Press Journal from Vero Beach, Florida • 25

i iTt "'fc Section 3feis 3ournat Sunday December 3 1989 FSU Air Attack Downs Gators 24-1 7 Chuck Balnius V' Sports Editor vW- vif iifxroaff njn iijiwmpswmi'iww' -rg ir i-V --V i' V--'--: -'-V jfi i --t i JS 1 1 4 vf 11 -'V ''Jl'l- 1 vr- oy- 5 1 7 1 'J I If VVi 41 i A- -Vf V' i 1 i GAINESVILLE (AP) Florida State is making up ground on Florida in their intrastate rivalry but FSU coach Bobby Bowden lull convinced the series Is swinging his way year we beat them 52-17 and this year we barely Bowden said Saturday night after Peter Tom Willis threw for 319 yards and three touchdowns to lead the sixth-ranked Seminoles to a 24-17 victory "We didn't look as good as we should he added whole lot of that was fault I thought they were better prepared than we were and for a while thought they wanted It more than The victory was the ninth straight for Fiesta Bowl-bound Florida State (9-2) and the third In a row for Bowden in a series Florida (7-4) leads 22-9-1 "FSU is a good football team but I think a lot of people underestimated said Florida linebacker Jerry Odom had a good scheme against them and knew what we had to da To me the difference was Peter Tom Odom added it had been a different quarterback I think we might have got him rattled" Willis who completed 20 of 31 passes threw a 62-yard TD pass to Terry Anthony in the first quarter and found Bruce LaSane crossing the middle on a 22-yard scoring play that gave FSU a 17-10 lead with eight minutes left in the third period Dave 10-yard touchdown reception hiked the advantage to 24-10 midway through the final quarter and the Seminoles held on in the final 4:08 after Emmitt Smith scored on a 2-yard run to cut Florida's deficit to seven points Smith finished with 153 yards on 30 carries but inexperience at quarterback hurt the Gators Freshman Donald Douglas started for Florida but completed only four i I i li AP photo University of Rorida's Emmitt Smith goes over Florida State defensive tackle Eric Hayes during Saturday's game at Gainesville FSU linebacker Kirk Carruthers (45) moves in on the play of 12 passes for 54 yards before Lex a 10-10 tie with Florida State sew- times for a combined 202 yards by was flagged 12 times for 124 yards Smith replaced him in the fourth ing on Anthony's touchdown and halftime and the first quarter was penalties come from hav-quarter Richie Andrews' 24-yard field goal particularly ugly when eight per- ing guys who have played together felt like we were in it the whole Florida countered with Stacey Sim- sonal foul or unsportsmanlike con- all of their said Bowden who game despite what the critics mons' 3-yard TD run for a 10-3 sec- duct penalties were assessed improved his record to 7-7 against Douglas said played our ond-quarter lead and a 46-yard Florida reminded me of a hearts field goal by John David Francis FSU finished the night with 12 bunch of kids down on a sandlot A penalty-filled first half ended in The teams were penalized 17 penalties for 134 yards and Florida fighting and pushing" Ware Overcomes Obstacles To Win Heisman Playoff Loss Erase Fine Season The hurt mental and physical from the final Vero Beach High School football game in this decade may linger for several more days There were some red eyes and some faraway stares at the end as Bradenton Manatee left the Citrus Bowl with a 39-21 victory in Class AAAAA Section II championship What had gone so well for so long was suddenly over for the Fighting Indians It is not easy for men young and old to handle defeat when it means the end of a season and for some an end to a career But what must be remembered is that a tremendous season 11-1 overall the first 10-0 regular season in 38 years and a regional title cannot be erased by one bad night It is a feet that a lot of very good state high school teams finish their campaign with a loss only one team in each of the state's five classes will go through the playoffs unbeaten Coach Billy Livings gathered his players and staff in the clubhouse adjacent to the south stands after the game He had watched his Indians try to fight back after what he called greatest first half of offense ever seen in my 31 years as a coach No make that my life They were absolutely flawless in their In the quiet of the clubhouse quite in contrast to the noise level created by more than 9000 fens in the Citrus Bowl Livings thanked his team a fantastic season especially the seniors (there were 18 on the squad) for what they did after 4-4 and 4-6 seasons For two years they fought through losing seasons They showed an unbelievable amount of character and class kids got us back to where we belong" said Livings our job is to hold maintain A Moment Together As the final horn sounded assistant coach Billy Wilson brought his Vero Beach receivers into a small huddle with their arms around each other told them I love them and thanked them They had an outstanding said Wilson who was the top receiver in 1980 He teamed with quarterback Kirk McKinnon that year and Vero Beach did not see as good a passing combination until this duo of Matt Parris to Eric Smith Wilson enjoyed the success that his receiving corps helped bring to Vero Beach While many in the preseason expected the Indians to be 5-5 or 6-4 Wilson felt different i "I never thought 10-0 but I did think we could be 9-1" said Wilson "I had high exportations because we had some very good skill people proved the critics The Next Step Livings left the Citrus Bowl knowing skill can take you a long way but he realizes muscle is speeded to go all the way His goal is to get a first-class weight room to the better programs in the state ie Manatee was an unbelievably strong football team That comes from hard weight training We weight train but we don't have the facilities" said Livings who wants a weight room "second to none in the Gary Jones a Vero Beach assistant who works from the press box during the game said there much the Indians could do to stop Manatee during the first half were so much stronger up front than said Jones make mistakes They just really overpowered A Last Word 1 Just before the Indians came back on the field for the second half the coaches left the clubhouse and a pair of former Vero Beach High standouts went in Dale Dawkins and Randy Bethel both members of the University of Miami football team put in their words of encouragement Dawkins the Hurricanes lead-' ing receiver who is featured In two photos in this week's Sports Illustrated told the players to keep their heads up and make your hometown proud of you first player from a school on probation to win the Heisman Houston was penalized for violations that occurred before Ware joined the program Ware received 242 first-place votes and 1073 points in nationwide voting by sports journalists and former Heisman winners Thompson got 185 first-place votes and 1003 points followed by Harris (115 and 709) and Rice (72 and 523) Players receive three points for a first-place vote two for second and one for third Rounding out the top finishers were quarterback Darian Hagan of Colorado quarterback Dee Dowis of Air Force running back Emmitt Smith of Florida linebacker Percy Snow of Michigan State and quarterback Ty Detmer of Brigham Young Flanker Raghib Ismail of Notre Dame and running back Blair Thomas of Penn State tied for 10th The voting was split along regional lines Ware carried the South Southwest and Northeast while Thompson led in the Midwest and Far West Harris was the top vote-getter in the Mid-Atlantic region telecast following 64-0 victory overcome a lot as a football team so I'm accepting this for my teammates and the University of he said in a satellite interview from Rice Stadium just shows that anything is possible At beginning of the season who would believe I would be sitting here today accepting the Heisman Ware is the ninth junior the black quarterback and the NEW YORK (AP) The nation finally got to see Andre Ware on Saturday as the Heisman Trophy winner The record-breaking Houston quarterback whose exploits weren't seen on television because his school is on probation overcame the blackout and a dew of skeptics to win college football's most prestigious award Ware who smashed 13 NCAA marks this season while directing the Cougars' run-and-shoot offense edged running back Anthony Thompson of Indiana by 70 points Quarterback Major Harris of West Virginia finished third and quarterback Tony Rice of Notre Dame was fourth both well back It was the fourth-clos-est vote ever The narrowest margin of victory was 45 points in 1985 when Bo Jackson of Auburn beat Iowa's Chuck Long Ware Ware did not attend the ceremony at the Downtown Athletic Club because Houston played Rice in the afternoon However the 6-foot-2 205-pound junior from Dickinson Texas made a brief appearance on CBS' live Heisman the first Indians Debut With 64-48 Win Dodgers Release Spring Schedule By Press-Journal Stall The Loo Anjplea Dodgers' 1990 home spring training schedule Indudee 15 games against nine difforont opponents and games on all four Sundays In March The Atlanta' Braves and Montreal Expos visit Holman Stadium three times each The New York Mats and Minnesota Twins come to By TOM RIGG8 PreseJownal Staff Writer COCOA And now basketball One day after the football season ended for Vero Beach High School its basketball team began a bid to win the fancy of Indian River County sports fens Boys' Basketball Molitor Unsung Not Unappreciated By BILL BOEDING Press-Journal Staff Writer Every time St Edward's won this season one name stood out in newspaper and radio accounts the next day It halfback Tyler Molitor While fullback Chris Bedford was running left and right around opponents Molitor gutted it out up the middle In addition to a slew of other state and school milestones Bedford became the state's third-leading single-season rusher and broke Craig Stevens' mark for touchdowns in a season Molitor has rushed for more than 100 yards three times this season usually 3 or 4 yards at a time but other than the fine print the halfback barely got his name in the paper "It doesn't bother me at all" Molitor said just doing my job doing what we need to win Besides I don't have the speed that Bedford has love it up the middle I'd rather go up the middle and take the hits" With a statement like that one might envision Molitor as a strapping 6-foot-4 220-pound halfback with maybe a screw loose here or there But the senior runner stands only 5-foot-10 and weighs a generous 160 pounds While Molitor may not get the headlines he's been one of the Pirates' bread-and-butter men in each of their 12 wins this season "He's an average kid who gets above-average results every game" Pirates coach Howie DeCristofaro said Friday night after the Pirates' 12-7 semifinal victory over Fort Lauderdale Westminster Academy a strong game player He never misses practice and he works his butt off every game "He's the kind of player who will do anything for the team After he fumbled the other night he felt so bad I think if he had a knife he'd of committed hara-kiri That's the kind of kid he is" What Molitor gives up in size he makes up for in enthusiasm Whenever he's on the field he's in on nearly every play On the sidelines he's the most enthusiastic cheerleader Please See MOLITOR7B attrition It was Cocoa though that had the manpower shortage The Tigers' sophomore big men 6-foot-5 Benjamin Wolf and 6-foot-4 Richard Leonard both fouled out While they played they were held to a combined two points and five rebounds Cocoa which used all 12 of its players in the first half in an effort to wear down the eight Vero Beach used lost two others to fouls Senior forward Steve Ward also left early with a first-quarter leg injury The Tigers' troubles weren't limited to boardwork fouls and injuries When Vero Beach went to its aggressive man-to-man defense offense lost its discipline in favor of 3-point tries and one -oil-one -or-two attempts to score Most didn't work not going to see too much better man-to-man defense in high school" Loewendick said When Vero Beach the defending Cape Coast Conference and District 11 champion went to its man-to-man to start the second quarter it forced four straight Cocoa turnovers and the Indians stretched their lead from 12-10 to 17-10 The Indians could have put Cocoa away in the remaining minutes of the first half if not for some foul free-throw shooting Please See INDIANS7B The Dodgers and Meta open the spring with a three game series Friday March 2 through Sunday March 4 Friday at Dodgwtown Saturday at Port 8L Lucie and Sunday at Dodgertown The Treasure Coast rivals meat once more In the spring March 19 at Port SL Lucia The Naw York Yankees will visit again this spring on March 9 They came to Vero Beach last spring tor the first time since 1984 Other one-time visitors Vila spring: Houston Astros Cincinnati Rads agalnat a Dodgers' spilt squad Baltimore Orioles and Kansas CltyRoyals Renewal notices have been mailed to season-ticket holders Individual game tickets will go on sale neat spring Friday March 2 aeseeeMsseeeeaaseaeeseeevsiisseeee New York Meta Sunday March 4 New York Mats Monday March 5 Atlanta Braves Tuesday March a Montreal Expos Thursday March 9 -New York Yankees Sunday March 11 Houston Astros Wednesday March 14 Minnesota Twins Sunday March IS Montreal Expos Monday March IS Reds Wednesday March 21 Minnesota Twins Thursday March 22 Baltimore Orioles Friday March 23 Kansas City Royals Sunday March 25 Atlanta Braves Tuesday March 27 Montreal Expos Wednesday March 25 se seeee a eeeaeos a seaaaaa Atlanta Braves games start at 1:30 pm except March 25 game which begins at 12:30 pm Minus two players who haven't yet made the switch in seasons and minus the dedicated following of the football team the Fighting Indians made the 70-mile trek north to open their season Saturday night The handful of fans who traveled too weren't disappointed Roosevelt Jones scored 18 points and three of his teammates joined him in double figures as Vero Beach beat Cocoa 64-48 just knew we had to take care of Jones said knew that without the football players me Darren (DeSchryver) and A1 (Stinson) had to take up the went to war on the boards" said Coach Chuck Loe-wendick whose team enjoyed a 34-23 rebounding edge Stinson grabbed 11 Jones eight and DeSchryver six The Fighting Indians with their thin bench figured to lose a war of II Edbera Becker Reach Masters Final 5B Dolphins Travel To Kansas City 8B.