• Format
  • Publications (documents)
• Type
  • Text
• Source institution
  • Western Carolina University
• Identifier
  • HL_WesternCarolinian_1985-09-12_Vol50_No05_06

CATS STOP DAVIDSON, FACE TECH SPORTS = DEFEATING THE HEAT AUDIBLES BASEBALL As major league baseball's pennant races heat up, here's a few historical notes to keep in mind... No team has repeated as a divisional champion in the majors since 1981. In other words, in the three years, 12 different clubs have tasted the playoff life in the last three years. Kansas City, in the A.L. Western Division, is the only champion that is still in the running for reclaiming its crown. Of course, the Royals' competition is California, which won a title in the previous three years. Who has won the most divisional titles? Baltimore has won seven, its most recent coming in 1983, when it won the world championship. Trailing the Orioles are the Reds, with six; the A's, also with six; the Pirates, with six, and, if the Dodgers win as excepted this year, they'll also have six. The last (and only) time the New York Mets won a world championship was 1969, and that year they took over first place on September 10. On September 10 this year, the Mets whipped the St. Louis Cardinals, their chief competition, to go into first place. ABOUT-FACE IN THE A.C.C. The so called Big Four of North Carolina's colleges --- North Carolina, North Carolina State, Wake Forest and Duke — is off to a 3-1 start in football this year. That's much better than last year, when the four Atlantic Coast Conference schools combined for a 16-27-1 record. The only loss among the Big Four last week was N.C. State's. The Wolf pack played East Carolina. NEW COACH Another fine addition to the Western Carolina basketball coaching staff: Herb Krusen, formerly of Wake Forest. As an assistant at Wake , Krusen watched the Demon Deacons finish tied for third in the NIT in 1983, second in the NCAA Midwest Regionals in 1984. Also, Wake nearly knocked off North Carolina in the opening round of the ACC tournament last season, losing to the Tarheels 72-61 in overtime. North Carolina finished second to NCAA champion Vilanova in the NCAA Southeast Regional. SUMMARY Western 13, Davidson 0 WCU 3 7 0 3 Davidson 0 0 0 0 WCU - FG Roach 53 WCU - Nowell 6 run (Roach kick) WCU - FG Roach 32 A - 4,200 WCU Dav. Rushes - yards ' 50-236 12 19 Passing - yards 177 245 Return - yards 55 30 Passes 18-39-2 26-55-3 Punts 6-39 8-38.5 Fumbles Lost 4-1 1-1 Penalties - yards 12-105 4-40 Timp nf Possession 35:26 24:34 INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING - W.C.U., Mayfield 14-67, Beck 7-51 Dav., Poag 5-22, Oogen 3-9. Passing-W.C.U, Perkins 12-24-2-138, Edwards 5-12-0-24 Dav., Bradley 26-55-3-245. RECEIVING - W.C.U., DeLapp 6-67, Nowell 2-28 Dav., Poag 12-110, Jones 6-55. Chris Geis Sports Writer WESTERN TOPS WILDCATS Tailback David Mayfield led all Rushers with 67 yards at Davidson Saturday. PHOTO BY MARK HASKETT DAVIDSON - A number of Western Carolina faithful made the three-hourtripdown here Saturday forthe Catamount's season-opening football game. What they learned, very simply, was that the Cats have a long way to go to reach the level of play of the past two seasons, when they were 19-6-1. On a beautiful but incredibly hot day, the Catamounts wore down their Southern Conference brothers from Davidson, 13-0, in a game that lasted three and a quarter hours and thatanswered none of the questions that head coach Bob Waters had about his offense in the preseason. If not for all-America kicker Kirk Roach and a little offensive trickery, Western Carolina and Davidson would have battled to a 0-0 tie. Davidson, which went 2-8 last year, played Western in Cwllowhee last September and lost 45-13. "It was not very pretty," Waters understated. "We looked awful. But it is a win." He added that the 90-degree heat played an important factor. "That's why we dropped a lot of those passes," he said. "It slowed up the game and equalized the two teams." Vic Gatto, in his first year as Davidson coach, agreed with Waters. "I thought the heat balanced things out some," Gatto said. "They had the depth, but we practiced all week in this weather." Here's how the Catamounts escaped with their first season-opening victory in five years: Roach tied his own school record, set last year, with a 53-yard field goal in the first quarter. That gave Western a 3-0 lead. Flanker Vincent Nowell took a pitch from running back Milton Beck, who had been handed off to by quarterback Willie Perkins, and wentsixyardsona reverse intotheend zoneona fourth-and-three play with 11:38 to go in the second quarter. Roach's extra point attempt made it 10-0. The Catamounts' last score was a mere 32-yard field goal by Roach in the fourth quarter. While Roach wasn't kicking field goals, the Western offense was fumbling four times (only one was lost) and throwing two interceptions. Kenny Edwards started at quarterback for Western, but was ineffective, completing four of 12 passes for 24 yards. Willie Perkins went most of the wayandhiton 12 of 24 for 138 yards. Neither played exceptionally well, but Perkins will be the starter Saturday at Tennessee Tech. Of course, whoever the starter is, he'll have big shoes to fill. Jeff Gilbert, last season's Southern Conference player of the year, graduated in May after a career that saw him lead Western to within one win of the NCAA l-AAchampionshipandearnan all-America berth. Western goes to Cookeville, Tenn., to play Tennessee Tech on Saturday. Techwas0-ll a year ago. That means the Catamounts' first test won't come until Sept. 21. That's when Furman, winner of five of the last seven Southern Conference titles, hits Cullowhee. It should say much about whether there will be any more glory days for the Cats. CATS TO FACE WIN-HUNGRY EAGLES Steve White S.I.D. Western Carolina, looking to improve on a lackluster performance in its season opening win, takes its win streak on the road this weekend to Tennessee Tech, a team hoping to end a long losing streak. The 12th meeting between the inter-conference rivals WCU of the Southern and Tech from the Ohio Valley will be played Saturday evening in Cookeville, Tennessee. The Catamounts own a five game win streakand have claimed 17 victories in their last 21 games which is in sharp contrast to Tech's 12 game losing streak. However, Western struggled to a 13-0 win at Davidson in 97 degrees weather while the Golden Eagles displayed improvement despite losing on the road to powerful Nevada-Las Vegas by a deceptive 35-7 score. "We didn't play up to our expectations at Davidson," said Bob Waters, WCU's veteran head coach who claimed his 101st victory. "We let the heat and humidity take away our agressiveness and our discipline as far as fundamentals and technique were concerned." The Catamounts rolled up 416 yards, but managed only one touchdown as they were stymied by their own mistakes, including three turnovers, 105 penalty yards and poor execution. Looking ahead to this week's game, Waters is apprehensive about his team as well as its next opponent. "We are going to have our hands full in Cookeville," he warned. "Tennessee Tech appears to have developed a solid running game and is improved in all areas." Tech rushed for 261 yards out of its wishbone offense. The Golden Eagles'offense had the football for only five possessions, but gained at least 60 yards on each possession. A pair of roughing the kicker penalties practically gave UNLV, the defending Pacific Coast Athletic Association champion, touchdowns early in the game. Waters said a main objective forhisCatamounts this week is "making ourselves do the things right that we did not do well last Saturday at Davidson. "I know we have a much better football team than everyone saw last Saturday and we are going to have to play much better to haveachancetowinthis Saturday," he emphasized. There were some bright spots in the Catamounts' opening victory, their third shutout in the last five games. All-America Kirk Roach lived up to his billing as he tied his own WCU record with a 53 yard field goal. The barefoot sophomore added a 32 yarder later in the game and all four of his kickoffs were non-returnable. Willie Perkins came off the bench to complete 12 of 24 passes for 138 yards in less than three quarters of play. The Robbinsville junior was playing for the first time since suffering a broken leg in the 1983 NCAA l-AA championship game. Cornerback Miles Nicholson led the defensive effort as he came up with a pair of interceptions, broke up a pair of passes and figured in on seven tackles. Tailbacks David Mayfield (67 yards) and Milton Beck (51 yards) led the running game that netted 236 yards. The WCU-TTU series, which began in 1971, is tied at 5-5-1. The Catamounts have won the last two meetings by lopsided scores —34-6 last season in Cullowhee and 42-10 on their last trip to Cookeville. in 1983. CONFERENCE PREVIEW With apologies to Chris Geis and to our readers, we reprint Mr. Geis' article of last week. ONE sunny Saturday afternoon about seven years ago I was sitting in Sirine Stadium in Greenville, S.C., watching Furman and Tennessee- Chattanooga play a Southern Conference football game. Tennessee-Chattanooga was the defending league co-champion, and so it was no surprise to anyone that it won the game, 13-9. I look back at that game because it is a crucial piece of history for the fan of Southern Conference football. And to prove it, I offer you this: No other team not Western Carolina, not Applachian State, not The Citadel has earned a piece of the Southern Conference championship since. That's right. Since that year, 1978, when Furman and Chattanooga tied forthe league title, the Mocs and Paladins have dominated Southern Conference football. Chattanooga went on the next year to win another championship, and then Furman reeled off a string of four consecutive crowns from 1980 to 1983. Last year, it was Chattanooga again. So there it is. The lasteightchampionships have been won by two teams. Forget the fact that Western Carolina finished second in the nation in l-AA in 1983, or that The Citadel was in the l-AA top 20 last season, or that Appalachian knocked off the Atlantic Coast Conference's Wake Forest two years ago. When it comes down to winning championships, there are two teams that really matter in the Southern Conference. The story is the same this year. And that's why Western's Catamounts might be feeling pretty good about the upcoming conference season. 1joth the Cats' games against the Big Two are in Cullowhee. Western takes on Furman on Sept. 21 and Chattanooga on Oct. 26 in E.J.Whitmire Stadium, usually a friendly place for the Catamounts. To add to that, Western's biggest rival, Appalachian, will take on the Cats in the battle for the mountains right here in Cullowhee on Nov. 9. Western's other home Chris Geis SPORTS WRITER league games will be Nov. 23 against VMI and Sept. 28 against East Tennesee State. In addition, Western plays three road contests against conference opponents: Saturday vs. Davidson, Oct. 5 vs. Marshall and Nov. 2 vs. The Citadel. The schedule is certainly a boost to the Catamounts' title chances, according to head coach Bob Waters. "It's always great to play Furman, Appalachian State and Chattanooga in Whitmire Stadium," he said in a preseason interview. "The advantage comes from the fact that we practice on our field all the time and we have a feel for it. It's a psychological advantage with the familiar surroundings....The more friendly faces, the better." While Waters tries to figure out who he'll start at quarterback this season —there's a heated battle between Willie Perkins and Kenny Edwards going on as we speak -~ let's take a look at the rest of the Southern Conference. FURMAN, as always under head coach Dick Sheriday, should be the cream of the league. Last year's club was 8-3 and defeated North Carolina State in Raleigh, and 17 of those starters are back to do it again in Raleigh (watch for Sept. 28) and this time win a league championship. The Paladins are blessed at tailback with senior Robbie Gardner, who with 1,232 yards rushing and 14 touchdowns was the key figure in a big-time offense. Butthat'snotall that will keep the Paladins' motor running. Quarterback Bobby Lamb, who threw 19 touchdown passes last year, is back for his senior season. The Paladins must counter with two main problems. One, the defense has to find someone to replace first-team all-America linebacker Rock Hurst. Second, the offense can't stall inside the 20- yard line this year like it did in a 21-14 loss at Appalachian last year. That game probably cost the Paladins an at-large bid to the NCAA l-AA playoffs. TENNESSEE-CHATTANOOGA always seems to be mentioned in the same breath as defense around VOLLEYBALL Lloyd Rachels Sports Writer The Western Carolina University volleyball team recently traveled to their area rival, UNC-Asheville to start their 1985 season with a 15-7, 15-4, 16-14 win. Emily Holliday, senior co-captain and two-time all Southern Convference performer, led the Lady Cats with ten kills. Behind Holliday, another all- Southern Conference pick from last year Crystal Sullivan helped out with nine kills. The Lady Bulldogs were quieted down by Michelle Barret and Sullivan's four blocks apiece The Lady Cats return eight veterans and add two freshman recruits to the 1985 team. Along with Holliday, Barret and Sullivan, the present starters will be Donna Smith, Robin Langley, and Jill Blankenship. Amy Bell, Terri Boyd and newcomers Lisa Gardner, and Kim Spruill will challenge for future starting positions. . Western Carolina will travel to Clemson Wednesday, September 11, and to Lenoir-Rhyne College Friday, September 13, for their next two matches. "I was pleased with our opening performance " noted head coach Trish Howell* who enters her fourth year as WCU's mentor, "Of course there are still many areas in which we will have to improve to be a challenger for the conference title, but the players are very aggressive and show a lot of the desire and enthusiasm. This will definitely be an exciting team to watch!" Catamounts Michelle Barrett(lO) and Crystal Sullivan(U) block spike attempt.

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: 1985-09-12
  • Date digitized: 2019-02-28
• Extent
  • Dimension: 22.75" x 15"
  • Pages: 12 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_1985-09-12_Vol50_No05
• Repository
  • Western Carolina University Hunter Library