• Format
  • Publications (documents)
• Type
  • Text
• Source institution
  • Western Carolina University
• Identifier
  • HL_WesternCarolinian_1983-10-27_Vol48_No12_10

Cats In "Must Win" Situation For UT-Chattanooga Matchup By the time Western Carolina and the University of __ _ _^ ^ ^^ lennessee at Chattanooga lootball teams line up for the ■ ■■■■ ~^m^T ^L kickoff this Saturday afternoon in Cullowhee. all the V >^^%|^P prerequisites for BIG GAME status will have been met. « V"**-- First. there will be two hot football teams who \ appear to be pea king alter stumbling around earlier in the ~~"""""""~~"~~~"~—""""^~—~~~~"~"~"~"—'~"~~ season. the loss last year is still a sore spot for Coach Bill Oliver's Then there is the Southern Conference football Moccasins. Last October, Western shocked UTC in championship race where both teams are unbeaten with Chattanooga, 20-0, and that loss cost the Moccasins the one team on top, UTC, and the other. WCU, just conference championship as they finished 5-1 and percentage points behind. defeated the eventual league champion Furman, but the SOUTHERN CONFIDENCE CONE OVEPAll Paladins played one more game and finished 6-1. aOUTHERN CONFERENCE CONF. OVERALL ..„ is going ,0 be a very emotional game," says Bob UT-Chattanooga J-U-U 5-2-0 Waters, WCU's coach of 15 seasons. "We're hungry fora WESTERN CAROLINA 9 fVI ao\ confercnce championship and must win Saturday to stay nnicicn wwwurw ^ u-i u-z- i jn tne race ancj tney remember that we cost them the J£f ™?Vi i" tin on conference championship last season." 1. v n 1'in o m "Tne Furman game was a big onc.this one is vST^ i in i'tn biggcr'"hc emPnasized- Y'^Vj nltn n ^otri teamsarecom'ng°ff methodical, unemotional DCMason n/i'r\ o victories in which they spotted the opposition an early East Tennessee 0-4-0 2-5-0 )ead tnen took a big lead and he|d off a ciosjng rany Next, national ranking in the NCAA's Division 1- UTC fdl .behind Marsha»- 2-0. then scored 23 AA poll is probably on the line as the winner will likely unanswered points before halftime and held on in the secure a spot in the top 20. second half for a 23"16 w,n- Western tralled Wofford Top it off with some motivation and revenge as tw,ce ,n \he opening 20 minutes, but scored 24 Western Carolina is in a must-win situation to keep its unanswered points for a 31-10 lead and eventually won hopes for a first-ever conference football trophy and UT- ' Chattanooga is incensed by back-to-back losses to the The «ame W1" Present contrasting offensive styles Catamounts and the last one cost the Moccasins the w,th Westerns pass-oriented multiple I and UlC's conference title ground attack out ofthe wishbone. The fourth consecutive crowd of over 10,000 fans is , Jeff Gilbert has helped turn the Catamount's expected to file into E. J. Whitmire Stadium for the 1:00 fortunes around with his passing arm completing 61% of kickoff passes the last four games. The junior quarterback is UTC, 5-2, has won its last three games, all over "° °f \9* f°r IWLyards and six TDs this season, fellow Southern Conference teams. The Moccasins are 3- RaJlPh1TP°tter\an excellent option quarterback, has 0 in league play and sit in the conference's driver's seat d,rected VJ^ l° bet,ter 'J18" 20° yards a«ame on the ahead of Furman's 3-0-1 record and Western's 2-0-1 Sround and has ^eloped a stronger passing game with mark ea contest. The Catamounts, 4-2-1. have not lost in their last Ironically, the last time a Western Carolina team put five outings and, most likely, must win their remaining togetJ?er a f,vc Samc streak without a loss was in 1978 and conference games over UTC, The Citadel and <hue Catamounts next opponent that season was UT- a i u- c. . ju C „ f i,„ f lv,ri,,A Chattanooga Western won that game, 31-2 , in Appalachian State and hope Furman falters lor WCU to 6 a claim its first Southern Conference championship. ^^^^a^BHBBBHB^HH^^^^^^BBaM UTC holds a 5-4 lead in the series that began in 1973, but the Catamounts have won the last two meetings and mi ^~^i The Game: of the Atlantic Coast y/^CO^v Conference while UT- /t^y^^\fq\ Chattanooga has won three JSgf $Q*^\'f\ 'n a row, all against tft 1 (*■( n )i. ]m] Southern Conference i li V^Vt**! °J? J ft! competition. I fwkm «l vr^^vv THE SERIES: lJT' * 192^1/ Chattanooga leads the series that began in 1973 by a 5-4 ^L ~ *4| edge. Western Carolina has ~ ■ THE GAME: Western won the last two meetings. '■ Jm Rt ifcly^-^B I Carolina University's since both schools began | Catamounts (4-2-1 overall; playing as fellow Southern 2-0-1 Southern Conference) Conference members in plays host to The University 1977, the series is tied, 3-3. of Tennessee of Chattanoo- in games played at E. J. I ga's Moccasins (5-2-0 Whitmire Stadium, UTC overall; 3-0-0 Southern has lost only once (1981) in Conference) in a crucial f0Ur meetings whereas W0 \%«<^^d Southern Conference game. \yCU has won on three of V^iS SITE: E J- Whitmire fjve trips to Chamberlain pP -**^ Stadium (12,000 capacity) Field. I on the Western Carolina LAST SEASON'S University campus in GAME: Western Carolina Cullowhee, NC. Artificial dealt UT-Chattanooga a 20- playing surface. A crowd of 0 defeat that cost UTC the „ excess of 10,000 is expected. Southern Conference KICKOFFTIME:I:00 championship in a late pm. (EDT) October game in Chatta- THE TEAMS THIS nooga. It was the Cata- SEASON: Western mounts most impressive s.»fTPho.o By Mark Haskell Molina has not lost since defensive performance of ~ „. . . j .. . , P ,, . . opening its season with the season as thev held the Dean Basucci tied his own school field goal record . ^ . * . . . ine season as iney neia ine _, j 1 • 1 c * j ..'„ oacK-to-oacK tosses to Moccasins to 143 yards of by booting a 51 yard kick in Saturdays clemson and Wake Forest offense wcirs defenders Homecoming victory. ^___^^____^__^^^^^__^^_^^__ Leggett Encouraged By Baseball Team's Fall Practice Efforts Eric Jordan , , ... ., . . . ■ ril • , • . • ■ One specific area that Leggett is pleased with is the As the crisp skies begin to fi with pigskins each . ,. . . r _. .° ■ r- ,"■ , -p. , , j fu uj 1 .u u infield play. The entire starting infield play. The entire weekend, the sound of horsehide poundingleathercan be • V > . -.u 1 u~ D,,„ ,„k„wrf , , ,">;,, . -T-. wi , r • k l 11, „ starting infield returns with John Pust (shortstop), found in Cullowhee The Western Carolina baseball team .* first Ron Humi (second is in the midst of fall practice and it is showing some base) ^ Tome Va)ley (third basg) ^^ fecls that by positive results having this time to work with the players, it will allow "We use the fall program to develop continuity ^ J ^ mor£ confidence in each otner said Catamount Coach Jack Leggett We want to get ..^ ^^ J ^^ fof th£ .^ the players to believe in our meaning of playing baseball. „We ^ ^ ^f infield and a better It's during this time that we can work on the defensive team " fundamentals and breaking bad habits. We do a lot of Deveioping a good outfield is another area of major teaching which gives us a good jump on the spring ^^ ^^ ^ g^ ^ ^ year.s Southem season, he explained. , Conference freshman of the year is the only returnee in Heading into his second season at the Catamount moye to center fmm f fidd helm Leggett is pleased with the progress of he team Joini ^ could ^ Val) who mj also se£ some which has practiced since the opening of school. With 77 mQUJd jn the spring. Several players are showing players out for the squad, fall practice serves as an & ^ ^.^ ^ look {o cha„e for ,a ■ evaluation period. After narrowing down the field. K several players, along with those returning from last See pg jj year's team will be invited back in the spring. Soccer Team Drops Two WCU's soccer team, Greenville -theirsecond loss Lenihan and Roy McLam, goals, heading into its last week of to the Paladins in the past but Western countered with The Cats will conclude the season, dropped two week. Last Wednesday a goal by Mark Latham with the 1983 season with the games this past week. The night, in action at E. J. 20:58 left to play. McLain final home game this Friday Cats are now 2-14 overall Whitmire Stadium, the added another goal for UT night (7 pm) against UT- and 0-4 in the Southern soccer Cats fell to the in the final four minutes. Chattanooga. Sunday, Oct. Conference South Division. University of Tennessee, 3- Against Furman, WCU 30, Western will then Monday night the Cats I. was outshot 26-1 as Paladins conclude the season with a wereshut out by Furman, 3- The Vols took a 2-0 first Chuck Meisel, Charles trip to UT-Chattanooga. 0. in conference play at half lead on goals by Dan Allen and Zix High scored That game will start at 2 pm. Mall Photo ll> Mark Haskett The Cats put together an outstanding defensive effort in Saturday's Homecoming game that produced a 37-20 win over the Wofford Terriers. Western will depend heavily on the defense this week as they take on 17th ranked UT-Chattanooga in a vastly important Southern Conference showdown. WCU Vs. UT-Chattanooga picked off three UTC passes and recovered three- fumbles. Tailback Anthony James scored both of WCU's touchdowns and Dean Biasucci kicked a pair of 39 yard field goals. Defensive back Richard Dukes was named the conference's defensive player of the week. LAST WEEK'S GAMES: Western Carolina spotted Wofford three-point leads twice in the opening 20 minutes then scored 24 unanswered points enroute to a 37-20 non-conference victory. The Catamounts, behind the running of tailback Melvin Dorsey. rolled up their biggest rushing yardage total ofthe season (202 yards). Dorsey rushed for 117 yards on 18 carries and scored once. It was his first 100 yard day since his sophomore season. Quarterback Jeff Gilbert continued his outstanding passing by completing 14 of 21 for 183 yards and two TD's. UT-Chattanooga also fell behind early in the game on a safety, but reeled off 23 unanswered points and then held on for a 23-16 win over Marshall in a conference game in Chattanooga. The Moccasins rolled up 244 yards on the ground behind the running of Harold Ricks (103 yards) and Artis Edwards (75 yards). Defensive back David McCrary returned a punt for a touchdown. KEY PLAYERS: Western Carolina's offense is led by junior quarterback Jeff Gilbert who has completed 61% of his passes over the past four games for 756 yards (189 per game) and six TD's. His favorite targets are 5-8 catback Eric Rasheed (42 x 496) and 5-7 split end Kristy Kiser (30 x 431). They rank first and third in the conference pass receiving stats. Tailback Leonard Williams is the leading rusher with 474 yards, but has lost his starting position to Melvin Dorsey who returned to the lineup last Saturday after missing two games with a shoulder dislocation and rushed for I 17 yards. Williams is also the team's leading scorer with eight lOltfidowns. Specialists Dean Biasucci and Steve Kornegay have been having strong seasons. Biasucci is six of eight in field goals and Kornegay is averaging 40.0 yards per punt. Center Steve Taylor leads the offensive line play. The defensive unit is led by tackle Mark Buffamoyer (40 first hits) and defensive backs Steve Marshall and Tiger Greene (four interceptions). UT-Chattanooga has three running backs with over 200 yards in rushing in Harold Ricks (368), Artis Edwards (325) and Dennis King (209). Quarterback Ralph Potter has rushed for 209 yards and passed for 439 yards. Linebackers Glen Richardson and Lawrence Green led the conference's top defensive unit along with end Steve Kurtz, nose guard Randall "Brick" Mitchell and safety Gary Woodburn. Specialist Jack Teichman has connected on five of nine field goal attempts. INJURIES: Western Carolina will play for the second straight without defensive back Richard Dukes who is sidelined with a fractured collar bone. UT-Chattanooga does not report any new injuries from the Marshall game. OFFENSES: Western Carolina uses a pass- oriented Multiple I offense, with an almost equal distribution of passing and running plays this season. The Catamounts are averaging 129 yards a game on the ground and 206 through the air. UT-Chattanooga runs from the Wishbone and averages 53 running plays to 14 passing plays per game. The Moccasins are averaging 212 yards a game on the ground and 82 per game passing. DEFENSES: Western Carolina uses a multiple defense with a basic four- 'man front. UT-Chattanooga also uses multiple defense with a basic 5-2 look. Football is the big activity going on in WCU's Intramural Department. In this photo, a heavy rush is being put on the quarterback during a Tuesday afternoon game. Slaff Photo By Mark Haskett

The Western Carolinian is Western Carolina University's student-run newspaper. The paper was published as the Cullowhee Yodel from 1924 to 1931 before changing its name to The Western Carolinian in 1933.

• Creator
  • Western Carolina University
• Format
  • Publications (documents)
• Type
  • Text
• Date
  • Date original: 1983-10-27
  • Date digitized: 2019-01-31
• Extent
  • Dimension: 15" x 11.5"
  • Pages: 16 pages
• Subject - Topic
  • College student newspapers and periodicals
  • Cullowhee (N.C.) -- Newspapers
  • Universities and colleges -- North Carolina -- Cullowhee -- Newspapers
• Location
  • Jackson County (N.C.)
  • Cullowhee (N.C.)
• Source institution
  • Western Carolina University
• Source Collection
  • WCU Students Newspapers Collection
• Identifier
  • HL_WesternCarolinian_1983-10-27_Vol48_No12
• Repository
  • Western Carolina University Hunter Library