Anderson Independent-Mail from Anderson, South Carolina • 17

Sports situation but we've got seven more games to William AtiActSon InAepenfentrjflail Sun Sept 30 1984 1C Tim EUerbee Sports Editor Today's Quote been here three years and never lost two games back-to-back I feel oad about the whole Glory Days Return Quinton Lewis then ran up the middle of the defense to the 1 and Hold took the ball from there to score the winning points with 8:04 remaining The score also seemed to put an end to Georgia's comeback which the Bulldogs nave grown famous for over the past few years hung in there when it looked like things started to turn against them" Morrison said That was in the third quarter after South Carolina had built a 10-3 lead in the first two quarters On the Gamecocks' second possession Mitchell pitched behind Lewis at the South Carolina 24 and the said South Carolina Coach Joe Morrison whose record in 1984 improved to 3-0 as he got his first victory against a Southeastern Conference team in eight tries "I've never been prouder or happier for a group than this team Allen Mitchell South Carolina's starting quarterback left the game with a bruised elbow in the fourth quarter with the score tied at 10 In came Hold a junior college transfer from Mesa (Ariz) Community Col- his second series with the Gamecocks facing second-and-14 from their own 17-yard line Hold the team's best passing quarterback hit sophomore Raynard Brown with a 15-yard screen pass Then on the next play he faked a hand-off into the line and threw got outside and behind Hold said At first I thought I overthrew him When the ball was in the air I thought I overthrew him but Ira has great speed and he just ran under it "I couldn't have asked for a better said Hillary was just a streak (route) off of a play-action pass On that specific play I faked and went inside and beat him" Georgia's Tony Flack the man recovered to drag Hillary down on the 6-yard line Bulldogs' Michael Willis recovered But South Carolina's defense stopped freshman tailback Lars Tate on three carries to the middle and Kevin Butler who had kicked a 60-yard field to beat Clemson a week earlier missed a 34-yard attempt But mi the next series Georgia did not miss Tron Jackson sparked a 67-yard drive wiii 23-yard run and with 5:16 reris -ing in the third quarter Georgia quarterback Todd Williams hit Jimmy Hockaday for a 17-yard touchdown pass After Butler's extra point the game was tied at 10 See USC Page SC By Jim Rice SUtt Sports Writer COLUMBIA In a game between next-door neighbors it was the kid from halfway around the world who made the difference University of South Carolina quarterback Mike Hold a junior from Tempe Ariz hurled a 62-yard pass to Ira Hillary and then ran for a 1-yard touchdown here Saturday night to send the Gamecocks to a 17-10 victory over neighboring University of Georgia before 74325 fans the (hird-largest crowd ever at Williams-Brice Stadium can't think of a bigger victory ATLANTA Things haven't always been this way at Grant This concrete campus has seen its share of glory days but you'd have to drift back to the days of Bobby Dodd to find the magnitude of what happened Saturday Any other time Tech's game with Clemson would have been just another option on a busy Atlanta schedule A few miles down the road the Atlanta Braves were playing baseball against the San Diego Padres On the city's outskirts Walter Mondale was speaking at a hog killing Yellow Jackets Slip By Tigers But forty thousand locals watched Tech Saturday and were not disappointed They screamed to high heaven while their Jackets shocked Clemson 28-21 That's tilth-ranked Tech defeating 13th-ranked Clemson Heaven help us Several thousand of those fans stood outside Tech's resing room door to greet the city's new heroes There were uncustomary chants No 1 We're No 1" ACC" If Bill Curry's baby walked in the victory over Alabama it drove around the block against Clemson By Charles Bennett Staff Sports Writer ATLANTA It would have been easy to let it slip away Georgia Tech had done it in the past and looked well on its way to doing it again after a 21-point halftime lead evaporated in the face of a Clemson comeback This time would be different And when fullback Chuck Easley scored from less than a yard away with 33 seconds remaining to give No 18 Georgia Tech a 28-21 victory over No 13 Clemson Saturday the ghosts of past disappointments were laid to rest The victory left Georgia Tech with shocking for some a 30 record And it left Clemson billed in the preseason as a contender for the national championship at 2-2 was a big game for said tailback Robert Lavette who rushed for 79 yards on 23 carries lot of people thought we weren't for real We proved we were I don't think we will be doubted around the country the Yellow Jackets certainly erased any doubts that might have been in the minds of the Clemson Tigers have to congratulate Georgia Tech for winning the football game" Clemson Coach Danny Ford said "We had an idea that maybe they were a much improved football team and they were They were a better team than Clemson today" Ford was right but only for the first two quarters and the gamewinning drive in the fourth quarter were the Yellow Jackets better than the Tigers As ft turned out that was enough for a Georgia Tech victory but it didn't come easy "We've preached all year about putting people away when we had them down and we didn't do that today" Georgia Tech Coach Bill Curry said "We fell asleep in the third quarter not taking anything away from Clemson we knew they could score a lot of points but we didn't know they'd come in a flurry and scare everyone to After being totally dominated by the Yellow Jackets In the first half Clemson came back as if a national title may have been on the line Indeed it may have been Trailing 21-0 Clemson took the second-half kickoff and drove for its first score Clemson quarterback Mike Eppley hit wide receiver Richard Butler slanting over the middle and Butler took it in for the score from 25 yards out The drive covered 74 yards in 10 plays and took 3:54 off the clock So impressive was the drive that the Tigers faced only one third down situation There was more to come While a suddenly impotent Tech offense floundered Clemson crept back into the game Another touchdown drive this one of 78 yards resulted in second touchdown a 20-yard run by Steve Griffin with 14 12 remaining in the game On their very next possession the Tigers tied it up Eppley hit Terrance Rouihac with a 13yard touchdown pass and with 10:36 remaining it was Clemson tailback Stacey Driver was a leading contributor on all three drives finishing the game with 133 yards on 26 carries after being held to 36 yards in the first half With the score tied Clemson was up Georgia Tech seemingly was down ana the 57704 fans at Grant Field seemed only to be waiting for Clemson's next possession But as it turned out the next possession by the Yellow Jackets would change the complexion of the game Donald Igwebuike booted the kickoff out of the endzone giving Georgia Tech the ball at its own 30 And while the Yellow Jackets didn't score they did drive to the Clemson 47 setting up a fourth See Tech Page 4-C Funny how times change In the twilight of Pepper Rodgers' coaching career here the Jackets once played The Citadel at this same field in front of 19000 fans Twenty-two thousand showed up for a high school football game in Middle Georgia the night before You couldn't give tickets away (hen Going to a Georgia Tech football game was like going to church peaceful quiet reverent Tech called on Curry to turn the situation around And for four years he suffered 1-9-1: 1-10: 6-5: 3-8 There were grumbles from the rich old Tech grads here Saturday after the victory they ran onto the carpet to shake Curry's hand Curry basked cautiously in the limelight and in the knowledge that his Jackets are 3-0 with victories over Alabama and Clemson been wonderful for us" said Curry "We've gone through lean times We've endured a good deal of adversity but gosh everybody does Everybody goes through hard times kvery program hits the skids at times and you have to keep working we've had people stay with us through our darkest hours! Thev are enjoying this so much it becomes contagious I know attendance is up but those people are getting attracted to a winning program You have to win We've never said anything other than that They'll have to come if you win" Staff Photo By Prtrleia Grins Georgia John Dewberry 11 looks for an open receiver Comeback Kids Royals: Last Cellar-Dwellers Are This AL West Champions one key element that sustained us through this last 12 months was the character of our organization We knew what this organization had done and what it had achieved We did not believe everything was lost We believed we coula work ourselves out of it and that is what sustained everybody' Schuerhoiz Curry called Saturday's victory his biggest since coming to Tech The reason he said was not so much because of the opponent hut because of the way Tech came back to win the football game There was nothing easy about it After watching a 21-0 halftime lead turn into a 21-21 tie in the fourth quarter Tech drove f4 yards in the final five minutes for the victory While Clemson was en route tu its tying touchdown drive Curry pulled his offensive unit aside "I told them the nap was over and it was time to go back to work" said Curry was em-barassed I told them I wanted a touchdown They delivered" If nothing else this drive seems to epitomize Tech's sudden resurgence on the national college football scene Last year Tech lost halftime leads in three ballgames and went on to lose Had that happened against Clemson the nation would have thought "same old song" why that drive was so important" said Ken Whisenhunt a fifth-year starter for Tech who is learning to take the good with the bad "In the second half you could almost feel it slipping away and you could sense the fans were feeling it too In the third quarter thev just seemed to lose the faith and you really can't blame them But when we started on that drive the whole place came alive It was wonderful" Tech fans thought so The streets of Atlanta were alive ith Georgia Tech football you believe that said one Tech fan while talking about Tech's final punt which Kaced Clemson in a game-losing tie at the 3yard line "That was a patented Grant Field bounce I mean a Grant Field bounce had one of those in a longtime KANSAS CITY Mo AP If they gave a "Comeback Franchise of the Year" award in major league baseball the Kansas City Kovals would win it hands down Last season the Royals who had dominated the AL West from 1976 to 1980 finished 20 games behind the division-winning Chicago White Sox Then came the drug scandal which ended with (our members of the 1983 team going to prison on federal cocaine charges The 1984 season many thought was lost for sure On July 18 the Royals were 40-51 sixth in the American league est standings and eight games out of first place On Friday they were champions The Royals clinched the AL West title Fndav night by heating the Oakland A's 6-5 after second-place Minnesota blew a 10-0 lead and lost to Cleveland 11-10 The Royals will be home on Tuesday night to (ace the AL East champion Detroit Tigers in the opener of the league's best-of-five championship series General Manager John Schuerhoiz said it luck that pulled the Royals through the season "The one key element that sustained us through this last 12 months was the character of our organization" he said knew what this organization had done and what it had achieved Wedid not believe everything as lost We believed we could work ourselves out of it and that is what sustained The Royals' remarkable success story did however get of to a shaky start All-Star third baseman George Brett was disabled and All-Star center fielder Willie Wilson was suspended by Bjsehall Commissioner Bowie Kuhn until mid May because of his involvement ith the drug scandal Two rookie starling pitchers Mark Gubicza and Bret Saberhagen had trouble establishing themselves and Larry Gura pitched himself out of the starling rotation The shortstop position was a disaster with a succession of players going down ith injuries the low point came on July IS when the Royals dropped into sixth place II games below jv But since July 19 the Royals were 44 and No team not the Chicago Cubs San Diego Padres or Detroit Tigers did it better The Royals did it mostly with a blue-collar bunch of non-stars who regularly supplied one key hit and one key plav after another Dan Quisenberry with 44 saves as of Saturday continued to be the best relief pitcher in the league and Frank White hitting 271 with a6 RBI showed he as still one of the game's premier second basemen Bud Black 17-12 became the ace of the staff and one of the league top starting pitchers and Wilson did his share wuh a 3U1 batting average Darry Mmlev developed into a steady productive outfielder Steve tialboni obtained in a trade with the New York Yankees supplied 27 home runs and a light-fingered light -footed defensive touch at first base Most of all it was the efforts of reserves which made Manager Dick Hawser's late-inmng gambits work "This team is definitely greater than the sum of its said Schuerhoiz who admits nobody believed the Royals would challemee (or the pennant this year "They may say now they did but 1 can't believe it" he said "We said all winter we felt we could be a competitive club even in a year of transition But we also said we didn't know if we could be contenders Kansas City third baseman Greg Pryor embraces pitcher Dan Quisenberry after the Royals clinched the American League West title.