Black Cortege Sports Review BBSS
DelState con:
Hawk throw for 730 yards against it in
the schools' two previous meetings.
"Defensively, I'm not surprised,"
said Collick, whose team finally allowed
Bethune to score on a two-yard
Kevin Ross-to-Sebastian Brown TD
pass with just over a minute to go.
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we've got a good group back there
(cornerbacks Keith Harris, Billy Alston
and Willie Sheppard, Chew, and free
safeties Joe Burton and P.J. Lee).
"We didn't sack Hawk, but we put a
lot of pressure on him up front, and I
want to tell you that (DelState Defensive
Coordinator) Oreg McLaurin
came up with a heckuva defensive
scheme."
The rancor between the two programs
surfaced again at the end of the
game, when Bfethune coach Larry Littie
bypassed the*tiqditional coach's
handshake, instead fcivjng a halfhearted
wave toCall{ck a* he walked
off the field. - >
"Well, I can't speak for Lar cyjSrtts
program," said Collick about the laSt***
of post-game decorum. "All I know is
that we have to live by our own soul
here at Delaware State College. We
want to have a first-class program, and
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way."
Little, who had vigorously protested
two first-half penalties that took the
Wildcats out of scoring position,
didn't think it was the Hornets'
dominance so much as it was his own
team's mistake^ ThtT ted-*?~ihc rout.
"We didn't play winning footbaOT 2
and that's what happens when you
don't play winning football," said the
former Miami Dolphin all-pro guard.
"Their big plays killed us.
"It was* too bad we gave up the
championship as easily as we did. If we
hadn't have made all those turnovers,
it might have been a different game."
Given the Cinderella performance of
. Walker, probably not.
With two-year starter Pat Spencer
banished from the Hornet program
because of a drug-related arrest in Fort
Lauderdale, Fla., in May, quarterback
was supposed to be a big question
mark for the Hornets in 1985.
After Spencer, the only quarterback* - <
with any exptirfehce at all was Baker,
who at 5-11, 175 pounds, was three inches
shorter and 20 pounds lighter than
Spencer.
But Baker - who almost lost the
starting job in summer camp before
> Liberty Baptist transfer and former
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uciaware nign scnooi ail-stater Jotin
Lane was declared academically ineligible
- had run the team well in leading
the Hornets to a 4-1 start before taking
on Bethune.
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The DelState defense made life misei
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Although his arm isn't as jtycong as
Spencer's, he cari run and executes the
fakes in the Wina-T to a T nalrar oIca
is an accurate short passer, and he's
proven he is a winner.
But after Baker, Collick and his
coaches felt they didn't have anyone
else who could run the team in an
emergency. In fact, Baker didn't run
'7 really wasn't that nervous. I rea
but it was easy, just like in practi
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the receivers were wide open toda4
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the option play in the Hornets' first
two games because coaches feared an
injury.
But while Baker developed in the
starting role, Walker developed in a
backup role. Baker initially hurt his
ankle in DelState's 37-17 loss to Northern
Iowa, and when it didn't respond ^
to treatment, Walker ran the first-team
offense as it prepared for Bethune.
When Walker replaced Baker, he
was ready.
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raW? for the Wildcats in the air and or
"I really wasn't that nervous," said
Walker, a New York City native. "1
really expected it to be a lot tougher,
but it was easy, just like in practice.
The coaches did a good job, because all
the reads they gave me really worked
out. John and all the receivers were
wide open today."
'That was the best he's ever played,
tly expected it to be a lot tougher,
ce. The coaches did a good job,
r realty worked out. John and all
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practice or game," said an almostshocked
John PoveWH tUm
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offensive coordinator. "We didn't
know if he could run the team or not.
But they say the great ones rise to the
occasion, and he sure did today,"
For that matter, so did the rest of the
Hornets.
"I wanted to go and win today for
the seniors, the guys who'd been here
for four years and hadn't won an
MEAC title yet," said Walker. "All
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\ the ground (photo by Gary Emeigh).
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those guys really helped me today, and
I was glad I could help them."
Senior tri-captain and inside
linebacker Danny Coppedge, though
happy his team had hurdled the biggest
obstacle to a league title, still tried to
keep the win in perspective.
"We still have to beat Howard,"
said Coppedge. "And there's still a lot
of other goals we'd like to accomplish
before the year's over."
For the record, DelState has beaten
Howard 62-20 and 45-6 the past two
years.
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Tvun uie season rinale a month
away, the Hornets will turn their
thoughts away from the ME AC and
toward earning a Division I-AA
playoff berth, which would be the
league's first since 1982.
But it'll be a long time before the
Hornets forget the day they ended 15
long years of MEAC frustration - a^d
put the final shingle on the roof of
ineir shiny new football house.
Jerry McGuire is the sports editor of
the Delaware State News.