Banner Graphic, Volume 22, Number 105, Greencastle, Putnam County, 6 January 1992 — Page 5

sports

Tri-Star Basketball Skills contest set for Saturday

The South Central Optimist Club will hold a Tri-Star Basketball Skills Contest at 11 a.m. Saturday at the the South Putnam Central Elementary School. Practice will being at 10 a.m. The contest is comprised of three basic skills tests, aimed at evaluating a contestant’s skill in passing, shooting and dribbling a basketball. Boys and girls will compete in six age groups, 8-13, against youth of their own age. All that is needed to compete are desire

Putnam County Sports Monday Cascade freshmen at South Putnam, 6 p.m., basketball. Cascade seventh grade at South Putnam (Central Elementray), 6 p.m., basketball. Clay City girls at Cloverdale, 6:30 p.m., basketball. Cloverdale Jr. High at Owen Valley, 6 p.m., basketball. Cascade at Rockville, 6 p.m., wrestling.

Bills & Broncos

Defense key to Bills’ victory

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) The Buffalo Bills were getting downright defensive about the treatment their defense was getting. So they did something emphatic. “TO ME, RIGHT now, we are the No. 1 defense,” Cornelius Bennett said after his unit played up to such billing in a 37-14 playoff rout of the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday. “There are 12 other teams not playing, waiting around for next season, and we’re in the championship game.” The Bills got back to the AFC title game at Rich Stadium next Sunday against Denver with their usual displays of offensive firepower. And an unusual stinginess on defense. “If they got 600 yards, it wouldn’t matter that we are ranked 27th,” Bennett said after the Chiefs gained just 213 yards, many long after the issue was decided. “So what. We’re 14-3. “We’ve been a no-respect team in the league for 4-5 years. We’d hear, ‘Those guys are not that good, they’re lucky.’ If I hear that, I just smile at them and walk away.” THE BILLS RAN away from a team that beat them 33-6 during the season. Jim Kelly threw for three touchdowns to Andre Reed, 10 yards to James Lofton and Thurman Thomas rushed for 100 yards, the fourth straight playoff game in which the NFL’s most valuable player had at least that many. Scott Norwood, last seen in a postseason game missing a 47-yard field goal that would have won the

Elway lifts Broncos again

DENVER (AP) wasn’t so much John Elway’s arm as his legs that did in the Houston Oilers. Coaxing the Denver Broncos 87 yards in the final two minutes with no timeouts remaining, Elway added another page to his remarkable resume. He may not be able to win the Big One the Super Bowl but no one is better at making miracles along the way. THE DRIVE 11, reminiscent of the 98-yard Elway-inspired march that helped beat Cleveland in the AFC championship game five years ago, lifted the Broncos past the Oilers 26-24 on Saturday and into the AFC title game for the fourth time in the last six years. Denver (13-4) will play at Buffalo (14-3) next Sunday. The Bills whipped Kansas City 37-14 in the other divisional playoff on Sunday. “It should be a great matchup,” Denver coach Dan Reeves said after the Bills’ rout was complete. “We’re similar type teams, although they’re a little more wide open. The game will match two great quarterbacks (Elway vs. Jim Kelly) and two solid defenses.” On Saturday, the Broncos had enough confidence to overcome a 21-6 second-quarter deficit after Warren Moon had thrown

and a pair of gym shoes, according to Optimist Club President Richard Coffin. Plaques will be awarded to winners in each age group. Every contestant will receive a memento scorecard. Entry blanks are available at the South Putnam Central Elementary or Cloverdale Elementary School or at the contest on the day of the competition. Entry forms may also be obtained by calling Ellen Stout at 795-4016.

Super Bowl, connected three times. “It seemed like everything worked out perfectly today,” Reed said. So perfectly that even when the no-huddle attack sputtered on its first two drives, the defense kept the game scoreless. By the time Kansas City’s Barry Word ran for a 3-yard TD in the third quarter, it was 24-0. “THE LAST TIME we played the Kansas City Chiefs, we learned one thing,” linebacker Darryl Talley said. “If you don’t play physical against them and hit up in the holes as linebackers and linemen, they are just going to run the ball right down your throat.” So the defenders cleared their throats and were unrelenting. They held Word to 50 yards rushing. Steve Deßerg was 5-for-9 for 22 yards before leaving in the second quarter with sprained ligaments in his right thumb. Mark Vlasic was a dismal 9-for-20 for 124 yards and was picked off four times. “WE NEVER REALLY got the rhythm of it going or the flow of it going,” Chiefs coach Marty Schottenheimer said after his first loss in six meetings with the Bills. “I think they had the bit in their mouths, so to speak.” They also had a bitter taste from the verbal treatment the defense has received. “Hey, this is the same defense that was ranked 1 or 2 at the top of the league a few years ago,” linebacker Shane Conlan said. “It’s ridiculous,” nose tackle Jeff Wright added.

touchdown passes to three different receivers as the Oilers scored on their first three possessions. Two 1-yard touchdown runs by Greg Lewis helped bring Denver back, but it looked hopeless with 2:07 left after Greg Montgomery’s punt was downed at the Denver 2yard line. DENVER TRAILED 24-23, the margin a missed extra point in the first quarter when holder Gary Kubiak mishandled a snap and David Treadwell’s kick was wideleft. “When I was going out on the field with the ball on the 2-yard line, I was thinking, ‘We’ve got this game,’” Houston comerback Cris Dishman said. “John Elway is not going to drive 98 yards on us. “Obviously, I was wrong.” Well, Elway didn’t drive the Broncos 98 yards. It wasn’t necessary this time unlike the Cleveland drive, when Denver marched for a tying touchdown in the final five minutes and eventually won in overtime 23-20. BUT IN SOME ways this drive was even more improbable. They had no timeouts left, and they had to convert a pair of fourth-down plays. “I’m numb,” Reeves said afterwards.

Tigers make same old errors

By STEVE FIELDS Banner-Graphic Sports Editor BLOOMINGTON, 111. Classes don’t resume at DePauw University until late January, but the DePauw Tigers received lesson Saturday afternoon at Illinois Wesleyan. Coach Royce Waltman couldn’t put his finger on one specific reason for DePauw’s first loss after five straight victories. “I just thought it was a game where we made similar kinds of errors that we’ve made all year, except we were playing against a better team,” Waltman said. THE LOSS to a team in the same NCAA region dropped the Tigers to 7-3. “And maybe losing a game like that is what it takes for us to understand that we’ve got to reduce those errors.” The Tigers couldn’t get the ball inside to Moose Hecko in the halfcourt offense and couldn’t sustain their running game in a 63-60 loss to the Illinois Wesleyan Titans. Hecko was held to just 11 points and eight rebounds by IW’s frontline of 6-5 Tom Jakstys, 6-7 John Lipic and 6-5 Steve Kuehl. “I really can’t pin-point one thing,” Waltman said. “Getting backcut a couple of times on defense, not making good feeds to the post on offense, just a series of things. A missed loose ball. “AND WE’VE DONE that all year, but we played against inferior teams and today these guys were good enough to make us pay for those mistakes,” Waltman added.

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Jim Kelly threw three touchdown passes and cut up the Kansas City Chiefs’ secondary for a 37-14 victory Sunday. Kelly made adjustments at the

One upset, one near upset among top 20

Associated Press Writer No. 12 East Chicago Central was ambushed on the road, and No. 10 Concord narrowly avoided a similar fate at home. Kris Simms hit six straight free throws in the final 39 seconds as unranked Lafayette Harrison upset East Chicago Central 79-77 Saturday night. CONCORD, MEANWHILE, needed a charging foul and Richey Jackson’s layup with five seconds remaining to hold off visiting Mishawaka 69-67. Two other teams ranked in The Associated Press Top 20 also played on a light night of prep action. No. 6 Bedford North Lawrence rolled over Columbus North 79-43, and No. 19 White River Valley remained unbeaten with a 77-69 win over Washington Catholic. Hot-shooting Harrison (6-3) rallied from a 49-42 halftime deficit by hitting 16 of 24 second-half shots, building a 71-58 lead with 2:10 to play. EAST CHICAGO Central (4-3) cut the lead to 77-75 with 12 seconds left on a 3-pointer by Robert Battle, who led the Cardinals with 26 points. But Simms hit two more free throws before Maurice Billups’ layup with five seconds remaining completed the scoring. Brandon Berglund led Harrison

DePauw Tigers Saturday at Bloomington, 111. Illinois Wesleyan Titans 63, DePauw Tigers 60 Tigers FG-FGA FT-FTA PF R TP Ferrell 4-9 2-2 4 8 10 Daniel 1-2 0-0 3 0 2 Hecko 4-12 3-5 3 8 11 Bruksch 2-4 1-2 2 3 5 Seifferlein 6-12 4-4 3 4 18 Burgher 1-9 0-0 2 4 2 Watson 3-6 0-0 118 Johnson 2-2 0-0 114 Thompson 0-0 0-0 0 2 0 Team 0-0 0-0 0 9 0 Touts 23-56 10-13 19 40 60 Titans FG-FGA FT-FTA PF R TP Kuehl 6-12 2-4 2 5 16 Jakstys 4-7 0-0 3 2 8 Lipic 3-8 3-4 3 9 9 Martin 2-8 1-211 6 Czirjak 5-10 3-4 3 6 15 Hutson 1-4 3-4 0 1 5 Groenenbocm 1-3 2-2 3 3 4 Team 0-0 0-0 0 4 0 Totals 22-52 14-20 15 30 63 Halftime score: DePauw 30, Illinois Wesleyan 26. 3-Point FG: DePauw 10-13 (Seifferlein 2-4, Watson 2-4, Ferrell 0-1, Buigher 0-3), Illinois Wesleyan 5-15 (Kuehl 2-3, Czirjak 2-6, Martin 1-4, Hutson 0-1). Turnovers: DePauw 10, Illinois Wesleyan 9. Assists: DePauw 5 (Seifferlein 2, Hecko 2), Illinois Wesleyan 14 (Martin 4, Czirjak 4). Steals: DePauw 1 (Bruksch), Illinois Wesleyan 1 (Hutson). When the Titans, now 6-3, shot only 37 percent (9-24) in the first half, the Tigers ran to a 30-26 halftime lead with a 17-12 rebounding advantage. Illinois Wesleyan shot 47 percent (13-28) in the second half and grabbed 14 offensive rebounds. “They did a much better of shot selection (the second half),” Waltman said. “THE REASON WE were able to run the ball in the first half is, like the case most times you’re able

line of scrimmage to pass the Bills into the AFC championship game for the second year in a row.

WCC Standings West Central Conference Boys Basketball at a Glance School WCC Pet. Total PcL Cascade 4-0 1.000 4-2 .667 Owen Valley 1-0 1.000 3-2 .600 North Putnam 1-0 1.000 4-3 .571 Greencastle 0-0 .000 2-3 .400 Cloverdale 1-1 .500 3-4 .429 Tri-West 2-1 .667 2-5 .286 South Putnam 1-2 .333 2-4 .333 Monrovia 1-3 .250 1-7 .125 Edgewood 0-1 .000 2-4 .333 Danville 0-3 .000 0-7 .000 Friday’s Results Clay City 69, Cloveitiale 63 Zionsviile 67, North Putnam 62 Tri-West 47, Danville 43* Saturday’s Results Terre Haute South 88, Owen Valley 51 Friday Games West Vigo at Greencastle Edgewood at North Putnam* Rockville at South Putnam Owen Valley at North view Indianapolis Ritter at Monrovia Danville Invitational Tournament (Cascade, Danville, Tri-West, Plainfield) Saturday Games Owen Valley at Greencastle* Eminence at Cloverdale* North Putnam vs. Riverton Parke, 7 p.m., at Hulman Center in Terre Haute. South Putnam vs. South Vermillion, 8:30 p.m. at Hulman Center in Terre Haute. Danville Invitational Tournament (Cascade, Danville, Tri-West, Plainfield) Martinsville at Edgewood * Denotes conference games with 23 points, and Todd Dunwoody had 21. Lonzel French scored 17 for East Chicago, and Billups finished with 16. Harrison converted 26 of 36 free throws, while East Chicago made only four of eight.

to run the ball, the other team takes bad shots and they took tough perimeter shots and missed and we were able to push the ball. “The second half, they worked and worked for better shots and, of course, they made them (and) took away our running game.” And in halfcourt defense, three Titans were always in position to help defend Hecko. Hecko got only six shots from the floor each half, 12 for the game, and only two offensive rebounds. DePAUW’S MOST consistent offense was guard Todd Seifferlein, who scored 18 points driving for layups, hitting jumpers in the lane and hitting 2-of-4 from three-point land. But Seifferlein scored his last field goal of the day with 15:22 to play. He was 4-for-4 at the free throw line after that “Yes, but he still has periods where he quits looking to score. He can’t do that,” Waltman said. David Ferrell hit a 14-foot shot with 14:18 to play, giving DePauw a 38-36 lead, but the Tigers didn’t score for the next 3:06 and didn’t hit another field goal until 10:34. “WHEN WE HAD our dry period in the second half we had guys playing pass and catch and not looking to score,” Waltman noted. And during that time Illinois Wesleyan pulled out to a 44-38 lead with guard Steve Czirjak and forward Steve Kuehl each hitting three-pointers and center Jakstys hitting a two. Illinois Wesleyan maintained a five-to-seven-point advantage until

’Skins & Lions Kramer delivers for Lions

PONTIAC, Mich. (AP) Suddenly it’s fun to be Erik Kramer. And why not? All he’s done is deliver the Detroit Lions from nowhere to the doorstep of NFL respectability. It wasn’t always easy. It wasn’t always pretty. But, like Tobin Rote 34 years ago, Kramer was all the Lions had. And he delivered. KRAMER DELIGHTED 78,290 delirious fans in the deafing din of the Silverdome by playing the game of his life. He completed 29 of 38 passes for 341 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Lions to a 38-6 victory over the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday in an NFC semifinal playoff game. It was the first postseason game since 1983 for the Lions, who finished 6-10 last season, and their first playoff game at home since 1957, the last time they won the NFL championship. The win sends the Lions back to Washington, where they started the season more than four months ago with a humiliating 45-0 defeat. But if they can turn the tables in the NFC title game next Sunday, the Lions will advance to their first Super Bowl. IF THEY DO, it will be with Kramer at the controls. “I really have to thank the coaches for staying with me,” said Kramer, who took over Oct. 27 when Rodney Pcete injured his Achilles tendon in a 34-10 win over the Cowboys. “They never gave up on me. That meant a lot, especially this week, with all the insults that

Gibbs: Lions different team

HERNDON, Va. (AP) A lot has changed since the Washington Redskins and the Detroit Lions opened the season against one another. Though Washington trounced Detroit 45-0 in Week 1, Redskins coach Joe Gibbs doesn’t relish the prospect of playing them again in the NFC championship game. ACTUALLY, HE wasn’t thrilled with the prospect of playing the Dallas Cowboys again either, but the Lions took care of that by smashing the Cowboys 38-6 in Sunday’s NFC playoff semifinal. Washington has already shown the ability to stop a run-and-shoot offense like that used by Detroit. Washington beat Atlanta twice, the second time 24-7 on Saturday in the other NFC semifinal game, and knocked off the Houston Oilers lb--13 on Nov. 3. The Redskins have also shown an ability to beat the Lions. The season-opening shellacking was Washington’s 13th consecutive victory over Detroit since 1965. Gibbs has been the coach for seven of those victories, including a playoff victory during Washington’s 1982 Super Bowl championship season. THE VICTORY OVER the Lions may have set the tone for Washington’s season. The Redskins

January 6,1992 THE BANNERGRAPHIC

the 4:28 mark when Lipic hit a pair of three throws to put the Titans up by 10, 55-45, the largest margin of the game. THAT’S WHEN DePauw started its comeback. Neal Watson hit a deuce from 15-feet, Craig Johnson pushed an inside shot shot over the 6-7 Lipic and Hecko and Ferrell each hit a pair of free throws that narrowed the margin to 57-53. Then DePauw got a rare break for a road game. As the final second disappeared from the shot clock, a Titan shot the ball and players star-; ted for the rebound. A whistle sounded from the official closest to the shooter. After two officials conferred, it was ruled inadvertant whistle and on the alternating possession rule, the Tigers got the basketball. Hecko score from inside, bringing the Tigers within two, 57-55 with 1:11 to play. But that was as close as the Tigers got. The Titans scored the next four points, as Kuehl hit a layup a d free throw and Czirjak another free throw. ; The Tigers return to action at home Thursday at 7:30 p.m. against Purdue-Calumct and will host Rockford at 3 p.m. Saturday. Admission is free. ****** TIGER TALES Forward Travis Nelson, a 6-4 junior forward, did not play Saturday and £s out indefinitely because of a baeje injury. ;

were coming up from Dallas.” \ Several of the Cowboys had saijl they couldn’t remember Kramer’s first name. Others recalled that his first NFL experience came as a strike player for the Atlanta Falcons. They called Kramer a scab and wondered how fans in a bluecollar town like Detroit could support him. THE COWBOYS WERE still talking trash as the second half opened, despite the fact that they were trailing 17-6. Kramer didn’t mind. “It was just fun all the way,” Kramer said. SOME OF THE blame had to be laid on the coach. Dallas’ game plan, as it was in the first meeting, was to stop running back Barry Sanders. The Cowboys clung stubbornly to that defense even after Kramer began picking them apart with his passes. “It was really a good call by them to stick with the pass,” defensive tackle Tony Casillas said. “They knew what they could do and they did it.” It didn’t help that neither Steve Beuerlcin or Troy Aikman could get Dallas’ offense untracked. BEUERLEIN COMPLETED 7 of 13 for 91 yards with one interception before getting the hook with 21 seconds remaining in the first half. Aikman, who hadn’t played since being injured Nov. 24 in the third quarter at Washington, was 11 -for-16 for 114 yards with one interception. NFL rushing leader Em mi U Smith gained only 80 yards.

played well but the Lions were without star running back Barry Sanders, and quarterback Rodney Pcete played ineffectively after missing most of training camp. The Redskins kept winning, but opponents often seemed to be without some of their top players when they faced Washington. Washington’s defense held the Lions’ sputtering run-and-shoot to 75 yards passing and had three interceptions in what was the first of three consecutive home shutouts. On offense, the Redskins piled up 392 yards and held the ball for 36 minutes, 28 seconds in recording the largest victory margin in franchise history. BUT IF THE Detroit contest set the tone for Washington’s season, it also defined the Lions’ comeback. While Sanders has been healthy since the opening game, the Lions have lost Peetc to an Achilles injury, as well as linebacker Mike Cofer, nose tackle Jerry Ball and tackle Eric Sanders. Offensive guard Mike Utley was paralyzed from the neck down in a Nov. 17 game against the Los Angeles Rams, and it was his mishap the Lions point to when asked about their motivation.

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