The Mail-Journal, Volume 21, Number 38, Milford, Kosciusko County, 3 October 1984 — Page 9

Sports

Warriors rally for 13-8 win — Sure-handed Tracey leads Warriors past Rockies

By TOM CHARLES Sports Editor After 47 minutes of relative quiet, Kevin Tracey was ready to break loose. And when it came time to make his presence known, Tracey found the perfect way to do it — he let his hands do the talking The NLC’s leading receiver, Tracey was held without a catch until late in Friday’s conference clash between Wawasee and Plymouth. But the 6-0 senior came to the rescue with two clutch grabs to lead the Warriors to a 13-8 upset of the Rockies and their first Cluster AAA-20 win in two years. Tracey’s first reception came with just 27 seconds left in the contest when Brad Traviolia dropped back on third and 20 at the Plymouth 37 and lofted a “Hail Mary’’ pass toward the goal line. Tracey split two Plymouth defenders, leaped high in the air and came down with the ball to give the Warriors a first down at the two yard line. Following a five-yard penalty, Tracey put the icing on the cake when he beat the Rockies’ Darren Stevens in the left corner of the end zone and pulled in another Traviolia pass for the winning points with just :16 showing on the scoreboard 6 clock. Brad Mitchell tagged on the extra point to s provide the final margin of victory. “We wanted to split Tracey wide to get single coverage," said coach Myron Dickersbn in reference to the touchdown play. “We told him to slant in, take a pump fake from Trav and head for the pylon. The pass was right there.” Traceys heroics provided the Warriors with a measure of revenge for several games in which they have been close but unable to emerge with a win. “It feels good to win one,” Dickerson said. “We’ve been in a lot of close games the last two years and now the kids feel that they can play with any learn. They feel very positive about themselves.” - However, it looked for most of the second half «bs> '

East Noble Knights

The Warriors and Knights have split their two meetings, with Wawasee claiming a 7-0 win last year Friday’s match will be a return to familiar soil for coach Myron Dickerson, who was on the East Noble staff and had a hand in building the school’s football facility. One of East Noble’s main offensive threats is junior running back Ric Riemke. who proved his versatility by tossing a 30-yard touchdown pass in Friday’s 14-0 win over Carroll. But Dickerson knows that the Warriors won’t win simply by concentrating on him. “They like to run the option, but they are also running more power plays up the middle,” Dickerson said "They like to start out with power football and try to run it down your throat. But they also have a good passing attack and we can’t afford to key on Riemke.” Like last week’s opponent, the Knights are a

Sports comment — Calling the shots

SENIOR KEVIN TRACEY has been one of the bright spots for a Wawasee offense that’s had trouble putting points on the board in 1984. The lanky receiver has hauled in'22 passes for 327 yards in six contests to lead the Northern Lakes Conference. Like many gifted performers, Tracey has the ability to perform well in key situations. He caught 10 passes for 114 yards in a losing effort against Concord and last week he made two superb Catches to lead the Warriors to a 13-8 upset win over Plymouth. Tracey’s abilities are part of the reason that Myron Dickerson's squad has gone to the air more this year than last. Another factor in that switch has been the improved passing of junior quarterback Brad Traviolia. Trav has upped his completion percentage nearly 15 points over last . year and has thrown for more than 100 yards in all but one of the Warriors' games. Through six contests, Wawasee is averaging 114 yards in the air and 84 on the ground. The defense has allowed an average of 99 yards rushing and 100 yards passing. WAWASEE WILL START OFF THE 1985 football season in good company. The Warriors are scheduled to open the year with Goshen, Concord and Jim town in a four-school jamboree on Aug. 23 at Goshen. Prior to the advent of the cluster system, the Warriors teamed with North Wood. Plymouth and Northridge for a jamboree on the Panthers’ home turf. “I think this is a great jamboree,’’ noted Dickerson. "There are four close teams involved and it should be good from the money standpoint as well. We couldn’t have asked for a better situation." The Warriors’ 1985 schedule will also be slightly revised with the departure of the cluster format. In addition to the jamboree and a sectional game, Wawasee will play seven NLC games and a non-conference clash with Northridge. The Warriors own a 2-0 series advantage over the Raiders. THERE’S A VACANY ON the Warriors’ basketball coaching staff thanks to the departure of Gregg Miller, a substitute teacher in the Lakeland Community School Corporation. Miller, who has accepted a teaching post in Atlanta, Ga., was to be John Wysong’s varsity assistant in 1984-85. According to Wysong, the position has not been filled at this point and the replacement will likely be someone from within the school corporation. Last year’s assistant coach, Doug Brookins, did not return to his post this fall due to lack of time.

as if the Warriors were going to suffer through another close defeat. The Plymouth defense came up with two interceptions to halt Wawasee drives and limited the Warriors to just three total yards on two other drives before the final touchdown march. “We kind of got stymied in the second half," Dickerson said. “We got that interception right off the bat and then we gave it right back to them on our next possession.” Plymouth’s first interception set up their only score of the game. Dave Hoover picked off a Traviolia pass that was headed for Tracey and returned it 11 yards to the Wawasee 16. Four plays later, Charlie Pinkerton plowed over from the two to knot the score at 6-6 with 7:05 left in period three. Coach Bill Nixon then pulled out a trick play to put his-team on top. The Rockies lined up for the extfa point with all but three of their players 10 yards to the left of the ball. The Warriors failed to adjust and the ball was snapped to Rob Jolly who waltzed in for an 8-6 Plymouth lead. “We knew they used that play,” said Dickerson. “It was a case of us setting up to try for the block on the extra point and then not adjusting to the formation.” It looked as though that lead would stand as Plymouth, aided by a roughing the kicker call, mounted a sustained drive late in the fourth quarter. However, a costly holding call and some solid defensive play forced the Rockies to punt with two minutes left in the contest, setting up Wawasee’s winning drive. Touchdowns The Warriors started their touchdown march at their own 44. Six plays netted them 12 yards to the Plymouth 44 before Traviolia hit Lance Lantz with a 17-yard pass to the Plymouth 27. Following an incomplete pass and a 10-yard loss, Trav tossed up the “Hail Mary” to Tracey and the Warriors struck it rich one play later. Wawasee opened the scoring early in the se-

» big, physical football team. “We talked to some of I the people at DeKalb High School and they said ■ that East Noble was the most physical team they * have faced this year,” Dickerson said. “They J have good overall size.” Warrior Injuries — Brad Traviolia’s arm is > still sore, but he will start. . Ron Gerber’s status » remains uncertain and he will have a light week of i practice. . Jeff Roberts is nursing a sore i leg. .Kevin Tracey sprained his ankle in Friday’s - contest. ) TIME/LOCATION: 7:30 p,m., Kendallvilft - SERIES RECORD: Tied at 1-1 - LAST YEAR: 7-0, Wawasee / WAWASEE LAST WEEK: Beat Plymouth. 13-8 PLYMOUTH LAST WEEK. Beat Carroll, 14-6 SEASON RECORDS: i East Noble (5-1), Wawasee (3-3)

w By TOM CHARLES

PIGSKIN PREDICTIONS WawJsee's 13-8 upset of Plymouth fooled all of our pa riel members expect longtime Warrior fan Derk Kuhn. It was the first cluster win in two years for coach Myron Dickerson and crew. Senior Kevin Tracey was the hero for Wawasee, hauling in two passes in the final 30 seconds to set up and account for the winning touchdown. The Wawasee defense also contributed to the win with an impressive goal-line stand in the second period. Concord earned the Cluster AAA-20 championship with its 18-15 win over Goshen on Friday. Other area cluster champions are Mishawaka Marian, Penn and Lakeland. The Cluster AA-34 title will be decided when Northwood hosts Whitko on Friday, Oct. 12. Last week's results were Concord 18, Goshen 15; Wawasee 13, Plymouthß; Penn 14, Central7; North Wood 44, Tippe Valley, 14; La Ville 35, Fairfield 7; and Mishawaka 21, Warsaw 17. The week’s slate includes Wawasee at East Noble, Jim town at Goshen, Warsaw at Concord, North Wood at Plymouth, Northridge at Fairfield and Tippe Valley at Oak Hill. Kris Southworth, Wawasee High School diving coach, joins the panel as this week’s guest picker. She is a 1984 graduate of Ball State University and attended high school at Elkhart Central. She has helped coach the girls to a 6-2 record this fall. GUEST — (.744) Southworth takes the plunge into the predicting world by calling for Wawasee, Goshen, Concord, North Wood, Northridge and Tippe Valley wins. KUHN — (.744) For the second week in a row, Kuhn favors the Warriors to come out on top. Other winners: Goshen, Concord, North Wood, Fairfield and Oak Hill. RHODES — (.742) Rhodes has moved within striking distance of the leaders for the first time in his predicting career. His picks this week are East Noble, Goshen, Concord, North Wood, Northridge and Tippe Valley WEINSTEIN — (.716> Weinstein dropped a bit off the pace last week and looks to get back in contention by picking Wawasee, Goshen, Warsaw, North Wood, Fairfield and Oak HUI. CHARLES — (.M5) It should be a pleasant Friday night for fans from East Noble, Jimtown, Concord, North Wood, Fairfield and Oak HUI.

cond period on a 44-yard pass from Brad Traviolia to Brad Mitchell. Mitchell caught the ball at the Plymouth 30, broke two tackles and scampered down the right sideline into the end zone. The snap on the extra point attempt was, fumbled and the Warriors had to settle for a 6-0 lead. The Rockies threatened to score just before the intermission, but a determined effort from the Wawasee defense turned away Charlie Pinkerton on four cracks from inside the three yard line. Mitchell, Jeff Roberts, Scott McDowell and Lantz were credited with tackles in the impressive goalline stand. “The goal-line stand was something we really needed,” said assistant coach Jim Jones. “The kids really played their guts out down there and I’m proud of them.” “That was as fine a goal line stand as you’ll see anywhere,” echoed Dickerson. “We had to have it and we came through when our backs were against the wall. This was probably our best team defensive effort this year.”

E i ■'JW' I J ■ T THE THRILL OF VICTORY — Wawasee’s Todd Yeager displays his feelings during the Warriors’ 13-8 upset win over Plymouth on Friday. Yeager, a senior, had two solo tackles and six assists in the win. Looking on in the background is assistant coach Jim Jones. (Photo by Mark Weinstein)

Harriers trounce Whitko prepare for NIC showdown

By TOM CHARLES Sports Editor The Warrior harriers raised their record to 10-3 with an easy 16-47 win over Whitko at South Whitley on Monday. Mike Ballinger lead a Wawasee sweep of the top four places with a school-record effort of 16:12 for the 5,000-meter course. The old record of 16:13 was set by Kirk Stichter in 1982. His time also bettered the old Whitko course record by eight seconds. No other runners were close to Ballinger. Carl Rouch, the second place finisher, crossed the line in 16:56. He was followed by Troy Minton, 16:59, and Jeremy Corson, 17:15. Rounding out the top 10 were Brian Shupe (W) 17:32, Troy Boyer 17:47, Andy Miller 17:52, Steve Wilkinson (W) 17:53, Phil Charters 18:19, and Todd Boggs (W) 18:22. NLC Meet The Whitko meet served as a final tune-up for Thursday’s NLC meet at the Plymouth Country Chib. In order for the Warriors to win the conference, they must finish first, Warsaw must finish second and Plymouth third. “We still have an outside shot," noted coach Jerry Minton. “But I don’t want to make any predictions. It is going to come down to a matter of which team is running the best that night.” Ballinger is expected challenge for the top spot along with Warsaw’s Dean Rhodes and Plymouth’s Pete Bieghler. “I think that you have to consider Bieghler the favorite because he’s on Ms home course,” Minton said.

Roberts had four solos and nine assists to lead the defense. He also picked off a Jeff Hurford pass in the third quarter. McDowell had another fine game, registering two sacks to go along with three solos and seven assists. Mitchell contributed four solos and seven assists and Tracey had four solos and four assists. Senior Steve Yoder had a good night in the backfield as he ground out 45 yeards on 12 carries. Roberts pitched in with 20 yards in eight rushes. The leading rusher, Ron Gerber, did not play due to injury. Traviolia, despite battling a sore arm, finished the night with six completions in 14 attempts, two touchdowns and two interceptions. Lantz and Tracey each caught two passes while Mitchell and Roberts had one apiece. “This was a big win, but it is just one step,” I Dickerson commented. “We have four more tough games yet to go this year and we can’t afford to let down.”

Overall, the boys’ team is in good shape. Brian Popenfoose has been nursing a muscle injury this week, but Minton thinks he should be able to run by the conference meet. , The girls’ team remains more of a question mark at this point. “I hope the girls are ready for the meet,” Minton said. “They’ve had some trouble with the flu and have missed some practices. We could be in better shape.” Five schools — Wawasee, Plymouth, Goshen, Warsaw and Concord — will field teams for the girls’ meet. North Wood and Rochester will field partial teams and Bremen does not have any girls in cross-country. The meet gets underway at 5 p.m. with the junior varsity race. The girls will run at 5:30 p.m. and the boys are slated for a 6 p.m. start. Manchester The boys and girls both ran to sixth-place finishes in the varisty closed divisions at the Manchester Invitational on Saturday. Norwell won the boys’ varisty closed division with 69 points. Maconaquah was seocnd with 103, North Miami 104, Wabash 118, Harding 124 and Wawasee 126. Maconaquah captured the girls’ title with 48 points, followed by Homestead 106, Manchester 114, Carroll 148, Oak Hill 166 and Wawasee 178. Mike Ballinger was ninth overall in 16:34. Carl Rouch was the Warriors* second runner, finishing 15th overall in 16:47 — his best time of the year. Brian Popenfoose was dose behind in 16th place with a time of 16:48. Other Wawasee finishers were

Jeremy Corson, 35th, and Steve Hapner, 51st. Sheila Kleinrichert set a new school record for the girls with a time of 16:29 for the 4,000-meter course. The old record of 16:55 was set earlier this year by Becca Stiver. Rounding out the field of Lady Warrior runners in the meet were Stiver 17:03, Marcie Coy 17:25, Sherrie Mock 17:28 and Amy Clouse 17:39. “We didn’t have a very good day,” commented Minton. "Nobody ran very well. We just didn’t get up far enough.” Largest Cub cones to Syracuse The world’s largest Chicago Cub will be on display at the Noble Cable TV office, SR 13 Syracuse, on Saturday, Oct. 6. The Cub is a 12-foot tall inflatable mascot which is supported by a positive air blower. The Cub will be on display from 9 a m. to 6 p.m. as part of a free “home run” drawing. No purchase is necessary to enter the drawing and entry blanks are available in this week’s issue of ‘the PAPER* as well as at the Noble Cable TV office. The Grand Prize is a free cableready color television. Three free WGN Superchannel jackets will also be given away. The first 15 visitors after 9 a.m. will receive a free Cubs cap. Entries can be dropped off at the Noble Cable TV office anytime before Saturday, Oct. 6, at 6 p.m. There to a limit of one entry per family.

Wed., October 3,1984 — THE MAIL-JOURNAL

WINNING GRAB — Kevin Tracey hauls in a Brad Traviolia pass for the winning touchdown in Friday’s contest with Plymouth. Tracey beat Darren Stevens, right, and made the catch with 16 seconds left in the game. (Photo by Mark Weinstein)

■■■ ■ / Golfers bow out at regional level

All good things must come to an end. Unfortunately, that is the case for Wawasee’s Beckie Welty and Barb Hostetter. The pair of juniors advanced a week ago into the LaPorte Regional, but after 18-holes in LaPorte, the duo found themselves eliminated from postseason action. Now, instead of participating in the tourney, they will be watching it. Hostetter, as has been the case all season long, proved to be the top Wawasee golfer at the regional round. Both girls played consistent golf throughout the competition, but the scores were too high to advance. Hostetter

—Sports shorts Wawasee athletes to lift weights for fund raiser The Wawasee High School Varsity Club will conduct its second annual Lift-A-Thon on Wednesday, Oct. 3, at 7 p.m. in the high school weight room. Athletes are collecting pledges for each pound they are able to lift. Funds raised in the project wUI be used to improve the high school’s weight room facilities. Milford spikers split pair with Wakarusa The Milford Junior High voUeyball teams split their games with Wakarusa on Wednesday, Sept. 26. The B-team scored an 11-15, 15-11, 15-12 win and the A-team dropped a 14-16, 6-15 decision Sara Wilkinson, Sonya Anderson and Leti Zuniga lead the Bteam in serving. Shawna MiUer was the team’s top hitter. Saby Vale led the A-team in serving and combined with Rhonda Stookey to lead the team in hits. Shanna Bushong was the top spiker. Strikers score often in LYC soccer league win The North Webster Strikers scored early and often en route to a 7-2 Lakeland Youth Center soccer league win over the Goal Busters on Saturday, Sept. 29. Other results from Saturday’s action were the Cosmos 2, Yellow Jackets 0; Rowdies 0, Kickers 0, and the Stings 1, Goalies 0, by forfeit. Passing attack conies Wakarusa past North Webster The Wakarusa Junior High football team used three touchdown passes to defeat North Webster 22-14 on Monday, Oct. 1. Todd McGuire scored both North Webster touchdowns on runs of five and 70 yards. Chris Conkling and Jason Kramer led the team in tackles. The Trojans conclude their season on Tuesday, Oct. 9, with a contest against Central Noble at Wawasee High School. Wawasee Swim Chib registration dated for Saturday, Oct. 6 The Wawasee Swim Club, an age-group competitive swim team for Lakeland area children, wifi hold registration for its winter season on Saturday, Oct 6, from 9-11 a.m. at the Wawasee High School pool. New swimmers are not expected to know competitive strokes but they must be able to swim two lengths of the pool with stopping. One or two meets are held each month from October through February. Practices will be held on Monday/ Wednesday and Thursdays from 5:45-7:00 p.m. and on Saturdays from 8-9:30 a.m. for older swimmers and 9:30-10:30 a.m. for younger swimmers. _ _ More information may be obtained by calling Sue Koser at 457-4106.

finished with a 98 while Welter closed out her junior season with a 99. “They didn’t hit the ball very well, but that’s okay," said Cesco, who looks forward to next season with the entire team returning. “The one thing that was good was that they gained a lot of experience for next year.” While looking ahead, Cesco feels that the future is much brighter than what 1984 proved to be. “With everyone coming back, and if they work hard during the summer, then a lot of good things could happen for us.” predicted Cesco. *JJt is up to the girls, but next year should be a good one for us.”

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