Banner Graphic, Volume 17, Number 78, Greencastle, Putnam County, 2 December 1986 — Page 7

Meyer replaces Dowhower as Colts' coach

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) Ron Meyer, the Indianapolis Colts’ fourth head coach since the club’s move from Baltimore 32 months ago, is anxious to get to work as the field boss of the only winless team in the National Football League. “There’s no question, I’m not going to stand idly by and sit on my hands. I don’t want to muddy the waters, but quite honestly, when you’re 0-13, they might need to be stirred up a little,” said Meyer, named to succeed the fired Rod Dowhower on Monday. The Colts were 5-11 under Dowhower a year ago. The year before that, in the team’s first season in Indianapolis, they were 4-11 under Frank Kush and 0-1 under Hal Hunter, who coached the final game after Kush resigned to take a job in the U.S. Football League. “Obviously we’ve got an uphill battle to contend with,” said Meyer, a former coach of the New England Patriots. “We’ve got the immediate goal of addressing ourselves with a threegame schedule (the rest of the season), with the most important thing in mind to create stability, create a sense of oneness and create a sense of purposeness to get the job done on the field. ” Meyer said he has not seen the Colts play this year. He said he would spend this week getting to know the players and staff and would not make any changes among the assistant coaches at least until the end of the season. George Hill will handle the defense and Billy Matthews will call the offensive plays for Sunday’s game at Atlanta, Meyer said. “I certainly don’t envision myself as a messiah or a genius at this time, but I hope to add some positive input to the program,” said Meyer, who is

Giants rally to post 21 -17 victory over 49ers

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - The San Francisco 49ers were out to stop Joe Morris, the New York Giants’ ace running back, and they did it all but once. “If that play doesn’t work, we’d probably lose the game,” Giants Coach Bill Parcells said, looking back at a successful fourth-down gamble during a third-period rally which helped his team rally for a 2117 victory Monday night. “We haven’t been out of any games since 1984, although we almost were out of this one,” Parcells added after the victory, which assured his team, now 11-2, of at least a wild-card playoff berth. The Giants, with a six-game winning streak, will be in Washington next Sunday to face the Redskins,

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1986 Putnam County All-Star Football Team

Linebackers,Bruce Bridgewater forces to be reckoned with

By KEITH E. DOMKE Banner-Graphic Sports Editor Even Mark Wildman - who last Friday coached his South Putnam High School Eagles to the Class A state football championship with an impressive, 29-21 victory over the then undefeated and top-ranked North Judson Bluejays - said that he would switch his defense from its 5-2 format to something that included three linebackers if he had this kind of talent on his squad. NORTH PUTNAM’S TONY BRYAN, Greencastle’s Rick Stewart and Rolland Vickrey of South - who led their respective teams in tackles this fall on the gridiron - were selected as the linebacking corps on the 1986 edition of the Putnam County All-Star football team. The team was picked back on Nov. 18, but the recent success of the Eagles going all the way to the state crown put a lid on its release until now. The four county coaches - Rick Malone of North, John Fallis of GHS, Mike Parks of Cloverdale and Wildman - along with yours truly voted on whom we thought were the best football players by position in this county in 1986. And when all the discussions, statistical talk and

Curtains-Rod Dowhower explains his Indianapolis Colts' latest loss on Sunday for the last time to the press. Dowhower was fired as head

regarded as more of a disciplinarian and a motivator than the outwardly quiet Dowhower. “I believe in structure. I believe in enthusiasm. I believe in playing to your maximum potential, annd that’s my job to see that each and every player and everyone in the organization

tied with them for first place in the NFC East. The Giants, down 17-0 at halftime, drove 49 yards on their first possession of the second half and scored on Phil Simms’ 17-yard touchdown pass to Morris. A few minutes later, the Giants faced a fourth-and-2 situation at their 49-yard line and Parcells called on Morris, who had zero net yards rushing on nine carries up to that point. Morris ran to the right, spotted a big hole, and gained 17 yards to keep the drive alive. “We knew they were going to pass on the fourth-and-two,” San Francisco linebacker Riki Ellison said. After outguessing the 49ers on the fourth-down call, New York got its second touchdown on the next play.

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coach on Monday after guiding the Colts to an 0-13 record this season. (BannerGraphic photo by Keith E. Domke)

gives it,” said Meyer. The players learned Dowhower had been fired Monday morning as they arrived at the club’s headquarters. “I feel bad for Rod,” said rookie quarterback Jack Trudeau, who became the Colts’ starter when veteran Gary Hogeboom suffered a season-

on Simms’ 34-yard pass to wide receiver Stacy Robinson, and went ahead late in the third period when a 49-yard bomb to Robinson set up Ottis Anderson’s 1-yard dive into the end zone. “They beat us with a couple of big plays that really hurt us,” said 49ers Coach Bill Walsh, calling the loss “the toughest we’ve had since I’ve been with the team. ” The 49ers, 7-5-1, fell 1% games behind the Los Angeles Rams in the NFC West race with three games. Simms had 202 of his 388 yards passing during the 21-point third quarter. Morris, who had 1,146 yards rushing and six 100-yard games before Monday night, wound up with

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voting had been completed, 22 boys from the four teams had been selected to fill the 24 positions with two of them -- North’s Bryan and South’s Kevin Raisor - having notched a spot on both the offense and defense. The team also included a punter and a kicker. BRYAN, IN NOTCHING his linebacker spot, was the Cougars’ best defensive player all season long as the 62, 194-pound senior recorded 135 tackles in nine games for a 15 tackles-per-game average. Fifty-six of those tackles were solos and to further illustrate his importance to Malone, his next-highest defender had 70 tackles, about only half as many. Bryan also had one fumble recovery and picked off one pass. Stewart notched 86 tackles in 10 games for the Tiger Cubs to help earn his spot on the Putnam County team. Fifty-six of those were solos and he added an interception to his credit as well. He stand 5-10 and weighs 170 pounds. And for their efforts this fall, Bryan and Stewart were picked co-Most Valuable Players on the defensive side. VICKREY - WHO RECORDED 93 tackles during the regular season and added another 90 in the Class A

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ending shoulder separation in the second game of the year. “In this business the people that get blamed aren’t always the ones that have all the responsibility. I’m sure he understands.” Defensive lineman Harvey Armstrong was one of the few Colts who knew Meyer, having played for him at Southern Methodist. Meyer also served as Armstrong’s agent. “I played four years for him and he was well liked,” said Armstrong. “I hope the players will respect him like I do.” Armstrong said the players can expect to see a different type of coach from Dowhower, who was criticized by some as being too easy with his players. “Coach Meyer will definitely speak his mind when he sees something he doesn’t like and he’s as great motivator. Coach Dowhower was more of a person who had the attitude that we are professionals and that we should go out and do our job. ” Meyer, 45, becomes the club’s 10th coach since owner Robert Irsay bought the franchise in 1972. Meyer served as coach of the Patriots from 1982 to 1984, compiling an 18-15 record. He entered the NFL following nine seasons as a college head coach at Nevada-Las Vegas and Southern Methodist. A former defensive back and six-year assistant coach at Purdue University, Meyer posted a 61-39-1 record as a college coach, including 18-4 in his final two years at SMU. Another of his players at SMU was Jim Irsay, the Colts’ general manager and the son of the owner. “We made a commitment for a long period of time to Ron Meyer,” said Jim Irsay. “We think this move is in the best interest of this organization.”

14 yards on 13 carries, while the Giants finished with only 13 net yards on 19 carries. San Francisco’s rushing attack, boosted by the return of recently resigned Wendell Tyler, totaled 116 yards to go with the 251 yards passing by Joe Montana. Simms completed 13 of 15 passes in the third period. The 49ers built their lead on a field goal by Ray Wersching and two second-quarter touchdowns by Jerry Rice. The second-year receiver caught an 11-yard scoring pass from Montana and also reached the end zone on a 1-yard, end-around play. Rice now has 15 touchdowns, which ties the 49ers’ season record. His 1,367 yards receiving this year is a league-high and also a team record.

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playoffs - was one of many leaders the Eagles had this fall en route to their state crown The 5-11, 183-pound senior was a vital cog in Wildman’s machine and anchored a defense that frazzled opponents all season long. Lining up ahead of the linebacking trio are four linemen as Greencastle and South both notched two selections there to dominate the position. Senior Scott Dunn and junior Stacy Irwin are the GHS selections there while Ron Timm and Raisor, both seniors, give South its two defensive linemen. Dunn recorded 55 tackles over the course of the season and led the team in fumble recoveries with five. He also intercepted five passes with one of them going for a touchdown. And for his efforts on the field, he was named the Tiger Cubs’ MVP. IRWIN WAS SECOND to Stewart in tackles for GHS as the 6-foot, 170-pounder recorded 76 over the course of the season. He also had two fumble recoveries and was an anchor up front in that stingy Tiger Cub defense. Timm and Raisor -- like everyone else who suited up for South -- were very important in the drive to the

Bloomington South improves to No. 2

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) Losses by Michigan City Rogers and Fort Wayne Northrop helped push Bloomington South into the state’s N 0.2 ranking behind Marion today in The Associated Press weekly high school boys’ basketball poll. Marion’s Giants, the defending state chaa pions, again were unchallenged for the No.l spot in the voting by AP’s statewide board of sports writers and broadcasters. But Rogers, which was the unanimous pick for N 0.2 last week, was beaten by unranked New Prairie in its season opener and dropped to seventh in the latest poll. Northrop, which was third, lost its opener to Fort Wayne Harding and fell six spots to ninth. Marion received all 22 first-place votes for a perfect 440 rating points after winning its first two games of the season. Bloomington South was fifth a week ago, but the Panthers leaped ahead of Gary Wallace into second place with a victory over previously No.ll Terre Haute North. Bloomington, 4-0 through games of last week, totaled 397 rating points from the AP panel. Wallace rose one spot to third with 389 points, while Concord jumped two spots to fourth with 364 points. Two city rivals were next, with Lafayette Jeff up three spots to fifth with 319 points and Lafayette Catholic up one spot to sixth with 317 points. Rogers totaled 310 points for the N 0.7 spot. Rounding out the Top 10 are Evansville Memorial, up one place to eighth; Northrop; and Anderson, up two spots to 10th. Three newcomers were voted to the second 10, including Harding,

Calloway examined, but no verdict as to how long he'll be sidelined

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) Doctors have no estimate on recovery time for Indiana sophomore forward Rick Calloway, who suffered a medial collateral ligament strain in his right knee in Indiana’s 90-55 basketball victory over Montana State. The 6-foot-6 Calloway was examined at Methodist Hospital Monday morning by Drs. Art Rettig and Steve Ahlfeld. Eric Ruden, a university sports department spokesman, said Calloway was released from the

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state title. Timm, at 6-3 and 197, adds size to the line while Raisor, at 5-10 and 167, adds speed. Raisor was second to Vickrey in tackles for South with 135 while Timm, at tackle, ended the 14-game season with 85. The Eagles also placed two boys in the secondary as senior Chris Arnold and junior Brian Bridgewater -- both also vital offensive players for Wildman - were selected as defensive backs. Todd Sutherlin of Greencastle and Chris Mann of Cloverdale round out the fourman secondary. BRIAN BRIDGEWATER PICKED off a whopping 10 passes over the course of the season to lead all county performers and also had 66 tackles. His height (6-1) is also a plus as is his speed and intelligence. Arnold, at 60, also adds height as a free safety and his four interceptions and 20 tackles always seemed to come at key times. Sutherlin - who like Arnold quarterbacked his team while on offense -- picked off seven passes and returned one of them for a touchdown. He had 36 tackles in Continued on Page A 8

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) The Associated Press Top 20 Indiana high school boys’ basketball teams, with first-place votes in parentheses, records through games of last Saturday and rating points (440 possible): 1. Marion (22), 2-0,440 2. Bloomington South, 4-0,397 3. Gary Wallace, 1-0,389 4. Concord, 2-0,364 5. Lafayette Jeff, 4-0,319 6. Lafayette Catholic, 2-0, 317 7. Mich. City Rogers, 0-1,310 8. Evansville Memorial, 1-0,274 9. Ft. Wayne Northrop, 0-1,212 10. Anderson, 2-1,210 11. Evansville Bosse, 04), 204 12. Jeffersonville, 2-0,189 13. Plainfield, 2-0,187 14. Gary Roosevelt, 2-1,134 15. Bedford-N.Lawrence, 2-0, 111 16. Ft. Wayne Harding, 2-1,57 17. Terre Haute North, 1-1,47 18. Connersville, 2-0,41 19. Andrean, 1-0,39 20. E.Chicago Central, 1-1,35 Others with 10 or more rating points: Richmond 34, Muncie Central 32, Columbus North 31, Ft. Wayne North 31, S.Bend Riley 29, Anderson Madison Hts. 25, Portage 19, Indpls N.Central 15, Jasper 14, Vincennes Rivet 14, Clinton Central 13, Lafayette Harrison 12, Westview 12, Anderson Highland 11, Muncie South 10. which was picked 16th after its victory over Northrop. The others are Connersville, voted 18th; and Andrean, 19th. Evansville Bosse, the only member of the Top 20 which has not played a game yet this season, fell one spot to 11th. The Bulldogs open tonight at Evansville Reitz. Jeffersonville, which already has beaten Anderson, climbed two spots to 12th, and Plainfield remained 13th. Gary Roosevelt, which lost its opener to Andrean before winning the Gary West tourney last weekend, climbed five spots to 14th. BedfordNorth Lawrence also rose five places to 15th. Terre Haute North dropped from 11th to 17th after its loss to Bloomington South, while East Chicago Central fell five spots to 20th after losing to Gary Roosevelt in the final game of the Gary West tourney.

hospital and would undergo rehabilitation in Bloomington. “There’s no timetable yet, but hopefully he’ll be back before the end of the season,” Ruden said. Coach Bob Knight said after Saturday’s game that if Calloway had a torn or stretched ligament he could be lost for four to six weeks. Calloway, who averaged 13.9 points and about five rebounds as a freshman, injured the knee during the second half of the opening game for both teams.

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