The Atlanta Journal from Atlanta, Georgia • 49

THE EAGLES! Ga Southern wins 37 34 claims third I AA title Castoffs make up cast of champions Hummer HUMMER Continued on 1 Complete coverage E10 11 By Earnest Reese Staff writer The square bodied fullback holder of the season rushing record with 1354 yards was question mark The grind of playoff football had left him with a strained knee one that will re quire surgical repair Wednesday a national championship is why I came Ross said are no other secondary reasons like glamour or glory to come our days before his scheduled arth roscopic surgery Ross carried the ball 31 times against Stephen Austin He gained 152 yards Here was the big stick that Southern kept using on the Lumberjacks until it wore them out The Eagles had to outscore a weary Stephen Austin 17 7 in the fourth quarter to survive this day and the fullback was their weapon of attrition STATESBORO Ga Mike Dowis had knocked on the door of major college foot ball and not a coach had bothered to turn off the projector and see who was there Then he tried kicking the door down Only it turned out to be armored and double bolted resh from Savannah Country Day School Dowis grabbed once at Division I A in 1987 during a kicking trial at Georgia Tech There he failed Today he will admit Tech made the right choice Then he will brighten up and acknowl edge that he did too so glad Dowis said was a dream Everyone dreams of making a kick like With 1:41 left in the Division I AA title game here Saturday Dowis knocked in the 20 yard field goal that was the difference in Georgia 37 34 Victory over Johnny CrawfordStaff Litterial Green of Georgia gets ham mered by Brian Oliver but no foul was called While he was running for more than 2000 yards at Westside High School in 1986 Joe Ross slipped through the nets Georgia Southern called though BEST HIE COPY AVUMLEHW STATESBORO Ga A perfectly pre pared scenario came to a perfect ending Saturday at Paulson Stadium In a game of high drama and high scor ing No 1 ranked Georgia Southern pro duced 17 fourth quarter points to beat Ste phen Austin 37 34 and claim an unprecedented third NCAA Division I AA national championship A crowd of 25725 a record for the stadium and the I AA playoffs watched Mike Dowis kick a 20 yard field goal with 1:41 left to give Southern its 15th victory a number no other NCAA team in any divi sion has ever reached in one season are we 15 It get any bet ter than said Southern quarterback Raymond Gross It could have been much worse though The Lumberjacks (12 2 1) had entered the game confident they could end the home winning streak at 36 and in the third period it looked like they would succeed Led by quarterback Todd Hammel Ste phen Austin became the first team this season to score on the Eagles in the third period The Lumberjacks put up points on each of their first two possessions to take a 27 20 lead hurting the Eagles both in the air and on the ground But Gross seeking to make amends for the fumble late in last 17 12 champi onship game loss to urman guided the Eagles to the 17 fourth period points His efforts helped give Southern its third na tional title in five years and its 11th victory of the season at Paulson It also lifted a lot of pressure off the jtinior from Hinesville Ga Gross with tears in his eyes and his father were among the horde of fans who wept and danced on the field minutes after corner back Kevin Whitley ended Stephen Aus I final threat with an interception with 12 seconds left It was the fifth in terceptionof the day sleep at all last night I tossed and turned all night long for some said Gross who ran for 103 yards and passed for 113 think be able to sleep tonight This win takes the monkey off my The fact that it came before the home crowd was due to the planning of Southern athletics director Bucky Wagner who was Dart of the grouo that bid successfully tn Joey ivanscostaff have the NCAA award this champi Georgia Southern strong safety Taz Dixon who made the interception that started the Ea winning drive hoists the Division I AA championship trophy EAGLES Continued on EH Stephen Austin Nailed it Dissected the uprights that moments later would be up rooted by the celebrating mob and carried about whole like a giant wishbone Mike Dowis Tech reject was a champi on Anderson Tech put down Dogs By Darryl Maxie Staff writer Known as Georgia Mr Clutch for four game winning baskets in less than three years Dennis Scott failed two key situations Saturday at The Omni He had a pair of one and one free throw opportunities in the final minute chances to put 15th ranked Tech safely out of reach As has been bad habit with free throws this season Scott missed both opportunities But Tech guards Brian Oliver and Kenny Anderson bailed him out in the Yellow 92 89 victory before a crowd of 15720 Oliver beat Alec Kessler to the rebound on first miss with 26 seconds left The possession led to An two free throws with 20 sec onds left sealing the victory Scott led the Jackets with a game high 32 points on an off shooting night (ll for 28 from the field) as Tech (5 0) swept the basketball and football games with Georgia (5 1) for the first time since 1985 Scott missed another one and one with four seconds left but Jody desperation 3 point attempt to tie fell short as time ran out fought our brains Tech coach Bobby Cremins said was a lit tle disappointed Dennis ice it for us at the free throw The Jackets survived a 28 point nine assist onslaught from Georgia guard Litterial Green Kessler added 24 points but faulted himself for missing the rebound of foul shot are the kind of plays you have to make to win Kessler said rebound showed Cremins that the senior guard also is capable of handling pressure puts too much pressure on himself and I lose Cremins said he came back to TO ntinued on E14 a T' jri iL 3' II mTm ''A ur Lw ft i 'A re Ex jjlSI fl flr? 1 If BiBLJg Steve tv 1 Sports SECTION Ije Atlanta buntal the Atlanta constitution SUNDAY DECEMBER 17 1989 5 NL rookies took money and ran suits allege IVE NL Continued on E19 CLASS i CLASS AAA CLASS AA CLASS A INSIDE Parti LOS ANGELES ive of the top 16 players selected in the NL draft last April including Deion Sanders of the At lanta alcons are targets of lawsuits filed in Los Angeles by an attorney seeking to recover money he alleges he loaned the players while they were still playing col lege football The Atlanta Journal Constitu tion has learned Along with Sanders who played colle giately at lorida State the defendants in the civil suits are Derrick Thomas (Kansas 'V 1989 The Atlanta Jouninl Anil The Atlanta Constitution By Mike ish Staff writer Today in 2 sections '(Vi pf 4 Thomas led the players running up a debt of $35160 Sanders was next at $28460 fol lowed by Hill ($26462) Broderick Thomas ($17047) and Dykes ($7900) It is an NCAA violation for players to accept loans David Berst assistant execu tive director for enforcement said the players would have been declared ineligi ble had the NCAA been aware of the loans at the time The NCAA probably pufsue the matter Berst said we can find out about it while still playing we declare the athlete Berst said extremely difficult because almost always a secret 1 between the agent and Newman said he started loaning money to football players after attending a ban quet and seeing players in ill fitting and shabby clothes felt some of the black kids were get ting said Newman a black attorney raised in Louisiana was going to be dif ferent Instead they were smarter than I thought They were just playing a con game I met Derrick Thomas he was BASEBALL 5 SHw'l I MltchelBaker15 Greene Taliaferro 14 4 11 'Ur Lincoln County 24 powaonf' ritmriili mmte niariffi antra 11 3 if ishvi 4 if LA attorney says he provided loans to players in college and that Deion Sanders owes $28460 of the $1 1 5029 total City ChiefsAlabama) Eric Hill (Phoenix CardinalsLSU) Broderick Thomas (Tampa Bay BuccaneersNebraska) and Hart Lee Dykes (New England PatriotsOklahoma State) Ray Newman a Los Angeles attorney claims in the suits that he loaned the play ers a total of $115029 Newman said in an interview that the figure is on the and the sum was only what he could document through canceled checks and receipts According to court records' Derrick 1 STATE HIGH CHAM SHI ZnAV dm AlJflESHlflUKagflEfiSjw Jl ITT A ti WBsrKinK I rafiVsfl 1 Iw 4BI '5 I A E14 2 E14 a Part 2 Starting on 1 RO OOTBALL in Elway: Has 247 vard day Broncos romp over Cardinals A "Latest results 222 2030 E8 HER SPORTS TV Highlights 'ScorephoneX Kirby Puckett: Stays with the'Twins as 6 $9 milhon man Owners smash salary structure E3 romps 112 39 E12 £ady Dogs move rtp 67O mark blister SupterSonics 3 wB is Lfalcons ready fei'ifor Redskins BoBroncos crush Cardinals 37 0 4x4 1 1 Mark Bradley: program one of Columnists Vikings Brbwns 5 1 pm Bills 49ers 114 pm TV Radio listings E2 a £15 COLLEGE OOTBALL PeAn State will jdifl Big Ten trptpra E2 Iis E18 ey £20 1 Ti i liiwElii 'T' rre Rs £2X St I 'Li CLASS AAA CLASS AA CLASS A dVfa Parti.