Page 8 The Pendulum November 13, 1980
The Eton Sports Comer
Christians smash Newberry
Sport8 Editor
Vicki Blankenship
I
RnmiiBgbtck Bobby Hedrick in balancing form for extra
yardage. He rushed for 188 yards and two touchdowns
against Newberry College. The yards put him over the
NAIA career rushing record. He now holds the title with
4,847 yards rushing and two scheduled games left to play.
Photo by Mark Thomas.
Strikers win conference title
By Vicki Blankenship
It was like a summer day
in November, as Elon faced
Newberry College in a
Homecoming match up. A
crowd of 5,500 witnessed the
31-0 smash up job that Elon
put on the Newberry Indians.
The Fightin’ Christian of
fense went all out a total
of 430 yards and the defen
sive squad held the Indians
to a total of 111 yards.
Runningback Bobby He
drick was the highlight of
the Christians’ offense. He
ran for 188 yards in the hard
nose, gridiron manner that
has made him as hard to
stop as a cannon ball. His
188 yards not only scored
two touchdowns and helped
Elon set up for two others,
but it broke the NAIA
career rushing record of
4,839 yards. Hedrick now
holds the record with 4,847
yards with two games left on
the schedule.
Quarterback John Bangley
was his usual cool self as he
directed the offense and
completed nine of 16 passes
for 107 yards and one touch
down.
Bangley hit wide open
By Robert de la Fe
“We went bonkers,” says
freshman midfielder Jim
Burton summarizing the
moments following Elon’s
2-1 soccer victory over Guil
ford. Players were hugging
and jumping on top of each
other. TTie team picked up
Coach Steve Ballard and
threw him into the mud.
The reason for this seem
ingly insane behavior? Elon
clinched a tie with High
Point for the Carolina s
Conference Championship.
It is the first championship
the soccer team has ever
won and the first time Elon
has defeated Guilford.
Early morning rain made
a mud bowl of the soccer
field but when the rain
stopped, the field was
judged playable.
Elon took control from
the opening kickoff because
of outstanding playing by
midfielders Eric Wigren,
Carlos Torrelio, and Paul
Harris. Harris, usually a
striker, registered a fine per
formance and played his
best game of the year.
At halftime Elon was
ahead I-O. Coach Ballard
said it was the best half Elon
had ever played.
As the second half began,
Elon scored again and then
tried to commit suicide.
They simply stopped play
ing. Elon ^owed Guilford
to set up and take control of
the game.
The Quakers (Guilford)
slipped in a free kick to
make the score 2-1, but
individual determination
from several Fightin’ Chris
tians would not allow de
feat. “We stayed in there
and showed a lot of charac
ter even when we were
tired,” commented Coach
Ballard.
Goals for Elon did not
come easy. The Quaker
goalkeeper made several
good saves to keep Guilford
in the game. In the 39th
minute, Jeff Shields put a
corner kick to the far post,
where Scott Reynolds
headed it back towards the
middle, taking the Quaker
keeper out of position.
Eric Wigren took two
successive shots before Steve
Belechak extinguished all
doubt. With Belechak’s
goal, Elon went into a
frenzied state of ecstacy. “It
gave me the best feeling I’ve
had in two years of colle
giate soccer,” said Belechak.
Elon’s second goal came
on an alert play by Luis
Pages. “The Guilford keeper
was going for the ball when
the mud stopped it and he
missed. I saw a yellow jersey
(Elon),” continued Pages,
“at the far pole and hit the
ball in that direction.” Slid
ing through the mud, Jeff
Shields took Pages cross and
blasted the victory goal into
the back of the net.
Elon defense was a virtual
iron curtain in one of the
most challenging games of
this year. Goalkeeper Kevin
McCauley made 17 saves.
Scott Reynolds, Marash
Nikaj and Bob Ramsey all
cleared balls off the goaliline.
The defensive hero of the
game was Bob Strong, how
ever. Strong had two saves
himself, including one in the
final minute of play.
A Quaker player broke
free and put a shot past
McCauley. Strong made a
desperation dive at the ball.
“When I saw the path of the
ball, I knew it was going in.
Realizing I was the only one
that could reach it, I dove
and hoped it would hit some
part of my body,” recalled
Strong.
The “luck of the Irish”
was with Strong as he as
sured Elon’s victory and the
conference title by knocking
the ball out of bounds with
only 15 seconds remaining in
the game.
The Fightin’ Christians fi
nish their regular season
with an 8-7 record overall
and 6-1 in the conference.
Elon will play Atlantic
Christian in the opening
round of the District 26
tournament.
Steve Vargas with a 33-yard
touchdown pass in the third
quarter to put Elon up 21-0
and vanished all hope of a
comeback for the Indians.
Fourth quarter action was
the most exciting for the
Fighting Christians. With
13:58 remaining in the game,
Hedrick captured his glory
in a record-breaking run for
the NAIA career rushing
title. Then with 13:36 re
maining, quarterback John
Bangley snuck around the
right end and ran six yards
for the final Elon touch
down. With 11:27 remain
ing, Phil Renn booted a
38-yard fieldgoal to give
Elon their final score of
31-0.
It wasn’t just a field day
for the Christian offens«
The defense put on iu
annual powerhouse brick wall
performance and held New-
berry wdth • 78 yards nish-
ing and 33 yards passing, for
a small total of 111 yards.
Currently Elon is ranked
7th in the NAIA Distria 26,
with an 8-1 record. The
victory almost assures Elon
of a playoff spot since the
top eight teams usually com-
pete. Elon will probably be
ranked higher after 5th
ranked Mars Hill was in
volved with a 7-7 tie with
Wofford last Saturday.
Elon will travel to Lenoir
Rhyne Saturday, Nov. 16,
Kickoff is set for 2 p.m.
Scoreboard
FOOTBALL:
Elon 31—Newberry College 0
SOCCER:
Elon 2 — Guilford College 1
VOLLEYBALL:
Elon over UNC-A, 15-8, 6-15, 15-6
NCCU over Elon 15-5, 14-16, 15-4, 15-11
Upcoming Events
FOOTBALL:
Elon vs Lenoir Rhyne College Nov. 15, 2:00.
SOCCER:
District 26 Tournament Nov. 11, 13, 15
VOLLEYBALL:
NCAIAW Tournament Nov. 14, 15
Ril^twinger Jeff Shlckb dribbks the baO down field in f«ll
stride. Shields assisted the first goal and scored the winning
goal of the game. He also leads the team in scoring. Staff
Photo.
Go Christians
Volleyball
dropped one in and Carter
aced them again to go ahead
15-14. Elon scored again and
won 16-14.
The giris seemed to suffer
from a lack of communica
tion in the third game. The
score was tied 3-3, but Elon
could score only one more
tmie. They lost 4-15.
The fourth game looked
cont. from p. 7
like an Elon victory, but
ended in a loss of both the
game and match. The Gol
den Girls’ lead of four was
cut when NCCU tied it 7-7.
Elon scored twice, but Cen
tral persisted and tied it
again 9-9. After the girls put
two more on the board,
Central bolted ahead and
won, 15-11.