The Herald from Rock Hill, South Carolina • 11

The Herald Sunday November 12 IB College football Page 2 NBA Page 6 Business Page 9 Sports Gamecocks rally over Tar Heels Controversial call paves way for win Carolina 27 Carolina 20 South Carolina 7 5 0 North Carolina 7 6 0 Williarps recovered blocked punt in end zone (Mackid kick) Staples 2 run (Gwaltnev kick) FG Mackie 43 USC Safety punt blocked out of end zone Jauch 30 pass from Burnette (pass failed) Green 19 run (Brooks pass from DeMasi) USC Windson 60 interception (Mackie kick) UNC Felton 10 pass from Burnette (Gwaltnev kick) AP Laserphoto USC's Harold Green is tackled by Tommy Thigpen By CHRIS LOW Herald sports writer CHAPEL HILL NC When the opportunity presented itself Saturday afternoon in Kenan Stadi um the South Carolina Gamecocks seized control Triggered by a controversial pass interference call the Gamecocks scored a pair of touchdowns in a 46-second span in the fourth period to turn back North Carolina 27-20 and hang onto their slim bowl hopes was a confusing said South Carolina head coach Sparky Woods whose club broke a two-game skid and moved to 6-3-1 lot of things happened back and forth but I thought we hung in there and kept our poise and played good enough on defense (to Scouts from the All-American Peach and Independence Bowls attended the game Afterward USC athletic director King Dixon said he felt South best chance at a bowl would be the Dec 16 Independence Bowl in Shreveport La Bowl games however were the least of South Carolina's worries minutes into the fourth period Saturday The Tar Heels were clinging to a 13-12 lead and the Gamecock offense appeared all but dead were in said North Carolina freshman strong safety Cookie Massey a former Northwestern High School standout ball along with Platt There was contact as the two jostled for the ball but it fell to the ground The two officials within 10 yards of the play signaled incomplete But the side judge some 30 yards upfield dropped a late flag for interference "It was catchable but he (Dorn) grabbed my jersey and kind of knocked me off Platt said was trying to get back to where the ball was and he was kind of hanging onto my back I think it was pass Dorn had a different view had him said the 6-foot-l 201-pound junior "The ball was in the air and I played the ball I turned around and saw the ball on the ground and no flags Then I look upfield and see one I thought it was offensive holding or North Carolina head coach Mack Brown was incensed and stormed onto the field demanding an explanation He was then hit with a 15-yard unsportsmanlike penalty and the Gamecocks were suddenly in business at the UNC 25 Four plays later senior tailback Harold Green who was held to 63 yards on 19 carries broke free around the left side and sprinted 19 yards for a touchdown It was 33rd TD of his career tying him with former Heisman See USC page 7B Staples 8-45 South Carolina DeMasi 5-18-1-54 North Carolina Burnett 6-10-0-79 Burnette 10-26-1-122 RECEIVING -South Carolina Brooks 3-36 North Carolina Felton 6-86 Blount 5-28 they get that pass interference call they probably would have had to punt Instead they get a touchdown was definitely the turning point I think that even got our offense down too" To set the scenario South Carolina had the ball at its own 45 On second down junior quarterback Dickie DeMasi went deep to Carl Platt The Tar Heels' Torin Dorn defending on the play appeared to have position and leaped for the Lakers hold back Hornets INGLEWOOD Calif (AP) Rex Chapman caught fire but the Los Angeles Lakers still managed not to get burned Chapman scored 20 of his 27 points in the third quarter bringing the winless Charlotte Hornets within two points of the Lakers with 2:54 to play in the period And the second-year guard kept the Hornets close in the final quarter and led them to their first 100 point game of the season but a sluggish Laker team held on to win 106-100 Friday night still a young player but he certainly matured Hornets coach Dick Harter said of Chapman "He played hard defensively against Magic (Johnson) in the second half and he take many bad shots" But Harter kept Chapman limited to a field goal in the first half on the bench for much of that half giving him only 12 minutes of playing time With the Hornets trailing 58-40 at the half Chapman took over He fueled a 29-11 third-quarter run with 17 points including a pair of 3-point shots and a 10-footer in the lane with 2:54 left in the period that narrowed the gap to 72-71 shot the ball well but I was getting good screens and I was fortunate the shots were falling he said hot as I was in the third quarter how cold I was in the first The Hornets move ahead however as Byron Scott and Magic Johnson who combined for 64 points teamed up to extend the margin to 83-75 by the end of the quarter Curry cut the margin to six points twice early in the fourth period the second time at 91-85 with 6:32 left But the Lakers scored the next seven points for a 98-85 lead to increase their cushion to 98-85 with 4:45 left Chapman capped a 9-2 spurt with his third 3-pointer of the game and cut the lead to 99-94 with 2:51 to play But two baskets in the final two minutes helped keep the game out of reach Scott finished with 33 points and Johnson had 31 to lead the Lakers played a good first half but a poor second half defensively and we had to play competitively to hold Lakers coach Pat Riley said offense been in high gear lately and been taking little siestas With an 18-point lead in the third quarter we were not as intense as we should have Charlotte forward Kurt Rambis who earned five championship rings with the Lakers before going to Charlotte said seen that kind of letdown before "They played last night and they come in here to play an expansion he said get a big lead and say got this But in the second half we started scrapping away at the lead and forced them to step it up a little USC trying to keep bowl scouts interested (running back Albert Haynes and defensive back Erik Anderson) to season-ending injuries Saturday Furthermore standout tailback Harold Green left Saturday's game after aggravating a sprained thumb that hindered Green late last season beat Dixon said have to wait and see if we have enough players to play before we accept any bowl Dixon also said the Dec 16 date of the Independence Bowl which is in Shreveport La might create academic hardships for the Gamecocks who will be in the midst of final exams at that time However Dixon said "We re already in the process of checking with our faculty to see if they can work with us on Another concern for USC is that the Independence Bowl guarantees only $500000 to each school which means USC might lose money Of concern to Independence Bowl officials is that South Carolina's traditional throng of thousands of fans didn't follow the team to the Liberty Bowl in Memphis Tenn last year And Shreveport is even farther away 10'a hours As for more conventional concerns See BOWL page 7B their third successive winning season Though it was ugly the victory apparently kept the bowl scouts interested this time I would say I have the best feeling about the Independence Bowl" said USC athletic director King Dixon who said he know 1) if South Carolina had to win its finale against Clemson next week to get a bowl bid and 2) if South Carolina would accept a bid if it was extended Aside from the Independence Bowl the Peach Bowl and the All-American Bowl had representatives at game Saturday After losing record-setting quarterback Todd Ellis to a knee injury two weeks ago the Gamecocks lost two more players By STEPHEN WHITE Herald sports editor CHAPEL HILL NC Explosive offenses like the kind South Carolina once possessed attract bowl games But football teams without quarterbacks generate much offense which is a problem South Carolina anticipated heading into its game at North Carolina So with scouts from three bowls games still looking at the Gamecocks South Carolina turned to its special teams and defense Saturday to pound out a 27-20 victory against 1-9 North Carolina to lift the Gamecocks to 6-3-1 guaranteeing them Trojans schedule game Nov 21 received approval for the date from both the AAAA Football Coaches Commission and The South Carolina High School League the way Hurricane Hugo affected things in the Lower State a lot of adjustments had to be made this season Everyone has been put into unique situations and all the people involved have been very The game will feature the state's top-ranked Class AAAA team Greenwood against the third-rated squad Northwestern Northwestern is 11-1 and seeded No 2 and Eagles are 12-0 and the No 3 seed stadium with Rock Hill so we would have had to play on Thursday or Saturday this week if we agree on an alternative date way it will be beneficial to both teams Rather than having to take a 14-day break because of the situation in the Lower State the winner will only have to be off nine days before the Upper State championship game Dec 1 We want to play on a Wednesday because of church services and we want to play on Thanksgiving We feel the date we picked will work out well for the fans and both schools Wallace said that he and Burkett By BARRY BYERS Herald sports writer Northwestern High School will play host to Greenwood in the second round of the Upper State Big 16 AAAA playoffs Tuesday Nov 21 at 8 pm in Rock District Three Stadium Northwestern coach Jimmy Wallace said he and Greenwood coach Willis Burkett agreed to play on Nov 21 for several reasons of all we wanted to play on a night that school was in Wallace said lot of things came into play but Coach Burkett and I picked a date that we felt would best accommodate the fans of both schools We share the AP Laserpnoto NW coach Jimmy Wallace meets with Jeff Burris Red Devils regrouped to play Jonesville tough Barry Byers Herald sports writer Talford Douglas title is very similar In the playoffs Lewisville beat McBee Blaekville-Hilda and Great Falls in the friendly confines of Lewisville Stadium Then in the state championship game the Lions went on the road and turned back Aynor 20-17 Lewisville play McBee Blackville-Hilda or Great Falls this season because two lost in the opening round and one Blackville-Hilda make the playoffs But after beating Ridge Spring Monetta 26-0 Friday Lewisville will be at home as long as it wins until the state championship game which will be played on the home field of the Lower State winner That game could be played at Aynor which defeated Estill 27-0 Friday or even at Timmonsville which lost to the Lions in Richburg 26-6 in the title game taking it one game at a time so I care who we play if we get that McMurray said goal at the first of the season was to make it back to the championship game and we have worked really hard to get there look at the keys to our success this season as two things: our kicking game and our offensive line We had one starter coming See BYERS page 7B hard down to the wire scored on the last play of the game to beat us 27-12 but the game was a lot closer than that tough to end the season but 1 know a lot of teams that would be happy with nine A 9-3 season is outstanding considering the adversities Sawyer and the Red Devils have faced this season Midway through the season starting center Tom Tomshot went down with a broken leg Last week against Lewisville all purpose player Shawn Douglas was injured early and was ineffective the remainder of the game Still he played on a gimpy ankle Friday and caught six passes for 59 yards against the Wildcats including one for a 12-yard touchdown In the same Lewisville game Great leading rusher DD McCoy who played with an injured shoulder separated the other shoulder and play Friday But Sawyer refused to make excuses people who played did their jobs We were just a couple of breaks away from winning If we had made the two-point conversion I think we would have won the game" After Great Falls lost to Lewisville 39-0 in the final game of the regular season last Friday head coach Danny Sawyer said that for the first time in four seasons he felt his team had hung their heads and given up Friday in the opening round of the Class A Upper State playoffs against Jonesville the Red Devils received two hard blows with just over six minutes remaining in the game This time the Red Devils refused to surrender The Red Devils scored and trailed the Wildcats by a point 13-12 Sawyer who never backs down from a battle showed his gamesmanship by electing to go for the lead with a two-point conversion Fullback Eugene Talford took the handoff from quarterback Tim Belk and went airborne He was met near the goal line and was stopped about a foot short of his destination one of those things you look back Sawyer said went high and was stopped short of the goal He might have made it if he had gone in low Then again maybe not Second guessing is all part of the game We wanted the lead and I would do it again if we had it to do The second blow came on the 1 Home field advantage You find a town named Lewisville on a South Carolina map but every Class A coach in the state knows where Lewisville is a tiny school sitting on Highway 9 in eastern Chester County in a small community called Rich-burg If you find Richburg look for the next biggest town on the map Fort Lawn Recent history has turned Lewisville into one of the top Class A programs in the state Since 1985 the Lions have won eight state championships four in baseball two in track and two in football You can make that nine championships if you include the title won by the Marching Lions Band last year The last football title was in 1987 Bennie McMurray's first year as head coach The road to this ensuing kickoff when Cleve Brannon fielded the ball and returned it 91 yards to the Red 8 where he was dragged down from behind by Duane Harrison Two plays later Danny Fernandez who was held in check by the Red defensive unit bolted into the end zone from the 2 was the turning point of the game but our kids never gave Sawyer said take the wind out of our sails it made us play harder the way we played last week I was very concerned as to how we would react against Jonesville tough to play a good team after an emotional loss like the one we had against Lewisville But our nlavers never gave ud and played.