Omaha World-Herald from Omaha, Nebraska • 23

OMAHA WORLD HERALD Tuesday March 31 1998 23 LOCAL SPORTS UNO OOTBALL 1 Improving Defense ocus I Of Spring Practices UNO Spring ootball Outlook OENSE Quarterback: No problems here Senior to be Ed Thompson is a Harlon Hill Trophy and NCAA Division II All America candidate for 1998 after running and passing for over 1000 yards last season Backups are capable led by junior Curtis Miller Spring is good chance for UNO staff to get better look at sophomores Seth Turman and Kyle Hingst Running back: Sophomore Adam Wright finished 1997 with a bang gain ing 623 yards in Mavs' last eight games Senior fullback Micky Koory has been a regular since midway through his freshman season Watch out for freshman tailback Jesse Holland a one time Kansas recruit Receiver: Tony Kreis (23 receptions) Yano Jones and others hold down wideout spots until senior MarTay Jenkins rejoins team for fall camp Senior Jeff Herdzina a former starter at tailback will be tried here again Tight ends are solid with junior Brian Benjamin (22 catches six touchdowns) and senior Pete Coniglio Line: Mavs are big and proven up front with Chris Bober Brian Jarrett Dan Potmesil Brian Donohoe and Nick Prescott all having starting experi ence Cleared way for school record 3138 rushing yards a game last season Andy Stine moves from tackle back to center where UNO needs to replace Division II All American Bob Wegner Change of guidance with former Ne braska lineman Keven Lightner as new position coach Kicker: Paul Kosel likely headed for a fourth year as starter After strug gling through sophomore season came back as a junior to make 10 of 17 field goals and 30 of 32 extra points last fall Mark Ruch and Dustin Black also return Comment: Mavs have the potential to be among the best offenses in NCAA Division II once they get back the big play ability of Jenkins Thompson is so steady that Coach Pat Behrns said UNO will experiment some with the option If Holland is as good as expected backfield could be among best in the North Central Conference DEENSE Line: Senior nose tackle Jay Wineinger anchors a mostly inexperienced group Junior college transfer Michael Pressley counted on to help at interior spots Sophomore end Chris Cooper finished last season as a starter Devel opment of others important in spring Linebacker: Getting junior Jason Battling back after knee surgery might be best medicine considering the effect of his loss last year Terrell Spears (50 tackles seven for losses) will plug middle linebacker role again After those two mostly an unproven lot but extremely athletic Secondary: Excellent leadership from the back with senior free safety Ben Titus and senior cornerback Nate Tate Titus led team last year with 74 total tackles and Tate set pace with five interceptions Sophomore Ahmad Austin might be looking at starting cornerback role after getting involved as a fresh man lexibility comes with junior rover Nate Sullivan an AII NCC pick who is used all over the field Punter: Junior Mike Borrall back after averaging 374 yards a kick last sea son Thompson is backup Comment: Mavs need to get back to level physically and emotionally that they reached in 1996 Slight change in approach with times where UNO will play two strong safeties Spring is chance for a handful of younger players to bounce into picture Rich Kaipust BY RICH KAIPUST WORLD HERALD STA WRITER no question which side of the football UNO coaches will be watching r' closer when spring practice opens to rn da v' On offense the Mavericks return 10 starters after averaging 4329 yards and 269 points a game last season But on defense UNO must replace four start ers and tighten up a unit that allowed 3225 yards and 214 points a game is as important of a spring practice as probably ever had University of Nebraska at Omaha Coach Pat Behrns said got to come out of the spring with a better de fense Last spring I think we came out of it with an The Mavs will have the month off April to find the right combinations on the defensive line and at linebacker Things are a little more steady in the secondary where UNO returns third year starters Nate Sullivan Ben Titus and Nate Tate awfully talented over there with our speed agility and Behms said just a matter of us getting lined up and in the right posi tr tions Behms said junior linebacker Jason Bartling is at 100 percent for spring rh practice Bartling took a redshirt sea son after suffering a knee injury in the second game last fall Senior receiver MarTay Jenkins who injured a knee in the season opener and redshirted also is healthy again but won't go through spring drills Jenkins only has one semester of eligibility left Under NCAA Division II rules UNO is allowed 15 days of spring prac tice culminating with its spring game on April 25 New NCAA legislation also limits the amount of time for con tact drills and 1 1 on 1 1 scrimmaging UNO is coming off an 8 3 season and a fourth place finish in the North Central Conference With 18 wins over 1996 and 1997 finishes of 10 2 and 8 3 the Mavs have experienced their best back to back years since 1983 and 1984 think going to be in goodX shape Behms said our pro gram not going to be four or if five deep just got to find a cou ple at each position and stay Behrns said he'll keep a watchful eye on the day to day attitude In' road losses last year at North Dakota Northern Colorado and St Cloud State Behms felt like UNO lost its edge a little lost that mental intensity that we needed to play those big games on the Behrns said what addressed this winter Our winter LANCER HOCKEY program has been much more intense than last UNO is mostly healthy for the next four weeks Behrns said defensive end Henk DeBoer and center Curt Buck are nursing sprained ankles and offensive lineman Brian Jarrett is bothered by a sore back Omaha aces Iowa in Semis BY JIM ANDERSON WORLD HERALD STA WRITER Omaha Coach Mike Hastings says a deep and talented North Iowa teami awaits his Lancers in the second round of the Clark Cup playoffs The teams open their semifinal series tonight in Mason City Iowa Game 2 will be at North Iowa on Wednesday1 before the series shifts to Ak Sar Ben b( Coliseum for Games 3 and 4 on riday and Saturday night The Huskies' top player is Nate Di Casmirro The third year forward who was second in the league in scoring this season was named the United States Hockey League's player of the year on Monday DiCasmirro beat out argo Moorhead's Tyler Arnason the league's leading scorer don't think you can stop Nate Di Casmirro got to try to contain him and try to negate some of the things he does" Hastings said think their depth is as good if not better than anybody's in the league got Nate DiCasmirro Tom Nelson Saysana Paul re Murphy Sean Winkler and BJ Ander Ji son ive of their top six scorers have scholarships They're about as deep as a team up front that we will face" i Hastings said winning at the North Iowa Ice Arena won't be easy we can go in and get a game wer can take home ice advantage away from it And that's a very tough build Hastings said that building All USHL team Page 24 you end up facing a lot of heat 1 hey forecheck very hard in their own build ing going to be times where bottled up our own end a little bit We'll have to weather the storm a little and going to come down to if they convert two or three opportunities and the play of Dennis Bassett played a big role in the' first round sweep of argo Moorhead He stopped 919 percent of the shots he faced and had a goals against average of 250 while playing every minute of the series going to have to be (solid) in this series" Hastings said are so deep they are going to get shots In the Huskies' five game series with Waterloo they attempted 228 shots (456 per game) compared with Oma ha's 141 in four games (352) North Iowa allowed just 143 shots in five games (286 per game) attempted 172 shots through the first two periods" Hastings said just incredible They outshot Waterloo 2 1 in the first period and in the second period So that's how im portant good goaltending is going to be experience is very important with the amount of games played There's not a first year player among their top six They are veterans of this Hastings said the layoff helped the Lancers get healthy Omaha played since March 24 teams have had the opportu nity to rest a little bit and hopefully heal Hastings said hoping that James Armstrong is available for game and Chris Hartsburg will play tomorrow Armstrong a defenseman joined teammate Chad Theuer on the All USHL second team with forward Jed Ortmeyer making the All Rookie team Armstrong has been sidelined since he suffered a thigh contusion in the first period of a eb 27 game think a great honor for those Hastings said shows that we had two of the top 10 players in the league with one defense man in the top four and one forward in the top six They're well deserved play ers" orward Neil Breen the captain and second leading scorer was left off the All USHL teams Hastings said Breen deserved recognition think the one thing that happens is that you've got to be around him to see the kind of player he is" Hastings said one of our most valuable players not just because of his playing ability but because of his leadership in the locker room and away from the rink about as complete a player as I've ever JEREY CARNEYTHE WORLD HERALC effigy AlBsaBHmnt i RUNNING HARD: I Back DeAngelo Evans was running hard during the first day of spring practice Monday and showing no ill effects from the injuries that kept him out of action last season OOTBALL NU Starts 1st Spring for Solich BY STEVEN PIVOVAR WORLD HERALD BUREAU Lincoln rank Solich had vowed to maintain a business as usual ap proach during his first practice Mon day as new head football coach or the most part Solich's first prac tice differed little from the thousands he's been a part of as a Nebraska as sistant coach Afterward Solich did ad mit the emotions of the moment were playing on him as he ran his team through a two hour and 1 5 minute workout to begin spring prac tice was a little different coming out today as head coach and blowing the Solich said He hesitated as a sheepish grin crossed his face by the way I forgot I had to go back in and get it not used to that other thing that was a little tricky was trying to join in and be a part of the coaching and keeping track of the watch in order to know when stations need to be changed But all in all things went fine and 1 felt comfort able with His coaches and players none of whom had ever stepped onto the Me morial Stadium turf without having Tom Osborne running the show agreed that few things had changed in the four months between last prac tice and Solich's first has pretty much handled himself as he had done said Defensive Backs Coach George Dar lington a member of origi nal staff 25 seasons ago things are a little different because as a head coach you have to be concerned about everything and how things are functioning But I thought everything went smoothly Rush end Mike Rucker said the practice routine Monday wasn't much different from what the players were familiar with under Osborne had the same stations and we spent the same amount of time on each Rucker said really Except for the absence of Osborne who ended his 36 year association with the Nebraska football team this winter At least one player quarterback rankie London found not having Os borne around positive in a different sort of way "When Coach Osborne was around you always knew he was the head hon London said was the one who had the final say so who had his eye on the overall picture I just found myself being a little more relaxed and under control When Coach Osborne was here 1 found I was trying so hard to show him that I could get it London must now prove to Solich that he deserves to emerge from a crowded race for the starting quarter back position as the No 1 guy Solich said he got a glimpse Monday of all five candidates London Monte Christo Bobby Newcombe Eric Crouch and Jay Runty thought they looked good for the amount of offense that we have So lich said the guys who have been operating from the position for a period of time rankie and Monte Christo were very smooth today thought Bobby did a good job of learning things and 1 thought Eric re ally did a good job of throwing the ball at times Jay Runty also showed well so 1 think they've all gotten off to a good Although Solich tried to sample all parts of drill he spent a good deal of time working with the running backs the position he had coached under Osborne for the past 15 seasons ormer Husker I back Dave Gillespie is going through his first spring practice as running backs coach get to divide my time dur ing group work as much as I would have liked to" Solich said still working with Dave and the running backs to make sure meshing well and are on the same page" work with the running backs let him get an up close view of I back DeAngelo Evans' first practice in al most 16 months Solich said he liked what he saw from Evans who missed all of last season after undergoing sur gery to repair a torn abdominal muscle thought DeAngelo looked real Solich said periodically checked with him during practice and he said he was doing fine He made it through the practice without any prob lem fact I asked him to slow down about the middle of practice because he was making hard cuts and feeling pretty good about being out here again He was doing things tremendously hard and we wanted him to ease into it probably a little more than he If healthy Evans is most experienced I back He played in 11 games as a true freshman in 1996 rush ing for 776 yards and scoring 14 touch downs But he hasn't played since Ne loss to Texas in the Big 12 Conference championship game Dec Evans admitted to some difficulty in reining in his enthusiasm during Mon day's non contact no pads drill felt great today Evans said made a lot of sharp cuts and I did a lot at game speed I got a little winded at the beginning but right now just trying to get my timing down be fine as long as I'm smart about it and not try to do anything too drastic Evans chuckled when reminded of mid practice warning to turn his intensity down a notch or two had just run a draw play and someone was in the hole and I had to make him miss real Evans said did it at a pretty high speed 1 guess that kind of scared Coach a little bit told me right after that do that until I tell you to do He just got a little wound up about REE CONSULTATION with Certified Public Accountants Best resolutions to all types of tax problems including Audits Payroll Taxes Levies Wage Garnishments Seizures Unfiled Tax Returns Our clients never meet with the IRS IT PAYS TO GET CURRENT DON'T IGNORE WARNING NOTICES! (402)778 92661 11924 Arbor Street William Stevens PC ask for "IRS Problem Resolution Program" OMAHA ft BASEBALL CLUB OPENING iMIGH? 734 2550 OB TOO COLDEH GLOVES Midwest Boxing Championships Moving to Harveys BY ROB WHITE 1 WORLD HERALD STA WRITER or the first time ever the Midwest Golden Gloves boxing tournament of champions will not take place in Ne braska But the tournament in its 65th year shouldn't be too hard to find come Thursday and riday night It will be held at Harveys Casino in Council Bluffs irst bell each night is at 6:30 very excited about tour nament director Harley Cooper said Vr also stopping a tradition 1 and I hate to see that happen But elated because of the traffic out there and the potential Naturally we'llj' put on a good show like we always do and I think the fans will The Midwest Golden Gloves which pairs champions of district Golden Gloves tournaments in Omaha Central Nebraska Norfolk and South Dakota has been held in recent years at the Mancuso Convention Cen ter in Civic Auditorium Attendance has steadily declined including slips to 1451 over two dates in 1996 and an es timated 1200 in two dates in 1997 But scheduling conflicts Mancu only available dates were over Eas ter weekend and not attendance forced the Golden Gloves to look else where our first year with it and have to see how everything works out" said Verne Welsch the senior vice pres ident and general manager of Harveys Casino "If it works out all right and they're interested in using the facility again we may be able to make it avail able to Welsch said the boxing configuration at the convention center should seat 1200 to 1300 Tickets available at TicketMaster Harveys and at the door before the show are $20 for ringside (front row) $15 for preferred admission (rows two through five) and $10 for general ad mission Those interested in purchasing any of the 60 or so ringside seats are in vited to call Cooper at 399 8184 it has filled up whenever done anything fightwise like boxing and welsch said of the convention center is popu lar in the Midwest happy to have them Who knows? We may see a future Olympian in a few days" Winners of the 11 weight divisions advance to the national Golden Gloves tournament May 4 through 9 in Biloxi Miss our defending Midwest champions have qualified for the tournament in cluding 156 pounder Wallace Harper of Omaha who has won the past three titles and reached the national quarter finals last year Josh Herbst of Norfolk who has moved up from 112 to 119 pounds is seeking a sixth straight title while the Central District's Jeremy Claypool (up from 1 19 to 125) and Offutt Air orce Base 132 pounder Dyan Quintana are back to try for a second straight title should be a daylong Welsch said sure all be going to our ultimate buffet all probably go TRADE YOURENGiNMYgW AT A RACTION NEW OR US WRICES! Add new life to your carJnstall a factory remanufactured engine from MOTORWORKSthe nation's premiere motor replacement chain Available for every make and model! 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