but while he talked there was more smoke in the background than there was in the Kingdome during Horsburgh's ill-fated Laserium Fourth of July show Like the smoke did that night Horsburgh's explanation though in a sense truthful hid the real issue: Didier was a roadblock in the executive director's mad rush to power At issue was Didier's written refusal to sign a form that would have extended Horsburgh's powers into reviewing every contract Didier signed before it was signed This in effect asked Didier to return some of the SURELY THE PUBLIC can come up with a more imaginative moniker than any of the above Harboring that hope Baseball Tacoma Inc is opening the matter up for suggestions in a the Team sponsored by The News Tribune The person submitting the winning name in addition unquestionably to a niche in Pierce County history will win a 1979 season box seat and parking permit to see the team he or she christened A season reserve seat and parking permit will pi to the person submitting the name Judged second best The contest opens today and will run until Monday morning Oct 23 Advertisements containing entry coupons will appear daily in The News Tribune through Friday Oct 20 Pigskin Picks COUIRII UCLA StMer Ymms AMI TaMS TecA COUPONS MAY BE filled out and returned to: Baseball Team Name Contest The News Tribune 1950 State PO Box 11000 Tacoma 98401 It may be mailed or brought In to any TNT office The entry must contain the name address and phone number of the entrant and the suggested name for the baseball team Today's entry coupon appears on page B-6 uiBiriag 0 ro wi A nw A UMwrt A a a Beavrta Mlesissipai A ammmmi wuhtm vwMm Ruin MW A Mr Fire I MM Ml Vark Ml mimti is mu a gum amt tr-mtn Dm A DM A miihIh OAIm SUM A THU A In Sam CSV LMMM A NCNK LMMTM IT TISSRIAKM NM MM A RMKV WW LWMrwrtMIMI Continued or Page B-8 A AM Ml mriria.