The Pilot / Oct. 8
Page 7
Runnin' Bulldogs outgunned in shootout, fall to 4-1
KAREN BROWER/staff
Wide Receiver Eric Harris outruns a pair of Wingate defenders in a 54-34 loss on Oct. 5.
Harris had 11 receptions for 233 yards and three touchdowns in a losing effort.
Homecoming '97
GWU vs. Lenoir-Rhyne
Saturday, Oct. 11 at 1 p.m.
Come out and support
your Runnin' Bulldogs!
An introduction to the GWU Cross Country teams
by Randy Capps
sports editor
What do you do on Saturday
mornings? Sleep in, maybe catch a few
cartoons? Not if you run cross country.
Male cross country runners put in
around five miles in a meet, while the
women log a little over three.
Now I've got a confession to make.
Even though my roommate has been a
member of the men's cross country team,
I had never seen a meet in my life.
It's not my fault. Because there is not a
course mapped out on campus yet, no
meets are held here. So I do usually sleep
on Saturday mornings.
Well, on Oct. 5,1 crawled out of bed
and made the trip to Monroe, N.C. to
check out the Wingate Invitational.
I've never seen people run so fast for so
long. These people run fast and make it
look easy. Some of them, anyway.
One runner, who shall remain
nameless, vomited about 100 yards from
the finish line. Now that's what I call
leaving it on the field!
And what made the meet really fun to
watch was the fact that we actually have
two good squads.
The women, however, are a sad story.
Led by Emily Harrleson, the women
have some talented runners. The
problem is, there aren't enough of them.
In order to qualify for a meet, a school
must have at least five runners in the race
to be eligible to win.
Therefore, the ladies have failed to
qualify at any meet this year.
"We're one woman away from winning
the conference championship," Coach
Dick Wince said.
So, attention ladies! If you like to run
and you have any school spirit at all, go
over to Bost Gym and see Coach Dick
Wince today, or call him at #4354.
Okay, let's talk about the men.
It would have been easy for these guys
to get frustrated after 1996 SAC Runner
of the Year Rob Stephens transferred.
Instead, the men have been running
hard and gaining on the competition.
Case in point: at the Wingate
Invitational, freshman Walt Miller led the
squad, finishing 14th overall. Coming in
at numbers 21-23 were Dan Steadman,
Phil Kramer and Frank Spurlock.
Matt Walker passed a runner at the line
to push GWU into a tie for second place
with Catawba, while Livingstone
finished first.
Let's just say it was exciting. I'll be
going more often. Hope to see you there!
by Randy Capps
sports editor
The Gardner-Webb football team
suffered its first loss of 1997, falling to
Wingate 54-34 on Oct. 5.
As the score might indicate, this year's
battle of the Bulldogs was an offensive
affair.
GWU ran up 513 yards of total offense,
with sophomore quarterback Clint
Conner going 27-43 for five touchdowns
and three interceptions while racking up
393 yards.
Junior wide receiver Eric Harris
exploded with 11 receptions for 233
yards and three touchdowns, while
sophomore Robye DeWitt had six
catches for 60 yards and two scores.
Offense was not the problem for GWU
on this afternoon. But the defense, which
has been outstanding over the first four
games, turned in its worst performance
of the season.
Wingate rushed for 264 yards, with
Tracy Bowen leading the way with 166
yards on 24 carries, as well as a pair of
touchdown runs.
This game got off to a rocky start for
the Runnin' Bulldogs as Wingate scored
on their first possesion on a Carvie
Kepley TD pass to Kasey Blackwood.
The Bulldogs then blocked a Trey
Greene punt for a touchdown and an
early 14-0 Wingate lead.
Wingate would go up 21-0 before
Gardner-Webb would finally get its
offense going.
Conner hit Eric Harris on touchdown
passes of 62 and 2 yards, and found
Robye DeWitt on a 22 yard scoring strike
to cut the Wingate lead to 21-20.
The extra point was blocked, however,
and returned for two points for Wingate.
A Tracy Bowen scoring run would give
WU a 30-20 halftime lead.
The second half didn't begin any better
than the first for GWU.
Wingate marched down the field for a
touchdown on their opening possession
of the second half.
"I thought that was bigger than being
down 21-0," Coach Steve Patton said.
"The last two minutes of the first half
and the first of the third quarter we went
from trying to tie it to being down 17."
Conner would hit Eric Harris for a 24
yard TD pass to cut it to 37-27, but
Wingate quarterback Carvie Kepley
responded with a 70 yard bomb to Andre
Rawlings, putting the game out of reach.
Coach Patton had nothing but praise
for Wingate's performance.
"They are not 5-1 -by accident. They
were just more emotionally ready to play
than we were," Patton said.
The Runnirf Bulldogs hope to rebound
in time for Homecoming as they will
play host to Lenoir-Rhyne on Oct. 11.
The Bears are winless so far this year,
losing four games by the combined score
of 169-51.
Lenoir-Rhyne has the conference's
worst defense, so on paper, this game
should be a nice tune-up for consecutive
games against nationally ranked teams.
The Bulldogs travel to Salisbury to
take on #4 Catawba on Oct. 18, followed
by a home date with Carson-Newman,
the nation's top team, on Oct 25.
If GWU can come out of this three-
game swing with at least two victories,
the Runnin' Bulldogs will probably be in
contention for the SAC crown and
maybe even a NCAA playoff bid.
GARRY ELLER/staff
Freshman Walt Miller runs ahead of a couple of conference runners at the Mars Hill
Invitational. Miller has been the top runner for the men's team so far this season.