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Western Carolinian Volume 44 Number 12

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  • PAGE 8/THE WESTERN CAROLINIAN/NOVEMBER 9, 1978 sports feature Receives Player-of-the-week award Harp passes TD goal- and then some b\ STEVL SURLES Sports Editor Before the season began. Gerald Harp had a personal goal to catch 10 TD passes this season. With two games left he has 11—long since eclipsing the school record of seven held by Steve Spradling and Wayne Tolleson. Gerald didn't even know what the TD record was. and it wasn't important to him. He had no allusions of making everyone forget Tolleson either—that couldn't be done. But he did want to have a good enough season to replace Tolleson successfully and not to hear some line like, "Oh. if we only had Tolley now." Suffice to say Gerald Harp has accomplished that. The 5'8", 153 pound sophomore flanker from Atlanta has had one incredible season in an incredible season for the Catamounts. He has 47 pass receptions for 911 yards plus his 12 TD total. He ranks near the top in the Southern Conference in all those stats, and lacks only 190 receiving yards to equal Tolleson's record-setting 1101 in 77. Most important of all, Gerald is the proto-type of the 78 team; small, quick, unpredictable, but very exciting. He's dropped a few passes this year—but he s made some of the wildest, most unbelievable catches and runs ever seen in any of the SC stadiums. When Bob Waters needs a big play on offense the combination of Mike Pusey to Harp has come through like last Saturday's jumping-jack 60 yard TD play against UTC, the 94 yard play verses VMI, the list is long. When he's not shown more moves than Mayflower, he's simply outrun everybody's secondary with his 9.9 speed. He's been nothing short of sensational this season, a fact that is being known around the league. His 10 reception, three TD game last Saturday Gerald Harp earned him the SC Player of the Week on offense (Ty Smith won the honor on defense). Old-time Catamount followers could scarcely remember a better game in a more clutch situation for Western. "We felt good about Chattanooga," recalls Harp. "I know the receivers did—we knew we could throw if Pusey had time. We also knew we had to play good, it was a special game and everyone was up for it." Throw they did, with Pusey ripping a blitzing Moc defense for 253 yards and two TD's. Harp's frje.Parsttg^Ijop rJcvn i»13,; k? n?i» I WCU -CM" 1 j 0 i« VLl\m «! » \ II 3 t 0 76» iti i ,\9 W» W y/=/?7? OF 'THE CAT" SUITS f SPOIITC0ATS -^^^ ALL SWEATEES " / 0 % ^P ^CS, SUiEfrTEft SHIRTS -aO*°" :^r.rt TE/)NS-14CFFC0RDS^0%!FP TOPS s BOTTOMS --X^Offk^^fJO. TuUK* fifltK OF ASSORTED T0fe^3°-» av> i/sto 3Tofte hiExr moNOAY « G-rr W EX-rftfl 10% 3>l5CoctArr phenomenal play kept the defense on pins and needles all night. Now everyone is excited about WCU football. The Cats with their run for the Southern Conference crown have arrived in Division I play. Many people are surprised at WCU's rapid ascent to serious footballing in the big time—but not the confident Harp. "Actually I'm not surprised at our record. I figured we could even do better. In the ECU game we just got no breaks, but then we didn't play with much emotion in our next two. I guess we turned it around in our first win," Harp says. After three losses the Cats finally won in the seasons first game at Whitmire Stadium against Elon. Harp had some tough moments too in those first three games, but now he's become the "crowd pleaser," the player that everyone watches when he gets the ball. Harp is also no stranger to tough situtations and rugged competition. As a prep running back at Lakeshore High, he had his teammates NCSU QB Scott Smith, Duke kicker Scott McKinley, and UTC TE Jay Barber. Back then, just as now, he was usually the smallest man on the field. "People told me I was too little, that I couldn't play college ball. I always felt different and I guess that't the main reason I came here. There are lots of people my size and I knew I'd get a good chance to play." After his fine performance Saturday in Western's biggest game ever, the true value of Harp was shown. It's his ability to get the big play when it's most needed. He's been doing it all season. He doesn't take all the credit, though. "We come up with the clutch plays on offense because we are together as a unit. We believe we can do it before we even go out there. I think we just play real well together," Harp says. He feels no extra pressure about Saturday's game either. Often he thinks about a game too early and it makes him more nervous. However, he's calm and eager to play Saturday. He, like everyone else, is optimistic about WCU's chances in the game, and it's even more special to him as it's homecoming and he has friends coming to see him play for the first time. "We've got to play good and play together," he says, adding, "Furman is good, but we should move the ball and get our yardage. We want this one a lot.'' The Jackson County Bass Club is sponsoring an Open Bass Tournament on November 18 from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Keowee Lake in South Carolina. The tournament will be a team competition and the entry fee is $15 per person. For more information S^SL rber! Dyer at 586"6859 ot Ellis Blazer at 586-5030 after 5p.m. The University Center Board will sponsor a foosball and billiard tournament during November. The billiard tournament will be November 13 and 14, and the foosball touney will be November 27 and 29. For more information contact the University Center at Extention The Western Carolinian wishes The Cats all the luck in Saturday's game against Furman. The Southern Conference is ours!
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