The Mail-Journal, Volume 21, Number 37, Milford, Kosciusko County, 26 September 1984 — Page 11

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Lack of execution spills Warriors

By TOM CHARLES Sports Editor * Wawasee's Warriors dug themselves an early hole and sperMhe rest of last Friday night trying to climb out. They didn't quite make it. The Concord Minutemen capitalized on two first-half turnovers and sprinted out to an early lead en route to a 20-6 Cluster AAA-20 win on their home turf ‘The loss dropped Wawasee to 2-3 on the year and 0-2 in the cluster ' Concord's defense wasted little time in creating the game's first break On the Warriors' first play from scrimmage. Eric Johnson stepped in front of Lance Lantz, picked off a Brad Traviolia aerial and raced 23 yards to the Wawasee 19 Following a penalty and an un--«successful running play. Concord quarterback Scott DeShone dropped back and hit Scott Hansen in the back of the end zone for a 25-yard scoping strike Doug Larsen's extra point attempt was wide and the Minutemen led 6-0 Concord increased that lead to 12-0 in the second period after recovering’s fumbled punt return at the Wawasee 17 Running back Steve Papandrea did the final damage, carrying the ball over from' two yards out on the first play of period two The two-point conversion attempt failed According to Wawasee coach Myron Dickerson. Concord's quick start played a decisive role in the final outcome "We didn't get off to a gix>d start and against a team like Concord you can t give up that many

Plymouth Rockies • 8 Still m the thick of the (’luster AAA-20 race, the Rockies bring a 4 1 record into Syracuse on Friday night Plymouth must win the contest and hope that Goshen beats Concord on Friday if they are to have any shot at the cluster crown. • Thev like to run a lot ot slot reverses and counter plays." said Warriors' head coach Myron Dickerson "They've done it for years and everybody knows they are going to do it, but they do it well and they are very physical " It is Plymouth s physical style of play that has Dickerson concerned about the Friday matchup The Rockies wore down Wawaset* last y ear and Dickerson is hoping to avoid that same situation this time around- • We really got physically drilled by them last year:" Dickerson noted ■ Their, style ot play wears on you. especially if you can't get some breathers tor the kids that have to go both ways. It we can't get some rest for them, that may tell the tale in the Second naif Warrior Injuries Brent Atwood has been lost for the season due to calcium deposits in his leg Ron Gerber is nursing a bruised shoulder Ben s shoulder is on the mend and he may be back in action by Friday Tim Carter has a bad arm.brpi.se and his status is uncertain TIME/L<>( \TIO>: 7 3o p m Wawasee SERIES RECORD: 114. Plymouth LAST YEAR: 2141. Ply mouth W \W \SEF. LAST WEEK: l ost to Concord, 20-6 PLYMOUTH LAST WEEK: Beat Culver Military. 28-7 SF.ASOS RECORDS. Plymouth 4-D. Wawasee (2-3)

Sport shorts

Milford spikers drop opener The Milford Junior High volleyball teams dropped two matches to Nappanee in their season-opener on Wednesday . Sept 19 at Milford The B-team lost a tough, three game match by the scores of 8-15, 15-10 and 3-15 Evelyn Stricklin and Leticia Zilniga led the team in serving, while Sonya Anderson and Krissy Eisenhour were the top hitters. The A-team also lost in three* games — 15-8. 3-15, 9-15. Rhonda Stookey and Donna Miller were the top servers Saby Vale and Stookey led the team in hitting Bowl-A-Thon at Wawasee Bowl Wawasee Bowl. Syracuse, will conduct a Bowl-A-Thon during the week of October 19-27 to benefit a-patient at St Jude Children's Research Hospital. Memphis. Tenn Funds from the Bowl-A-Thon will be used to support Terry, a lymphoctic leukemia patient who has been at St. Jude for six year§. She is a resident of Mt. Carmel. Ind Sponsor forms for the event are now available at Wawasee Bowl. The event is being coordinated locally by Pam Blosser. Leesburg man second in tourney Douglas Powell. Leesburg, finished second in the sixth and final Hoosier Division event on the Red Man bass fishing tournament trail on Sunday. Sept. 16. Powell caught five bass which totaled over 17 pounds

points and expect to win,” he said. "I thought we moved the ball well, but our start hurt us.” TD Drive The Warriors did manage to close the gap to 12-6 before the intermission. Starting at their own 42, Traviolia marched the team 58 yards in six plays, with the big play coming on Kevin Tracey’s diving catch at the Concord nine. Steve Yoder plowed the final two yards for the touchdown with 8:06 left in period two. Quick Start But Concord came out firing to start the second half and marched 66 yards in seven plays. DeShone hit Dewayne O'Connor for two passes worth 29 yards and added a 31-yard strike to Hansen on the drive Brian Webster carried the ball the final three yards for the spore. The Minutemen added a twopoint conversion to make the final rnargin-20-6. "We needed that opening drive in the second half, " said Concord coach Tom Conn "We went over our game plan at halftime apd decided that we simply had to go out and execute what we practiced ' "But Wawasee never gave up.” the Concord mentor added They are a well-coached team and they kept coming back at us. That 's a sign of good discipline." In fact, the Warriors had two good scoring chances in the second half that could have won them the game if they had been able to capitalize The first chance came on an 82-yard drive that began at their own 15 late in the third quarter

using a black jig and chunk in 15 to 25 feet of water Powell won 51.331 for his efforts. The winning angler. Melvin Belt of Hagerstown, hauled in over 23 pounds worth of fish He collected $2,662.50 in prize money Smith tops in ski jumping Purdue University Collegiate Water Ski team member Todd Smith, son of Clark and Sue Smith of Camelot Lake, competed in the Collegiate Water Ski Tournament in Decatur. 111., last weekend Smith place first in jumping. eighth in slalom and ninth in tricks The Purdue team finished second overall and will compete in the Collegiate Nationals in Southern California on October 12-15. John Huntzinger, a summer resident of Dewart Lake, placed third in jumping 'Cuse gridders drop two games The Syracuse Junior High football team dropped two games in the past week to lower its record to 1-4 on the year. On Thursday, Sept. 20, the team lost to South Whitley 36-6. On Tuesday, Sept. 25, Fairfield beat the Yellow Jackets 36-14. Coach Mike Hall cited Dan McCulloch for his fine offensive play in both contests. He scored both touchdowns in the Fairfield game, one on a 15-yard run and. another on a 60-yard punt return. Hall also cited Garrett Ponciroli for his fine defensive play. The team plays Pierceton on Tuesday, Oct. 2, at Wawasee.

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CLOSING LN — The Concord defense swarms around Wawasee quarterback Brad Traviolia as he attempts to pick up yardage in Friday night’s contest at Concord. Preparing to make the hit on Traviolia are Steve Papandrea (35) and Jeff Wysong (24). (Photo by Mark Weinstein)

and stalled at the Concord three early in the fourth period. Using Traviolia's talented arm, the Warriors put the ball in the air 10 times on the drive and six of those passes found their marks. But Concord's defense came up with the big pl-ay to halt the Warriors short of paydirt Following a Brad Mitchell plunge to the one, broke through the Wawasee offensive line to trap Mitchell for a six-yard loss Traviolia scrambled to the three on the next play, but his fourth down pass to Lantz fell incomplete and the Warriors came away empty. Late in the contest, the War riors marched from their ow n 30 to the Concord 12 before Jim Maxey sacked Traviolia on a fourth down scramble on the final play of the game Air Show Despite failing to convert on

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CH AMPIONSHIP EFFORT — These seven Lakeland Junior High cross-country runners combined to win the varsity division of the West Noble Invitational on Saturday, Sept. 15. Twenty-two teams competed in the meet. In the front row are Jeff Carey, Brian Jones and Jason Douglas. In the back row are Rod Coy, Cuong Reed, Chad Hoffert and Jennifer Titus. (Photo by Tom Charles)

- Runners enjoy perfect season

By TOM CHARLES Sports Editor It’s a unique team in more ways than one. To begin with, it is made up of athletes from three schools and three grade levels. It doesn't attract many spectators and its meets are over in less than 20 minutes. But the most outstanding fact about this year's Lakeland Junior High cross-country team is that it's very talented. This week the team, composed of runners from Milford, North Webster and Syracuse junior highs, won two meets to raise its record to 7-0. None of the meets have been close. In fact, the team's closest meet was a 19-41 win over Plymouth earlier in the season. In most other meets, the harriers have scored between 15 and 17 points. •‘This is by far the best team we’ve had in the six years we’ve had a combined team for the junior highs,” said coach Dave Stookey. ‘‘The kids have done a super job.” * Stookey credits his team's suc-

| ■ ' wR KEVIN TRACEY Outstanding Effort

cess to two basic factors; he has the benefit of coaching students who have been running for a number of years and none of them are highly emotional. • The kids don’t really get too high for meets.” Stookey noted. "I think that has helped us avoid some of the ups and downs over the course of the season. I think I get more worried about some meets than they do. ” ‘ This is also the first year that I've had so many kids with a lot of experience,” Stookey added. That has really been one of the keys for us.” the team's top three runners are all eig h t h-gr a ders . Syracuse’s Brian Jones, Webster’s Jeff Carey and Milford’s Jason Douglas have consistently led pack. Cuong Reed, a Syracuse seventh-grader has been the team’s number four runner for most of the year. Other runners on the team are Rod Coy, Chad Jones, Chad Hoffert, Jennifer Titus, Stuart Ough, Matt Hoffert, Julie Fulp, Susan Harman and Kendra Douglas. Douglas and Harman are both sixth graders.

several good scoring chances, the Warriors were succesful; in moving the ball against a tough defense. Os particular note were Traviolia’s 17 completions for 183 yards. Traves main target was the 6-3 junior Kevin Tracey. Utilizing all of his height on some fine diving catches, Tracey ended the night with 10 catches for 114 yards and drew praise from both coaches. “Tracey is a very talented player,” said Conn. “He is a real competitor and has a fine pair of hands. He had a great game.” “Kevin had an outstanding individual performance,” echoed Dickerson. “He caught some fine passes and just played a good allaround game.” Steve Yoder led the Wawasee ground game with 37 yards in six attempts. That was the best single game total for the senior running back this season.

One of the team's highlights this year was winning the West Noble Invitational. This weekend, Stookey and crew will try to capture the Manchester Invitational. ] "This will be a big meet for us,” he noted. “I think that if we win this, we will have to be considered one of the top teams in this part of the state.” The race will begin at 10:25 am. Last Week The team downed Goshen 17-41 on Tuesday night. Jeff Carey was the overall winner in 11:02. Other runners in the top 10 were Brian Jones, second in 11:04; Jason Douglas, third in 11:09; Cuong Reed, fourth in 11:20; Rod Coy, seventh in 11:51; and Chad Jones, eighth in 12:11. Last Thursday, the team scored a 16-41 win over Westview. Brian Jones was the overall winner in 10:44. Following Jones in the top 10 were Jeff Carey in 10:45, Jason Douglas in 10:57, Cuong Reed in 11:13, Rod Coy in 11:25 and Chad Jones in -31:45.

Mike Cannon excells on bikes

By TOM CHARLES Sports Editor When it comes to riding BMX bikes, there are few 16 year olds who do it better than WHS sophomore Mike Cannon — 17 to be exact. A bicycle moto-cross (BMX) rider for the past eight years, Mike made the trip to the BMX Grand Nationals in Louisville, Ky., this summer and his showing there earned him 18th place in the 16 Expert age group. Mike might have finished higher but he was knocked out of the Grand National meet in the quarter-semi race, the second level of eliminations He had to finjsh fourth to advance, but fell just short at the wire. "It was real close.” he noted. "I thought I was going to get it. but I finished fifth by about half a bike length I was in fourth for awhile, but then I dropped back ” But that near miss was one of the few setbacks that Mike encountered in his summer racing schedule. In addition to his 18th place in the nation, which was computed on the basis of his finishes in five national meets plus the Grand National. Mike was ranked second in his age group in Indiana. Competing on a national level is time consuming Mike and his parents, Kenny and Nancy Cannon, travel to races nearly every weekend Most of those trips are an hour to two hours in length However, that schedule isn't much of a sacrifice for Mike He enjoys riding and has been hooked on the sport ever since he joined up with a group of local riders eight years ago "There Were a bunch of guys who used to ride around town and I joined up with them," he said "We just rode around and then we started jumping. They decided to go to some races. I went along and watched and then decided to try it.” Mike and his friends got in their practice by riding around town and on a course that they built near the Syracuse Rubber Factory At that time, BMX racing was a popular sport in the area and there were plenty of local riders and races Today, the

Favorable draw awaits Warriors

By TOM CHARLES Sports Editor It’s been a rough season for the Wawasee boys’ tennis team, but thanks to a favorable sectional draw the Warriors could turn some heads in post-season play. The 2-13 Warriors will face Northridge at 4:15 p.m on Friday in their first-round sectional match at Elkhart Central Northridge edged the Warriors 3-2 on Wednesday. Sept 12 “I’m happy with the draw." commented coach Scott Siler. “We went 3-2 with them the last time out and I think we are playing a lot better now We’ve played them twice during the year and know them about as well as any team on our schedule. " Should the Warriors win. they will face Jimtown at 9 a m on Saturday morning. The Jimmies won a close match from Northridge earlier in the year. Elkhart Central and Goshen are the other teams in Wawasee’s bracket “Things are looking better for us.” Siler added "We are playing better than we were two weeks ago and I think we have a good shot at beating Northridge.” Last year. Wawasee took a 7-9 record into the sectional and won three matches before bowing to Central in the championship contest. It was best sectional finish in school history Elkhart Memorial Troy Watson, Erik Sharp and the doubles duo of Bill Hutchinson and Lachlan McLean won matches as the Warriors spilled Memorial 3-2 for their second win of the season on Monday, Sept. 24 at Wawasee. Watson battled back from a 4-1 deficit in the second set to post a 7-6 (7-4), 6-4 win over Chris Carl at number on singles. Sharp scored a straight sets win over Tim Yoder at the number three singles spot. Hutchinson and McLean had an easy time in winning their doubles match. They coasted to a 6-2, 6-1 win over Tom Housand and Tom Britton. Bob Bartlett was the lone Wawasee winner in the junior varsity match. “The kids were pretty excited,” noted Siler after the win. “This was one win that we didn’t really count on having.

Wed., September 26,1984 — THE MAIL-JOURNAL

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TOP RIDER — Mike Cannon, WHS sophomore, finished 18th in the nation in his BMX age category in 1984. He is the son of Kenny and Nancy Cannon, 213 W. Portland, Syracuse. (Photo bv Tom Charles)

local picture isn’t so bright "They just tore up our track the other day," said Mike, "because they're putting in a parking lot. They used to race in Wakarusa. Elkhart and Goshen, but now you have to travel an hour or more." "The sport is dying out fast." he added. "There used to be a whole bunch of people from Goshen who raced, now there are only a few.” Mike’s parents were also involved in the BMX business for awhile. They owned tracks at North Webster and Wolf Lake, but neither, track stayed open for long. Perhaps one of the reasons that the sport is losing popularity is the cost of outfitting a bike and entering the races. To help defray those costs. Mike has a sponsor. Rich Coles of Huntington, who provides him with some free equipment and a discount on bike parts. So. despite the fact that he is one of the few area BMX racers who is still active. Mike still manages to get out and ride regularly.

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SHARP RETURN — Wawasee’s Erik Sharp smacks a backhand return during a recent tennis match. Sharp and his teammates posted a 3-2 win over Elkhart Memorial on Monday for their second victory of the year. The team opens sectional play on Friday at Elkhart Central. (Photo bv Tom Charles)

Memorial’s record is a bit down this year, but they always have good kids." Singles No. i — Troy Watson <W) def Chris Carl 7-6 (7-4), 6-4 No. 2 — Robbie Adams (EM) def. Mark McLean 6-2. 7-5 No. 3 — Erik Sharp (W) def. Tim Yoder 6-3. 6-4 Doubles No. 1— Lachlan McLean-Bill Hutchinson (W) def. Tom Housand-Tom Britton 6-2, 6-1 No. 2 — Doug Boyll-Pat Marques i EM) def. Jeff Dunithan-Shannon Angle 4-6. 7-5, 6-1 NLC Tourney Troy Watson provided the Warriors with their only points of the tournament as he won his opening round match in the number one singles bracket. Watson upset the number three seed, Rochester’s Joe Loughman, in three sets — 1-6, 6-3, 6-2. Earlier in the year, Loughman posted a 6-4, 7-5 win over Watson in an NLC match. In the semifinals, Watson lost to Plymouth’s Neil Hunter 6-3, 6-4.

The opening round win gave the Warriors seven points and enabled them to finish in seventh place in the tourney. Warsaw captured

"I usually ride every day of the week. I just like getting out there and riding,” he said. "There isn't anything better to do in this town on the weekends — and I’ve made a lot of friends from going to races.” In the coming year, Mike hopes to ride in more, national meets to improve his chances of placing in the Grand National race. "This year, I was competing against guys who rode in 10 nationals and I only rode six,” he said. "Next year my sponsor is going to help out and F can get to more nationals. I think I can probably get into the top 10 next year." Beyond that, how'ever, he isn’t sure how long he'll stick with the sport. "My interest may die out in the next year," he noted. “It s always the same people over and over at the local races nowadays and it’s getting pretty old. " ,

But whether he sticks with it or not, Mike Cannon has already achieved something of which he can be proud

the champioship with 44 points, followed by Concord (31), Plymouth (23), Bremen (20), Rochester (16), North Wood (11), Wawasee (7) and Goshen (5). Based on the tournament results, Wawasee finished the NLC season in a tie for seventh place with Goshen. North Wood The Warriors dropped their - final conference match of the season by a 4-1 score- at North Wood on Wednesday, Sept. 19. The win was North Wood’s second in NLC action. Bill Hutchinson and Lachlan McLean combined for the lone Wawasee win. They captured the number one doubles match with a 7-6 (7-3), 0-6, 6-2 win over Hanh Huynh and Rod Schmucker. Singles No. I — Phil Whetstone (N) def. Troy Watson 3-6, 6-1, 6-3 No. 2 — Ron Trocchio (N) def. Mark McLean 6-4, 6-4 No. 3 — Larry Abadia (N) def. Erik Sharp 6-2, 4-6, 6-1 Doubles No. I — Lachlan McLean-Bill Hutchinson (W) def. Hanh Huynh-Rod Schmucker 7-6 (7-3), 0-6, 6-2 No. 2 — Jeff Tobias-Phet Inthivong (N) def. Jeff Dunithan-Shannon Angle M, 6-2

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