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SportsWeek ?
w ? October 14, 1999
?
Tfw WSSU defense hasn't given up a
point sine* the Hams' loss to MX. AAT.
Rams' defense leads WSSU in 34-0 win over Livingstone
WSSU hopes offense
gets in gear for
Midway Classic battle
against NCCU
By SAM DAVIS
THE CHRONICLE
Question marks galore abounded
three weeks ago when Winston-Salem
State's football team hit the road for the
first of three consecutive games away
from home.
Most of those question marks are
long gone now after three shutout victo
ries. The Rams, 3-2 overall and 3-0 in the
CIAA standings, are playing their finest
football since coach Kxrmit Blount came
to town seven yean ago.
The Rams will return to Bowman
Gray Stadium on Saturday for a battle
against North Carolina Central. The
Rams, who have outscored league oppo
sition 95-0, are putting together not only
the CIAA's stingiest defensive units but
also one of Division Q's toughest defens
es. WSSU has yielded only 37 points in
Ave games (7.4 points per game).
The defense has set the tone in each of
the Rams' wins. But in the 44-0 win over
Fayetteville State and last Saturday's 34-0
victory over Livingstone, WSSU's
defense has been its best offense.
The Rams came through with eight
turnovers against Fayetteville and added
four more against Livingstone.
Linebacker Robert Mackey played his
career-best game against the Blue Bears,
coming through with two sacks, inter
cepting a D'Andre Hopper pass and
returning it 72 yards to set up a Ram
touchdown. His performance was one of
several outstanding efforts by the Ram
defense. Linebacker Carnell Brown
added 10 total tackles and Thomas
Washington was named the game's most
outstanding defensive player.
Both Blount and defensive coordina
tor Andrew Faison said WSSU's defense
is the key to the team.
"The defense is playing tremendously
well right now," Blount said. "Defense
wins ball games.
We knew we had a good defense
going into the season. They've given up
some yardage outside of the 20s, but
they've kept them out of the box."
See Rants on 13
Photo by Bruce Chapman
Marykmd't Lamont Jordan broakt from
on a touchdown run.
Broken play
costs Deacs
in 17-14 loss
Kr'"'
By SAM DAVIS
? BffpwpNiq^ 1t-l
** One busted play might have sealed the fate
?of Wake Forest's football team for the 1999
season. The Deacons appeared to have a win
within reach after taking a 14-7 lead over
Maryland last Saturday at Groves Stadium.
But a missed tackle on a play inside Deacons'
territory cost Wake a touchdown and the Dea
cons never recovered.
The Deacons, who went into the game with
a 3-1 record, could have earned another con
ference win and put themselves in position to
become eligible for a bowl berth. Instead,
Wake dropped its second ACC loss and fell to
3-2 overall.
For the better part of four quarters the
Deacons were up to the challenge against the
Terrapins. Maryland jumped out to an early 7
0 lead on Lamont Jordan's burst down the
sideline for a touchdown. But Wake had the
answer and was able to even the score at 7-7.
The score remained that way until the start of
the second half when Wake Forest mounted a
drive to take the lead at 14-7. Quarterback Ben
Sankey came through with several key plays on
the drive and went the final 3 yards for the
touchdown. Matt Burdick added the second of
two extra points.
Wake's defense didn't shut down the Ter
rapins completely, but they did well enough to
keep Maryland's offense off the field for most
of the third quarter. The Deacons' defense also
played at a high level to start the fourth quar
ter.
The Deacons were in good shape midway
through the fourth quarter when quarterback
Calvin McCall dropped back to pass. Kelvin
See Wok* on B6
Game breakers!
Walker, Conrad put on offensive show;
LIFT Academy now 6-1 after 26-6 win
By THERESA DAVIS
For THE CHRONICLE
4
LIFT Academy celebrated early during its first-ever
homecoming football game. The Jaguars got their high
octane offense going by scoring on their first three pos
sessions and never looked back in a 26-6 victory over The
Blue Ridge School last Thursday night at Carver's David
Lash Stadium.
LIFT, which had 434 yards of total offense in the
game, took the opening kickoff and marched in for its
first score of the game with less than three minutes off
the first-quarter clock. William Conrad threw a short
pass to Chris Green and the speedy halfback raced down
the left sideline for a 35-yard touchdown and a 6-0 Jaguar
lead to get things started.
Blue Ridge came back to even the game at 6-6 on the
strength of a 72-yard kickoff return. However, LIFT
retook the lead on Jwan Walker's 50-yard reception for a
touchdown. Conrad then passed to Isiah France for a
two-point conversion and a 14-6 lead. They were all the
points the Jaguars would need after their defense stepped
up to stifle the Barons the rest of the way.
However, LIFT added another touchdown to go up
20-6 at the end of the first quarter and increased its mar
gin to 26-6 with a defensive score early in the second peri- /
od. The Jaguars then had five touchdowns wiped out by
penalties after the game's outcome had been settled.
Coach Sam Davis said his team came out focused and
that was the key to the victory, which improved LIFT's
record to 6-1.
"I thought we were very focused early in the game on
offense," Davis said. "I was concerned after our first loss
of the season against Union Pines, but we didn't show
any effects of it.
"When I looked at Blue Ridge's roster, I was very con
See LIFT on B3
> FROM THE PRESS BOX
^ Son Davis
McLendon was
pioneer for black ;
college basketball
The final curtain closed on the life of one
of the nation's top contributors to the sport of
basketball last Friday morning.
John B. McLendon, one of Black College's
basketball pioneers, passed away at age 87 at
his home outside of| Cleveland, Ohio.
Many people who met McLendon in his
latter years during C1AA Tournament's six
year run in Winston-Salem talked about the
gentlemanly way in which he carried himself.
Even those who played for and against him
during his 60-plus years in basketball admired
him for the same qualities.
However, those who knew him best were
aware of the fire that burned within him that
helped him elevate the programs that he was
affiliated with over the years to the top levels in
their respective leagues.
McLendon was not just a legend in
African - American sports history, but in main
stream America as well. A native of Hiawatha,
Kan., McLendon teamed basketball as a stu
dent at Kansas University under Dr. James
Naismith, who created the game of basketball.
And even though he was banned from
playing on the team at Kansas, McLendon
credited Naismith for teaching him much
about the game and being a major influence
Sec Press Box on B4
North Forsyth JV
takes step backward
in 26-0 loss to Page
By SAM DAVIS
THE CHRONICLE ?
After watching his team make great
strides in recent weeks, coach Gene Bowles
figured his North Forsyth junior varsity
football team was ready for its showdown
with Greensboro Page last Thursday night.
That wasn't the case, however. The
Vikings, who have either won or shared the
conference championship in each of the pre
vious three seasons, took a turn for the
worse and dropped a 26-0 decision to the
Pirates in their Metro 4-A Conference open
er- > \
The Vikings played well offensively in the
early part of the game, marching inside the
Pirates' 20 after blocking a punt. But North
couldn't get into the end zone.
See North on B3
Spartans' JV shows improvement
but drops 21-7 decision to Demons
By SAM DAVIS
THE CHRONICLE
Going the first six games of his
career without a victory wasn't actu
ally the way coach Doug Blackwell
envisioned starting off as Mount
Tabor's junior varsity football
coach.
But Blackwell, who succeeded
Lonnie Pulley as head of the Spar
tans'junior varsity program, said his
, team is making strides and improv
ing.
"That's all I can really ask of the
team," Blackwell said. "I feel like the
guys are getting better and we're
playing a lot of kids who have never
played before. The kids are stepping
in and learning the game. The effort
is good and their spirits are high.
Now they are expecting to win
games." ?
The Spartans managed a tie with
North Forsyth, but have lost the
remainder of their five games. That
included a 21-7 loss to Reynolds last
week. But Black well said he saw
some positives in the loss to build
See Spartan JVonM
Mount Tabor's lino, shown horo in
a previous game, has improved
markedly sinte the start of the
season.
Glenn's Evans blazes his own path
with 227 yards, 5 TDs in 41-3 win
By SAM DAVIS
THE CHRONICLE '
The facial resemblance to his father
is enough to make a lot of people imme
diately call Angelo Evans "a chip off the
old block." But it's when he takes off
with the football that the point is really
driven home.
Evans' father - Mark Saunders - was
a standout football player during his
high school days and one of the most
powerful runners in Forsyth County.
With the statistics Evans has compiled
lately, he is drawing comparisons to his
father's heroics even more.
Evans had the kind of game last Fri
day night, in a win over Southwest Guil
ford, that not only landed him in the
Bobcats' record book, but also helped
Glenn turn the corner in its rebuilding
program under coach Richard Kemp.
Evans rushed for 227 yards on 13 carries
and scored a school-record five touch
downs. But more important, he helped
the Bobcats (who started the season 0-3)
improve to 3-3 overall and 2-0 in the
Piedmont Triad 3-A Conference.
There is little doubt that Evans has
supplied much of the impetus for the
Bobcats' improvement. Kemp made the
decision several games ago to go exclu
sively with the I-formation with Evans at
tailback, and it has been a godsend for
the Bobcats. In their three wins, Evans
has rushed for some 500 yards. For the
season he has 700 yards of rushing and
10 touchdowns.
Glenn's turnaround might surprise
some people, but not Evans.
"We have so much talent here that 1
knew we could have a good team,"
Evans said. "It just took a while to work
our talent in with what the coach want
ed us to do. It's just coming together now
for us."
Evans credits his offensive line for its
work in his 227-yard, five-touchdown I
game against Southwest Guilford.
"The key was the offensive line I
See Evans on M
Angmlo irons
* "! *TMWMi